Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Month: July 2024

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins: Clark is a master of the short novel form

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark

P. Djèlí Clark has in past works show himself to be a master of the short novel form, and that holds true with his newest, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, a fast-paced mystery romp full of dark humor set amidst a twisting turning tale. I had a blast reading it and can’t imagine that reaction won’t be widely shared amongst those wise enough to pick it up.

That odd title (it gets explained in the opening scene) is the name of an assassins guild working in the port city of Tal Abisi.

Rule of Wolves: A strong but rather slipshod conclusion to one of the best YA sagas in recent years

Reposting to include Rebecca’s new review.

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

Rule of Wolves, the second half of Leigh Bardugo’s NIKOLAI DUOLOGY, picks up right where King of Scars left off and flings the reader headlong into the story. In other words, if it’s been a while since you read King of Scars, you’d be well advised to refamiliarize yourself at least a little with its plot;

Gyo by Junji Ito (An Oxford College Student Review!)

In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level (see my Manifesto!). I post the best of my students’ reviews in this column. Today, I am proud to present a review by Joseph Dominguez.

Joseph Dominguez is a first-year student at Oxford College and is considering majoring in Finance and QSS.

July 27th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics, Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Horror Movie: A “cursed film” and a cursed narrator

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

2024’s Horror Movie is the first Paul Tremblay book I’ve read. Having finished this disturbing, baffling and freaky tour de force, I will now seek out his other works.

Haunted films or cursed films are nothing new in the horror subgenre or even in pop-culture folklore. Tremblay takes this time-honored trope and runs with it. The book makes its way through three storylines; a present tense storyline narrated by our first-person narrator; his recollections on that time in 1993 when he was part of an independent film called Horror Movie (that was never completed);

WWWednesday: July 24, 2024

The 2024 Hugo Awards Committee has disqualified 377 votes that were determined to have been not cast by “a natural person” as the WSFS constitution calls for. See the details here or watch the video below.

Charlie Jane Anders thinks there are plenty of Doctor Who stories left on the table, and she shares 11 story seeds in her newsletter.

The Sunday Morning Transport offers us a free story. (Thanks to File 770.)

Peruvian art installation/theme park Area 21 looks pretty cool.

July 24th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Isle of Forgotten People: Yellow flowers in the yellow sea

The Isle of Forgotten People by Thompson Cross

For almost a decade now, the publisher known as Armchair Fiction has been a godsend of sorts for all readers of lost world/lost race fare. The company released its first such book in 2015 – Pierre Benoit’s 1919 classic Atlantida – and as of today, its Lost World – Lost Race Classics series stands at a very impressive 58 volumes, with no end in sight. I have recently written here of two of those 58 books – James De Mille’s excellent A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder (1888) and Will N.

The Death of Jane Lawrence: This one just wasn’t for me

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

Caitlin Starling’s 2022 novel The Death of Jane Lawrence got enthusiastic critical reviews and was nominated for a Stoker Award, so clearly people loved it. In spite of an interesting premise, the book was a disconnect for me. Your mileage may vary.

Jane Shoringfield is an orphan raised by a kind couple after her parents were killed in a war. She is impoverished, and no longer willing to be a drain on the resources of her guardians, she decides to arrange a marriage.

WWWednesday: July 17, 2024

I know we were all worried that the Glasgow WorldCon would go off with no scandals or dust-ups, but have no fear! George R.R. Martin has a complaint.

Tananarive Due, Laura Blackwell, Elizabeth Hand and others were honored at the Shirley Jackson Awards last weekend.

In the wake of last year’s disastrous Hugo candidate selection, this year’s WSFS business meeting faces 15 proposals that deal directly with the aftermath. Some attempt to remediate the damage done to eligible authors who were excluded for no known reason. Others attempt to prevent similar events in the future.

July 17th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Last Song of Penelope: A powerfully tense and moving conclusion

The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North

Amongst the slew of modern myth retellings the last few years (so many the NY Times recently wrote an article on the number “flooding bookstores”), one of the strongest has been THE SONGS OF PENELOPE by Claire North. The first two, Ithaca and House of Odysseus, were excellent, and North maintains that high standard with the just-released The Last Song of Penelope (2024),

July 16th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Claire North | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Camp Damascus: Demonic possession meets summer camp horror

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

Camp Damascus (2023) starts off as a demonic thriller and ends up as a plucky-kids-fight-humancentric-evil story, in Chuck Tingle’s first non-erotica novel. The author, who had a large audience on X/Twitter, came to the attention of many of us during the 2016 Hugo awards (all scandals aside, don’t say the Hugos never did anything nice for us). Previously known for men/men (or in some cases, men/dinosaur) erotica online, with Camp Damascus Tingle successfully makes the jump to horror,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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