Archives | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Month: May 2020

Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 2: Shadows and Secrets

Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 2: Shadows and Secrets by Kieron Gillen & Salvador Larroca

Carrying on from the first Vader volume (which was simply called Vader) this compilation of issues further explores Vader’s attempts to pull together secret resources of his own, without the knowledge of his Imperial superiors. Having discovered that he has a son, Vader now wants more information on Luke Skywalker and to quietly undermine the Emperor himself.

Helping him in this endeavour is an amoral young archaeologist and thief named Doctor Aphra,

May 25th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Shorefall: Come for the heists and explosions, stay for the debates

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Once upon a time there was a small group of uber-powerful folks who truly messed up the world. Luckily that was ages, sorry, I mean, Ages, ago. But now one of those ancient badass power users is potentially going to return and hoo boy is the world in trouble if he gathers all his power yet again. Thank the gods for the plucky group of scruffy underdogs who are definitely not a fellowship and who have decided to risk their lives to prevent the Dark Power’s rise.

May 25th, 2020. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5, 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

Sunday Status Update: May 24, 2020

Kat: I’m working my way through Poul Anderson’s Time Patrol. It’s a new audio edition that collects all the TIME PATROL stories. I’ve had company all week — my boys are home from college — but that’s not the only reason it’s taking me a while to get through this book…

Bill: This week I read David Mitchell’s Utopia Avenue, which I absolutely loved; The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant, which was enjoyable but flawed;

May 24th, 2020. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 3 comments |

The B.P.R.D (Vol. 2).: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories: Great stories without Hellboy

The B.P.R.D.(Vol. 2): The Soul of Venice and Other Stories by Mike Mignola (writer) & various writers and artists

The B.P.R.D.: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories opens with the title story, a tale about the four main B.P.R.D. agents without Hellboy: Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman, Roger, and Johann Kraus, who are overseen by direction Kate Corrigan. They are called in to solve the problem when pipes start exploding in Venice and domestic disturbances spike in occurrence. They are drawn to paranormal activity in a house of ill-repute back in the thirteenth century,

Jack: Horror during the London Blitz

Jack by Connie Willis

Subterranean Press is reissuing Connie Willis’s moody and bleak novella Jack (1991), which was a finalist for the Nebula and Hugo awards and has appeared in several anthologies over the years. It’s set during the London Blitz in WWII, one of Willis’ favorite settings for her works, including the time-travel novels Blackout and All Clear and the Nebula and Hugo award-winning novelette Fire Watch.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate: The wonder, and the ethical dilemmas, of space

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers’s novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate (2019) takes the form of a letter from a space traveler, Ariadne O’Neill, to the people of Earth. Why Ariadne is writing it, we will learn later.

Ariadne is part of a small but diverse crew that has been sent to explore a moon and three planets that it is believed might harbor life. They will sleep in hibernation during the journey to this star system,

The Clockwork Man: Sci-Fi’s first cyborg novel

The Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle

Just recently, I had some words to say about an English dystopian novel from 1920, The People of the Ruins by Edward Shanks. This book had been brought back into print in 2012 by HiLo Books as part of its wonderful Radium Age Science Fiction Series, the goal of which was to unearth neglected works from the period 1904 – 1933 for the modern generation. Now, I am here to tell you of another novel from this same series that I have just enjoyed.

Blackbringer: An interesting early work from a favourite author

Blackbringer by Laini Taylor

Although now best known for her DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE trilogy, I was interested in checking out some of Laini Taylor‘s early work, specifically her duology DREAMDARK, made up of Blackbringer (2007) and Silksinger.

Magpie Witchwind is a young faerie that travels the globe, searching for devils (or “snags”) that are gradually creeping back into the world. Originally trapped in bottles and other containers,

WWWednesday: May 20, 2020

Giveaway:

I ended up with two hardcover copies of Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shorefall. I am giving one away to a commenter chosen at random. Please note that it helps to have read Foundryside, which is Book One in the series, first. Here’s our review of it, and here’s Bill ‘s review of Shorefall.

Awards:

Premios Kelvin is awarded for excellence in works translated into Spanish. The finalists have been announced.

File770 highlights some more crime fiction awards.

May 20th, 2020. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 13 comments |

The Attack on Troy: A well-told look at the potential reality of the Trojan War

The Attack on Troy by Rodney Castleden

The Attack on Troy (2006), by Rodney Castleden, is a concise and informative “history” of the Trojan War, one that shows (with reasonable doubt careful noted) how the war that gave rise to The Iliad and The Odyssey might have actually occurred.

Castleden opens with the archaeological evidence of Troy’s existence in western Turkey and its destruction by outside forces, quickly moving through Schliemann’s notoriously destructive excavations in the late 1800s and then into the discovery in 1893,

May 20th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Sandy Ferber on The Druid Stone: Ugony and the EcstasyJune 30, 2025
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
Paul Connelly on The Druid Stone: Ugony and the EcstasyJune 30, 2025
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
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…

Month: May 2020

Star Wars: Darth Vader Vol. 2: Shadows and Secrets

Shorefall: Come for the heists and explosions, stay for the debates

Sunday Status Update: May 24, 2020

The B.P.R.D (Vol. 2).: The Soul of Venice and Other Stories: Great stories without Hellboy

Jack: Horror during the London Blitz

To Be Taught, If Fortunate: The wonder, and the ethical dilemmas, of space

The Clockwork Man: Sci-Fi’s first cyborg novel

Blackbringer: An interesting early work from a favourite author

WWWednesday: May 20, 2020

The Attack on Troy: A well-told look at the potential reality of the Trojan War

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