Obituary:
Grant Imahara, 49, was the cheerfully nerdy technogeek on Mythbusters. He also operated robots in the Star Wars franchise and worked behind the scenes on many SF blockbusters. I remember Imahara always smiling as he explained some wonderful high-tech thing. The early reports are that he died from an aneurysm.
Conventions:
Here’s the San Diego Comic-Con At Home Edition program. This article provides some background on this year’s free online San Diego event.
Books,
July 15th, 2020. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. In today’s column we review the 2020 Retro Hugo nominees in the novelette and short story categories, following up on yesterday’s column, in which we reviewed the novellas.
RETRO HUGO NOVELETTES:
Arena by Fredric Brown (1944, published in Astounding Science Fiction, free online at Internet Archive). 2020 Retro Hugo award nominee (novelette).
Two massive fleets hang outside the orbit of Pluto, about to engage in a furious battle to the death: Humans and the aliens they call the Outsiders.
July 15th, 2020. Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper | A.E. Van_Vogt, C.L. Moore, Clifford D. Simak, Henry Kuttner, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury | Audio, Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
The third and final instalment in Leigh Bardugo‘s GRISHA trilogy was far more rewarding than I had ever anticipated. Though I liked the first book Shadow and Bone and really liked the sequel Siege and Storm, it was Ruin and Rising that I truly loved.
It’s difficult to summarize the finale of any book series without giving away details of its predecessors,
July 15th, 2020. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Leigh Bardugo | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. In today’s column we review the 2020 Retro Hugo nominees in the novella category, other than The Jewel of Bas, which we’ve previously reviewed here as part of The Best of Leigh Brackett. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s column, where we turn our attention to the Retro Hugo novelettes and short stories.
A God Named Kroo by Henry Kuttner (1944, published in Thrilling Wonder Stories,
July 14th, 2020. Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones | A.E. Van_Vogt, Henry Kuttner, Murray Leinster, Theodore Sturgeon | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey
In publication order, By the Sword (1991) is the ninth novel in Mercedes Lackey’s VALDEMAR saga, but if you haven’t read any VALDEMAR novels before, don’t let that stop you. By the Sword can stand alone and it’s a fine place to enter Lackey’s universe. There are several beloved VALDEMAR characters in the novel, but it doesn’t matter if you meet them now or later. In general, the VALDEMAR saga is divided into several different trilogies and a few stand-alones and anthologies.
July 14th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Noemí Taboada is a 22-year-old flighty socialite living in Mexico City. She loves to dress up in beautiful gowns and high heels and go to parties with handsome young men. One evening she’s called home from a party early. Her wealthy father has received a strange letter from Catalina, Noemí’s recently married cousin. Catalina thinks she’s in danger from her new husband’s family and is begging for help. Is Catalina really imperiled, or is she suffering a mental breakdown?
Noemí’s father asks her to visit her cousin at High Place,
July 14th, 2020. Kat Hooper, Marion Deeds and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5, 4.5 | Silvia Moreno-Garcia | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
SHORTS is our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. We’ve previously reviewed most of the novellas, novelettes and short stories that are currently nominated for the 2020 Hugo Awards. Here are our reviews for the remaining nominees. Reviews for the Retro Hugo short fiction nominees are coming this week!
Away with the Wolves by Sarah Gailey (2019, free at Uncanny Magazine, $3.99 Kindle magazine issue). 2020 Hugo award nominee (novelette).
Suss is a young woman who lives with chronic pain.
July 13th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter and Tadiana Jones | Rivers Solomon, Sarah Gailey | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Across a Billion Years by Robert Silverberg
In Across a Billion Years (1969), Robert Silverberg introduces us to Tom Rice, a young archaeologist in training, who is writing to his twin sister on their 22nd birthday in 2375. While Tom feels some guilt that he is on the most exciting field trip in the history of Earth while his paralyzed sister is confined to a hospital bed, he is still eager to tell her about his work and he knows that she is just as eager to hear about it.
July 13th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Robert Silverberg | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
For all those folks out there who hold conversations with their pet dog and know for certain that Fido/Fifi understands every word; for those who have gotten a tad “verklempt” at the conclusion of such novels as The Call of the Wild and Old Yeller; for people who believe that canines just cannot get any smarter than Lassie, Rin Tin Tin or Benji, all of whom starred in innumerable motion pictures; and, well, really, for anybody with a soft spot in his or her heart for man’s best friend,
July 13th, 2020. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Olaf Stapledon | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jana: This week I read Raquel Vasquez-Gilliland’s debut novel, Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything, which was beautifully written and contained some extremely searing commentary on America’s treatment of immigrants. I also read Mary Robinette Kowal’s The Relentless Moon, which was so engrossing that I actually forgot to move for a few hours while I read (an oversight I do not recommend).
Bill: This week I read Alma Alexander’s The Second Star,
July 12th, 2020. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 6 comments |
Kind of you to say. I certainly like to think so!
BTW, Steve Sterner will be performing at seven films during this upcoming fest: https://filmforum.org/series/clara-bow
As far as I know, Bill, Steve Sterner is the only person who does the live accompaniment to silent movies…
And I'm positive that Kaidan will fondly remember watching these movies with his old man for the rest of his…
You bet, Marion!