I want to live in Sarah Beth Durst’s brain. Every time I turn around, she has a new book out, and it’s completely different from the last one. Her imagination is seemingly boundless. Another thing I appreciate about her books is that they stand alone. Don’t get me wrong, I like a good series as much as the next girl, but there’s also something to be said for a self-contained novel.
Laini Taylor, author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone,
September 6th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Sarah Beth Durst | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
We’ve got Sarah Beth Durst with us today, author of several books we love. I’m currently enjoying her new book, Conjured, which will be released next week. Sarah’s got a fundamentally important question for you.
So here’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately… Why do people read?
I have my big-picture generic answer, of course: we read because we need stories as desperately as we need air, food, and water. Stories are how we process, cope with, and/or escape from the world. Whether they’re told by friends,
August 29th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter | Sarah Beth Durst | Thoughtful Thursday | 11 comments |
Infinity, by Rachel Ward, concludes the series that began with Numbers and peaked in The Chaos. It’s a few years after the apocalypse that devastated England in that second book. Adam and Sarah are living a nomadic lifestyle with Sarah’s two younger brothers and her daughter Mia. Adam isn’t comfortable around people because of his special ability and easily recognizable face, but Sarah is pregnant again and would really like to settle down.
As this conflict arises between the two,
June 25th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Rachel Ward | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Goddess Inheritance by Aimée Carter
Aimée Carter’s GODDESS TEST series has always been a bumpy ride for me, with its sometimes baffling take on Greek mythology and its focus on petty bickering even in the face of potential worldwide catastrophe. Yet I always felt there was enough of a seed of a good story here that I wanted to see how Carter would finish it out, so I decided to read the final book, The Goddess Inheritance. I’ve now gotten a little over halfway through the book and am giving up.
May 22nd, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Aimée Carter | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Freda Warrington is the author of numerous books, most recently the AETHERIAL TALES series: Elfland, Midsummer Night, and the newly released Grail of the Summer Stars (see my review here). These three books have been among my favorites of the last few years. Ms. Warrington has kindly taken some time to answer a few questions, and I’m thrilled to welcome her to FanLit. We’re also giving away a copy of Grail of the Summer Stars to a reader in the US or Canada.
May 7th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter | Freda Warrington | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 11 comments |
Grail of the Summer Stars by Freda Warrington
Grail of the Summer Stars is the third in Freda Warrington’s AETHERIAL TALES series, following Elfland and Midsummer Night. Each novel can stand alone, though they have some overlapping plotlines and characters, such that each novel will be more meaningful and resonant if you’ve read the others. Grail of the Summer Stars has more overlapping elements than either of the two previous books and is connected more strongly to each of them than they are to each other.
May 7th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Freda Warrington | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Now, you know we love Jack Vance — he’s one of our favorite speculative fiction authors — but some of the covers on his books are truly atrocious.
This one here, in fact…
We think the title Space Opera is just too generic for this striking cover. Can you help us rename it?
Here’s the description, if it helps:
Space Opera — (1965) A society matron underwrites the interstellar tour of an Earth opera company, performing Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini for bewildered human and alien audiences on a kaleidoscopic range of planets.
March 28th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter | Jack Vance | Thoughtful Thursday | 14 comments |
The Suburban Strange by Nathan Kotecki
Celia is a high school sophomore who’s grieving the death of her father and starting at a new school. She is swept up into a clique called the Rosary, a group of friends who pride themselves on their “darkness” and their sophistication. Celia feels awkward with them at first but gradually begins to gain confidence from these friendships. Meanwhile, something eerie is going on at Suburban High. Girls are suffering injuries or sudden illnesses on the day before their sixteenth birthdays. Will Celia find out what’s going on before her own birthday rolls around?
March 26th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Nathan Kotecki | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
An Inquiry Into Love and Death by Simone St. James
I enjoy a good Gothic novel, and I was intrigued by An Inquiry Into Love and Death as soon as I first heard about it. After reading it, I can report that it is indeed a good Gothic novel, and fans of the genre should definitely check it out.
Jillian Leigh’s life as an Oxford student is interrupted when her uncle Toby dies in a fall from a cliff in the remote village of Rothewell. With Jillian’s parents out of the country,
March 18th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Simone St.James | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Today we welcome Laura Bickle, author of Embers, Sparks, and the YA novel The Hallowed Ones. The Outside, a sequel to The Hallowed Ones, will be released later this year. Laura also writes the DARK ORACLE series under the name Alayna Williams. Her question for you today is: Where do you want to be when the apocalypse hits? One commenter wins a copy of The Hallowed Ones.
One of the great things about writing is getting to ask those “what-if” questions.
March 14th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter | Alayna Williams, Laura Bickle | Thoughtful Thursday | 13 comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!