Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu
I really tried to give Hao Jingfang’s Vagabonds (2020; translated by Ken Liu) a fair shake, pressing on even though I’d had problems with the book relatively early. And I think, given that I just about reached the halfway point (48% according to by Kindle), I did give the book a decent enough chance to win me over. But I just couldn’t push myself past that 50%, despite some intriguing ideas.
In the world of Vagabonds,
April 14th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 0.1 | Hao Jingfang | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Hanged Man by K.D. Edwards
The Hanged Man, published in 2019, is the second book in K.D. Edwards’s fantasy series THE TAROT SEQUENCE. In the first book, The Last Sun, we men Rune Sun, last of the Sun Court, in New Atlantis. New Atlantis is the former island of Nantucket and exists because of a truce between humans and the Atlanteans, at the end of a devastating war. The New Atlanteans value power only,
April 14th, 2020. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | K.D. Edwards | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Apparently the market for breathless YA romances with sexy vampires isn’t fully saturated yet, because Crave (2020), a new paranormal romance thriller by Tracy Wolff that cheerfully admits to being inspired by Twilight — check out the blatant knock-off cover — offers readers a slightly updated take on the genre.
When her parents are killed in an automobile accident, high-school-aged Grace reluctantly leaves San Diego and travels to the remote, icy interior of Alaska, where her uncle Finn is headmaster of an exclusive boarding school,
April 13th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2 | Tracy Wolff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Come the Revolution by Frank Chadwick
Come the Revolution (2015) is the sequel to Frank Chadwick’s How Dark the World Becomes (which you’ll want to read first).
Sasha Naradnyo survived the events of the previous book, but just barely. One of our favorite characters, however, did not survive. Now it’s a few years later. Sasha is the head of security for Tweezaa, the Varoki girl he was protecting in How Dark the World Becomes.
April 13th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Frank Chadwick | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea by Mike Mignola (writer) & Gary Gianni (artist)
Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea is such a short volume that, at less than sixty pages, it can hardly be called a graphic novel. Still, it is a worthwhile read and a great addition to the Hellboy canon. The story starts off in a dismal place: a dark, foreboding shoreline with large, shipwrecked boats cast up on the rocks and half-sunken in the shallow waters. The mood is aided by a quotation from Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
April 11th, 2020. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
Sal Vidon has just started at a new middle school and he’s already been to the principal’s office three times. That’s because Sal is a magician, or so he says, and, indeed, very strange things happen around him. For example, he made a dead chicken suddenly appear in a bully’s locker, and he made his dead mother appear in his kitchen to cook up a feast of Cuban food one day before his father and stepmom got home from work.
Soon Sal attracts the attention of school council president Gabi Real,
April 10th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Carlos Hernandez | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
The ALEX RIDER books have always veered on the side of realism (as opposed to other teen-targeted spy stories such as Spy Kids and Kim Possible) but even I was surprised by just how dark the third book in Anthony Horowitz‘s series actually got.
Having been recruited and trained by MI6 in order to infiltrate locations and undergo missions in which teenagers go unnoticed, fourteen year old Alex is happy to be free of espionage and just hanging out with the lovely Sabina Pleasure (a Bond girl if ever there was one).
April 10th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Anthony Horowitz | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Time for another “Rename This Horrible Cover” contest!
We feel like this book needs a new title that fits the cover art better.
Can you suggest one?
The creator of the title we like best wins a book from our stacks.
Got a suggestion for a horrible cover that needs renaming? Please send it to Kat.
We love this game!
April 9th, 2020. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 12 comments |
Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Peña
In comparison with the other three books in the DC ICONS COLLECTION, I’m afraid I have to say that Superman’s entry is not the best. As with the others, it explores the adolescence of a famous superhero before he or she donned a mask and cloak, and in this case, focuses on farm-boy Clark Kent realizing that strange things are happening in his rural hometown of Smallville.
Along with his best friend Lana Lang (reimagined for the first time as a would-be reporter) Clark gradually becomes aware of a sudden corporate interest in the farms of Smallville,
April 9th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2.5 | Matt de la Peña | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
The Twisted Ones (2019) begins with mild consternation: Melissa, who goes by “Mouse,” has the thankless task of taking a trip to backwoods North Carolina, with her loyal redbone coonhound Bongo for company, to clean out her late grandmother’s home. “It’ll be a mess,” her father says, in a massive understatement. Consternation shifts to deep dismay: Grandma was a hoarder. It’s even worse than normal, since her grandmother was a cruel and vicious person, and something of her evil still infuses her house,
April 9th, 2020. Tadiana Jones and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | T. Kingfisher | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
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…