The Killing God by Stephen R. Donaldson
I was not, to put it mildly, a fan of Seventh Decimate, the opening book of Stephen R. Donaldson’s GREAT GODS WAR trilogy. Book two, The War Within (2022), was an improvement, but marginally. The good news is that book three, The Killing God, is a big jump up, though the obvious bad news is one has to get through the first two to arrive here,
November 10th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Stephen R. Donaldson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Neom by Lavie Tidhar
In Neom, Lavie Tidhar, returns to the universe of Central Station, his wonderful collection of linked short stories, though not to Central Station itself, which is only name-checked a few times. Instead, the setting is the titular city, an extrapolation into the far, far future of a city that today exists mostly as plans and dreams in Saudi Arabia (though you can fly into Neom Airport). Neom is a city “that valued nothing old, and chased the future,” a city that is “ever new,
November 7th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Lavie Tidhar | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Nightland Express by J.M. Lee
The Nightland Express (2022) by J.M. Lee is a solid YA fantasy that has its moments but also doesn’t quite reach its full potential due to several issues. It also suffers a bit perhaps from trying to take on too much, where a more streamlined approach might have allowed for more full development of its issues as well as a more tense narrative. A minor spoiler follows, one revealed quite early in the book and one whose “reveal” doesn’t really impact the reading experience,
November 4th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | J.M. Lee | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Today we welcome David Walton, whose science fiction thriller Living Memory was just released on October 18th (here’s my review). This is the seventh novel of David’s we’ve reviewed and in the past he’s been gracious enough to sit down with us (so to speak) to answer some questions about his books and his writing in general.
This time, we’re not doing any of the talking. Instead, David has gifted us with an essay about how Living Memory, at least in part,
October 21st, 2022. Bill Capossere | David Walton | Author Interviews, Expanded Universe, Giveaway! | 12 comments |
Living Memory by David Walton
Living Memory (2022), by David Walton, is a fast-paced techno-thriller that reads with a bit of an echo of Michael Crichton, though with a premise that I’d say is more richly imaginative than at least the several Crichton works I’ve read. The beginning of a new series, this first book will leave many a reader eager for more.
The story’s opening is set in Thailand where an American-funded group of paleontologists, led by American Samira Shannon, are frantically wrapping up a dig site thanks to a just-announced deportation policy following the installation of a new government via a Chinese-backed coup.
October 20th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | David Walton | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Stan Lee: A Life (Centennial Edition) by Bob Batchelor
Bob Batchelor’s biography of Stan Lee, titled unsurprisingly Stan Lee, is a solid if somewhat stylistically flat look at the life of a man who has had a huge cultural impact. People who pay attention to this sort of thing won’t find a lot new here, and may even find the book’s gloss over things a bit frustrating, but for casual fans of Marvel movies who have a first-time interest in where this behemoth began, the book suffices.
September 29th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Spear Cuts through Water by Simon Jimenez
Simon Jiminez’s The Spear Cuts through Water (2022) is one of the most vibrantly original novels I’ve read in some time, an enthralling work of creativity that even as it makes use of some familiar tropes arrives absolutely as its own unique self: richly mythic and startlingly inventive. It will absolutely land on my Best of 2022 list, even it may not be for everyone (though everyone should attempt it).
At its core, The Spear Cuts through Water is a simple quest story told unsimply.
September 23rd, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Simon Jiminez | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
“Solid” is the best description I can give for The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore, a debut novel that shows flashes of hitting its potential, particularly in its folkloric elements, but overall feels a bit flat and overlong.
A retelling of the Baba Yaga mythos, the story mostly takes place during the reign of Ivan the Terrible (1500s), though there are flashbacks to earlier times, thanks to the fact that the main character (who prefers Yaga to Baba Yaga) is immortal,
September 16th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Olesya Salnikova Gilmore | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ithaca (2022), by Claire North, is another in a recent spate line of Greek myth retellings, with the source material here being The Odyssey and the House of Atreus storyline (Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Electra, Orestes). North greatly narrows the focus here in setting, time, and plot, lasering in what was happening at the periphery or in the gaps of those epic tales, giving voice especially though not solely to the women on the edges of those stories. It’s a wonderfully voiced, thoughtful reimagining story and a strong entry point into a new series.
September 9th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Claire North | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fandom, The Next Generation edited by Bridget Kies & Megan Connor
Fandom, The Next Generation, edited by Bridget Kies and Megan Connor is a collection of essays exploring, unsurprisingly, fandom, but with a particular focus on transgenerational sources and fan communities. I.e., those fandoms centered around “rebooted or perpetually rebroadcast media texts” whose long-lived and/or resurrected nature maintains and creates several generations of fans — those who came to the text in its original form, those who discovered the text in later years, and those who came to the text as an adaptation or reboot.
September 2nd, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
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