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Normal Rules Don’t Apply: Stories about alternate possibilities

Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson

In a number of her novels, Kate Atkinson explores the idea of alternate possibilities, playing with “what if” scenarios for various characters. Showing she doesn’t need a full novel to explore the heady concept, Atkinson returns to that theme in Normal Rules Don’t Apply, a collection of eleven loosely linked short stories.

The first, “The Void”, is a masterclass in chilling mundanity as out in the countryside an old man and his equally old dog find their daily walk shockingly interrupted by a horrific sight.

An Inheritance of Magic: A fun opening to a new series

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka

An Inheritance of Magic is a solid fantasy with an entirely engaging Everyman of a character who comes with an equally engaging cat. I could have done with a bit more clarity on the world the story is set in, and at times things seemed to come a little easily to the main character, but this was a generally enjoyable and interesting story, enough so that I’ll pick up the necessary sequel.

Stephen Oakwood is twenty years old and adrift in the world of London.

September 22nd, 2023. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Benedict Jacka | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Light Chaser: Can two humans put the universe right?

Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton & Gareth L. Powell

2021’s Light Chaser novella is a collaboration between Gareth Powell and Peter F. Hamilton. This fast-paced story actually spans centuries, featuring a functionally-immortal woman, Amahle. The sole occupant of her AI controlled lightship, Amahle, the titular Light Chaser, is one of many of her kind, who travel a “circuit” of human-occupied planets, collecting the memory collars selected families wear for generations. In return, Amahle provides carefully chosen wealth and trinkets, careful never to provide something that might allow the stable (or stagnant) societies on these worlds to make any kind of leap forward in technology or political thinking.

WWWednesday: September 20, 2023

We all agree that the single biggest threat facing our beautiful planet is that of space aliens. Ever alert to security risks, our government has responded with a “UFO Czar,” (which is weird because I thought we were retiring the UFO acronym).

The life in our biosphere alone is constantly amazing! This beetle evolved a “fake termite” appendage which keeps it safe from termites and may even encourage them to feed it!

The British Fantasy Award winners were announced last Saturday.

Bill Willingham, creator of Fables, has now put the entire franchise into the public domain.

September 20th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

He Arrived at Dusk: Roman holiday

He Arrived at Dusk by R.C. Ashby

Not for the first time, a novel resurrected by the fine folks at Valancourt Books has turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the year. Back in 2020, J. B. Priestley’s Benighted (1927), reissued by Valancourt in 2013, was one of my favorites, and just last month, Ernest G. Henham’s Tenebrae (1898), brought back to life by Valancourt in 2012, became one of my top picks for 2023.

Uncommon Charm: Magic hijinks in 1920s Britain

Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien & Kat Weaver

Neon Hemlock has carved out a niche for itself in the novella/novelette market, and continues to deliver quirky, engaging stories across the subgenres. This magical, alternate history romp, Uncommon Charm (2022), is one more example.

Julia Selwyn-Stirling is the daughter of Lady Aloysia, the premiere magician in 1925 Britain. Depending on who you talk to, Lady Aloysia, who Julia calls “Muv,” is either the powerful secret weapon of the British government, or the blackmailer of that same government.

Grass: Powerful true story of Korean “comfort women” during WWII

Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (writer and artist) and Janet Hong (translator)

Trigger Warning: This review discusses harsh content, including descriptions of murder, rape, and suicidal thoughts, that are a part of Okseon Lee’s true biography.

Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim and translated by Janet Hong, is a powerful story about World War Two, and the Korean women who were taken from their homes, often as little girls, and sold into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers. This biographical work is about Okseon Lee, who was interviewed extensively as an older woman by the author.

September 16th, 2023. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

North Woods: Wonderfully and precisely crafted

North Woods by Daniel Mason

Daniel Mason’s North Woods (2023) is a wonderfully and precisely crafted collection of related short stories that greatly impresses with its varied styles, vividly detailed descriptions, sharp sentence constructions, connecting echoes, and a few unexpected twists and turns. I would have preferred a bit more emotional depth at times, though several of the stories, particularly toward the end, offer up some more than a few moving scenes. Between those moments and Mason’s consummate craftsmanship, North Woods is an easy book to enthusiastically recommend.

WWWednesday: September 13, 2023

The official WorldCon Hugo packet left out Best Fanzine and Best Fan Author, so fans (of course) took up the cause, and have provided that information informally.

The idea of envy, of creative people and between creative people, had quite a lively discussion on Bluesky, and I think this article may have been one of the citations.

Google will require that pollical ads on their platforms must disclose the use of AI. (That’s a nice start… what about deceitful editing and photoshopping, though?)

Atlas Obscura wants to share the tradition of Costa Rican oxcarts.

