The Empire’s Ruin by Brian Staveley
The Empire’s Ruin (2021) kicks off a new series in Brian Staveley’s universe first introduced in his CHRONICLES OF THE UNHEWN THRONE trilogy and then expanded upon via the standalone novel, Skullsworn. The new series, ASHES OF THE UNHEWN THRONE, is a direct sequel to the earlier trilogy, and I strongly recommend reading in publication order, as several of this book’s characters appeared in the first series,
July 30th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Brian Staveley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dr. Jens and her alien colleagues rescue spaceships that are in trouble. After answering a distress call, they discover an old ship in which all of the human crewmembers are in cryogenic storage. Their only caretaker is an oddly sexy robot who was given instructions to build the cryogenic storage containers for the crew long ago.
When Dr. Jens and her colleagues get back to their own ship and get ready to thaw out some of the frozen humans, they discover that their own trusty shipmind,
July 29th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Elizabeth Bear | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Next week’s column will probably be single-topic, because I will be leaving for the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference earlier in the week.
The Ladies of Horror Fiction announced their annual award winners.
Mari Ness had a fun story in Daily SF this week.
The British Fantasy Awards short list is out, and included Alix Harrow, Premee Mohamed, N.K. Jemisin, T. Kingfisher and Silvia Moreno-Garcia (and many more!)
For people planning to attend WorldCon AKA DisCon Two,
July 28th, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Black Widow directed by Cate Shortland
Black Widow is an almost always entertaining and often exciting film, though it has its issues. And while they’re the kind of problems that you have to think about a little, making it easy to glide by them amidst the witty banter and multiple explosions, they do lead to a sense that the movie missed some opportunities and thus prevent it from staking its place in the top tier of Marvel films (some minor spoilers to come).
The movie opens two decades ago with an absolutely great first scene that shifts from classic suburban domestic bliss to violence and terror,
July 28th, 2021. Bill Capossere | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Second Deluge by Garrett P. Serviss
It is the Indian state of Meghalaya, just north of Bangladesh, the holds the record for being “The Wettest Spot on Earth,” getting, on average, a whopping total of 467” of rain a year. (Do bring an umbrella if you’re planning a visit!) But while this 38-foot tally, 13 times what Seattle might expect annually, is certainly impressive, it pales to insignificance compared to what descends from the heavens in Garrett P. Serviss’ 1911 novel The Second Deluge,
July 27th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Garrett P. Serviss | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
I loved Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, thought Catching Fire was quite good if not as great as the first one, and was only so-so on Mockingjay. Also, it’s an uphill battle to write a good, enjoyable prequel if the reader already knows what’s going to happen to the main character in the later books and (spoiler) it’s highly unpleasant.
July 26th, 2021. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Suzanne Collins | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Kat: Since you heard from me last, I’m caught up on the novelizations of the Foglios’ GIRL GENIUS comic (so fun!). I finished two more Andre Norton stories: Star Guard and Star Rangers. I also read Juliet Blackwell’s Synchronized Sorcery (the latest WITCHCRAFT MYSTERY) and football player Michael Bennett’s Things That Make White People Uncomfortable.
Bill: This week I read and enjoyed Brian Staveley’s The Empire’s Ruin,
July 25th, 2021. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 3 comments |
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (Vol. 3): Russia by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), Tyler Crook (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer).
As in all my reviews of long series, I do give spoilers for previous books in the series, so I can now mention the major event of volume 2: Abe is shot by the runaway teenager Fenix, and at the close of the volume, Abe seems to be brain dead and barely alive physically. I can also mention what happened when he was shot: Devon observed the shooting,
July 24th, 2021. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Tomorrow War directed by Chris McKay
There’s really no way to sugarcoat this. The Tomorrow War is one of the worst movies I have seen in years, in or out of genre. Outside of some likable performances, the film fails at nearly every level: premise, look, pace, plot, and dialogue (so of course, a sequel is already on tap). I’d say it was a waste of two-plus hours, save that it was so bad that we ended up fast-forwarding through whole chunks once we realized we somehow had over an hour left,
July 23rd, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 2 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!