Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds


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Light Chaser: Can two humans put the universe right?

Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton & Gareth L. Powell

2021’s Light Chaser novella is a collaboration between Gareth Powell and Peter F. Hamilton. This fast-paced story actually spans centuries, featuring a functionally-immortal woman, Amahle. The sole occupant of her AI controlled lightship, Amahle, the titular Light Chaser, is one of many of her kind, who travel a “circuit” of human-occupied planets, collecting the memory collars selected families wear for generations. In return, Amahle provides carefully chosen wealth and trinkets, careful never to provide something that might allow the stable (or stagnant) societies on these worlds to make any kind of leap forward in technology or political thinking.


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WWWednesday: September 20, 2023

We all agree that the single biggest threat facing our beautiful planet is that of space aliens. Ever alert to security risks, our government has responded with a “UFO Czar,” (which is weird because I thought we were retiring the UFO acronym).

The life in our biosphere alone is constantly amazing! This beetle evolved a “fake termite” appendage which keeps it safe from termites and may even encourage them to feed it!

The British Fantasy Award winners were announced last Saturday.

Bill Willingham, creator of Fables, has now put the entire franchise into the public domain.


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Uncommon Charm: Magic hijinks in 1920s Britain

Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien & Kat Weaver

Neon Hemlock has carved out a niche for itself in the novella/novelette market, and continues to deliver quirky, engaging stories across the subgenres. This magical, alternate history romp, Uncommon Charm (2022), is one more example.

Julia Selwyn-Stirling is the daughter of Lady Aloysia, the premiere magician in 1925 Britain. Depending on who you talk to, Lady Aloysia, who Julia calls “Muv,” is either the powerful secret weapon of the British government, or the blackmailer of that same government.


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WWWednesday: September 13, 2023

The official WorldCon Hugo packet left out Best Fanzine and Best Fan Author, so fans (of course) took up the cause, and have provided that information informally.

The idea of envy, of creative people and between creative people, had quite a lively discussion on Bluesky, and I think this article may have been one of the citations.

Google will require that pollical ads on their platforms must disclose the use of AI. (That’s a nice start… what about deceitful editing and photoshopping, though?)

Atlas Obscura wants to share the tradition of Costa Rican oxcarts.


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The Secrets of Insects: A retrospective of Kadrey short fiction

The Secrets of Insects by Richard Kadrey

Before he published the SANDMAN SLIM series, Richard Kadrey published short fiction in various markets. Several of those stories have been collected in his latest book, 2023’s The Secret of Insects. The earliest story in here, “Horse Latitudes,” appeared in Omni in 1992. The most recent story, “Candy Among the Jades,” is original to this collection. The Secrets of Insects is a retrospective of Kadrey’s short fiction.

I’ll provide the Table of Contents,


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The City Inside: An exquisite, complicated puzzle

The City Inside by Samit Basu

For the first 22 pages of Samit Basu’s The City Inside (2022), I didn’t have a freakin’ clue what was going on. I followed Joey (Bijoyini) Roy around her parents’ house, as she interacted with her intrusive “wellness system”—think very needy FitBit on steroids—as she talked to her parents about the Years that Can’t Be Discussed, as she dodged her performative adolescent brother, who was constantly auditioning for a place in the Flow. I understood vaguely that social media was a big thing,


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WWWednesday: September 6, 2023

This week in 1947, a children’s book called Goodnight, Moon was published. You may have heard of it.

100% of the profits from To Ukraine, With Love will be donated to Ukrainian charities to help people recovering from the Russian invasion. Thanks to File770 for this link.

This newly discovered comet may become visible to the unaided human eye in mid-September.

Nerds of a Feather reviews the fourth of the TALES FROM THE RIVERLANDS novellas by Nghi Vo, Mammoths at the Gates.


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The Library of Broken Worlds: My first Hugo nomination of the year

The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson

With Alaya Dawn Johnson’s The Library of Broken Worlds, I found my first Hugo nomination for next year. Mind you, this is a year where I’ve read many good-to-great books. The Library of Broken Worlds is not only a brilliant story beautifully written, it is truly original in its conception and execution, by a writer who is a master of words.

Set a few hundred years in the future, the story is told by our narrator and main character,


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Devil’s Gun: Rambo’s restaurant space opera cooks up more fun

Devil’s Gun by Cat Rambo 

Devil’s Gun (2023) is Cat Rambo’s sequel to last year’s space-opera-with-chefs, You Sexy Thing. My first impulse was to label this book “fun,” but when I sat down to write this review, I had to evaluate that. It is a fun book, but for a fun book it contains a lot of sadness, distrust and bad decisions. The “fun” comes from the consequences of those decisions (in terms of conflict and action) and the strange,


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WWWednesday: August 30, 2023

The annual T-Rex race in Washington State ended in a photo finish, but the winner was sorted out eventually.

The venerable and respected print Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has spent the last few weeks in very choppy waters. First came reports of excessive delays—like, months/years—in sending contracts. Last week, a new controversy popped up when David A. Riley, a British writer, announced he’d sold a sword and sorcery story to the magazine. Riley was previously associated with Britain’s National Front organization, well known for its racist rhetoric and central role in various incidents of community violence.


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Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8179 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

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