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

A Question of Navigation: Ghastly, gory, and entertaining

A Question of Navigation by Kevin Hearne

While on a hike, Clint Beecham gets abducted by aliens. The aliens have decided that humans are tasty and that Earth will make a wonderful buffet for them. Along with Clint, they’ve kidnapped 50,000 humans and are on their way back to their mother planet where they will report the location of this big delicious feeding trough.

Most of the captured humans have been put into a cargo hold and are being harvested for food, but Clint and a few others have been set aside for a special purpose.

WWWednesday: April 21, 2021

Ingenuity:

On Monday, April 19, 2021, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity conducted a 39 second test flight, while Perseverance filmed it.

Here’s an article from NASA with detail about the helicopter.

Writers, Reading, Writing, Books:

Tor.com announced Comeuppance Served Cold an upcoming Jazz Era fantasy, written by me! It will be available in spring, 2022.

More about the Tor family of imprints: Devi Pillai has been promoted to President and Publisher of Tom Doherty Associates.

April 21st, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The X Factor: An outsider makes friends on a cold planet

The X Factor by Andre Norton

The X Factor (1965) is the third short novel contained in The Game of Stars and Comets (2009), Baen’s omnibus of Norton stories that also contains The Sioux Spaceman (1960), Eye of the Monster (1962), and Voorloper (1980). Tantor Media has recently published an audio version of the omnibus, but I’m reviewing the books separately because that’s the way they were originally published.

Finna: It’s a LitenVärld after all

Finna by Nino Cipri

If you’ve ever gotten frustrated wandering through the endless maze of rooms that is IKEA, it’s not hard to imagine that there are hidden passages that lead, not to a secret shortcut to an exit, but to another world entirely. Nino Cipri’s Nebula Award-nominated novella Finna (2020) takes that concept and adds to it a timely set of social concerns, ranging from gender identity to the evils of capitalism generally and low-wage retail jobs in particular.

Ava is a sales associate at LitenVärld (Swedish for “small world”),

Eye of the Monster: Colonized crocs get revenge

Eye of the Monster by Andre Norton

Tantor Media has published an audio version of Baen’s The Game of Stars and Comets (2009), an omnibus that contains these four novels by Andre Norton: The Sioux Spaceman (1960), Eye of the Monster (1962), The X Factor (1965), and Voorloper (1980). Each of these short novels stands alone and they are all set in Norton’s Council/Confederation universe. I’m reviewing them separately,

Sunday Status Update: April 18, 2021

Jana: This week I started reading Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni, which is both beautifully written and well-written, so I’m very happy.

Kat: The academic year ends soon, so I’m pretty busy. I managed to read Wraiths of Time by Andre Norton, and I’m currently reading Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko. That’s all the fiction I’ve had time for this week. I’m looking forward to a summer full of books!

April 18th, 2021. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 1 comment |

B.P.R.D.: 1948: A great follow-up to 1947

B.P.R.D.: 1948 by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), Max Fiumara (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer)

This is another early B.P.R.D. story, this one taking place in 1948. The B.P.R.D. headquarters have been moved from New Mexico to New England. The professor is still magically visited in his office by Varvara, the little Russian girl who oversees the supernatural branch of the Russian government. She is always written well by Mignola, who is accompanied by Arcudi on writing duties this time. And I particularly like it when she tells the professor that he is a “strange little moth.

The Sioux Spaceman: Beware the Horsemen of the Stars

The Sioux Spaceman by Andre Norton

Tantor Media has published an audio version of Baen’s The Game of Stars and Comets (2009), an omnibus that contains these four novels by Andre Norton: The Sioux Spaceman (1960), Eye of the Monster (1962), The X Factor (1965), and Voorloper (1980). Each of these short novels stands alone but they are all set in Norton’s Council/Confederation universe. I’m going to review them separately,

The Twilight Zone: One of the finest anthology series of all time

The Twilight Zone created by Rod Serling

Viewers who tuned in to CBS at 10 PM on October 2, 1959, a Friday, to try out the brand-new show with the unusual title The Twilight Zone could have had little idea that the program they were about to watch would soon develop into one of the legendary glories of 1960s television. Today, of course, The Twilight Zone needs no introduction. For most of us — at least, for those of us younger than 65 years old — it is a show that has always been with us,

April 16th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Machinehood: A near-future SF thriller that feels realistic

Machinehood by S.B. Divya

“If they get everyone to stop taking pills and give bots equal rights, humanity is screwed.”

It’s 2095 and humans rely on drugs to stay healthy as well as physically and cognitively competitive in a gig economy where they must compete with artificial intelligence for jobs.

Cameras everywhere tend to keep violent urges in check, so life is fairly peaceful for Welga Ramirez, a 35-year-old physically-upgraded bodyguard who’s happy to have steady employment (most people don’t) and is looking forward to being transferred to a desk job soon.

Month: April 2021

A Question of Navigation: Ghastly, gory, and entertaining

WWWednesday: April 21, 2021

The X Factor: An outsider makes friends on a cold planet

Finna: It’s a LitenVärld after all

Eye of the Monster: Colonized crocs get revenge

Sunday Status Update: April 18, 2021

B.P.R.D.: 1948: A great follow-up to 1947

The Sioux Spaceman: Beware the Horsemen of the Stars

The Twilight Zone: One of the finest anthology series of all time

Machinehood: A near-future SF thriller that feels realistic

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