Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

The Gunslinger: The world has moved on

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Stephen King’s The Gunslinger is a post-apocalyptic Western-fantasy hybrid about the gunslinger Roland Deschain and his pursuit of the man in black across a desert.

At first glance, the Western plays the largest role in The Gunslinger. Roland carries two heavy six shooters with sandalwood handles, and he can fire them both with deadly accuracy. He wears a duster, leads a pack mule when we first meet him, and is chasing his quarry across a seemingly endless desert.

December 3rd, 2012. Ryan Skardal and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Stephen King | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

The Inexplicables: A journey through a poisoned city and an addict’s mind

The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest

The Inexplicables is the fifth book in Cherie Priest’s CLOCKWORK CENTURY series. This one returns to its roots, the walled, Blight-ridden city of Seattle. It’s 1881, and the American Civil War is still going on. Eighteen years earlier, a powerful mining device tapped into a vein of gas deep into the earth, and the gas spilled out into Seattle, killing most people and turning them into “rotters” or zombies. The source of the outbreak (downtown Seattle) was walled off and abandoned,

November 29th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Cherie Priest | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye: A great way to spend a frosty evening

The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A.S. Byatt

[At The Edge of the Universe, 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. Today we have two reviews of A.S. Byatt’s The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye.]

The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye is a collection of five stories,

Casket of Souls: The book is too long for the plot

Casket of Souls by Lynn Flewelling

Lynn Flewelling is the author of the NIGHTRUNNER series. The two main characters are Seregil, an aurenfaie, a race with powerful magical abilities; and Alec, an orphan from the north who, it turns out, has aurenfaie blood. Seregil and Alec live in Rhiminee, the capital city of Skala. Skala is always ruled by a queen, and for centuries they have been at war, off and on, with the Plenimarans. Casket of Souls is the sixth book in the series,

November 20th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Lynn Flewelling | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Labyrinth: Dark, scary and suspenseful

Labyrinth by Kat Richardson

Kat Richardson’s Greywalker series is absolutely noir and it reaches the darkest tones ever in the fifth book, Labyrinth. In fact, this book is unrelievedly dark, scary and suspenseful. Richardson topped herself with the fourth book in this series, Vanished; now she has topped herself yet again.

Labyrinth requires one to have read the earlier books in the series; it does not stand well by itself. In fact,

November 17th, 2012. Terry Weyna and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5, 4 | Kat Richardson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Geomancer’s Compass: A charming Young Adult adventure

The Geomancer’s Compass by Melissa Hardy

Melissa Hardy’s YA fantasy novel, The Geomancer’s Compass, is a nice blend of Canadian history and Chinese mythology. The short book follows two inventive Chinese-Canadian cousins on a quest to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to recover something that is lost, and break the curse of bad luck that haunts their wealthy family.

Miranda Liu is a brilliant computer whiz and a bundle of nervous tics. At sixteen, she is on her way to making a name for herself in the world of computer generated Augmented Reality,

The Emperor’s Soul: Good intro to Sanderson

The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Set in the same world as Elantris, The Emperor’s Soul tells the story of a Forger named Shai who is called upon by the ranking bureaucrats of the Empire. The Emperor has suffered a traumatic brain injury in an assassination attempt, and rather than have him step down, which would mean a demotion in their own power, the Guardians decide that they will call on the power of a Forger, someone who can magically imprint upon objects a new identity with their magically carved seals,

The Creative Fire: Only partially successful

The Creative Fire by Brenda Cooper

The Creative Fire (2012) is the first book in Brenda Cooper’s series RUBY’S SONG, a sociological YA science fiction story set on the generation ship The Creative Fire. Ruby Martin lives in the outer/lower levels of the ship, repairing robots. She is a “gray,” one of those who maintain the machines, cleanse the water, grow the food and keep the ship clean. The grays (the color refers to their clothes or uniforms) are brutally oppressed by the reds,

Days of Blood & Starlight: Paradise Lost meets Romeo and Juliet

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone was one of my favorite books last year, a sparkling, quirky gem of a fantasy. Karou, with her blue silk hair and the eyes on her palms, captivated me. The mysterious story ended darkly, but it was filled with humor and whimsy.

Days of Blood & Starlight has plenty of darkness, at least at the beginning. Karou has left Prague and her art student life and fled to Marrakesh,

AMULET: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

Amulet: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

Prince of the Elves is the fifth book in Kazu Kibuishi’s AMULET series. The war with the Elf King has heated up, and in this book Emily, the newest Stonekeeper, learns more about the true nature of the enemy they all face.

Prince of the Elves provides the back-story for two major characters; Trellis, the prince of the elves and Max, the mysterious boy Emily met in Cieilis. We discover that Max is much older than we originally thought.

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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