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 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 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.
October 7th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Jules Verne | Edge | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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 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.
October 3rd, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Sarah Waters | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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 |
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 |
At first blush, Tim Waggoner’s Nekropolis seems derivative. A dark city where the sun never shines? Check. A central bar with an enigmatic bartender? Check. Predatory traffic and a strange sentient vehicle? Check. Vampires, ghouls, zombies and demons? Check. An outsider detective? Check again. Surely I’m reading one of Simon R. Green’s NIGHTSIDE books — oh, no, wait. This is something else.
Waggoner may just be the victim of bad timing. In his Afterword,
September 28th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Tim Waggoner | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
“Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well.”
The “angels” and “devils” of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke & Bone (2011) are not quite what those words would lead you to expect, but are given an original twist. The angels are closer to the angels we know — specifically the fearsome, fiery warrior type of angel, not the gauzy kind that helps adorable children cross bridges.
September 26th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter, Tadiana Jones, Marion Deeds, Terry Weyna and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4, 4.5, 5 | Laini Taylor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett
“I am a messenger . . . sent from afar.”
Robert Jackson Bennett is the author of Mr. Shivers, the best dark fantasy novel that I’ve read in a long time. Bennett delivers again with The Company Man, a detective noir science fiction novel set in a North America that is both familiar and radically changed.
The year is 1919. The city of Evesden perches on the shore of Washington State’s Puget Sound,
September 23rd, 2011. Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Robert Jackson Bennett | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!