Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen by Dexter Palmer
Dexter Palmer has been one of my must-read authors since I read Version Control. It was my favorite book of 2016 and I’ve been eagerly awaiting his next novel.
Here it is. It’s called Mary Toft; or, The Rabbit Queen (2019) and it’s based on the real Mary Toft, an early 18th century English woman who claimed to keep giving birth to rabbits. Flummoxed, her small town’s doctor,
April 3rd, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Dexter Palmer | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions by Henry Lien
A surprise for me last year was how much I enjoyed Henry Lien’s Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword. I would never have picked up that book if it hadn’t been nominated for the Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction. It’s about a girl named Peasprout Chen who, along with her little brother Cricket, is sent from her rural province to her country’s capital city to attend an elite school for students who practice the art of wu liu,
April 1st, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Henry Lien | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
Readers who pay attention to the Hugo Award category called “Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form)” may recall that one of the 2018 finalists for the award was a hip hop song called “The Deep” by the band clipping which is fronted by Grammy- and Tony-Award winner Daveed Diggs who played Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton.
The song, which I recommend listening to,
March 31st, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Rivers Solomon | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane
A Heart of Blood and Ashes (2020) is the first book in Milla Vane’s A GATHERING OF DRAGONS, a supposedly romantic fantasy about a barbarian warlord named Maddek who is searching for a princess named Yvenne who appears to be responsible for his parents’ death. Maddek’s council has instructed him to stay out of the matter because they value the alliance between their country and the princess’s, but Maddek wants revenge, so he ignores his council.
March 26th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 0.1 | Milla Vane | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Children of Ruin (2019) is the second book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s CHILDREN OF TIME series, following Children of Time, which you’ll want to read first.
Children of time, which I called “an expansive and visionary epic that speculates about the future of humanity,” was fascinating. In it we watched the evolution of a species of spider that was uplifted by a man-made virus.
March 25th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Adrian Tchaikovsky | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats by James Patrick Kelly
In James Patrick Kelly’s novella, King of the Dogs, Queen of the Cats, we visit a backwater planet called Boon where humans live with uplifted dogs and cats.
Our protagonist, Gio Barbaro, is the clone of the man who created the government, called The Supremacy, generations before. Gio’s job is to maintain the family’s position and power in the senate.
The Supremacy, though, is losing control as dogs are walking off the job and cats are forming unions.
March 23rd, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | James Patrick Kelly | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
Fresh off her clash with black witches in Storm Cursed, Mercy Thompson — the coyote shapeshifter and Volkswagen mechanic whose urban fantasy series follows her adventures with vampires, werewolves, fae, witches and various monsters — is fretting about the distance that has built up between her and her husband, Adam, alpha of the local werewolf pack. Their mating bond has been shut down for weeks, keeping her from knowing his thoughts and feelings.
But other troubles raise their heads,
March 20th, 2020. Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Patricia Briggs | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Children of Time (2015), the first book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s CHILDREN OF TIME series, is an expansive and visionary epic that speculates about the future of humanity.
In the first chapter, we meet a scientist who has managed to extend her life so that she can create her own world. Her plan is to drop monkeys on a terraformed planet, let loose a virus that will uplift them, wait until they evolve, and then introduce herself as their god.
March 17th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Adrian Tchaikovsky | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Night of Cake & Puppets by Laini Taylor
For years Laini Taylor’s been a favorite here at FanLit, and now I know why. I picked up Night of Cake & Puppets, a stand-alone novella set in Taylor’s DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE world, because it was short and available on audio at exactly the length I needed for a recent car trip: two hours and forty-five minutes. Perfect. That’s not all that was perfect about Night of Cake & Puppets.
March 16th, 2020. Kat Hooper and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Laini Taylor | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Terminal Uprising by Jim C. Hines
Terminal Uprising (2019) is the second novel in Jim C. Hines’ JANITORS OF THE POST-APOCALYPSE series. It follows Terminal Alliance, which should be read first. There you’ll meet “Mops” Adamopoulos, the boss of a human janitorial crew that works for the Krakau aliens. These friendly aliens saved humanity by genetically engineering thousands of humans after the Earth was ravaged by a virus that turned everyone into zombies.
It’s been a few months since Mops and her crew found themselves accidentally in charge of the spaceship Pufferfish.
March 13th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Jim C. Hines | Audio | SFF Reviews | no 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.