A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
“There was a vulture on the mailbox of my grandmother’s house.”
A couple of weeks ago there was a big discussion on Twitter about “cozy horror.” I followed it, but never really understood what “cozy” was supposed to be. I feel confident saying that T. Kingfisher is the queen of Cozy Horror, though —if “cozy” means there’s a house (haunted or not) and the ending has some bit of optimism. With 2023’s A House With Good Bones,
June 30th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | T. Kingfisher | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Application of Hope by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Application of Hope (2014) is another novella set in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s DIVING UNIVERSE series. You can read it at any point in the series, but it’d be best as a companion to City of Ruins because it takes place at the same time and gives a different perspective on the important and exciting events of that novel.
Here we meet Tory Sabin and Jonathon “Coop” Cooper,
June 29th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The 2023 Locus Awards were announced on Sunday. Congratulations to John Scalzi for Best SF Novel (The Kaiju Preservation Society); R.F. Kuang for Best Fantasy Novel (Babel); T. Kingfisher for Best Horror Novel (What Moves the Dead); Charlie Jane Anders for Best YA Novel (Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak)—and congratulations to all the other winners.
NASA stepped in to halt lithium mining on a tabletop flat in Nevada,
June 28th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |
The Devil of Pei-Ling by Herbert Asbury
In 2002, Martin Scorsese brought to the big screen his 18th film as a director, Gangs of New York. The picture was based on a nonfiction book by one Herbert Asbury, namely The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the New York Underworld, but the screenwriters played so loosely with the facts in Asbury’s book that the film was famously Oscar nominated for a Best Original Screenplay award,
June 28th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Herbert Asbury | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Becalmed by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Becalmed (2012), a novella originally published in 2011 in Asimov’s Magazine, acts as a prequel to the second DIVING UNIVERSE novel, City of Ruins. You can read it at any point in the series.
Becalmed tells the story of how the spaceship Ivoire, captained by Jonathon “Coop” Cooper, was damaged as it entered foldspace after a failed diplomatic mission to the Quurzod people on the planet Ukhanda.
June 27th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato
Set in a solidly defined second world, Beth Cato’s A Thousand Recipes For Revenge (2023) gives us political intrigue, rising stakes and a bubbling action adventure steeped in a new, culinary magical system.
Adamantine Garland, who goes by Ada, is—or was—a chef, a magical adept who was part of the army of Verdania. When the king of Verdania betrayed her (and others) and disavowed her marriage, Ada deserted, holding a secret close to her heart.
June 26th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Beth Cato | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Fire Spirits by Paul Busson
During the course of four of my recent reviews here on FanLit – for Walter S. Masterman’s The Yellow Mistletoe (1930), Mark Hansom’s The Shadow on the House (1934), R. R. Ryan’s Echo of a Curse (1939) and H. B. Gregory’s Dark Sanctuary (1940) – I had cause to refer to editor/author Karl Edward Wagner’s highly regarded list of 39 of his favorite horror books,
June 23rd, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Paul Busson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
30 Days of Night by Steve Niles (story) and Ben Templesmith (art)
30 Days of Night is an excellent horror comic by Steve Niles with quite creepy art by Ben Templesmith. After a short introduction by Clive Barker, we are taken to Barrow, Alaska on November 17, 2001, the last day the sun shines before there are thirty days of night, which, if you think about it, would be just about perfect for you if you were a vampire with some serious allergies to the sun!
June 22nd, 2023. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | niles | Comics, Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Did you know about the Hanlin Academy library? I did not. Located in Beijing, it burned in 1900 during the hostilities between China and Britain known as the Boxer Rebellion.
The nation celebrated its latest federal holiday on Monday, June 19, called Juneteenth. The article calls it the USA’s second independence day.
Jo Walton is a great writer, a voracious reader and an enthusiastic, honest fan. In the month of May, Walton read a lot of books, and she discusses them here.
Nerds of a Feather review M.R.
June 21st, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
A Swift and Savage Tide by Chloe Neill fantasy book reviews
A Swift and Savage Tide (2021) is the second novel in Chloe Neill’s CAPTAIN KIT BRIGHTLING series. You’ll want to read the first novel, The Bright and Breaking Sea, first. These are pleasant romantic fantasies that will especially appeal to readers who enjoy a nautical setting.
Captain Kit Brightling has, once again, been called on by her queen to save their country from usurper and former emperor Gerard Rousseau.
June 20th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Chloe Neill | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Thanks, Kat, great input!
Marion, thanks for the audiobook article! Interestingly, they list All Systems Red by Martha Wells. Here's part of my review…
And, oh...as to that 2.5-star rating: I think I gave Damon Knight's "Beyond the Barrier" a similar halfhearted rating earlier…
And speaking of mixed, that's how the book left me...mixed! As in MIXED UP!
[…] marketing materials for itself, the ultimate cargo cult, dedicated to spam, stranded on the terminal beach at time’s end.…