Reposting to include Marion’s new review.
Blade of Dream by Daniel Abraham
Blade of Dream is Daniel Abraham’s second book in his KITHAMAR trilogy, though to call it a “sequel” is a bit of a misnomer as rather than directly following the events of Age of Ash, this new story parallels that first book’s events in time, actually intersecting with a few scenes here and there but mostly, or at least somewhat,
August 16th, 2024. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Daniel Abraham | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The 2024 Hugos were announced Saturday night. Best Novel: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh; Best Novella: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher; Best Short Story: “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer.
The 2026 WorldCon will be held in LA.
Item 3 of File770’s pixel scroll relates an incident at Glasgow’s WorldCon, involving disgraced and banned former Hugo Award director Dave McCarty and a woman in a lovely hat who may or may not have been Ursula Vernon.
Nerds of a Feather reviews Road to Ruin by Hana Lee.
August 14th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
The Drowning House by Cherie Priest
Cherie Priest should be crowned the queen of cursed houses. First there was Maplecroft, her Lizzie Borden/Lovecraftian suspense novel with the atmospheric house there, then The Family Plot with the old house steeped in family evil. With 2024’s The Drowning House, Priest gives us not one but two cursed houses… and one makes an appearance in a way I’ve never seen before.
In the middle of a wild early-autumn storm,
August 13th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Cherie Priest | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
2024’s Bury Your Gays didn’t grab me the way Camp Damascus did, but it definitely pulled me in. It’s a different brand of horror that worked convincingly, and I did love Misha, the main character, a Hollywood writer who is the name in queer horror. Tingle creates a world where what happens in the boardroom is every bit as creepy and terrifying as what happens in a dark alley or deserted city park.
As the story opens,
August 12th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Chuck Tingle | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dragon Awards ballot is out.
Google lost an important antitrust lawsuit this week.
CBR takes a moment to explore the origins of some of Batman’s best-known foes.
Nerds of Feather review The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years.
As I was seeking out their book review, I rolled past Nerds’ video review of Pentiment, and paused because I was captivated by the art. Here’s the review.
“Hurricane Hunters” isn’t the name of an action movie (although it could be) but the high-altitude aircraft NOAA uses to study tropical storms and hurricanes.
August 7th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
2024’s Horror Movie is the first Paul Tremblay book I’ve read. Having finished this disturbing, baffling and freaky tour de force, I will now seek out his other works.
Haunted films or cursed films are nothing new in the horror subgenre or even in pop-culture folklore. Tremblay takes this time-honored trope and runs with it. The book makes its way through three storylines; a present tense storyline narrated by our first-person narrator; his recollections on that time in 1993 when he was part of an independent film called Horror Movie (that was never completed);
July 25th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Paul Tremblay | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The 2024 Hugo Awards Committee has disqualified 377 votes that were determined to have been not cast by “a natural person” as the WSFS constitution calls for. See the details here or watch the video below.
Charlie Jane Anders thinks there are plenty of Doctor Who stories left on the table, and she shares 11 story seeds in her newsletter.
The Sunday Morning Transport offers us a free story. (Thanks to File 770.)
Peruvian art installation/theme park Area 21 looks pretty cool.
July 24th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling
Caitlin Starling’s 2022 novel The Death of Jane Lawrence got enthusiastic critical reviews and was nominated for a Stoker Award, so clearly people loved it. In spite of an interesting premise, the book was a disconnect for me. Your mileage may vary.
Jane Shoringfield is an orphan raised by a kind couple after her parents were killed in a war. She is impoverished, and no longer willing to be a drain on the resources of her guardians, she decides to arrange a marriage.
July 18th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Caitlin Starling | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I know we were all worried that the Glasgow WorldCon would go off with no scandals or dust-ups, but have no fear! George R.R. Martin has a complaint.
Tananarive Due, Laura Blackwell, Elizabeth Hand and others were honored at the Shirley Jackson Awards last weekend.
In the wake of last year’s disastrous Hugo candidate selection, this year’s WSFS business meeting faces 15 proposals that deal directly with the aftermath. Some attempt to remediate the damage done to eligible authors who were excluded for no known reason. Others attempt to prevent similar events in the future.
July 17th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |
Camp Damascus (2023) starts off as a demonic thriller and ends up as a plucky-kids-fight-humancentric-evil story, in Chuck Tingle’s first non-erotica novel. The author, who had a large audience on X/Twitter, came to the attention of many of us during the 2016 Hugo awards (all scandals aside, don’t say the Hugos never did anything nice for us). Previously known for men/men (or in some cases, men/dinosaur) erotica online, with Camp Damascus Tingle successfully makes the jump to horror,
July 12th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Chuck Tingle | Horror, 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!