Embassytown by China Miéville
Embassytown, China Miéville’s latest, is a sharply honed science fiction tale of linguistics. Yes, linguistics. And skeptical as one may be, it more than works. Despite its science fiction trappings, I would place Embassytown very close to The City & The City rather than Perdido Street Station and its sequels or Kraken in terms of style. I say that because while the strange alien race,
May 12th, 2011. Bill Capossere, Ryan Skardal and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 4.5, 5 | China Mieville | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan
Three weeks ago I finished Broken Angels, the second book in Richard K. Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs trilogy. I’ve been struggling with this review ever since. Broken Angels is good noir science fiction. It is well-written. I just didn’t like it.
In some places in the book the timbers of the plot show through the flash-and-dazzle, but that is no more than a nuisance. Kovacs is a believable character in a complicated and exciting situation.
May 10th, 2011. Marion Deeds, Greg Hersom and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3, 4.5 | Richard K. Morgan | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
Odd’s childhood has not been easy. His father has died, his leg is crippled, his new stepfather is unpleasant, and the winter just won’t end. So, Odd decides to go off to stay in his father’s old hut in the woods. Soon he’s befriended by a bear, a fox, and an eagle. But these aren’t your normal bear, fox, and eagle — these animals can talk, and they tell Odd that they are the gods Loki, Thor, and Odin. They’ve temporarily lost their powers and their home to the Frost Giants.
May 8th, 2011. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Neil Gaiman | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
I like Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series. I like the idea of a wizard-detective in novel-noir Chicago, VI Warshawski with testicles and a magical staff instead of high heels. I liked the wise-crackery of the early books, I appreciated the whimsy of Harry’s potion-making, and I loved his brown leather, weatherproof, spell-laden duster, one of the coolest pieces of outerwear in fiction. With Turn Coat, the eleventh book in the series, however, Butcher has wobbled off course.
First and foremost,
April 30th, 2011. Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Jim Butcher | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
When I finished City of Fallen Angels I was angry; not with Cassandra Clare, who created the Mortal Instruments series, but with the evil-doers who once again have come between Clary and her Shadowhunter boyfriend, Jace.
At the end of City of Glass, the Shadowhunters and the downworlders — vampires, faerie, and werewolves — banded together to stand against Clary’s arrogant and megalomaniacal Shadowhunter father Valentine in a cataclysmic battle. Clary used her newly discovered talent for the magical runes called Marks to defeat her father and bring Jace back from death.
April 25th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Cassandra Clare | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man by Mark Hodder
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man is Mark Hodder’s second steampunk novel with Sir Richard Burton as the protagonist, following The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack. Though it is a sequel, and reading the first book will give you a fuller sense of setting and character, Clockwork Man stands pretty independently, so not having read the first certainly doesn’t preclude you from starting here. Unfortunately,
April 20th, 2011. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Mark Hodder | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
Richard K Morgan’s Altered Carbon, the first Takeshi Kovacs novel, is a roller-coaster ride. Morgan cycles us through traditional science-fiction, some mean-streets detective drama and a fine caper story before the book ends, all told by Kovacs himself, a disillusioned killer, a futuristic Sam Spade only slightly less dirty than the dirty business he’s in, a battered knight in tarnished armor.
In Altered Carbon’s future world, science has given humanity the ability to digitize consciousness and store it in a tiny canister embedded in a vertebra at the base of the skull.
April 16th, 2011. Marion Deeds, Greg Hersom and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3, 5 | Richard K. Morgan | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Angelology by Danielle Trussoni
Danielle Trussoni is a highly educated and well established non-fiction writer with an award-nominated memoir under her belt already. She has a degree in history and an MFA in creative writing. She puts both of those degrees to use in Angelology. When she is drawing on history, the book comes to life.
I should say that I tend to be biased against writers who come out of MFA programs. Maybe it’s just reverse snobbery, but it seems to me that they have learned to write exquisite paragraphs but don’t always have a good sense of story,
April 10th, 2011. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 1 | Danielle Trussoni | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell
What does the United States look like 25 years after zombies have led the nation into an apocalypse? What is life like for a teenager born ten years or so after the apocalypse? What has she seen, and done, and what is the state of her soul? These are the questions first-time novelist Alden Bell attempts to answer in The Reapers Are the Angels, a soul-searing novel that looks at some of life’s hardest questions through the lens of violence so common and natural it isn’t even evil.
April 9th, 2011. Terry Weyna and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Alden Bell | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Neon Court by Kate Griffin
The Neon Court, Kate Griffin’s third Matthew Swift novel, starts out with high drama as Matthew, urban sorcerer and Midnight Mayor of London, abruptly materializes on the top floor of a burning building. Oda, a member of the fundamentalist, magic-hating Order, has used a summoning spell to bring him there. This is enough, in her belief system, to damn her soul. Oda is dying, or at least, she should be, since she has been stabbed through the heart and is weeping tears of blood,
April 7th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Kate Griffin | SFF Reviews | no comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
This blog post beautifully captures the essence of Edwige Fenech's contribution to the giallo genre! Her performances are so captivating,…
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…