Kat: I’m really busy with my job and am behind on my reviews. I’ll try to fix that this week. Finally I finished Time Patrol by Poul Anderson. Then I read Witchy Eye, an alternate American history fantasy by D.J. Butler. This was entertaining, but unnecessarily long. Not sure if I want to read the sequel, just due to the length. Reviews to come.
Bill: This week I read Seth Dickinson’s The Tyrant Baru Cormorant,
May 31st, 2020. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War by Kieron Gillen & Salvador Larroca
The fourth volume in Kieron Gillen’s DARTH VADER series focuses more on political strategy and warfare than the earlier volumes (which were more to do with espionage). In the wake of the first Death Star’s destruction, the Empire is desperate to regain a foothold on the galaxy and reverse the morale acquired by the Rebellion through the loss of their great weapon.
Vader is sent to the planet of Shu-Torun,
May 29th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!
June 1 marks our lucky THIRTEENTH birthday!
Yep, we’ve been hanging out together (well, some of us) since June 2007!
To celebrate, we’re giving away gifts!
FIVE commenters from the US will receive some FanLit BOOKMARKS (quite practical!) and a cozy FANLIT T-SHIRT (as long as we still have your size). Or, if you prefer, you may choose a book from our stacks.
You can leave any sort of comment —
May 28th, 2020. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 36 comments |
The Grand Tour by E. Catherine Tobler
E. Catherine Tobler created Jackson’s Unreal Circus and Mobile Marmalade, a carnival/circus where things are not necessarily what they seem… or in some cases, exactly what they seem, no matter how strange that might be. The stories appeared in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and now, in The Grand Tour: A Jackson’s Unreal Circus and Mobile Marmalade Collection (2020), Apex has gathered up nine of the tales, which traverse earth and time, as we meet Jackson and the people who find their way to the circus,
May 28th, 2020. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | E. Catherine Tobler | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge
Here in the UK, Frances Hardinge is everywhere. Her new book, A Skinful of Shadows (2017), was plastered all over the London underground in the run-up to its publication, thrusting Hardinge into the mainstream.
I heard Hardinge talk about A Skinful of Shadows at a local bookshop and she admitted that she’d felt some pressure when writing. I can’t help wonder if this pressure somehow seeped into the novel as she wrote.
May 28th, 2020. Katie Burton and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3, 5 | Frances Hardinge | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Gatherings, or Not:
SFWA’s Nebula Event starts Thursday. I think you can still register.
AmazingCon, held June 12-14, will also be an online experience (as most of this year’s conventions will be.) Thanks to File 770.
Giveaway:
One commenter chosen at random will win a hardcover edition of N.K. Jemisin’s The City We Became.
Books and Writing:
Nerds of a Feather posted a micro-review of an anthology on inland seas.
May 27th, 2020. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 10 comments |
Star Wars: Vader Down by Jason Aaron & Mike Deodato
It took me a while to figure out how Vader Down fit into the VADER series by Kieron Gillen that I was making my way through: turns out that this should be read after Vader and Shadows and Secrets, but before The Shu-Torun War (which is technically the third book in the VADER series). This is a crossover between the storylines in Gillen’s Vader-centric arc and those by Jason Aaron in his Rebellion-centric series.
May 27th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
Tavia is a siren. This fact is enough trouble to her that she’s trying to contact the spirit of her grandmother (who was also a siren) to learn whether there’s any way to rid herself of the power.
Her best friend/adopted sister Effie isn’t really a mermaid; she just plays one at the Renaissance Faire. She’s a totally normal human — or so she thinks.
A Song Below Water (2020), by Bethany C. Morrow,
May 27th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Bethany C. Morrow | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
There’s a scene in Kester Grant’s The Court of Miracles (2020) where an entire room of nobles is hypnotized by the head of the assassin’s guild into doing something horrific, but which they are wholly oblivious to. It’s an apt scene to note, because while this first book in the COURT OF MIRACLES trilogy is far from horrific (really, far from it), Grant is such a fluid writer that she lulls you into a sort of readerly trance,
May 26th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Kester Grant | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Aurora Burning (2020), the second book in Amie Kaufman’s and Jay Kristoff’s young adult SF AURORA CYCLE series, follows the tension-filled, nonstop space adventures of the teenage crew of Squad 312, recent graduates of the Aurora Academy. In the first book, Aurora Rising, the crew visited the forbidden planet of Octavia III and discovered, to their horror, that an alien hivemind, called the Ra’haam, has taken over the planet and is bent,
May 26th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
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…