Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias
I’m giving 2018’s Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias five stars, and I’m going to recommend it highly here. Then I’m going to post warnings, because this is one of those “this book is not for everybody” things.
On Twitter, Iglesias describes his writing as “barrio noir,” and also “a mix of horror and noir.” Coyote Songs follows several characters on either side of the Mexico/USA border as a mysterious rage-filled entity comes into their lives.
March 25th, 2020. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Gabino Iglesias | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Stephen King takes over 550 pages to relate the story of the mysterious Institute and its merciless dealings with kidnapped children. Given that page count, it shouldn’t be too surprising that King spends the first forty pages setting up his tale with a seemingly unrelated story of a man adrift in his life. Tim Jamieson, an out-of-work cop, takes a hefty payout to give up his seat on an overfull flight, and ends up making his rambling way from Tampa, Florida to the small town of DuPray,
March 24th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Like most people, I became aware of Alice Hoffman‘s 1995 novel Practical Magic through the nineties film adaptation starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock. It’s not a great movie, but it has a charm of its own, and it led me to the original story upon which it’s based. It’s striking to see the differences and similarities between the two.
The film leans more heavily on its magical elements, even becoming something of a supernatural thriller at some points,
March 24th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Alice Hoffman | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. In this week’s column, Skye and Tadiana review several of the current crop of 2019 Nebula nominees in the short story and novelette categories.
“Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island” by Nibedita Sen (2019, free at Nightmare Magazine)
This Nebula Award finalist is precisely what the title promises, as it takes the form of ten excerpts from an annotated bibliography.
I thoroughly enjoyed the form of this story — I would almost describe it as delightful,
March 23rd, 2020. Skye Walker and Tadiana Jones | A.C. Wise | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats by James Patrick Kelly
In James Patrick Kelly’s novella, King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats, we visit a backwater planet called Boon where humans live with uplifted dogs and cats.
Our protagonist, Gio Barbaro, is the clone of the man who created the government, called The Supremacy, generations before. Gio’s job is to maintain the family’s position and power in the senate.
The Supremacy, though, is losing control as dogs are walking off the job and cats are forming unions.
March 23rd, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | James Patrick Kelly | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
So I finally made it. Kingdom of Ash (2018) was almost three times as large as the first book in the THRONE OF GLASS series, but I got there in the end.
In the seventh book of Sarah J. Maas‘s fantasy epic, the combined forces of humans, faes and witches are moving their armies into position to fend off the Valg demons that are advancing across the continent of Erilea.
But their leader Aelin Galathynius is missing,
March 23rd, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Sarah J. Maas | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kat: Well, I’m teaching online only until the end of August, and all other campus meetings have been cancelled, as well as three family trips and multiple concerts and other events. So, that should give me a lot more time for reading in the next few months. This past week I read three novels. A Heart of Blood and Ashes, by Milla Vane, was simply dreadful. It’s getting a DNF from me. The other two novels were by Frank Chadwick: How Dark the World Becomes, and its sequel,
March 22nd, 2020. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
Fresh off her clash with black witches in Storm Cursed, Mercy Thompson — the coyote shapeshifter and Volkswagen mechanic whose urban fantasy series follows her adventures with vampires, werewolves, fae, witches and various monsters — is fretting about the distance that has built up between her and her husband, Adam, alpha of the local werewolf pack. Their mating bond has been shut down for weeks, keeping her from knowing his thoughts and feelings.
But other troubles raise their heads,
March 20th, 2020. Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Patricia Briggs | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Val Hall: The Even Years by Alma Alexander
Val Hall: The Even Years (2020), by Alma Alexander, is a series of linked stories set in a sort of retirement home for gifted or powered people (though only to a certain limited degree). Each story follows a single individual who relates their story to another character, usually sending us back in time to their first usage of their power. As is typical with collections, the stories vary in quality and effect, but Alexander does a nice job with the intriguing premise,
March 20th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Alma Alexander | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If you’ve read one Stephen King novel, you’ve read nearly all of them. And yet people keep coming back for more. Published in 1987, Misery explores King’s relationship with his most obsessive readers while also wrestling with his own addictions.
Misery‘s plot is pretty straightforward: Paul Sheldon is an author of best-selling novels who one night drunkenly drives into a blizzard and crashes. When he wakes up, he has been (not rescued, but) kidnapped by Nurse Ratched,
March 20th, 2020. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Stephen King | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…