Kat: I finished R.J. Barker’s Call of the Bone Ships which is the sequel to The Bone Ships. It was better, I thought, but I didn’t like it as much as others do. It’s beautifully written, but I just didn’t connect with the characters. Today I’m starting C.J. Cherryh’s Merchanter’s Luck which has recently been published in audio format. This book, first published in 1982, has been on my TBR list for decades, so I’m pretty excited about it.
January 31st, 2021. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
Head Lopper (Vol. 1): The Island or a Plague of Beasts by Andrew MacLean
Head Lopper (2016) by Andrew MacLean is about a master swordsman and his journeys. By his side is his trusty sword and his less trusty head in a sack. The head belongs to Agatha, the Blue Witch, and though we know the Head Lopper, Norgal, is the one responsible for cutting off her head, we do not know for what purpose he carries her head with him wherever he goes.
January 30th, 2021. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It’s unnerving reading a book about a devastating pandemic at this point during the COVID-19 crisis, but in fairness, this near-future SF duology by Tosca Lee was published in 2019, so Lee gets credit for anticipating a timely topic. The first book, The Line Between, tells how Wynter Roth, a young woman in her early twenties, escapes from a doomsday cult and (obligatory spoiler warning for the first book here) is entrusted with some tissue samples that may help with the development of a vaccine against the growing pandemic.
January 29th, 2021. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Tosca Lee | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Television and streaming services have given us a wealth of speculative fiction content the past several years.
HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and even Syfy have delivered interesting, thoughtful programming with high production values, including outstanding soundtracks.
Which show has your favorite sound track? Why? Tell us in the comments.
One commenter with a USA mailing address will win a book from our Stacks or a $5 Amazon gift card.
January 28th, 2021. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 15 comments |
Amanda Gorman wowed a lot of us last Wednesday. PBS interviewed her earlier, and this video addressed her preparation for the inauguration.
Obituaries:
Mila Furlan, who starred on Babylon Five, passed away after a long illness. Her character Delenn’s comment, that “we are made of star-stuff,” seemed like a fitting observation for this hardworking actor.
The New York Times published a tribute to a pioneering Black speculative fiction writer, Charles Saunders, who died last May.
Writers, Writing, Reading,
January 27th, 2021. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 8 comments |
The Golden Fetich by Eden Phillpotts
As I believe I have mentioned elsewhere, the influence that English author H. Rider Haggard had on his fellow writers was an enormous one. During his first 20 years as a novelist, Haggard came out with no fewer than 25 pieces of fiction, starting with 1884’s Dawn and up to 1903’s Pearl-Maiden. Of those 25, a good 14 were set in the Africa that Haggard knew so well, and of that number, around half could be set into that category that the author helped to popularize to such a marked degree: the lost world/lost race novel.
January 27th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Eden Phillpotts | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Winterkeep (2021) is the fourth book set in Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING REALM fantasy world, the prior novels being Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue. The first was a five-star, best-of-the-year choice for me, and Fire was nearly as good. The third book was a bit of a drop-off, though not far. Unfortunately though, Winterkeep continues that downward trend,
January 26th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Kristin Cashore | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Today I Am Carey by Martin L. Shoemaker
Carey is a robot whose job is to provide health care and companionship for humans, especially for elderly people with dementia. Carey is equipped with an “empathy net” which allows him to understand the feelings of the people he cares for, and an “emulation net” which lets him change his appearance, voice, and mannerisms so he can pretend to be someone else. The purpose is to help ease the anxieties of patients with dementia.
When we first meet Carey, he is the caretaker for an elderly woman named Mildred.
January 25th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Martin L. Shoemaker | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Kelly: I’m currently in the middle of my ARC of Sarah Gailey’s The Echo Wife. I’m not sure what’s more chilling, the science or the interpersonal dynamics. And there’s a lot of overlap between the two, of course. Good, and unsettling.
Bill: This week I read the excellent The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, the good On Fragile Wavesby E. Lily Yu, and the somewhat disappointing Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore,
January 24th, 2021. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |
First Light: Switching on Stars at the Dawn of Time by Emma Chapman
In First Light (2021), Emma Chapman covers the earliest eras of the universe’s existence, particularly focusing on what astronomers, due to their lack of information, call the “Dark Ages,” from about 380,000 years to one billion years after the Big Bang occurred. Even more specifically, her interest lies with the creation of the first stars and the current attempt to find out more about them.
Despite the focus, Chapman manages to bring in a host of other astronomical discoveries/investigations: the Cosmic Microwave background,
January 22nd, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no 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…