The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
With The Fate of the Tearling (2016), Erika Johansen concludes her QUEEN OF THE TEARLING trilogy, which began in 2014’s The Queen of the Tearling and continued in 2015’s The Invasion of the Tearling. Fans of this YA series have eagerly waited for answers to questions posed throughout the preceding books: What makes Queen Kelsea Glynn special, and why can she experience memories and lifetimes that aren’t her own?
November 30th, 2016. Ray McKenzie and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Erika Johansen | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The once-trusted adults of Creek’s Cause have turned into zombies. Asteroid 9918 Darwinia has hit the small town, and in one terrifying night, no one under eighteen is safe any more. Chance Rain and his brother Patrick find themselves pitted against a town full of zombies after their aunt and uncle turn. And what’s more, it’s looking like the infection will spread further than Creek’s Cause if they don’t do something to warn the rest of the world.
Zombie novels are by no means a new concept,
October 17th, 2016. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3.5 | Gregg Hurwitz | Horror, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Note: Find “Warm Up,” a short-story introduction to Vicious, for free at Tor.com. You can also purchase it for 99c on Kindle.
Vicious, by V.E. Schwab, is another offering in the ever-more popular folks-with-powers genre, and fits as well in the equally popular sub-genre where those folks-with-powers don’t’ fall neatly into the quaint “superhero” mode but have a bit more edge, a bit more (OK, a lot more in this case) grey to them.
August 5th, 2016. Bill Capossere, Ray McKenzie and Tadiana Jones | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
It is hard to believe that Storm Front, the first book of the Dresden Files, came out more than a decade ago. Jim Butcher introduces his scrappy wizard-detective in this inaugural adventure. That was a more innocent time, and Harry was a more innocent character back then.
Harry is a working wizard in Chicago. He has an office with the word “Wizard” on the door and he advertizes in the yellow pages. (“No Children’s Parties;
August 2nd, 2016. Marion Deeds, Ray McKenzie, Kat Hooper, Terry Weyna and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Jim Butcher | SFF Reviews | 14 comments |
The year is 1956. A decade ago, Hitler and the Nazis won World War Two, and Germany is now gearing up for the annual Axis Tour: a motorbike race in which the Axis powers — the Third Reich and Imperial Japan — compete to commemorate their victory over Britain and Russia. The race takes riders across seas and continents, from its kick-start in Germany all the way to the finishing line in Japan. Eighteen-year-old Yael, holocaust survivor and death camp escapee, has one goal: to win the race and kill Hitler.
July 5th, 2016. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3.5 | Ryan Graudin | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Warning: May contain mild spoilers for the previous book.
At first glance, a mash-up between epic fantasy and futuristic dystopia just shouldn’t work. It’s as though someone has cherry-picked a bunch of best-selling ingredients and bunged them all together in a weird genre-bending cake. Even more disconcerting is a comparison made to Panem, Hogwarts and Westeros on the cover. But Erika Johansen manages to weave genres together successfully. In this second instalment of the QUEEN OF THE TEARLING trilogy,
June 30th, 2016. Ray McKenzie, Marion Deeds and Jana Nyman | Erika Johansen | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Before The Queen of the Tearling had even been published, movie rights had been sold and Emma Watson was set to take the lead role (which has now been confirmed, with David Heyman — of Harry Potter fame — as producer). The buzz around this book was hard to ignore, but I was surprised to discover that many of the early reviews had been pretty scathing. Loopholes in the plot was a common complaint, as well as a dislike for the book’s protagonist,
June 29th, 2016. Ray McKenzie, Marion Deeds and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Erika Johansen | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
And I Darken by Kiersten White
We first meet Lada Dragwyla at the tender age of two years old. She is brandishing a knife. At her father. No scene could more succinctly introduce the character of our heroine: she is brutal, fierce, bordering on sociopathic. Kiersten White explained that And I Darken tells the story as if Vlad the Impaler had been born female, and what she has created is one of the most exciting and original characters in fiction that’s been seen in a very long time.
June 10th, 2016. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 5 | Kiersten White | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury
Twylla is an executioner. Though she’s been taken from her lowly home to live in the palace, been engaged to the prince, and is wanting of nothing, she is haunted by the people she must kill and resents every moment of her life in the palace. For her skin is poisonous and any person she comes into contact with dies a gruesome and painful death; only the prince is immune to her touch. But everything is not as it seems in the palace and soon Twylla will find herself questioning not only her role but also her faith.
June 6th, 2016. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 2.5 | Melinda Salisbury | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The God Wave by Patrick Hemstreet
It’s said we only use 10 percent of our brains. What does that mean all our untapped brainpower is capable of? Could human ability surpass everything we’ve thought possible until now? This is exactly what Patrick Hemstreet explores in his debut, The God Wave.
Neuroscientist Chuck Brenton has been exploring the ability of brainwaves. He figures it’s possible to harness the power of the brain to perform actual tasks. But it’s not until mathematician Matt Streegman offers Chuck a business proposition that he realises the true extent of his research.
June 2nd, 2016. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3.5 | Patrick Hemstreet | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…