Leave your name in the comments if you’d like a copy of one of these books. We’ll choose at least 30 commenters with US addresses.
Winners will choose one of these:
The New Jim Crow (Kindle, paperback, or Audible)
How to Be an Antiracist (Kindle or Audible)
The Underground Railroad (Kindle, paperback, or Audible).
Recently I’ve been deluged with suggestions for books to read about race and racism. Most are non-fiction works (Stamped from the Beginning,
June 11th, 2020. Bill Capossere | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 47 comments |
Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky
Tomorrow, the Killing (2012) is the second book in Daniel Polansky’s LOW TOWN series, a noir-flavored fantasy set in the grimy underbelly of a fictional city. Tomorrow, the Killing takes place three years after the events of Low Town (UK: The Straight Razor Cure). You don’t necessarily need to read Low Town first because the stories stand alone,
June 11th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Daniel Polansky | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Batgirl Vol. 3: Summer of Lies (Rebirth) by Hope Larson & Chris Wildgoose
The third volume of Hope Larson’s Batgirl run actually includes three separate stories, though the last is the longest and definitely the best. They’re a nice mix of Barbara Gordon tackling old-school villainy and more contemporary issues, with her usual combination of bright-eyed enthusiasm and cutting-edge technology.
In “Troubled Waters” Barbara is investigating a haunted public swimming pool, in which several swimmers have seen a strange purple energy. Along with the over-enthusiastic host of a ghost hunting reality show.
June 11th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Awards:
The Peabody Award finalists, for “the most compelling and empowering” digital media and broadcasting stories of 2019, have been announced.
Books and Writing:
Nebula-winning author Cat Rambo was profiled in her local paper, the Seattle Times.
Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) issued a statement in support of Black Lives Matter. The organization acknowledges its responsibility for failing to address racism in the past, and is putting its money where its mouth is. There are some good resources at the end of the article.
June 10th, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest
When Laurie Forest’s debut YA fantasy novel The Black Witch was published in 2017, there was a massive explosion of outrage in the Twitterverse and elsewhere online. Accusations of various types of prejudice — racism (albeit based on fantasy races), homophobia, white saviorism, ableism, lookism and more — were hurled against it. In my opinion those charges were unfair and based on a superficial reading of the text, missing the fact that the main character’s prejudices were clearly being shown as unthinking bias and bigotry,
June 10th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Laurie Forest | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In the summer of 1897, English author H. Rider Haggard took a short vacation in Holland, and just as his winter holiday to the Holy Land in 1900 would inspire him to pen no fewer than three works — the nonfiction book A Winter Pilgrimage (1901), Pearl-Maiden (1903) and The Brethren (1904) — this sojourn to the land of the Dutch would also bear literary fruit. Thus, in 1899,
June 10th, 2020. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | H. Rider Haggard | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence
The Girl and the Stars (2020) is the first book in Mark Lawrence’s BOOK OF THE ICE series. It’s about a society that lives in an extremely harsh icy climate. They have a spiritual leader called “the regulator” who looks for children who are “broken” — children who are too weak or who have character traits that will not benefit the survival of their tribes when they become adults. Every few years, to cull the herd,
June 9th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Mark Lawrence | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling
Some time ago, I read a novel that promised to combine a man-vs.-nature survival narrative with a ghost story. It disappointed me, not delivering enough of either. When reading Caitlin Starling’s The Luminous Dead, I couldn’t help thinking that this book was what I wanted that one to be. The Luminous Dead succeeds at both the (wo)man-vs.-nature stuff and the eerie goings-on — not to mention a character study of two complicated,
June 9th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Caitlin Starling | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Phantoms of the Midway by Seanan McGuire (2019, anthologized in The Mythic Dream, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe). 2020 Locus award finalist (novelette).
Most kids dream of running away to join the carnival. Seventeen-year-old Aracely dreams of running away from the carnival. Her mother, Daisy, is the boss and the tattoo artist of the traveling fair,
June 8th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter and Tadiana Jones | Ann Leckie, Fonda Lee, Kelly Link, Seanan McGuire, Ted Chiang | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Batgirl Vol. 2: Son of Penguin (Rebirth) by Hope Larson & Christian Wildgoose
At the end of Volume One of Hope Larson’s take on Batgirl, a new face had arrived in Burnside, Gotham, who answered to the name “Cobblepot” at the airport.
Turns out he’s Ethan Cobblepot, son of the Penguin, though has never had any kind of close relationship with his father. He’s handsome and clever, and wants to improve the world through technology, launching a variety of apps to ensure public safety. Barbara is charmed, and agrees to go on a date with him — though given the spate of tech-related crime happening in the area,
June 8th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.