Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: March 2023

Yellow Jessamine: A dark, disturbing treat

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

Having thoroughly enjoyed Caitlin Starling’s 2019 novel The Luminous Dead, I was very happy to learn that I wouldn’t have to wait long to read more of her work.

Yellow Jessamine (2020), Starling’s new novella, is completely different from The Luminous Dead but similarly features creepy atmosphere, a background of family trauma, and relationships filled with dysfunctional tension and longing.

Evelyn Perdanu is a wealthy woman in the city of Delphinium,

Sunday Status Update: March 12, 2023

Marion: I finished the Veronica Roth novella Arch-Conspirator, that Bill recommended, and thought it was very good. Now I’m halfway through a thriller by Paula McLain called When the Stars Go Dark. It’s set in the village of Mendocino, CA, and other north-coastal spots in 1993. While it’s well-written, the blending of her fictional missing-girl story with the real-life Polly Klaas is a little hard to take. That case isn’t abstract history for me–I remember it vividly. I’m sticking with the book though.

Sandy: Moi?

March 12th, 2023. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | no comments |

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (Vol. 2): It Only Hurts When I Pee: The slapstick horror continues

Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (Vol. 2): It Only Hurts When I Pee by Ben Templesmith

The slapstick horror of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse continues in volume two, It Only Hurts When I Pee. Wormwood is an “intergalactic, interdimensional, immortal, happy-go-lucky larval worm thing” that “wears corpses likes suits.” You can see the worm he is in the eyeball of each corpse. And he has his gang: Mr. Pendulum a “robotic drinking companion”; Ms. Medusa, ex-girlfriend and manager of Wormwood’s favorite bar, The Dark Alley; and Phoebe Phoenix,

March 11th, 2023. Brad Hawley´s rating: 3 | Comics, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WWWednesday: March 8, 2023

In honor of International Women’s Day, the image is of writer, teacher and activist Toni Morrison receiving the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.

Nerds of a Feather announces editorial changes as Arturo Serrano, Roseanne Pendlebury and Paul Weimer join their editorial crew. Adri Joy and Joe Sherry move to Senior Editor staff.

On Whatever, John Scalzi discusses a positive use for AI—photography.

Publishers Weekly puts comic book sales under its business-themed microscope.

SWFA announced the 2023 Nebula Award finalists.

March 8th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Clytemnestra: A worthy entry

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

Clytemnestra (2023), as the style makes clear, is another entry in the ever-growing genre of Greek myth retellings. Casati does a nice job here of creating tension even within a well-known tale, and has several quite moving scenes, though the book’s somewhat flat style and — for me at least — odd choice of where to end, places it more in the middle tier of similar works.

After some a welcome family tree and large cast of characters that also serves to refresh a few details (who raped whom,

The Atlantic Abomination: There goes Jacksonville!

The Atlantic Abomination by John Brunner

In his 1953 novel The Kraken Wakes, English author John Wyndham gave his readers a tale concerning aliens who land on Earth and proceed to terrorize the planet from their bases on the ocean floor. But this, of course, was not the last time that a British writer would regale his readers with a story about malevolent space visitors living beneath the seas. Thus, in John Brunner’s novel of seven years later,

Sunday Status Update: March 5, 2023

Marion: I read the latest Vera Stanhope mystery by Ann Cleeves and didn’t care for it much, but the mystery centers around a bunch of 60-somethings who went to a “retreat” and encounter-session when they were teens in the 70s, and I laughed out loud. I went to those. Cleeves nailed it. After that I read The Eidolon, K.D. Edwards’s companion piece to The Hourglass Throne. The book covers what happened to Rune’s three young charges, Quinn, Max and Anna, during the parts of The Hourglass Throne when they were missing.

March 5th, 2023. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 1 comment |

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi: The start of a promising new series

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Shannon Chakraborty, author of the recommended THE DAEVAVAD TRILOGY, is back with the start of a new series, and if the first book, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi, is any measure, it’s sure to be as fun and magic filled as the first (sharp-eyed readers will at one point note it’s actually set in the same universe as the first as well, albeit much earlier).

Some years ago Amina Al-Sirafi was a famed smuggler and pirate before going into retirement to care for her daughter,

March 3rd, 2023. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | S.A. Chakraborty | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Thoughtful Thursday: What’s the best book you read last month?

It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!

What’s the best book you read in February 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.

March 2nd, 2023. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 8 comments |

The Eidolon: Will probably be banned

The Eidolon is billed as Book One of the MAGNUS ACADEMY series, part of K.D. Edwards’s TAROT SEQUENCE world. It is a companion piece to the third book of his first trilogy, The Hourglass Throne. It you haven’t read The Hourglass Throne, it’s not likely you’ll understand what’s going on here. Mild spoilers for The Hourglass Throne may follow.

Rune St. Nicholas was the sole survivor of the murderous attack on his Court,

March 2nd, 2023. Marion Deeds | K.D. Edwards | SFF Reviews | 8 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.