September 13th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Secrets of Insects: A retrospective of Kadrey short fiction

The Secrets of Insects by Richard Kadrey

Before he published the SANDMAN SLIM series, Richard Kadrey published short fiction in various markets. Several of those stories have been collected in his latest book, 2023’s The Secret of Insects. The earliest story in here, “Horse Latitudes,” appeared in Omni in 1992. The most recent story, “Candy Among the Jades,” is original to this collection. The Secrets of Insects is a retrospective of Kadrey’s short fiction.

I’ll provide the Table of Contents,

The City Inside: An exquisite, complicated puzzle

The City Inside by Samit Basu

For the first 22 pages of Samit Basu’s The City Inside (2022), I didn’t have a freakin’ clue what was going on. I followed Joey (Bijoyini) Roy around her parents’ house, as she interacted with her intrusive “wellness system”—think very needy FitBit on steroids—as she talked to her parents about the Years that Can’t Be Discussed, as she dodged her performative adolescent brother, who was constantly auditioning for a place in the Flow. I understood vaguely that social media was a big thing,

Tenebrae: “It’s so nice and glooooomy”

Tenebrae by Ernest G. Henham

A number of literary works from some of my favorite authors are celebrating their quasquicentennial, or 125th anniversary, this year. Released in 1898 were H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds, Henry James’ novella “The Turn of the Screw,” Jules Verne’s The Mighty Orinoco, and H. Rider Haggard’s Doctor Therne. Those first two titles,

Where Peace is Lost: Enjoyable, with missed opportunities

Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes

Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes moves along smoothly and quickly, is peopled by engaging characters, and nods toward some serious themes of ethics, violence, and colonialism. I mostly enjoyed this fast read, though found myself wishing its themes were delved into more deeply.

The novel is set in a universe where the Pale Empire has been conquering/colonizing other planets or planetary systems/alliances. Some years back, one of their stiffest foes, whose military and altruistic institutions were known as “Orders”,

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 August 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.

September 7th, 2023. FanLit | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 10 comments |

WWWednesday: September 6, 2023

This week in 1947, a children’s book called Goodnight, Moon was published. You may have heard of it.

100% of the profits from To Ukraine, With Love will be donated to Ukrainian charities to help people recovering from the Russian invasion. Thanks to File770 for this link.

This newly discovered comet may become visible to the unaided human eye in mid-September.

Nerds of a Feather reviews the fourth of the TALES FROM THE RIVERLANDS novellas by Nghi Vo, Mammoths at the Gates.

September 6th, 2023. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 9 comments |

The Library of Broken Worlds: My first Hugo nomination of the year

The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson

With Alaya Dawn Johnson’s The Library of Broken Worlds, I found my first Hugo nomination for next year. Mind you, this is a year where I’ve read many good-to-great books. The Library of Broken Worlds is not only a brilliant story beautifully written, it is truly original in its conception and execution, by a writer who is a master of words.

Set a few hundred years in the future, the story is told by our narrator and main character,

Circumference of the World: I like it

Circumference of the World by Lavie Tidhar

Once upon a time in the ancient era when childhood was about to bleed into pre-adolescence, we used to question if someone “liked” another person or “liked liked” them, our eyes wide in anticipation of the stressed or unstressed response. For the past half-dozen or so novels I’ve read by Lavie Tidhar, the reply each time was a no-brainer: a breathy, intense, “I like like.” With his newest, Circumference of the World,

XINO #1: Technology will doom us all

XINO #1 by Various Creators for Oni Press

XINO #1, the first of three issues, includes four stories about technology. The first, “Hue,” written by Melissa Flores, illustrated by Daniel Irizarrri, and lettered by Jim Campbell is the best of the four. In it, Matteo Mendoza, a blind man, is given sight through some new implants that enable him not simply to see as we do; rather, he can see things the rest of us cannot. At first, excited by the promise of vision for the first time in his life,

September 2nd, 2023. Brad Hawley´s rating: 3.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Devil’s Gun: Rambo’s restaurant space opera cooks up more fun

Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo

Devil’s Gun (2023) is Cat Rambo’s sequel to last year’s space-opera-with-chefs, You Sexy Thing. My first impulse was to label this book “fun,” but when I sat down to write this review, I had to evaluate that. It is a fun book, but for a fun book it contains a lot of sadness, distrust and bad decisions. The “fun” comes from the consequences of those decisions (in terms of conflict and action) and the strange,

September 1st, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Cat Rambo | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

WWWednesday: August 30, 2023

The annual T-Rex race in Washington State ended in a photo finish, but the winner was sorted out eventually.

The venerable and respected print Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has spent the last few weeks in very choppy waters. First came reports of excessive delays—like, months/years—in sending contracts. Last week, a new controversy popped up when David A. Riley, a British writer, announced he’d sold a sword and sorcery story to the magazine. Riley was previously associated with Britain’s National Front organization, well known for its racist rhetoric and central role in various incidents of community violence.

August 30th, 2023. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

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Marion Deeds on An Inheritance of Magic: A fun opening to a new seriesSeptember 23, 2023
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