Treacle Walker (2022), by Alan Garner, is a little book, a strange book, a layered book, a mystifying book, a linguistic romp of a book, a stimulating book, a delightful book. It may also be, to employ two of the many Google-necessitating words from its pages, a hurlothrumbo or lomperhomack, a macaroni or taradiddle of a book, though I’ll leave it to your own investigations as to whether any of those fit (if those few examples of Garner’s dialect didn’t scare you off,
January 15th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Alan Garner | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
They Came From Outer Space: 12 Classic Science Fiction Tales That Became Major Motion Pictures edited by Jim Wynorski
It really was a splendid idea for an anthology: Select a dozen of the most famous, beloved and influential science fiction movies of all time and then gather together the 12 short stories and novellas that had served as their source material. And that is precisely what editor Jim Wynorski did, resulting in his 1980 collection They Came From Outer Space: 12 Classic Science Fiction Tales That Became Major Motion Pictures.
January 12th, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, Harry Bates, Henry Kuttner, John W. Campbell, Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
To my personal dismay, the Peregrine One lunar lander did not make moonfall because of fuel problems. Space.com has more technical information. (Personal because among the many things meant for the moon is a digitized library that includes a short story I wrote.)
Nerds of a Feather reviews That We Maye with Free Heartes Accomplishe Those Thynges, by Thomas M. Waldroon, as part of their Novella Project.
Tor.com previews Paolo Bacigalupi’s new fantasy novel (that’s right, fantasy), Navola due out in July,
January 10th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Daybreak – 2250 A.D. (aka Star Man’s Son) by Andre Norton
It’s 2250 A.D., two hundred years after a nuclear holocaust destroyed most life, knowledge, history, and civilization on Earth. Fors, a young man with a mutation that renders his hair silver and his hearing and sight extra keen, is a descendent of a group of scientists who used to do nuclear research before it all went wrong. Fors desperately wants to become a Star Man like his father who died on a quest ten years ago.
January 10th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Reinvented Detective edited by Cat Rambo & Jennifer Brozek
As is typically the case for story anthologies in my experience, The Reinvented Detective, part of an anthology series edited by Cat Rambo and Jennifer Brozek, was a mixed bag, with stories ranging from excellent to good to flat at best.
All of the stories are set in the future, though the time spectrum runs from the relatively near-future to a few decades to a far-flung future of interstellar travel. Settings move from the “real world” to the virtual one (sometimes within the same story),
January 9th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Cat Rambo, Charles Coleman (C.C.) Finlay, Harry Turtledove, Peter Clines | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske
In 2023’s A Power Unbound, Book Three of the LAST BINDING trilogy, Freya Marske resolves the complex and tantalizing issues she set out in the first book. The riddle of the Last Contract is explained, magic (in Britain, at least) is changed forever, and arrogant, broody aristocrat Jack, Lord Hawthorn, gets a boyfriend.
This review may contain mild spoilers for the first two books.
At the end of A Restless Truth,
January 8th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Freya Marske | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Friday, Book One: The First Day of Christmas by Ed Brubaker (author), Marcos Martin (artist), and Muntsa Vicente (colorist)
Ed Brubaker’s Friday is what he calls a post-YA book. It tells the story of eighteen-year-old Friday, who was once a kid detective with her friend, the young genius Lance. Friday was the Watson to Lance’s Sherlock Holmes. In the present of the story, Friday has just returned from her first semester at college, and she is apprehensive about seeing Lance for the first time since their disastrous meeting the night before she left for college.
January 6th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Ed Brubaker | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
UnWholly (2012) is the second book in Neal Shusterman’s UNWIND DYSTOLOGY. You’ll need to read the first novel, Unwind, first, so I’ll assume you have. This review will contain minor spoilers for that book.
Connor, Risa, and Lev have each escaped being unwound, are hiding from the juvenile authority, and are determined to stop the evil practice of unwinding that their society has embraced. The plot splits into a few subplots as each teenager has their own dangerous road to travel in this installment.
January 5th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Neal Shusterman | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What’s the best book you read in December 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 5-Star SFF page.
January 4th, 2024. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 15 comments |
Let’s start the New Year off right! Here is a chocolate review by Elizabeth Bear.
Tor.com reviews the Doctor Who Christmas episode, introducing Ruby Sunday, the new companion.
Stubby the Rocket shares seasonal holiday favorites that aren’t holiday themed in this article.
Nerds of a Feather review Marie Vibbert’s new fantasy, The Gods Awoke.
From earlier last month, they also had an interview with Malka Older.
Champagne toasts? Football games? Fireworks? How about getting scared silly by creatures in sealskins,
January 3rd, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.