Sidney’s Comet by Brian Herbert
A lot of Brian Herbert‘s bibliography consists of collaborations with other authors. There is Man of Two Worlds, written in collaboration with his father Frank Herbert, the Dune sequels, written with Kevin J. Anderson, and a couple of books written with Marie Landis. I haven’t read Man of Two Worlds yet, although I do own a copy signed by Brian Herbert. I have read a stack of the Dune sequels,
July 23rd, 2018. Rob Weber´s rating: 2 | Brian Herbert | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Scattered Among Strange Worlds by Aliette de Bodard
Scattered Among Strange Worlds (2012) contains two short stories and a sample chapter of Aliette de Bodard‘s debut novel Servant of the Underworld. The first story is “Scattered Along the Rivers of Heaven,” first published in the January 2012 issue of Clarkesworld, where it can still be read and listened to for free. It is a far-future science fiction story that incorporates some lines of classic Chinese poetry.
July 11th, 2018. Rob Weber´s rating: 5 | Aliette De_Bodard | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magician’s End by Raymond E. Feist
When I was in my late teens I went through a spell when I hardly read any books at all. Literature classes at the time seemed to be aimed at forcing the most boring reading material on you, or else books that were way over the head of your average teenager, making reading seriously unappealing. I’ve always wondered how many people never got back to reading again after going through those classes. I returned to reading in 1996 when I entered college, mostly to take my mind off the more technical stuff I had to read as part of my education.
October 28th, 2017. Rob Weber´s rating: 3 | Raymond E. Feist | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Jimmy and the Crawler by Raymond E. Feist
In May 2013 Magician’s End, the final book in Feist’s long running RIFTWAR series, appeared. It was the final chapter in a series that had been going for over thirty years. Earlier that year, Feist published the novella Jimmy and the Crawler to tie up a loose end in the series. As usual with Feist, I read it in Dutch translation. One of the earlier translators of Feist’s works, I think translator Mat Schifferstein is the fourth to have a go at RIFTWAR material,
August 28th, 2017. Rob Weber´s rating: 1.5 | Raymond E. Feist | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert
The Dosadi Experiment is part of a series on Saboteur Extraordinary Jorj X. McKie consisting of two pieces of short fiction, A Matter of Traces (1958) and The Tactful Saboteur (1964), and two novels. The first novel is Whipping Star, which appeared in 1970. It was followed seven years later by this book. The books and stories can be read independently — in fact, that is what I did first time around —
August 23rd, 2017. Rob Weber´s rating: 5 | Frank Herbert | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Spirits of Glory by Emily Devenport
Recently, author Emily Devenport approached me with a request to review her young adult novel Spirits of Glory. I was not familiar with Devenport, but a quick search told me she has published several novels under three different pen names, one of which earned her a Philip K. Dick Award nomination. Spirits of Glory (2010) is self-published, and I tend to avoid such books after a number of negative experiences. Given Devenport’s resume, however, I wasn’t too worried I’d end up with a poorly written piece of fiction,
August 18th, 2017. Rob Weber´s rating: 4 | Emily Devenport | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
In the late 20th century the ruins of the city of Paris are populated by a mix of humans and fallen angels. The angels may have lost God’s grace, but they still have power. Their bodies contain magic that can be used by humans and angels alike. A central government, if ever there was one, has disappeared and the upper layers of society is organized into houses. These houses continually vie for influence in a Machiavellian political game. Silverspire, the oldest of these houses,
April 5th, 2017. Rob Weber | Aliette De_Bodard | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Slow River (1995) is Nicola Griffith‘s second novel and the third one by her I’ve read. Like her debut Ammonite (1992), it attracted quite a bit of attention. The novel won a Nebula Award in 1996 and has made it into the Gollancz SF Masterworks series. I enjoyed both Hild (2013) and Ammonite an awful lot so this book ended up on the to-read stack right after finishing Ammonite.
March 31st, 2017. Rob Weber | Nicola Griffith | Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Eye is a short story collection by Frank Herbert and is one of his last works. Published in 1985, the same year his sixth Dune novel Chapterhouse: Dune was published, Eye covers most of his career. I guess you could consider this a “best of” volume. Herbert was not a prolific short fiction writer, especially in his later years, but quite a few stories are still missing from this collection. Like many SF authors he began his career publishing in the genre’s big magazines,
March 18th, 2017. Rob Weber´s rating: 3.5 | Frank Herbert | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Ice Owl by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Carolyn Ives Gilman‘s novella The Ice Owl, originally published in the November/December issue of the magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction, was nominated for (but didn’t win) both the Nebula and Hugo Awards in 2012. The Ice Owl is set in the same universe as Gilman’s earlier novella Arkfall (2008). These stories can be read independently.
Thorn is a teenager living in a future where near instantaneous communication is possible but travel is still limited to the speed of light.
November 3rd, 2016. Rob Weber | Carolyn Ives Gilman | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one