Hellboy in Hell (Vol. 2): The Death Card by Mike Mignola (writer and artist), Dave Stewart (colors), & Clem Robins (letters).
This second and final volume of Hellboy in Hell collects issues 6-10. It opens with Baba Yaga reminding the reader what came before: “He fought and killed a dragon but the dragon was actually a witch. Her ghost plucked out his heart and cast it into Hell.” In the first volume of Hellboy in Hell, Hellboy “went into Pandemonium and cut Satan’s throat .
March 7th, 2020. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Restless Girls by Jessie Burton & Angela Barrett (illustrator)
I loved the story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses when I was a little girl, but was also terribly disappointed with it. Twelve sisters sneak out of a secret door in their bedroom every evening to dance the night away in a magical fairyland, with only their worn-out shoes left as evidence of their rule-breaking.
And then their father comes along to spoil all the fun, setting potential suitors outside their door in order to find out what’s going on,
March 6th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Jessie Burton | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What is the best book you read in February 2020 and why did you love it? It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF. We just want to share some great reading material. Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
(And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our Fanlit Faves page and our 5-Star SFF page.
March 5th, 2020. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 18 comments |
Servant of the Crown by Duncan M. Hamilton
Servant of the Crown (2020) closes out Duncan M. Hamilton’s DRAGONSLAYER trilogy, a series that I thought started out weakly with Dragonslayer and then improved somewhat, though not quite enough, with Knight of the Silver Circle. Unfortunately, I can’t say the third book continues that improvement, meaning I can’t recommend the series.
The book picks up shortly after the events of its predecessor with Guillot,
March 5th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Duncan M. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Not genre at all, but interesting: The Washington Post explores the need for, and implications of, the “momcation.”
Awards:
File 770 is gathering information to help people vote on the Hugos. This column discusses those eligible for Best Editor, Long Form.
World:
The Centers for Disease Control have issued guidelines for prevention of contracting the novel coronavirus COVID-19. These guidelines are similar to many if not most viruses, but it’s reassuring to have it all in one place.
March 4th, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |
Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines
The people remaining on a devastated Earth have been turned into zombies by a virus accidentally unleashed by one of their own scientists. Fortunately for some humans, a race of aliens known as the Krakau have figured out how to genetically engineer humans without the virus. Thus, about 10,000 humans still live, but rather than return to Earth to be cannibalized by their own species, they choose to work for the Krakau who saved them. The Krakau are benevolent overlords; they have even preserved the records of as much of Earth’s civilization as they could so that their human fosterlings can have their own culture.
March 4th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Jim C. Hines | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Juliette Wade is a native Californian who has traveled extensively and lived in Japan on three occasions. She has advanced degrees in anthropology and linguistics and knows several languages. Her short fiction has appeared in Analog and Clarkesworld. “The Persistence of Blood,” a novella set in the world of Mazes of Power, following characters that appear in the novel, was published in Clarkesworld in March, 2018.
Juliette is working hard on the second book in THE BROKEN TRUST series but she took some time to answer some questions for us.
March 3rd, 2020. Marion Deeds | Juliette Wade | Author Interviews, Giveaway!, SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Knife Children by Lois McMaster Bujold
Knife Children (2019) is a stand-alone novella set in Lois McMaster Bujold’s SHARING KNIFE world. I wasn’t a fan of that series because I didn’t like its main character, Fawn, but I’m a huge fan of all of Bujold’s other work, and I think she’s one of the best speculative fiction writers that’s ever existed, so I was happy to try this stand-alone story in which Fawn played only an insignificant role. You don’t need to be familiar with SHARING KNIFE to understand and enjoy Knife Children.
March 2nd, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Marion: I finished Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias, a pulpy, blood-soaked surrealist novel. I flinched a lot from the violence as the short book rotates through literary fiction, magic and horror, but I loved the language. Iglesias channels his political anger very well in what is, largely, a political novel. Next up, Sanditon by Jane Austen — her original 60-page fragment, not the adaptation.
Bill: This week I read Leigh Bardugo’s The Crooked Kingdom, Duncan Hamilton’s Servant of the Crown,
March 1st, 2020. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 1 comment |
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
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…