Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

Cuttlefish: Interesting world-building carries this submarine adventure

Cuttlefish by Dave Freer

It’s 1953 in a world where the British Empire never collapsed, the first World War lasted one year, and the second never happened. England commands a global, coal-fueled empire and has hastened rapid global warming. London, like Venice, is a city of canals. Irish rebels and “London undergrounders” wage a guerilla revolution against the crown. This is the world of Dave Freer’s YA submarine adventure Cuttlefish.

Tim Barnabas is a young crewman on the coal-powered submarine Cuttlefish. Clara Calland is the daughter of an imprisoned Irish rebel and a prominent chemist.

Ironskin: Part gothic novel, part fairytale, all intriguing

Ironskin by Tina Connolly

The cover of Tina Connolly’s debut fantasy novel Ironskin describes it as a “… beauty and the beast tale, beautifully and cleverly reversed.” Is it Beauty and the Beast? Not really. Is it a re-telling of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre? No, not really. Is it good? Heck, yeah.

Jane Eliot comes to Silver Birches, a war-damaged house on the moors, at the edge of a sinister, fey-filled wood. She has accepted a position as governess to a little girl who has a “delicate situation.” Jane understands the nature of this situation better than most.

October 22nd, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Tina Connolly | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Fire on the Mountain: Alternate history with a political flavor

Fire on the Mountain by Terry Bisson

What if America’s Civil War had been, not a war of unification, but a war to end slavery? What if John Brown had succeeded at Harper’s Ferry?

In his short utopian novel Fire on the Mountain, Terry Bisson contemplates those questions.
Bisson’s story is simple and human, but he uses it to muse on how the Civil War could have gone differently. Yasmin Abraham Martin Odinga is an archeologist recently back from a dig in Olduvai,

October 17th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Terry Bisson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Seawitch: Trouble by land and sea for Harper Blaine

Seawitch by Kat Richardson

Kat Richardson’s GREYWALKER series perfectly unites the classic private investigator mystery with the paranormal fantasy. The mysteries are rigorous within the rules of the paranormal realm Richardson has invented; her background research is broad and utilized well; and her characters become deeper and more interesting with every new novel. The latest in the series, Seawitch, gives us insight into the character of Detective Rey Solis of the Seattle Police Department, who has been a pain in the side for PI Harper Blaine in the past,

October 16th, 2012. Terry Weyna and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Kat Richardson | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Bethany’s Sin: Dated but emotionally compelling

Bethany’s Sin by Robert McCammon

Robert McCammon originally published Bethany’s Sin in 1980. Subterranean Press is reissuing it just in time for Halloween. This horror novel covered familiar territory even in 1980, with its “perfect little village with a dark secret,” but McCammon’s good characterization managed to make it fresh, and there are a few twists along the way.

The book opens with an archeological dig in Turkey, where an unnamed woman makes an extraordinary discovery. The next section deals with an American soldier,

The Janus Affair: The Ministry’s steampunk adventures continue

The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

The Janus Affair, by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, is the second in these writers’ steampunk adventure series. Wellington Books, Chief Archivist, and Eliza Braun, former field agent turned junior archivist, work for Queen Victoria’s Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences. Books is an aristocrat, a son of England, while Braun is a “colonial pepperpot” from New Zealand. Something happened in New Zealand that makes it impossible for Braun to return home. In The Janus Affair,

October 3rd, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Philippa (Pip) Ballantine, Tee Morris | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba

Daytripper by Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba

“Isn’t it strange how we always seem to remember the trivial things from our daily lives… yet so often we forget the most important ones?”

In the opening chapter of Daytripper, Bras de Oliva Domingos, main character of this lushly drawn graphic novel, stops for a beer and a pack of cigarettes on the way to a gala honoring his famous and powerful novelist father. He becomes involved in a shocking event, one that leaves the reader reeling.

September 28th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

AMULET: The Cloud Searchers & The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi

The Cloud Searchers & The Last Council by Kazu Kibuishi

I just read The Cloud Searchers and The Last Council, books three and four in Kazu Kibuishi’s graphic novel series AMULET. AMULET, published by Scholastic, is aimed at young adult readers, but adults will find plenty to enjoy in this series.

Emily and her brother Navin lost their father in a terrifying car accident. Their mother moved them to a house she inherited from her grandfather Silas,

Chocolate Lenin: A thriller with chocolate and rum

Chocolate Lenin by Graham Diamond

The Russian Federation is planning to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Jubilee, and Vlad Petrovsky is at the center of the public relations effort. It’s a plum assignment; long hours away from his family and dealing with crisis after crisis will all be worth it to Vlad if he succeeds. In the midst of this, he is pulled away from his assignment and tasked by the Prime Minister himself to support a vital, secret mission that threatens the future of all Russia.

At the center of Chocolate Lenin is a race against time to prevent a scientifically reproduced version of Vladimir Lenin from instigating another revolution.

Aloha From Hell: Lucifer might be the best CEO ever

Aloha From Hell by Richard Kadrey

“I have to laugh. There isn’t much else to do. Go down into the deepest darkest parts of Hell, and you’ll see what I mean. They laugh all the time down there.”

Aloha From Hell is Richard Kadrey’s third SANDMAN SLIM novel. Jim Stark was betrayed by a fellow magician and dragged alive into Hell. Eleven years as an arena fighter for audiences of Hellions and fallen angels did not improve Stark’s attitude, and when he clawed his way out of Hell,

September 18th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Richard Kadrey | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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