Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

What threw you out of a story?

When you start to read a work of fiction, you check your disbelief at the door. This is even more important when you are reading speculative fiction or horror, and there’s even a name for it; the willing suspension of disbelief.

Usually, once you’ve seen a dragon on the cover, you’ve already suspended your disbelief and you are prepared to go along for the ride. Sometimes, though, in the middle of a book, just for a moment, you stumble across something that you just can’t accept and it jars you out of the book. You may still go back and finish the book,

July 10th, 2014. Marion Deeds | Thoughtful Thursday | 42 comments |

In Thunder Forged: Here’s my After-action Report

In Thunder Forged by Ari Marmell

To: Military Subcommittee, Colonial Council, Kingdom of Fantasy Literature

Month of Summer Solstice, in the Year of the Brazilian World Cup

Re: Codename In Thunder Forged, After Action Report

Honorable Council:

Herewith my report on the targeted objective, codename In Thunder Forged. In reviewing reports for this mission I noted that your intelligence analysts theorized that In Thunder Forged may have been based on a video game,

July 9th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Ari Marmell | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |

The Great Glass Sea: A fine literary novel with a solid SF premise

The Great Glass Sea by Josh Weil

It’s difficult to write a comprehensive yet succinct critique of a work by someone who understands storytelling from the bones outward, who writes unsentimentally about a place he loves and uses exquisite language while doing it. That’s my particular challenge with Josh Weil’s literary novel The Great Glass Sea.

I’m reviewing The Great Glass Sea for our Edge of the Universe column because the springboard for the story is an audacious SF what-if: What if orbiting space mirrors could provide 24 hours of light to an agricultural area on earth?

September Girls: This book does not stay safely in the shallows; it takes risks.

September Girls by Bennett Madison

[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]

September Girls, by Bennett Madison was nominated for a 2014 Andre Norton Award for best YA fiction (it didn’t win; Nalo Hopkinson’s Sister Mine did).

Beggars in Spain: Liked the ideas, didn’t love the characterizations

Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress won a Nebula and a Hugo in 1991 for her novella “Beggars in Spain,” about genetically altered humans who don’t need to sleep. In 1993 she expanded the novella into a novel and ultimately into a series.

The first quarter of Beggars in Spain is basically the original novella, in which the reader meets Leisha Camden, the genetically altered child of multi-billionaire Roger Camden. Lithe, golden-haired, blue-eyed and beautiful, Leisha is also extraordinarily intelligent and sleepless.

Coffin Hill: Forest of the Night by Caitlin Kittredge & Inaki Misanda

Coffin Hill (Vol. 1): Forest of the Night by Caitlin Kittredge and Inaki Misanda

Coffin Hill is a great new horror comic that is worth checking out in this first trade collection. It is part of the new wave of titles being put out by Vertigo, DC’s line of mature comics for adult readers. I tried reading Caitlin Kittredge’s Coffin Hill when it came out on a monthly basis, but it didn’t hold my interest, so, after two issues, I decided to wait until it was published as a trade.

Valour and Vanity: Pirates, Puppets and Lord Byron!

Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal

Valour and Vanity is the fourth book in Mary Robinette Kowal’s series THE GLAMOURISTS. This time our husband-and-wife team of heroes, David Vincent and Lady Jane Vincent, are stranded, penniless, in Murano, victims of a predatory swindler who hopes to sell their secret glamour process to the highest bidder. To stop this from happening, Vincent and Jane must out-swindle the swindler. Yes, that’s right; set during the British Regency, this book is a caper book.

So,

June 2nd, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Mary Robinette Kowal | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Afterparty: Discussed by Marion and Kat

Afterparty by Daryl Gregory

Daryl Gregory’s pharma-tech novel Afterparty is good entertainment with many wonderful moments. At times it is wildly inventive — filled with images like an apartment full of tiny genetically-engineered bison roaming the “range” of wall to wall grass, or an angel named Dr. Gloria who wears a business suit, white coat, glasses, carries a clipboard and has wings.

Kat and I read this book about the same time. We both gave it four stars but we may have liked different things,

Thoughtful Thursday [GIVEAWAY]: You choose the winners!

It’s award season in Science Fiction and Fantasy Land, with the 49th annual Nebula Awards Weekend starting TODAY (Terry and I will be attending), and the Hugos coming up in August. The Hugo slate wins the Everyone’s-in-a-Froth award for the nomination of the entire WHEEL OF TIME series in the best novel category, a nomination which is allowed by the World Science Fiction Society, but leaves people saying, “Wha—hunh?”

We’ve got all the short-listed novels reviewed (links below), but we want to know what you think. Have you read them? Which books do you think will win?

May 15th, 2014. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 17 comments |

The Red: First Light: A Parade of Ideas

The Red: First Light by Linda Nagata

James Shelley, the main character of Linda Nagata’s Nebula-nominated novel The Red: First Light, is the high-drama leader of a Linked Combat Squad or LCS. It is Shelley’s opinion, shared at length with his squad, that “there has to be a war somewhere,” and that these wars are consciously orchestrated by the cabal of defense contractors who grow mega-rich off military contracts.

Shelley and his squad are linked to each other via communication implants;

May 9th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Linda Nagata | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8497 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

Support FanLit

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:

You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US UK CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!

SFF Deals

Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.