Locus Online is hosting a poll to determine the best novels and short fiction of the 20th and 21st century. You have until the 30th to nominate your choices.
SF Signal hosts a great video from N.K. Jemisin talking about the significance of Octavia E. Butler’s Dawn, the first book in the Xenogenesis trilogy.
Sword and Laser’s Author’s Guide and Interview with Patrick Rothfuss.
Book recommendations to help you get over the pain of losing a favorite cancelled sci-fi TV show.
November 28th, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |
Tolstoy wrote “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I find that with dystopian literature, every unhappy society is alike. There is a good argument to be made that modern literature has two main strands of dystopian literature, what we could refer to as the Orwellian strand and the Huxley strand, and YA dyslit follows that same trend. Renegade falls into the Orwellian/HUNGER GAMES camp with an authoritarian central government that controls every aspect of the citizens’ lives.
November 26th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3 | J.A. Souders | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Lots of links today to give you plenty of reading for when you’ve had just about as much family togetherness as you can take.
First, three free e-books from Nightshade Press. Two of these have been on my need to read list, and the third one looks interesting. Go here for details. (And yes, I checked it and it works!)
It’s like a slot machine for the literary set.
Sword and Laser’s Author Guide to Jim Butcher, with interview.
If you’re planning to re-read The Hobbit before the movie,
November 21st, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 7 comments |
Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
I picked up Castle Waiting by Linda Medley at the recommendation of The Book Smugglers who described a charming take on classic fairy tales with a twist. When I checked it out from the library, it felt like a vintage volume of fairy tales with a beautiful full-color illustrated cover, rough cut pages, and a silk ribbon bookmark. However, there is a very modern sensibility to these stories. Castle Waiting is a hardback omnibus collection of the first several issues of Medley’s comics about an abandoned castle that has become a refuge for the abandoned,
November 16th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
In case you are looking for gift ideas for your favorite bibliophile, artist cedarMyna has a collection of beautiful travel posters for literary locations. Who wouldn’t want one of these?
Sword and Laser’s latest introduction to authors and interview featured Robin Hobb.
Alan Baxter wrote a guest post over at SF Signal on what urban fantasy means.
How much of a nerd am I that I am considering taking one of these master’s level courses on The Hobbit?
November 14th, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
The Dead of Winter by Lee Collins
In this urban fantasy with a twist — set in the Wild West in wintery Colorado — monster hunters Cora and Ben are hired to deal with an unknown beast that slaughtered some wolf hunters in the mountains. As they investigate, they realize that they are looking for a beast neither of them is familiar with. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the evil beasties lurking in them thar hills.
I don’t read a lot of urban fantasy these days for a few reasons.
November 14th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 0.1 | Lee Collins | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
Set in the same world as Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul tells the story of a Forger named Shai who is called upon by the ranking bureaucrats of the Empire. The Emperor has suffered a traumatic brain injury in an assassination attempt, and rather than have him step down, which would mean a demotion in their own power, the Guardians decide that they will call on the power of a Forger, someone who can magically imprint upon objects a new identity with their magically carved seals,
November 12th, 2012. Ruth Arnell, Kat Hooper, Terry Weyna and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3, 3.5, 4 | Brandon Sanderson | Audio, Hugo Award | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
From Baen Books: The new “I Read Baen’d Books” bumperstickers are in, and they look amazing! To celebrate, we’re giving away signed books and prizes. Place your “I Read Baen’d Books” bumpersticker in the most interesting, intriguing, amazing, amusing, and not-more-than-PG-13 spot, and win! Details here.
It’s also Lois McMaster Bujold Month at Baen Books: Planet Baen celebrates the release of Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, a new entry in the Vorkosigan Saga with special gifts, whacks, and a contest. Plus, as always: play the game, Planet Baen here.
November 7th, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce
Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce is just odd. For one thing, the book is fully titled as Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog, and while I don’t have a problem with long titles in general — see my love for Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland books, or Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede’s collaborations — the problem with this title is the same problem I had with the book.
November 7th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 0.1 | Ysabeau S. Wilce | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I’m not a big fan of all the creepy and spooky stuff. And you know why I don’t need Halloween? Because I have science!
Meet Promachoteuthis sulcus, a bizarre creature straight out of your nightmares.
As you can see, this thing looks like it has freakishly human looking teeth. It’s a species of promachoteuthid squid and only one specimen has been found to date. It was captured in the Southern Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 2,000m in 2007.
Just imagine what else is lurking in our oceans!
October 31st, 2012. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 3 comments |
No, Paul, sorry, I don't believe I've read any books by Aickman; perhaps the odd story. I'm generally not a…
I like the ambiguities when the story leading up to them has inserted various dreadful possibilities in the back of…
COMMENT Marion, I expect that my half-hearted praise here (at best) will not exactly endear me to all of Ramsey…
Ramsay Campbell was all the rage in my circle of horror-reading/writing friends in the 1980s, and they extolled the ambiguity.…
Oh boy, I wish I could escape that Neil Gaiman article, too. I knew already he’d done reprehensible things but…