Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: February 2020

Thoughtful Thursday: Scientific breakthroughs

Companies like Apple, Samsung and Tesla put out new versions of their high-tech toys every six months practically. Watches get more elaborate; computers get smaller and thinner, TVs larger, flatter and higher in resolution. Electronic technology isn’t the only area that is booming with discoveries though. From exo-planets and the possibility of life on planets in our home star system, to the secrets of the human genome, science is also having a boom. Doors to mysteries are being stormed, and in many cases, unlocked.

We know more about our fellow animals than we ever did before;

February 20th, 2020. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 11 comments |

Black Leviathan: Starts decently but becomes too scattered

Black Leviathan by Bernd Perplies, translated by Lucy Van Cleef

Vengeance is a tale as old as a time, and female characters have been killed in order to set male characters off on a protagonist’s journey since well before there were refrigerators (almost before there was ice). But it takes a particularly audacious ambition to use Moby Dick as an explicit inspiration for a coming-of-age fantasy set in a world where sky ships hunt dragons and one captain becomes maniacally obsessed with killing one such dragon. And for a little while there I was thinking Bernd Perplies,

WWWednesday: February 19, 2020

Conventions:

Walnut Creek, CA’s FOGCon conference will be held March 6-8 at the Walnut Creek Marriott. Mary Ann Mohanraj and Nisi Shawl are the Guests of Honor. I have heard both these writers before (at this conference and at ReaderCon) and both of them are wise, thought-provoking and lively. Other participants include Juliette Wade, Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms.

Books and Writing:

Peter Clines wants writers to think of underwear. I’m with him on this.

Kelly Braffet writes about the starving artist myth and how it led to her novel,

February 19th, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |

Dispel Illusion: A satisfactory ending to this time travel trilogy

Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence

Tadiana: Kat:

Dispel Illusion (2019) is the final book in Mark Lawrence’s IMPOSSIBLE TIMES trilogy. Readers will need to finish One Word Kill and Limited Wish before beginning Dispel Illusion, so we’ll assume you’ve done that. Kindly, Mark Lawrence provides a recap of previous important events at the beginning of this book.

Mazes of Power: A fascinating start to an intriguing series

Mazes of Power by Juliette Wade

Juliette Wade’s 2020 debut novel, Mazes of Power, is the first book of THE BROKEN TRUST series. Wade has created a rigidly stratified society in a subterranean world as a way to answer big sociological and biological What-If questions. The book explores genetics, distribution of resources, social mobility and what happens when people prioritize the consolidation of political power above their own self-interest or even their own survival.

And the book is a novel of manners,

February 18th, 2020. Marion Deeds | Juliette Wade | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow: Left me wanting

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

I found Natasha Pulley’s The Watchmaker of Filigree Street entirely charming even if I didn’t fall wholly in love with it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the same positive response to the sequel, The Lost Future of Pepperharrow (2020), which felt meandering and surprisingly flat to me, despite some solid moments.

It’s half a decade after the events of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street,

February 17th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Natasha Pulley | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Sunday Status Update: February 16, 2020

Kelly: I recently reread King Lear for one of my classes, so I decided it was a good time to get around to Tessa Gratton’s The Queens of Innis Lear, which fleshes out the story with a hearty dose of character development and a hefty scoop of muddy, bloody earth magic. It’s long, but thoroughly atmospheric and engrossing.

Bill: Over the past two weeks I read:
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley,

February 16th, 2020. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 6 comments |

Hellboy (Vol. 10): The Crooked Man and Others: Hellboy in Appalachia

Hellboy (Vol. 10): The Crooked Man and Others by Mike Mignola (writer), Richard Corben (artist), Duncan Fegredo (artist), Joshua Dysart (artist), & Jason Shawn Alexander (artist)

The first story,“The Crooked Man,” is an Eisner-winning comic and the first Hellboy tale to take place in the Appalachian woods and is based on the folklore of that region (though, in an introduction to the story, Mignola makes clear that this story is not an adaptation of any existing story). He also lets us know in this introduction to the three-issue comic that he wrote this tale with artist Richard Corben specifically in mind.

The Last Day: A decent techno-thriller

The Last Day by Andrew Hunter Murray

The Last Day (2020), by Andrew Hunter Murray, is a sci-fi thriller, though to be honest I found both elements (the science and the thrills) to be a bit slight and while it’s a highly readable work, I’d call it moderately engaging or tense.

The book opens some decades after “The Slow” (or “The Stop”), when the Earth’s rotation gradually declined then halted altogether, plunging half the planet — the “Coldside” into uninhabitable cold and darkness and the other half into a baking sunlit zone.

Thoughtful Thursday: Valentine’s Day 2020

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. The advertisements and end caps of stores are pushing the usual gifts: chocolates, flowers, and the like.

But let’s think out of the box a bit here.

If you could pop over for a few hours to any of the fantasy/sci-fi worlds out there, what would you pick up for your significant other to express your love? We’re talking an expression of romance here, not something they can sell off so as to live in comfort their whole life.

Would you give them a bouquet of elanor or niphredil?

February 13th, 2020. Bill Capossere | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 9 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8493 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

Support FanLit

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:

You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US UK CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!

SFF Deals

Recent Discussion:

Sandy Ferber on Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier in the Franchise EraJune 29, 2025
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
Paul Connelly on WWWednesday: June 25, 2025June 27, 2025
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
Marion Deeds on The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses: An award-winning series that’s not for meJune 26, 2025
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Becky Ashwell on Late Star Trek: The Final Frontier in the Franchise EraJune 26, 2025
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
Marion Deeds on Cormac McCarthy’s The Road: A graphic novel adaptation by Manu Larcenet (An Oxford College Student Review!)June 25, 2025
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…