Junji Ito is, in the United States, the best-known creator of horror manga (Japanese comics). So far, seventeen volumes have been translated into English (some are as long as 750 pages). Most of what has been published are collections of short stories like Shiver and Fragments of Horror. However, there are graphic novels by Ito that tell one long story, like Gyo, Tomie, and his masterpiece, Uzumaki.
February 11th, 2023. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Conquerors From the Darkness by Robert Silverberg
As I believe I’ve mentioned elsewhere, 1959 was the year when future sci-fi Grand Master – not to mention multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner – Robert Silverberg, chafing at the genre’s limitations, decided to retire from the field. By that point, he’d already written, since his professional debut in 1954, some 250 (!) sci-fi short stories as well as 16 novels, and was surely entitled to some kind of a retirement! Ha! Some retirement! From 1960 till 1967, when Galaxy editor Frederik Pohl induced Silverberg to return to the field,
February 10th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Robert Silverberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
The Chengdu WorldCon Committee announced that it can now take credit card payments for membership, but still has not opened the Hugo awards for nominations and voting. File770 notes that this means the period will open later than any WorldCon in the past 15 years.
The Horror Writers Association interviews Black horror writer Winifred Iker. I thought I would like Iker when I read the sentence saying she has “a robust collection of Tarot cards.” But the great-aunt who arrived each summer with a tote-bag full of books sealed the deal!
February 8th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
When 2023’s Hell Bent, by Leigh Bardugo, opens, a demon has trapped Galaxy Stern, who goes by Alex, in the basement of the Black Elm house, along with two ghosts. Upstairs, her friend and mentor, Darlington, who was sucked into a hell dimension in Ninth House, Book One of the ALEX STERN series, waits in demon form. It’s safe to say things aren’t going well.
The second book brings us back to dark Yale and the home of the various secret societies,
February 7th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Leigh Bardugo | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Empire of the Feast by Bendi Barrett
“Within our sun is the Rapacious and it hungers.”
2022’s novella Empire of the Feast begins with something going wrong. Riverson awakes, being called Empress by a royal retainer, who is shocked to discover that the new ruler is not female, as all of the Stag Empire’s rulers have been. Furthermore, Riverson lacks the memories of his forebears — and it seems his immediate predecessor, the 31st Empress, was murdered. That’s pretty shocking, but it’s going to get more shocking real fast.
February 6th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Bendi Barrett | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What’s the best book you read in January 2023 and why did you love it?
It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF, or even fiction. We just want to share some great reading material.
Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our Fanlit Faves page and our 5-Star SFF page.
February 2nd, 2023. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 12 comments |
From last year, here is an article for the feline that may have been the inspiration for Grumpy Cat—the Pallas’s, or Pallas cat, indigenous to the Central Asian Steppes.
Malice Domestic announced the finalists for the Agatha Christie Awards this year. The award recognizes excellence in contemporary “traditional” mysteries, or what I might call, from their description, “cozies.” (I love that one of the finalists is titled The Finalist.)
The Library of America announces an April release of a collection of Ursula LeGuin’s poetry,
February 1st, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 10 comments |
Oh...and the men used the name "The Great Northern Expedition" to throw people off as to their actual destination, even…
Oh, it IS, Marion! It is!
Sorry if I mislead you in this detail, Paul...the voyage by ship was only the first leg of the quintet's…
The geography is confusing me--how does one get to a village in Tibet by ship? And even the northernmost part…
Oh, this sounds interesting!