Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Author: Rebecca Fisher

The Jungle Book: Mowgli’s story is only a small part

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Good Hunting All That Keep the Jungle Law…

If you were to ask anyone to describe The Jungle Book, they would probably take their cue from the widely known Disney film and say that it was about a young boy who was raised by wolves in the jungle, mentored by a bear and a panther, and who eventually kills a dangerous tiger. In this they’d be right, but they’d only be describing the first three chapters.

The rest of the book is a series of unrelated short stories about other animals,

March 30th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Rudyard Kipling | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Rose Daughter: McKinley’s second rendition of Beauty and the Beast

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

Can a beast who loves roses so much be so very terrible?

It’s been years since I read and reviewed Robin McKinley’s Beauty, her first rendition of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale. Despite the book’s popularity, I wasn’t particularly moved by it, and ended my review saying that I was looking forward to experiencing her second retelling of the same story, seeing how an author would approach the same material the second time around.

Well,

March 7th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Robin McKinley | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The CYGNET duology: Early Patricia McKillip

CYGNET by Patricia McKillip

She walks the path of time toward this house…

Two Patricia McKillip books in a single volume, what could be better?

As two of her earliest works, the CYGNET duology (composed of The Sorceress and the Cygnet and The Cygnet and the Firebird) make for more challenging reads than her later offerings. McKillip is renowned for her complex writing techniques. It’s obvious to those who are familiar with her distinctive poetic-prose that she’s still getting the hang of it here,

February 29th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Patricia McKillip | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Measure of the Magic: Brooks is now copying himself

The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks

“The Black Staff’s Bearer Comes Closer Each Day…”

By this stage there are so many books in Terry Brooks’ SHANNARA series that each new installment requires a lengthy rundown of where it belongs in the sequence. After writing the original SHANNARA trilogy back in the 1970s, as well as a bevy of direct sequels, Brooks went on to write a seemingly-unrelated contemporary fantasy trilogy that introduced the Knights of the Word, champions of light armed with powerful staffs of black wood who fight against demonic forces that strive to bring about the end of the world.

February 18th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2.5 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Dracula: The Undead: Just plain bad

Dracula: The Undead by Ian Holt & Dacre Stoker

Have you ever read a book that is so bad that it loops back around to being good? Well, Dracula the Un-Dead (2009) isn’t one of those books. It’s just plain bad. But it nearly provides one of those “so bad it’s good” reading experiences, creating a sense of bile fascination in the reader over the fact that someone could clearly enjoy a source material enough to write a sequel, but apparently hate it so much that they would write it… well,

February 15th, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 1.5 | Ian Holt | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |

The Crowfield Curse: This book has it all

The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh

Once in a while, a book comes along that surprises you. I picked The Crowfield Curse up on a whim, being attracted to its stark cover art and intriguing title, and it turns out to have been the best book-related choice I’ve made in months. A rich, unsettling atmosphere, imaginative use of old folktales and legends, a sweet, likeable protagonist, a fascinating central conceit — this book has it all.

After the death of his family in a fire, fourteen year old William Paynel goes to live at Crowfield Abbey.

Interview with the Vampire: Excellent vampire fiction

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

There are two major traditions when it comes to vampire fiction. In the first and older conception of them, they are out-and-out monsters, demons lusting after mortal blood from beyond the grave. Examples of this would include Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot or the original Dracula to some extent. The second tradition humanizes vampires, focusing on the men and women they once were rather than the supernatural beings they have become. Interview with the Vampire is of the latter camp,

February 1st, 2012. Tim Scheidler and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Anne Rice | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

Oracle’s Fire: A worthy conclusion

Oracle’s Fire by Mary Victoria

The third and final book in Mary Victoria’s CHRONICLES OF THE TREE trilogy, Oracle’s Fire is a worthy conclusion to the story started in Tymon’s Flight and Samiha’s Song, wrapping up the multiple storylines and giving closure on all the characters. Although the trilogy is classified as fantasy, it veers more toward science fiction what with its distinct lack of swords and sorcery, and use of religious sects, rudimentary technology and mystical visions to shape Mary Victoria’s imaginary world.

January 21st, 2012. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Mary Victoria | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country: Not a sucess

Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country by Rosalind Miles

The literary world is crammed full of books surrounding Arthurian lore — so many, in fact, that it could very well be a genre of its own. The problem, however, is that because the main events, characters and storylines are already set out in the mythology, authors cannot tamper with them… at least not too much. This poses the challenge of presenting the familiar story in an original way, and the latest trend seems to be taking a character and telling the story through their point of view.

January 2nd, 2012. Rebecca Fisher and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 1 | Rosalind Miles | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Scrivener’s Moon: Running out of words to describe how wonderful this series is

Scrivener’s Moon by Philip Reeve

What is to Become of Fever Crumb?

Once again I come to review a Philip Reeve book, and once again I’m astounded to find that no one else seems to have anything to say about it. It’s also gotten to the stage where it is getting harder and harder to write coherently about Reeve’s books when all I want to do is squee indiscriminately. Every time I open a book in THE HUNGRY CITY CHRONICLES, I know without a doubt that I’m in for a fantastic read,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
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We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
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