Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

Dream London: In which the antihero stumbles

Dream London by Tony Ballantyne

Antihero (n): Protagonist who lacks the attributes that make a heroic figure, such as nobility of mind or spirit.

Tony Ballantyne’s Dream London opens with a stunner of a first chapter. Captain Jim Wedderburn awakens in his room to find two fiery salamanders munching on a green beetle the size of a dinner plate. It only gets stranger from there, as he confronts a business rival (Wedderburn is a pimp); bumps into his old girlfriend who hands him a scroll with his fortune on it;

November 20th, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Tony Ballantyne | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Marvel 1602: 10th Anniversary Edition

Marvel 1602: 10th Anniversary Edition by Neil Gaiman (story), Andy Kubert (illustrations), Richard Isanove (color)

In 2001, Marvel gave Neil Gaiman the chance to write in the Marvel universe. Being Gaiman, he didn’t come up with a traditional superhero story at all. There are no tall buildings to be leaped at a single bound, no airplanes or guns, no fancy particle beam weapons. Instead, Gaiman went sideways, developing a story with Marvel characters — many Marvel characters — in Europe and the New World just at the transition from Queen Elizabeth I’s reign to that of James I of England.

The God Tattoo: For the fans, not the newcomer

The God Tattoo: Untold Tales from the Twilight Reign by Tom Lloyd

Tom Lloyd shares stories from before his TWILIGHT REIGN series in this collection, The God Tattoo: Untold Tales from the Twilight Reign. I read it because I thought you didn’t have to have read any of the TWILIGHT REIGN books in order to understand what was going on. I would say that’s not strictly true. My ignorance of the series definitely hampered my enjoyment of these pieces.

These eleven stories follow various characters in the city and nation of Narkang in a land called The Land.

The Mallet of Loving Correction: Scalzi’s plan for world domination?

The Mallet of Loving Correction by John Scalzi

The Mallet of Loving Correction is a second collection of blog postings from John Scalzi’s well-known blog, the Whatever. Scalzi’s previous collection, Your Hate Mail will be Graded, won a Hugo.

Before I comment on the content of the “Mallet”, I just want to say that in addition to his Hugos and his Nebulas and countless other awards, Scalzi should win some kind of prize just for his industriousness. He publishes several works of prose,

October 16th, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | John Scalzi | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Osiris Curse: YA Steampunk borrows heavily, but still provides a thrill

The Osiris Curse by Paul Crilley

The Osiris Curse is the second book in Paul Crilley’s YA steampunk series TWEED AND NIGHTINGALE. While much of this fast-paced adventure seemed obviously borrowed from works like the Librarian movies, Doctor Who and even China Mieville’s book The Scar, the two protagonists are charming and the story moves along at a good clip. Crilley raises some moral questions that should make early-high-school aged readers think.

Sebastian Tweed and Octavia Nightingale are two young people who have been taken under the wing of Queen Victoria’s mysterious Ministry.

Sworn Sword: Historical fantasy

Sworn Sword by James Aitcheson

[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.]

Sworn Sword is an historical novel set in the 1060s in England. James Aitcheson is a scholar, and the story of Tancred a Dinant, a knight in the service of William the Conqueror, is painstakingly researched, opening a window into a distant period of British history.

Countdown City: 77 days and counting

Countdown City by Ben H. Winters

Countdown City (2013) is Ben H. Winters’s second book in the pre-apocalyptic trilogy that began with The Last Policeman. Hank Palace is no longer a cop in Concord, New Hampshire; police functions have been nationalized, but he still wants to help people and try to maintain order in the two and a half months that remain before Maia, a fifteen-kilometer-wide asteroid, hits the earth.

Hank’s old babysitter asks him to find her husband who disappeared a few days earlier.

October 10th, 2013. Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Ben H. Winters | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |

The Last Policeman: This book does not go gentle into that good night

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

What if the world really would end in the next six months and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it? What would you do? Would you quit your job and start doing everything on your “bucket list?” Cash in all your savings and plan to party ‘til the end? Look up old friends and lost family members? Hunt down people who had done you wrong? Devote yourself to doing good works? Or would you stay in your home town and try to maintain a sense of normalcy?

Three: As a novel, it’s a heck of a video game

Three by Jay Posey

Three is Jay Posey’s first novel and Book One of the LEGENDS OF THE DUSKWALKER series. “Three” is also the name of the main character, which made reading the book a little confusing, and will probably make this review confusing, too.

I enjoyed Three up until the last forty pages, where Posey tried to wrap everything up, and filling in the things he hadn’t seeded earlier in the book, creating the effect of a deus ex machina.

October 3rd, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Jay Posey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Marion chats with Richard Kadrey

Richard Kadrey, author of the SANDMAN SLIM novels, recently did a reading and signing event at a Copperfield’s Books, a local independent bookstore. I attended, and participated in the Question and Answer segment. Even though he was getting over a cold, Richard was a gracious and lively presenter. Later I asked him some more questions via e-mail. We talked about the latest SANDMAN SLIM novel Kill City Blues, tattoos, and some of his other works.

Richard Kadrey gave me a signed copy of Kill City Blues which I’ll hand over to one random commenter.

October 1st, 2013. Marion Deeds | Richard Kadrey | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 6 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.