Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Marion Deeds

Bacchanal: Trapped souls, a dark carnival and a quest for belonging

Bacchanal by Veronica G. Henry

In the northern hemisphere, it’s heading for autumn, when nature slows and sleeps, when days get shorter, and tales get spookier. It’s the time of year for “dark carnival” tales, and Veronica G. Henry provides us with a new one, Bacchanal (2021), her debut novel.

In the late 1930s, The G.B Bacchanal Carnival makes the south-and-southwest circuit of the USA, and along the way they often pick up new acts. Clay, a red-haired white man from Chicago, is the “face” of the carnival,

Breath of Earth: Alt-history and magic in a high-stakes adventure

Breath of Earth by Beth Cato

Breath of Earth begins a new fantastical alternative-history series from Beth Cato, in which hydrogen-filled airships dot the skies, giant beasts in the ground cause earthquakes, and Teddy Roosevelt became an internationally-renowned Ambassador rather than the 26th U.S. President. (There’s also a nationally touring opera prominently featured in a side plot; if Lincoln isn’t a sly nod to a certain massively popular Tony-winning musical, I will eat my least-favorite hat.)

In an almost-recognizable San Francisco,

September 21st, 2021. Jana Nyman and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Beth Cato | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Ace of Spades: Dark academia meets Gossip Girl, and no place is safe

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Ace of Spades (2021) is Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé’s first novel. It’s a YA thriller and doesn’t have any speculative elements, but if you like good prose, good characterization and high-suspense thrillers this book might be for you. I was not the target audience for this book, but after the first couple of chapters, I could not put it down.

Chiamaka and Devon are students at an upscale private high school called Niveus Academy. It’s senior year, and the two are each selected to be Senior Prefects (the school,

WWWednesday: September 15, 2021

File 770 provides part one the Emmy Creative Arts award.

You are probably already wondering what to get your children for Christmas, right? Of course you are. How about a robot unicorn, suitable for riding? Child sizes only, sorry.

The UK Guardian provides a long story about three techbros, their vision of a libertarian utopia, crypto-currency and a decommissioned cruise ship. What could possibly go wrong? (Spoiler alert…) (Genuine spoiler alert—I knew libertarianism was out the window as soon as they started talking about pets.)

Zebras are running amok in Maryland!

September 15th, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

The Angel of the Crows: Too faithful to the originals

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

For about the first third or perhaps half of Katherine Addison’s newest, The Angel of the Crows (2020), I was thinking I was finally off the schneid, as it had been about two weeks since I’d really thoroughly enjoyed a novel I was reading. And I was definitely enjoying the pastiche of several Sherlock Holmes stories which basically boils down to “It’s Holmes but with angels and vampires!” Which sounds like a lot of fun,

WWWednesday: September 8, 2021

Dragon Awards were announced Sunday. Andy Weir won for Best Science Fiction novel (Project Hail Mary); Jim Butcher won for Best Fantasy novel (Battle Ground). T. Kingfisher walked away with two Dragons; one for best YA and one for best horror novel. Congratulations to all the winners. The Baen Fantasy Adventure Award was also announced.

The Sideways Awards, celebrating excellent works of alternate history, announced their finalists.

File 770 shares two crime drama award announcements.

September 8th, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

You Brought Me the Ocean: A sweet romance with beautiful artwork

You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez, drawn by Julie Maroh

Jake Hyde dreams of the ocean and has secretly applied to the marine biology program at the University of Miami, but in waking life, the ocean is limited to the aquarium in his room. His father drowned, and since then his mother has resolutely kept him away from water (hence the secrecy about University of Miami). She even moved them to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, to keep her son away from water.

A yearning for the ocean’s not the only secret Jake is keeping.

September 7th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Comics, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WWWednesday: September 1, 2021

Clarion West offers online classes. (Thanks to File 770.)

On Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog, R.W.W. Greene talks about celebrity names and other things from her new dystopian novel Twenty Five to Life.

On his blog, John Scalzi notes that adaptations from his work Love, Death and Robots won juried Emmys.

This is not really an article, it’s more of a text trailer, but Eli Lee’s new speculative fiction novel uses food as a way to cement a sense of a different world.

September 1st, 2021. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Marion chats with Daryl Gregory (GIVEAWAY!)

Daryl Gregory’s first novel Pandemonium won the 2009 Crawford Award. His novella We Are All Completely Fine won both the World Fantasy and the Shirley Jackson awards. Gregory writes across genres, with science fiction titles like Afterparty, and fantastical family sagas like Spoonbenders. Earlier in 2021 his novella The Album of Dr. Moreau was released, and his newest release is his Southern gothic horror novel Revelator.

He took some time to answer some questions for us.

August 31st, 2021. Marion Deeds | Daryl Gregory | Author Interviews, Giveaway! | 11 comments |

Revelator: A high-proof distillation of horror

Revelator by Daryl Gregory

Stella Birch sees her family’s god when she is nine years old, in 1933. Her father has dropped her off in a sheltered valley, the cove, in the Smoky Mountains. He says he’s leaving her with Motty, her grandmother, while he looks for work, but he’s never coming back.

Daryl Gregory’s 2021 southern gothic horror novel Revelator trades in bone-deep horror, stunning beauty, strangeness, and acid-etched banter. Moving between two timelines, Stella’s time with Motty in the cove and her present life as a moonshiner in 1948,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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