Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
As a fan of Joe Abercrombie’s other books, such as The Heroes, Red Country was a must-read for me. Even though I had no idea what Red Country was about, or how it might be related to his previous stories, it didn’t really matter because I was certain that Joe Abercrombie would entertain me.
Red Country feels almost like a Western in the way that the towns are laid out — there’s a quasi general store and a the local saloon,
November 29th, 2012. John Hulet and Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Today we welcome Max Gladstone, author of Three Parts Dead which I found to be inventive and enjoyable. Max wants to know how you feel about gods as characters in speculative fiction. One commenter will win a hardcover copy of Three Parts Dead. Thanks for joining us, Max!
When my book Three Parts Dead came out, as I trawled around reading reviews, I was intrigued by the number of comments on my book’s use of gods. Turns out people have pretty strong feelings about gods in science fiction and fantasy,
November 22nd, 2012. John Hulet | Max Gladstone | Thoughtful Thursday | 12 comments |
Today we give the platform to one of my favorite authors, Janny Wurts. She wonders if you think the Mary Sue / Gary Stu critique is being overly applied by cynical critics these days. Two commenters win copies of both The Curse of the Mistwraith and Initiate’s Trial, the first and most recent books in Janny’s THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW.
Lately, the Mary Sue or Gary Stu label for book characters who seem ‘too good to be true’ is used freely by professional and amateur reviewers alike as a slur that implies a literary fault.
November 8th, 2012. John Hulet | Janny Wurts | Thoughtful Thursday | 23 comments |
Tarnished Knight by Jack Campbell
As a fan of the LOST FLEET series by Jack Campbell, I was intrigued by a book written from the perspective of the “enemy.” With the Alliance victory over the Syndicate and the series moving on to another conflict, it’s a great time to start looking at what is going on with the Syndicate worlds. Thus, Tarnished Knight is the opening volume of LOST STARS, a spin-off series which runs parallel to events in the LOST FLEET series.
October 9th, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Jack Campbell | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Clean is the first installment in the MINDSPACE INVESTIGATIONS series by Alex Hughes. It’s sort of a mix of police procedural, mystery, urban fantasy and science fiction.
Set sometime in a distance future, humans have become wary of artificial intelligence and the telepathic abilities of the people who saved humanity from the sentient computers during an event now known as the Tech Wars. Some people still have internet interfaces implanted in their brains, but most of their fellow humans regard them with disdain and are ready to revert to pre-internet forms of technology.
September 28th, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | Alex Hughes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist
Raymond E. Feist’s Magician: Apprentice was one of my favorite books in the mid-1980’s — I read it over and over. If I have read this book less than 20 times I would be completely amazed. The wonderful part of re-reading it recently and having 20 years plus of fantasy literature experience is that I can appreciate something sublime.
Pug and Tomas are best friends raised practically as brothers at the Keep of the Duchy of Crydee. Tomas’ parents are in charge of the kitchens and the boys have lived a fairly happy childhood.
September 22nd, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Raymond E. Feist | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Chocolate Lenin by Graham Diamond
The Russian Federation is planning to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Jubilee, and Vlad Petrovsky is at the center of the public relations effort. It’s a plum assignment; long hours away from his family and dealing with crisis after crisis will all be worth it to Vlad if he succeeds. In the midst of this, he is pulled away from his assignment and tasked by the Prime Minister himself to support a vital, secret mission that threatens the future of all Russia.
At the center of Chocolate Lenin is a race against time to prevent a scientifically reproduced version of Vladimir Lenin from instigating another revolution.
September 21st, 2012. John Hulet and Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Graham Diamond | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Kingmakers by Clay and Susan Griffith
The VAMPIRE EMPIRE series is an interesting combination of almost-steampunk, alternative history and fantasy all wrapped together. Clay and Susan Griffith have used a solid mixture of adventure, intrigue and world building to create a vibrant tapestry as the background for the story. In The Kingmakers all of this grows more and more intense as war rages and the battle for the survival of two different races grows more desperate.
Adele, now Empress of Equitoria, has unleashed her armies on the European continent despite the setbacks in the seasons and the loss of some of her more important weapons of war.
September 17th, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 4 | Clay and Susan Griffith | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
With the recent Sci- Fi Channel miniseries, there is bound to be renewed interest in Ursula Le Guin’s classic first book in her Earthsea series, as there should be. This remains a classic fantasy for good reason. The world within which the characters move is fully developed, having a sense of past, present and future as well as a sense of a larger “there there”, as opposed to some fantasies that feel like a Hollywood stage set, as if nothing exists beyond the narrow social/geographical worlds the characters move through.
September 8th, 2012. Tim Scheidler, Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper, John Hulet and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Don’t Kill the Messenger by Eileen Rendahl
Don’t Kill the Messenger is a paranormal romance that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Eileen Rendahl is not a visionary writer, but in this genre she doesn’t need to be, as long as she knows how to write a handsome, edgy love interest for the main character. My cynical attitude aside, Don’t Kill the Messenger is really not bad.
Melina drowned as a young girl. The near-death experience brought some pretty amazing changes,
August 1st, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 2.5 | Eileen Rendahl | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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