Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: July 2022

The Ecolitan Operation: I’d like to see where this is going

The Ecolitan Operation by L.E. Modesitt Jr

Major Jimjoy Wright is the Empire’s most successful secret agent. That’s because he’s strong, brave, clever, deceptive, ruthless, and totally goal-oriented. Once he accepts a mission from his government, nothing gets in his way. He always gets the job done.

Though JimJoy thinks he’s highly ethical, most people would find his consequentialism to be psychopathic. For example, JimJoy is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent people. This doesn’t bother him because if he hadn’t destroyed them, millions of other innocent people probably would have died (it’s like an extreme version of the Trolley Problem).

Ralph 124C 41+: The Kramdens, they’re not!

Ralph 124C 41+ by Hugo Gernsback

During the course of any number of my book musings here at FanLit, I have made reference to editor Hugo Gernsback, in whose magazine Amazing Stories – the very first magazine devoted to the type of writing that would one day be called “science fiction,” and which rolled out its first issue in April 1926 – so many wonderful tales and serialized novels first appeared. Gernsback, in truth, was a pretty remarkable figure. He’d been born in Luxembourg City in 1884, and by the time of his passing in 1967,

WWWednesday: July 27, 2022

Next week, August 3, will be a single-topic column.

Jordan Peele’s adult horror movie Nope opened to $44 million at the box office.

Marvel revealed the first Wakanda Forever trailer at San Diego Comic-Con.

Jenny Hamilton reviews Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater at Tor.com.

The site also shares upcoming August releases.

File770 interviews Nicole Michell, a jazz musician and composer who has created a suite of works inspired by Octavia Butler’s XENOGENESIS TRILOGY.

July 27th, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Locklands: Concludes one of the best series of the last decade

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett

In Locklands, Robert Jackson Bennett closes out his FOUNDERS TRILOGY in epic style, raising the stakes to literally “all of creation” and upping his characters’ (some of them) power levels to god-like heights, all while managing to keep the story grounded in the personal thanks to Jackson’s typically sharp characterization. Being the concluding novel, two things should be obvious: one, you need to have read the prior ones and two, there will be inevitable spoilers for those prior books.

July 27th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |

Into the Narrowdark: Wonderfully immersive and rewarding

Into the Narrowdark by Tad Williams

Into the Narrowdark is the concluding volume to Tad Williams’ epic THE LAST KING OF OSTEN ARD series, and it … Hold on. Scratch that. Apparently, Williams and his publishers have decided to split the concluding work into two books. So readers will have to wait a bit longer for that conclusion, though at least they’ll have a short novel to read instead of … Wait a minute. OK, never mind on the brevity. Turns out Into the Narrowdark is still 600+ pages,

July 26th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Tad Williams | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Sunday Status Update: July 24, 2022

Justin: Just wrapped up Leviathan Wakes by James S.A.Corey. It is Book 1 of THE EXPANSE series. Read this on a dare and couldn’t be happier that I did. Also making some plans for a trip to Gencon in Indianapolis in a couple weeks. You should expect to see a write-up from me on that adventure. If you plan to be there let me know and I’ll give you a Fanlit book mark and maybe play a board game or something.

Bill: This week I read Tad Wiliams’

July 24th, 2022. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 2 comments |

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (vol. 13): End of Days: The ultimate battle with the Black Flame

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (vol. 13): End of Days by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), Laurence Campbell (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Clem Robins (letters).

With Johann in the vril-powered suit of armor, the B.P.R.D. now has on hand a great resource for taking on monsters. Johann commands almost as much power as Liz. Liz has taken the time to get back to gardening back at the B.P.R.D. headquarters now that Johann used the armor to stop the monsters that were getting close in Colorado. But events are escalating around the world.

The Deep and Shining Dark: Intriguing enough to check out book 2

The Deep and Shining Dark by Juliet Kemp

The opening of a new series, The Deep and Shining Dark is a debut novel by Juliet Kemp, that for the most part avoids many if not all of the common issues of first books, making for a smoothly enjoyable read that falls just a bit short of a richly realized story.

The city of Marek is ostensibly part of the larger nation of Teren. It for some time now has operated as an independent city-state thanks to several factors: being a port city,

July 21st, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Juliet Kemp | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WWWednesday: July 20, 2022

Even if you’re not a Jane Austen fan, you might enjoy this acerbic (and perceptive) review of the new Netflix adaptation of Persuasion. On the other hand, The Mary Sue speaks for the defense.

No, you haven’t seen enough images from the James Webb Space Telescope yet, so here are some more.

R.L. Stein is considered the founding father of kids’ horror, and GOOSEBUMPS turns 30 this year. The writer considers the legacy of the series.

Eric Flint passed away earlier this month.

July 20th, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Gladiator: Of Hugo, Doc and Supes

Gladiator by Philip Wylie

In a recent review here on FanLit, for J.D. Beresford’s seminal 1911 classic The Wonder, I mentioned that the novel was an early example of one of Radium Age sci-fi’s favorite themes, that of the “superman” or “wunderkind.” In that book, we had encountered a young British lad, Victor Stott, who was born with superhuman mental abilities that had made him an object of both fear and hatred among most of his fellows. Well, now I am here to share some thoughts on still another Radium Age wonder that tells the tale of a superman,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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