At Fantasy Literature, we love fearless women!
Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women are here.” Instead, #FearlessWomen everywhere are taking a stand to say “Women will thrive here.”
Highlighting major titles from bestselling authors V.E. Schwab, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jacqueline Carey as well as titles from acclaimed and debut authors such as Mary Robinette Kowal, Tessa Gratton, Sam Hawke, and Robyn Bennis,
August 21st, 2018. Jana Nyman | Mary Robinette Kowal | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dragon Lords: False Idols by Jon Hollins
I rather liked Jon Hollins’ 2016 novel The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold. It was fun, it had heart, it was surprisingly insightful, and it was chock-full of wordplay and schemes in addition to epic battles and blood. Its 2017 sequel, The Dragon Lords: False Idols, inherited a lot of those traits but comes up short on the fun that previously enchanted me.
The situation is rather more serious this time around: our merry band of adventurers is scattered across the south and south-eastern reaches of Avarra,
August 17th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Jon Hollins | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Elma York has a PhD in physics, and her husband has one in engineering. They are enjoying a much-deserved weekend getaway in the Poconos in 1952 when a huge meteorite destroys Washington DC and much of the North American eastern seaboard. Experts fear the aftermath will create an extinction-level event, and this accelerates the race to the stars. Elma has a front row seat, but she wants more; she wants to go into space.
2018’s The Calculating Stars is the first novel of Mary Robinette Kowal’s LADY ASTRONAUT series.
August 13th, 2018. Marion Deeds and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Mary Robinette Kowal | Locus Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Wild Dead by Carrie Vaughn
Carrie Vaughn continues the fascinating post-apocalyptic BANNERLESS SAGA in The Wild Dead (2018), the first sequel to her Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel Bannerless. Murders are, thankfully, few and far between along the Coast Road, so it’s been about a year since Enid of Haven has needed to put on her metaphorical deerstalker cap. This time, she and her painfully inexperienced new partner, Teeg, are in the remote southern settlement of Desolata to mediate a dispute over a pre-Fall house: the house’s “owner” refuses to admit that his family’s cherished home is dangerously dilapidated,
August 9th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Carrie Vaughn | SFF Reviews | no comments |
King of Assassins by R.J. Barker
Note: THE WOUNDED KINGDOM is intended to be read in sequence, and as such, some spoilers for Age of Assassins and Blood of Assassins will be inevitable as I discuss King of Assassins (2018).
Girton Club-Foot’s star has risen dramatically since we first met him — no longer a gawky and insecure fledgling assassin, he’s matured over the past two decades to become the Heartblade of King Rufra,
August 8th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | R.J. Barker | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Blood of Assassins by R.J. Barker
It’s been five years since Girton Club-Foot was last in the kingdom of Maniyadoc, when he and his Master, Merela Karn, were tasked with untangling a royal web of plots, lies, and murder in R.J. Barker’s debut novel Age of Assassins. Now, terrifying Nonmen prowl the yellowed lands spreading chaos and anarchy, Girton’s friend Rufra is king of Maniyadoc, and both Aydor and Tomas have set themselves against Rufra in an effort to claim the kingdom for their own.
August 7th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | R.J. Barker | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie
Hundreds of years into the future, humanity abandoned Earth and embarked upon an interstellar mission aboard a cluster of ships which eventually became the Fleet. Fleet ships are policed and protected by an elite squad of mechanically-augmented super-soldiers known as Scela, who serve the whims of the Chancellor and enforce her laws (along with a rigid social caste system). Aisha Un-Haad is desperate to provide a good life for her younger siblings, but her deck janitor’s salary isn’t enough to cover her plague-infected brother’s medical bills, so the only option left is to join the Scela.
August 3rd, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3 | Emily Skrutskie | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Earth to Dad by Krista Van Dolzer
Eleven-year-old Jameson O’Malley lives with his mother, Mina, at Base Ripley, in a version of Minnesota that would be unrecognizable to current-day residents: there are regular monsoons, category six tornadoes are commonplace, and spending more than a few moments outside without a protective solar-resistant jacket will lead directly to sun poisoning. A deeply introspective and solitary child, Jameson’s passion is his JICC (Jameson’s Interplanetary Communication Console), a device his astronaut father helped to build before embarking on the long voyage to Mars, and which they use to send short videos to one another on a regular basis.
August 1st, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Krista Van_Dolzer | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
This is the kind of review I always dread writing — so many people loved Space Opera (2018), either becoming brand-new Catherynne M. Valente fans or cementing their appreciation of her talent. I can see why they would like it, I really can. The novel bears all the hallmarks of a Valente project: an overabundance of whimsy and wonder, intricately wordy sentences that sometimes become whole paragraphs, an aggressively manic-cute species, and much more. And there’s the acknowledged,
July 5th, 2018. Jana Nyman and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Catherynne M. Valente | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
At Fantasy Literature, we love fearless women!
Women are shining in every genre of speculative fiction, and it is no longer enough to say “Women are here.” Instead, #FearlessWomen everywhere are taking a stand to say “Women will thrive here.”
Highlighting major titles from bestselling authors V.E. Schwab, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Jacqueline Carey as well as titles from acclaimed and debut authors such as Mary Robinette Kowal, Tessa Gratton, Sam Hawke, and Robyn Bennis,
July 3rd, 2018. Jana Nyman | Mary Robinette Kowal | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…