Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: August 2022

WWWednesday: August 31, 2022

File 770 posted its Filers locations and meet-ups during ChiCon8, which is this year’s WorldCon.

Casey Fiesler posted a thoughtful article about the internet and privacy. No innovations or new revelations here, just a considered look at fanfiction, emotional support and unintended consequences.

Vanity publishers are still around and still predatory, as this column in LitHub attests.

Thanks to File 770 for this article about Robby, the Security Robot, at a Portland, Oregon, hotel.

Nerds of a Feather’s Joe and Ari discuss some of this year’s Hugo and Hugo-adjacent nominations.

August 31st, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Centaur: Another masterwork from Algernon Blackwood

The Centaur by Algernon Blackwood

English author Algernon Blackwood was always one to make good use of his wide-ranging travels in the 14 novels and over 180 short stories and novellas that he would ultimately give to the world. For example, his early 1890s sojourn in Canada, where he worked as a dairy farmer and hotel operator, would, upon his return to England, provide the inspirational setting for one of his greatest novellas, “The Wendigo” (1910). Canoeing trips down the Danube during the summers of 1900 and 1901 would compel him to pen one of his most famous tales,

Sunday Status Update: August 28, 2022

Marion: I finished up Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett with mixed feelings which I shared in the comments of Bill’s excellent review. I needed a palate cleanser, so I reread a couple of things. The Dain Curse, by Dashiell Hammett, reminded me how much I love his world-weary Continental Op, and his dialogue–also unpleasantly reminded me of the racism. Harder to take than I remembered. Continuing the reread trend, I dove into Daryl Gregory’s We Are All Perfectly Fine.

August 28th, 2022. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 1 comment |

Age of Ash: The first in yet another must-read series

Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

I have to say, my timing of reading Daniel Abraham’s newest novel, Age of Ash (2022), couldn’t have been better, coming as it did right after I finished the last EXPANSE novel, the series he co-wrote with Ty Franck (as James S.A. Corey). After all, while THE EXPANSE has been my favorite sci-fi series for the past number of years, Abraham was also responsible for two of my favorite fantasy series: THE LONG PRICE QUARTET and THE COIN AND THE DAGGER,

August 26th, 2022. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 5 | Daniel Abraham | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Ghostlight: An entertaining and engaging MG ghost story

Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel

Kenneth Oppel’s Ghostlight is a quick-moving MG story involving a trio of teens battling a long-dead villain seeking to raise an army of ghosts in modern-day Toronto. Full of action, the narrative also includes a number of brief but effective emotional moments and also highlights the poor treatment of Native groups.

Gabe Vasilakis has a summer job giving the Ghost Tour of the Toronto’s Gibraltar Point Lighthouse, which in 1839 saw the unexplained deaths of its keeper and his 16-year-old daughter, Rebecca Strand.

WWWednesday: August 24, 2022

The image is from Elle Magazine’s Spring Summer 22 fashion roundup.

NASA has created a sonification of the sound emanating from a black hole.

The annual Bulwer-Lytton contest, to celebrate intentionally bad prose, announced its winners this week. Speculative fiction is well represented in the contest, as always… and so is everything else.

S.L. Huang’s article in Tor.com, tracing the history and legacy of the conventional SFF writers workshop, is thoughtful. For me it brought up a lot of bad workshop memories.

Three Thousand Years of Longing?

August 24th, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 6 comments |

Amongst Our Weapons: Delightful and fulfilling

Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch

“She looked at me, her eyes wide.
“‘Am I free?’ she said.
“‘Yes,” I said. ‘And no.’”

Amongst Our Weapons (2022) is my new favorite in Ben Aaronovitch’s RIVERS OF LONDON series, mostly because, at long last, Peter and Beverly’s progeny, the twins, make an appearance. That isn’t the only reason; the plot is good and moves quickly, and the talking foxes recruited by Peter’s young cousin Abigail are in the book just enough to keep it extra entertaining.

August 23rd, 2022. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Ben Aaronovitch | SFF Reviews | no comments |

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (vol. 14): The Exorcist: Demon possession and missing children

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (vol. 14): The Exorcist by Mike Mignola (writer), Chris Roberson (writer), Cameron Stewart (art/writer), Mike Norton (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Clem Robins (letters).

Volume fourteen starts in the past with an exorcism of a woman taking place in East Africa in 1890 before jumping to the present with the attempted exorcism of a little boy. With Agent Ashley Strode present at the exorcism, the demon manifests and speaks directly to her, letting her know that the turmoil between Hell and Earth can be minimized if she can meet the demands made in the demon’s message.

Turnabout: The ol’ switcheroo

Turnabout by Thorne Smith

It has been a good number of years since I last read Thorne Smith’s ribald fantasy classic entitled The Night Life of the Gods (1931), but I can still recall how thoroughly enjoyable and hilarious the book was for me. In this wonderful romp, a NYC-based scientist, Hunter Hawk, invents a device that can turn people to stone. He soon meets Megaera, one of the Little People, who has the converse ability to turn statues into living people,

WWWednesday: August 17, 2022

Salman Rushdie was taken off a ventilator on Sunday, and was able to speak. A lone attacker stabbed Rushdie at an event in New York state on Friday. Hadi Matar, the alleged attacker, has pled not guilt to charges of attempted murder. Rushdie is probably best known for The Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children. Voices worldwide have joined to acknowledge his work and hope for a good recovery.

Over the weekend the Canadian Aurora awards were announced. Fonda Lee won for Best Novel for Jade Legacy,

August 17th, 2022. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

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.
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COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
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So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…