The Boats of the Glen Carrig by William Hope Hodgson
The conventional words of wisdom for any aspiring new author have long been “write what you know,” a bit of advice that English author William Hope Hodgson seemingly took to heart with his first published novel, The Boats of the Glen Carrig. Before embarking on his writing career, Hodgson had spent eight years at sea, first as an apprentice for four years and then, after a two-year break, as a third mate for another long stretch.
December 23rd, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | William Hope Hodgson | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
Chosen for inclusion in both David Pringle’s Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels and Cawthorn & Moorcock’s Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, Three Hearts and Three Lions had long been on my “must read someday” list. This compactly written epic of “hard fantasy” was first serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1953 and released in an expanded book format in 1961.
December 17th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Poul Anderson | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison
I once met a woman in a bookstore who was in the process of buying Harry Harrison’s 1965 classic Bill, the Galactic Hero. She told me that she’d read it many times already, and that it was the funniest book ever. Well, I’ve never forgotten that conversation, and had long been meaning to ascertain whether or not this woman was right. It took me almost 20 years to get around to this book, but having just finished Bill,
December 10th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Harry Harrison | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The House of Souls: The Best of Arthur Machen by Arthur Machen
I had been wanting to check out Arthur Machen’s 1906 collection of short stories, entitled The House of Souls, for quite some time; ever since I had read two highly laudatory pieces written about this work and its author. The first was H.P. Lovecraft‘s comments in his widely referred to essay “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” in which he claims “Of living creators of cosmic fear raised to its most artistic pitch, few if any can hope to equal the versatile Arthur Machen.”
December 2nd, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Arthur Machen | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon
In the 1978 horror movie Martin, writer/director George A. Romero presented us with a young man who enjoys killing people and drinking their blood, but who may or may not be a so-called “vampire”; the film is wonderfully ambiguous all the way down the line on that score. Seventeen years before Martin skulked through the dreary suburbs of Pittsburgh, however, another unconventional vampire was given to the world, in the pages of Theodore Sturgeon’s Some of Your Blood.
November 25th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Theodore Sturgeon | Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Invaders from Earth by Robert Silverberg
There is apparently a marked difference in the novels that sci-fi great Robert Silverberg wrote before 1967 and the ones he penned from ’67 to eight or nine years after. Those two dozen novels of the 1954-’65 period, it has been said, are well-written, polished, plot-driven tales reminiscent of the pulp era of sci-fi’s Golden Age. But after author/editor Frederik Pohl gave Silverberg freedom to write as he chose in ’67, a new, more mature, more literate quality entered Silverberg’s work, and the two dozen novels that he wrote during this second phase of his career are often cited as his best.
November 22nd, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Robert Silverberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Of the 36 science fiction novels, nine mainstream novels, one children’s book and over 120 short stories that cult author Philip K. Dick produced before his premature death at age 53, in 1982, only two creations were done in collaboration with another author. The first was 1966’s The Ganymede Takeover, which Dick co-wrote with budding writer Ray Nelson. An alien invasion novel that deals with the snakelike telepathic inhabitants of the Jovian moon as well as the Terran rebels who resist them,
November 1st, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick, Roger Zelazny | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Our Friends from Frolix 8 by Philip K. Dick
Unlike Philip K. Dick’s previous two novels, 1969’s Ubik and 1970’s A Maze of Death, his 27th full-length science fiction book, Our Friends From Frolix 8, was not released in a hardcover first edition. Rather, it first saw the light of day, later in 1970, as a 60-cent Ace paperback (no. 64400, for all you collectors out there). And whereas those two previous novels had showcased the author giving his favorite theme — the chimeralike nature of reality — a pretty thorough workout,
October 18th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick
Despondent over the failure of his fourth marriage and at the same time stimulated to fresh creativity after his first mescaline trip, cult author Philip K. Dick worked on what would be his 29th published science fiction novel, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said, from March to August 1970. Ultimately released in 1974, an important year in Phil’s life (the year of his legendary “pink light” incident), the book went on to win the prestigious John W.
October 10th, 2013. Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Maze of Death by Philip K. Dick
In Philip K. Dick’s 25th science fiction novel, Ubik, a group of a dozen people is trapped in an increasingly bizarre world, in which objects revert to their previous forms, reality itself is suspect, and the 12 bewildered people slowly crumble to dust, murderously done in, Ten Little Indians style, by an unknown assailant. In his next published novel, A Maze of Death, Dick upped the ante a bit. Here, we find a group of 14 people,
October 3rd, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
My pleasure, Robin! And yes, it surely is some kind of an experience, to be sure....
Thanks for the solution to a mystery many decades old. One of my favourite novels, this. Hilariously funny, completely unpredictable,…
Thank you. I’m all caught up. Back to reading Crimson Embers.
Enjoyed your review. I’m reading A War in Crimson Embers and am having the hardest time reminding myself where everybody…
Just saw you like Jack Vance. Me too. Surely he offends you somewhere though?