The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small part of a Midwest state. There wasn’t so much wilderness around you couldn’t see the town. But on the other hand there wasn’t so much town you couldn’t see and feel and touch and smell the wilderness.
So reads the charming first sentence of Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree. A perfectly gothic yarn that seeks,
March 1st, 2017. Katie Burton and Jason Golomb´s rating: 4, 5 | Ray Bradbury | Children | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Dracula vs. Hitler by Patrick Sheane Duncan
Dracula vs. Hitler?! Yes, yes, I know — the title is beyond hokey and there’s no way that this could be a good book. A graphic novel? Maybe. But not a full-sized, 500-page novel. I love horror and I love Dracula, the Dracula as he was originally … gothically evil, not gothically high school. And World War II lit is cool. But the combination? It sounds like a comic book, or maybe the next generation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s classic-lit/horror mash-ups.
February 24th, 2017. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3.5 | Patrick Sheane Duncan | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Infernal Parade by Clive Barker
This is an unfortunately disappointing collection of microstories from Clive Barker, an author who helped define my reading experience in mid-1980’s junior and high school. The six very loosely connected stories that make up the 88 pages of Infernal Parade (2017) were originally provided as exclusive companions to collectables made by McFarlane Toys in 2004. I believe these are part of a larger macroverse of characters published in Barker’s 2014 novella, Tortured Souls: The Legend of Primordial.
February 16th, 2017. Jason Golomb´s rating: 2 | Clive Barker | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
David Rowe is the Director of Contemporary Music, Social Media and Communications at St. John’s Parish in Johns Island, South Carolina. From Sheffield, England David has a degree in Biblical Studies and cultivates his passion for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien on his popular Twitter feed: @TolkienProverbs. The Proverbs of Middle-earth is his first book.
One random U.S. commenter will receive an autographed copy of The Proverbs of Middle-earth. See below for details.
Jason Golomb: In addition to your job at St.
February 14th, 2017. Jason Golomb | J.R.R. Tolkien | Non-fiction | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 15 comments |
The Proverbs of Middle-Earth by David Rowe
The Proverbs of Middle-Earth is a smart, readable literary analysis of J.R.R. Tolkien’s use of proverbs in his worlds of Middle-Earth, including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and (less so) The Silmarillion. If you’re a passionate fan of Tolkien, you’ll absolutely adore this book. Period. If you love the Peter Jackson films,
February 13th, 2017. Jason Golomb´s rating: 5 | J.R.R. Tolkien | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
Renly Baratheon explains, “I have it in me to be a great king, strong yet generous, clever, just, diligent, loyal to my friends and terrible to my enemies, yet capable of forgiveness, patient…” Renly’s only problem, besides arrogance, is that he has no legal claim to the Iron Throne of Westeros — excepting the strength of his army. Luckily for Renly, Westeros’ leaders no longer seem to require any legitimacy beyond the power of their armies and the ruthlessness of their bannermen. Perhaps the laws of the realm were always a whitewash,
January 30th, 2017. Ryan Skardal, Jason Golomb and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | George R.R. Martin | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
This Year’s Class Picture by Dan Simmons
Sci-fi and horror master Dan Simmons has only one real character in this short story: Ms. Geiss, dedicated fourth-grade teacher extraordinaire. She seems to be one of the very few remaining humans following the frequently mentioned, but never-explained, “Tribulations” that had some role in creating an environment where zombies roam the planet.
This Year’s Class Picture opens rather bluntly:
Ms. Geiss watched her new student coming across the first-graders’ playground from her vantage point on the balcony of the school’s belfry.
January 19th, 2017. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | Dan Simmons | Horror, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18 by Joseph Loconte
During a stressful stretch at work, and the persistently weighty negativity tied to the 2016 U.S. election campaign season, I found myself turning to ‘comfort reading.’ The negative vibes, for me, carried through Election Day and I looked toward J.R.R. Tolkien for relief. I knew I wouldn’t have time to return to the warm depths of THE LORD OF THE RINGS,
December 28th, 2016. Jason Golomb and Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3.5 | C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz
I’d never heard of Jeffrey Konvitz’s superb horror/thriller, The Sentinel (1974), until I saw it promoted on a couple of discount ebook newsletters I receive. The cover, while lacking any subtlety, sold me on the whole horror-wrapped-up-with religion angle. And while the image may be a bit over the top, The Sentinel slow boils its simple premise and bubbles with persistent and pounding tension.
The Sentinel is reminiscent of Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby,
December 2nd, 2016. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | Jeffrey Konvitz | Horror | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Devils of D-Day by Graham Masterton
All the devils and demons that appear in this book are legendary creatures of hell, and there is substantial recorded evidence for their existence. For that reason, it is probably inadvisable to attempt to conjure up any of them by repeating out loud the summons used in the text, which are also genuine. I would like to point out that the Pentagon and the British Ministry of Defense strenuously deny the events described here, but I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.
November 29th, 2016. Jason Golomb´s rating: 2.5 | Graham Masterton | Horror | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Thanks! These are the "easy" ones, ha!
can't wait to get to these after the usual post-end-of-term review backlog gets a little cleared up--your review and David's…
Agreed! I have loved both of these books. I wasn't as perceptive as you at guessing the true target, though,…
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the Giallo genre! I love how you highlighted her unique blend…
Ever since Tor.com became Reactor they seem to have been focusing increasingly less on books and more on visual media…