Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: April 2021

WWWednesday: April 14, 2021

Books and Writing:

It looks like a good Hugo year. File 770 shares where to find works at no cost.

This very long article ranks portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, (after a lengthy description of the criteria and the screening out of various people.) Enjoy.

Speaking of Holmes (kinda) File 770 was one of the stops on the Adler blog tour. Adler is a graphic novel collaboration between Lavie Tidhar and Paul McCaffery, featuring Holmes’s female adversary Irene Adler.

Jeanette Ng wants a more thoughtful and expansive approach to critique of problematic literary works.

April 14th, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Hilda and the Black Hound: A slightly scarier adventure for our Hilda

Hilda and the Black Hound by Luke Pearson

The fourth book in the HILDA series by Luke Pearson sees our little blue-haired adventurer grappling with two brand new mysteries. Taking place in a Scandinavian-inspired setting filled with all sorts of mythological creatures, Hilda and her mother have recently moved to the city after their log-cabin was destroyed — and Hilda is finding it a bit difficult to adjust.

Her mother suggests she join the Sparrow Scouts, something she was involved with as a little girl,

April 14th, 2021. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Hummingbird Salamander: VanderMeer’s unique take on the eco-thriller

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer

Hummingbird Salamander (2021) is Jeff VanderMeer’s newest work, and it may also be his most accessible. Certainly it’s his least strange, though admittedly with VanderMeer that’s not saying much. Though if he’s working in more familiarly popular territory — the thriller novel — there’s no doubt VanderMeer puts his own stamp on the genre, whether he’s working within its tropes or subverting them.

Chapter One opens ominously enough, as any good thriller should — “Assume I’m dead by the time you read this” — and ends even more so — “I’m here to show you how the world ends.” The stakes have clearly been set.

Hilda and the Bird Parade: Hilda’s adventures continue

Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson

The third book in the HILDA series by Luke Pearson sees our blue-haired adventurer in quite different surroundings. After the events of Hilda and the Midnight Giant, Hilda and her mother have moved to the city, far away from the open spaces of the countryside and the multitude of magical creatures that live there.

Still, Hilda is trying to make the best of it, even if her mother is far more nervous about her roaming the city by herself than she was the country.

April 12th, 2021. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Sunday Status Update: April 11, 2021

Kat: It’s been a few weeks since I checked in. Since then I’ve read Voorloper and Android at Arms by Andre Norton, Tower of Mud and Straw (Nebula finalist) by Yaroslav Barsukov, A Question of Navigation by Kevin Hearne, and two non-fiction books: Is This Wi-Fi Organic? by Dave Farina and Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin. Oh, and I continue to read the textbook I’m using for a new class: Psychopharmacology: Drugs,

April 11th, 2021. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |

Time Jumpers: A satisfactory ending to this MG fantasy series

Time Jumpers by Brandon Mull

Anyone who’s read the first four installments of Brandon Mull’s FIVE KINGDOMS series for middle graders will undoubtedly want to read the fifth and concluding volume, Time Jumpers (2018). We all want to know if Cole and his friends will be able to escape the Outskirts and return home, and we want to know if the kids’ families and friends will still remember them!

This time Cole is visiting the last of the five kingdoms: Creon.

Exit Strategy: Murderbot to the rescue

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

Murderbot, the snarky, introverted cyborg hero of Martha Wells’ THE MURDERBOT DIARIES series, returns from its trip to Milu, the deserted terraforming facility in space. The cyborg Security Unit ― which has committed the unprecedented crime of hacking its “governor” that required it to obey orders ― was searching on Milu for additional evidence against the evil-ridden corporation GrayCris, as related in the third novella in this series, Rogue Protocol. Because of key evidence found on the Milu trip,

Thoughtful Thursday: Rename this horrible cover

Time for another “Rename This Horrible Cover” contest!

The Underpeople, by Cordwainer Smith, was published in 1964 and makes up half of the novel Norstrilia. The cover is…. striking…

Can you suggest a better name for a book with this cover?

The creator of the title we like best wins a book from our stacks.

Got a suggestion for a horrible cover that needs renaming? Please send it to Kat.

April 8th, 2021. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 19 comments |

Tower of Mud and Straw: A poignant tale of love and loss

Tower of Mud and Straw by Yaroslav Barsukov

Lord Shea Ashcroft, a government minister, faced with a rioting crowd of protestors in the capital city, makes the call to have the military fall back rather than killing the protestors — and innocent bystanders —with poisonous gas. Some people praise his mercy, but half the city now lies in ruins from the mob’s violence, and the queen is not so appreciative of his decision. Shea is shipped off to the border city of Owenbeg as punishment, charged with overseeing the finishing of construction of a colossal tower to protect the border against enemy airships.

WWWednesday: April 7, 2021

Writers, Writing, Reading, Books:

Some people don’t know how to daydream? Nancy Jane Moore shares an essay on this valuable gift.

Serial Box has a new name and an expanded mission; it’s now Realm, and it includes podcasts.

The Booknest Fantasy Award winners were announced last week.

Vulture profiles Helen Oyeyemi.

Larry Correia announces some new projects on his blog.

Five works that put bards at the center of the action.

April 7th, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.