Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
For all those folks who have at times felt that their home and possessions owned them, rather than the other way around; for those folks who love a good haunted house/possession tale; and even for those readers who simply enjoy a well-told thriller of a page-turner, Robert Marasco‘s 1973 novel Burnt Offerings will be a real find. This was Marasco’s first novel in a sadly unprolific career; he came out with only two more titles – Child’s Play,
May 25th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Robert Marasco | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Perhaps I should confess right up front that this review of what is popularly regarded solely as a children’s book is being written by a 50+-year-old male “adult” who hadn’t read a kids’ book in many years. For me, Welsh author Roald Dahl had long been the guy who scripted one of my favorite James Bond movies, 1967’s You Only Live Twice, and who was married for 30 years to the great actress Patricia Neal. Recently, though, in need of some “mental palate cleansing”
May 21st, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Roald Dahl | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Why Call Them Back From Heaven? by Clifford D. Simak
Although the concept of cryogenically preserving the bodies of the living had been a trope of Golden Age science fiction from the 1930s and onward, it wasn’t until New Jersey-born Robert Ettinger released his hardheaded book on the subject, 1962’s The Prospect of Immortality, that the idea began to be taken seriously. Ettinger would go on to found the Cryonics Institute in Michigan around 15 years later; over 1,300 folks have subscribed to this facility as of 2015,
May 19th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Clifford D. Simak | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Son of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
At the conclusion of the third Tarzan novel, 1914’s The Beasts of Tarzan, the Ape Man’s archenemy, Nikolas Rokoff, lies dead (and 3/4 eaten!) beneath the fangs of Tarzan’s panther ally, Sheeta. But Rokoff’s lieutenant, the equally dastardly Alexis Paulvitch, manages to flee into the African wilderness to escape. Needing to know more, this reader wasted little time diving into book #4, The Son of Tarzan. As it had been with the first two Tarzan sequels,
May 14th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Edgar Rice Burroughs | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
To celebrate the centennial of Tarzan of the Apes in October 2012 — Edgar Rice Burroughs‘ first Tarzan novel was released in the October 1912 issue of All-Story Magazine — I have been compulsively reading the first novels in what eventually became a series of some two dozen books. Book #2, The Return of Tarzan (1913), was a fairly direct sequel to the initial classic outing, while book #3,
May 8th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Free! | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham
At this point, only the most obstinate of naysayers would ever deny the alarming evidence regarding global warming, the shrinking of the ozone layer, the melting of the polar ice caps, and the rising of the Earth’s ocean levels. Indeed, just recently, the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 satellite revealed that Greenland and Antarctica are, together, losing their millennia-old ice caps at the rate of some 500 cubic kilometers per year! But over 60 years ago, British sci-fi author John Wyndham presented to his readers an even scarier proposition than Man’s unwitting destruction of his environment,
May 6th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | John Wyndham | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Swallow: A Tale of the Great Trek by H. Rider Haggard
No, this is not the Linda Lovelace biography. (Oops, sorry … bad joke.) Rather, Swallow is yet another fine piece of adventure fantasy from the so-called “father of lost-race fiction,” H. Rider Haggard. In addition to some 14 novels depicting the adventures of hunter Allan Quatermain, Haggard penned some dozen or so other books that were set in the wilds of Africa. Swallow, his 22nd novel, was written in 1896,
May 4th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | H. Rider Haggard | Free!, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Maracot Deep by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Readers who know of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through his Sherlock Holmes stories, his tales of Sir Nigel in the 14th century, the Napoleonic adventures of Brigadier Gerard or the sci-fi escapades of Professor Challenger might still be unfamiliar with The Maracot Deep. Published in 1929, only a year before the author’s death, this short novel amply demonstrates that Doyle still retained all his great abilities as a spinner of riveting yarns, even in his twilight years.
May 1st, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Arthur Conan Doyle | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Perhaps the most well-known fictional creation of the 20th century, Tarzan celebrated his official centennial in October 2012. First appearing in the pulp publication All-Story Magazine as a complete novel in October 1912, Tarzan of the Apes proved so popular that its creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs, wasted little time in coming up with a sequel … the first of an eventual two dozen! That sequel, perhaps inevitably titled The Return of Tarzan,
April 29th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Edgar Rice Burroughs | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything by John D. MacDonald
Having never read anything previously by renowned author John D. MacDonald, I discovered his 1962 paperback The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything after reading about it in David Pringle’s excellent overview volume Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels. Writing about the novel in that volume, the British critic tells us that it is “an amusing romp,” and MacDonald’s “only full-length fantasy.” There may perhaps be many readers who are surprised to hear of MacDonald being mentioned in the same sentence as the word “fantasy”;
April 28th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | John D. MacDonald | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.