Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

The Hum and the Shiver: Demonstrates Bledsoe’s versatility

The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe

The Tufa are a clan of black-haired natives who live in the Smoky Mountains. They keep to themselves, stay close to home, and have some strange beliefs and mysterious habits. Much to the disappointment of Craig Chess, the enthusiastic young Methodist preacher, every single one of them refuses to come to church.

Chess gets to know the Tufa a little better when Private Bronwyn Hyatt returns to Cloud County as a war hero. She was captured and tortured in Iraq and has come home to recover.

The Curse of Four: Full of ghosts

The Curse of Four by Caitlin Kittredge

The Curse of Four was my first introduction to Caitlin Kittredge’s Black London series. Most of the work in this series is novel-length but the Curse of Four, offered by Subterranean Press, is a novella. Based on this story, I definitely want to read the longer books.

The Curse of Four features a strange and attractive cover. I am a slow study, so I stared at the misty,

October 31st, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Caitlin Kittredge | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Holder of Lightning: Solid Celtic fantasy

Holder of Lightning by S.L. Farrell

Holder of Lightning is the first book of S.L. Farrell’s Cloudmages trilogy. The story takes place in a well-imagined Celtic world and there is plenty of action, particularly in the last third, where Farrell is putting things in place for a multi-generational saga.

Jenna Aoire is a simple village girl, daughter of the widow Maeve, content to herd the sheep and listen to music at Tara’s tavern. One night, when she is late getting the sheep down from Knobtop,

October 18th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | S.L. Farrell | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Falling Machine: A shiny surface but almost no support structure

The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer

It’s hard for me to grasp just what Andrew P. Mayer is trying to do in his 1880’s Society of Steam debut, The Falling Machine. Mayer sets his book in New York City during the Gilded Age. The book, first of a trilogy, appears to be a fable or a parable about the transition of power, or the dangers of privilege, or something. I can’t quite tell what. I can’t tell who I am supposed to cheer for,

October 14th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Andrew P. Mayer | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Any Given Doomsday: A pleasant way to spend a few hours

Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

Lori Handeland’s Any Given Doomsday is a fun urban fantasy, following the standard recipe with no real surprises. The voice of her main character, Liz Phoenix, is sharp, breezy and sarcastic. The story moves pretty briskly with only a few slack points, and there is a lot of gorgeous, dreamy, steamy sex.

Liz is a bartender at a cop bar. She used to be a cop herself, but her psychic abilities kept her an outsider and even a figure of suspicion because her “hunches” were too accurate.

October 13th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Lori Handeland | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Around the World in 80 Days: On the Edge

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

[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.]

For years I have had false memories of reading Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. How did this happen? I think I must have seen so many movie versions that they got translated into my head as if I’d read it.

The Anubis Murders: A fun mystery from the creator of D&D

The Anubis Murders by Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax is best known as the co-creator of a role-playing game so famous it is woven into the fabric of popular culture: Dungeons and Dragons. He passed away in 2008. Dangerous Journeys: The Anubis Murders was meant as the first in a series of novel tie-ins to a game of the same name.

I revere Gygax for his contributions to gaming and the use of the imagination. About The Anubis Murders, I can confidently say that it’s a good book to have on hand if you think you’ll have a boring bus ride in your future or the camping trip might get rained on,

October 6th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Gary Gygax | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Little Stranger: Sarah Waters is so skillful

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Caution: it is difficult to write about The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and not give anything away. This post might contain spoilers.

The Little Stranger is a book about a haunted house. Sarah Waters evokes emotion masterfully here. It’s not heart-pounding terror or a nauseated response to some gruesome revelation. She evokes dread, dread and a growing sense of anxiety that has you peering into the shadows and flinching at the creaks and sighs of your own house.

Indigo Springs: A different approach to fantasy

Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica

Indigo Springs is the first novel by A.M. Dellamonica, who has been publishing short fiction for nearly two decades. It shows the skill of someone who has long practiced in making words do what she wants them to do, and also the inexperience of a first-time novelist who has a great idea but doesn’t exactly know how to execute it. It’s a terrific story with new ideas and a unique magic system that works. With a stronger structure and a more coherent ending,

October 2nd, 2011. Terry Weyna, Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3, 4 | A.M. Dellamonica | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Soul Mirror: Challenges preconceptions

The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg

Carol Berg continues her Collegia Magica series with The Soul Mirror. The secret magical war being fought in the country of Sabria has left behind many victims: some dead, some maimed, some spiritually and psychologically damaged, and some intact in body and spirit but with reputation and honor destroyed. Anne de Vernase is one of these, the daughter of a traitor who not only betrayed country and king, but by betraying that king turned against his dearest and closest friend.

September 29th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Carol Berg | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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