Hell House by Richard Matheson
Richard Matheson’s short novel Hell House (1971) follows a group of four experts with various supernatural-related backgrounds who seek to prove or disprove the existence of ghosts in a super-creepy home that’s become known as Hell House. And a hellish house it is indeed.
The roots of the story are built on a foundation of gothic horror, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of H.P. Lovecraft’s very heavy and mythic language throughout Matheson’s story.
December 22nd, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3 | Richard Matheson | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Lord of the Silver Bow by David Gemmell
I tried reading David Gemmell‘s Lord of the Silver Bow about 9 months before I actually read it. It was heavy, plodding, and confusing. I was looking for a fun story full of action and adventure, and I love history… but, alas, I stopped reading after about 50 pages, and kind of figured that I was simply beyond the age when testosterone-fueled adventures could carry a story. I gave it a second shot, and it turns out,
December 16th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | David Gemmell | Edge | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
When we last left Jack McDevitt’s North Dakota in 1996’s Ancient Shores, the U.S. Government had failed miserably and embarrassingly to wrest control of an alien stargate from the Spirit Lake Sioux, rightful owners of the land on which the alien artifact was found. Thunderbird, a sequel to Ancient Shores, picks up several months after the showdown, which also saw fictional poet Walter Asquith shot dead.
The world of Grand Forks,
December 8th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3.5 | Jack McDevitt | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt
Fort Moxie lent itself to timelessness. There were no major renovation projects, no vast cultural shifts imposed by changing technology, no influxes of strangers, no social engineering. The town and the broad prairie in which it rested were caught in a kind of time warp.
A farmer works his land in the far reaches of North Dakota — just a few miles away from the Canadian border. Something pokes from the flat lands that he calls home. He lives in a large basin of prairie-land,
December 4th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3.5 | Jack McDevitt | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Jason talks with Michael Livingston, historian, author, and Professor of Medieval Literature at The Citadel in South Carolina. Michael’s fiction debut was recently released: The Shards of Heaven, a historical fantasy mashup set in the ancient Roman Empire. Jason and Michael talk about the worries of a historian moving into the world to fiction and his passion for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Plus, we’re giving away a copy of his book to one U.S. and one Canadian commenter. See below for details.
Jason Golomb: You’ve written a lot of in-depth and detailed history like The Battle of Crecy: A Casebook and Owain Glyndwr: A Casebook.
November 24th, 2015. Jason Golomb | Michael Livingston | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 13 comments |
The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston
The Shards of Heaven is not author Michael Livingston’s first work. In fact, he’s already a prolific award-winning writer, though mostly focused in his world of academia. Livingston is a Professor of Medieval Literature at The Citadel in South Carolina. The Shards of Heaven is his first novel and he taps into his significant historical knowledge. He liberally expands his knowledge base with strong fantasy elements, though, not unlike George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE,
November 18th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3 | Michael Livingston | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card
Scenario: If you knew there was a bomb in a building, would you feel obliged to yell as loudly as possible to warn other people? The bomb explodes and the injuries are high and the death toll unimaginable. But let’s then suppose you have an opportunity to go back in time and prevent the bomb from ever being planted in the first place. Take things one step further… let’s say that you stop the bomber before he even places his bomb… what else might change?
November 10th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | Orson Scott Card | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
The Damnation Game by Clive Barker
Clive Barker’s first full-length novel is magnificent. It’s dark, intense and mostly unrelenting in its steady construction of supernatural horror. While full of gut wrenching visuals – resulting in several nights of me restlessly attempting to fall asleep — under a skin of pure horror, this novel beats with an eloquently bloody heart.
Barker’s skills shone through early in his career as The Damnation Game was a Bram Stoker Award Nominee for Best First Novel (1987),
November 6th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | Clive Barker | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Although it took a good two-thirds of the novel for me to decide, I’ve come to the conclusion that I really enjoyed this multiple award-winning book by Connie Willis. At its core, Doomsday Book is sci-fi time travel, but it’s got depth and intelligence, and leaves little wonder that it won both the Nebula and Hugo Awards for Best Novel (in 1992 and ’93, respectively), as well as the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1993,
November 4th, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4 | Connie Willis | Hugo Award, Locus Award, Mythopoeic Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
The Sea of Ash by Scott Thomas (2014)
The Sea of Ash is a wonderful little novella. It’s creative, creepy and oh so very ‘Lovercraft.’ My only complaint is that it’s too short. So much of the Lovecraftian world is in short stories and novellas; I’m not quite sure why there isn’t more in a longer form.
November 2nd, 2015. Jason Golomb and Tadiana Jones | Catherynne M. Valente, Harry Turtledove | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
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.