City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Bill: I think it’s going to be impossible to review City of Miracles (2017) without reference to events from Robert Jackson Bennett’s first two books in the series (City of Stairs, City of Blades). or without discussing the major precipitating event (no real pangs of guilt here; that event is also detailed in the official bookseller summary), so consider this your fair warning: There be spoilers ahead!
February 14th, 2018. Bill Capossere, Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Redworld: Year One by A. L. Collins, illustrated by Tomislav Tikulin
I really wanted to like A.L. Collins’ MG sci-fi book Redworld (2018). An inventive and independent 13-year-old girl (Belle Song) in the year 2335 arriving on a terraformed Mars with her family and a “Home Helper” intelligent robot and having to adapt to a new world, a new (and unexpected) life farming, new neighbors (including several alien ones), and a host of dangers such as water raiders and feral animal hybrids? It sounded like nothing so much as a modern-day Heinlein juvenile,
February 13th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1 | A.L. Collins | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
So here we are coming up on Valentine’s Day and thoughts, and media posts, turn to love. One of the ones we came across recently was that standby list of traditional anniversary gifts…
Of course, our thoughts, as they’re prone to do, turned immediately to wondering what would those gifts be like in some of our favorite fantasy/sci-fi worlds?
Sure, those early gifts would probably be pretty similar (paper for the first year, wood for the fifth, tin for the tenth), but what about the gifts for those oh-so-special anniversaries celebrating an impressively enduring love/bonding? What would be the equivalents of our culture’s silver (25th year),
February 8th, 2018. Bill Capossere | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 21 comments |
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
Marion: City of Blades is the second book in Robert Jackson Bennett’s THE DIVINE CITIES series, which tells several sides of the story of a major international cultural conflict. Saypur, a civilization that has been oppressed by the Continent for centuries, rose up and subdued its oppressors by killing their gods. In the wake of the Saypuri revolution and its conquest of the Continent, all of the Continental Divinities have vanished,
February 7th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler, Bill Capossere and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
How To Stop Time (HTST): So, do you want to, like, go out again next week or …
ME: I’m, I’m sorry, but I don’t think, I don’t think this is going to —
HTST: Was it something I —
ME: No. No. It isn’t you; it’s me.
HTST: Not that old —
ME: No, really. Look, there are lots of nice readers out there for you. Millions.
HTST: Millions?
ME: Millions.
February 5th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Matt Haig | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
I’m honestly not quite sure of how to review Jo Walton’s 2018 collection of short stories, Starlings. As a fiction read, it left me greatly wanting, with many of the stories (there are also poems and one play, but more on those later) feeling undeveloped, slight, and too one-note, so that most frequent reaction was “nice idea, but …” with the “but” mostly signifying a response that really wasn’t a response. And so what’s the problem, you might be thinking.
January 30th, 2018. Bill Capossere and Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Jo Walton | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
It’s time for another Collaborative Cliché!
Villains. Here at FanLit, we love villains, especially when they are well-written, nuanced, smart characters. Often, though, villains still fall into the category of flat, stick-figure characters, or worse, the dreaded Evil Overlords. It’s boring to read, and fun to mock.
In this Collaborative Cliché column, we take on the thinly drawn, evil-overlord villain. Let’s look at every stereotypical thing the Big Bads do. We’ll start you off, but please use the Comments to keep us going! Add your favorite eye-rolling dumb villain move.
January 25th, 2018. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 6 comments |
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
Brooke Bolander’s The Only Harmless Great Thing (2018) is a lyrical, often moving, and sometimes searing novella that sets itself in an alternate reality that entangles two historical events: the public electrocution of Topsy the elephant at Coney Island in 1903 and the “Radium Girls” scandal in the early 1900s. That the two events were not simultaneous as in the novella is only part of the “alternate” part of this alternate reality. More central to the plot is the fact that elephants in this world are sentient.
January 23rd, 2018. Bill Capossere and Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Brooke Bolander | Locus Award, Nebula Award, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I was a big fan of Pierce Brown’s RED RISING trilogy, so I was thrilled to hear he was going to continue the story with a new trio of books. And I’m happy to report that the first book in that new series, Iron Gold (2018), delivers the goods.
[Fair Warning: there will be of necessity spoilers for the first three books, so if you haven’t read those (and you should) I strongly recommend going no further in this review.]
RED RISING at its stripped-down core was the typical Downtrodden Rebels Against a Tyrannical State (DRATS!) story,
January 22nd, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Pierce Brown | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation by Carolyn Cocca
In Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation, Carolyn Cocca turns a sharp eye on gender (along with race and class) in the world of superheroes, looking through the lens of several female heroes in particular. These are, in order:
January 16th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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The website youtubemusicpremium.com offers a modified version of YouTube Music Premium with features like ad-free playback and offline listening for…
The website youtubemusicpremium.com offers a modified version of YouTube Music Premium with features like ad-free playback and offline listening for…
The website youtubemusicpremium.com offers a modified version of YouTube Music Premium with features like ad-free playback and offline listening for…