The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
The Obelisk Gate is the second in N.K. Jemisin’s BROKEN EARTH trilogy and the follow-up to her Hugo Award-winning The Fifth Season; expectations were understandably high for this installment, which promises to shed a little more light on The Stillness and the qualities that make its geology and its people so unique. The Obelisk Gate is compulsively readable, filled with characters and circumstances that will transfix the reader’s attention,
August 26th, 2016. Jana Nyman and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | N.K. Jemisin | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman
Having just finished the 10-volume epic SANDMAN saga, it’s hard to imagine anything that can top this achievement. In aggregate, it is certainly the most ambitious comic of its time, and having depicted the character arc of Dream, also known as Morpheus and the Sandman, there is isn’t much to add to that. At the same time, since the Endless have lived for the lifetime of the current universe (and perhaps previous iterations), there are an infinite number of side-stories that Gaiman could conceive.
August 20th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Unreal and the Real, Volume One: Where on Earth by Ursula K. Le Guin
Having just read two long, dense space opera epics, I was in the mood for shorter work, and who better than Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the giants of the sci-fi/fantasy field, and a respected American novelist who has transcended genre and literary categories. I discovered two volumes of her stories available on Audible, with Volume One: Where on Earth (2012) set on Earth in what I would categorize as “literary realism” style,
August 15th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3.5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | Hugo Award, Short Fiction, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 10): The Wake by Neil Gaiman
Spoilers from the previous nine volumes are included.
The Wake — the final volume collecting the last six issues of THE SANDMAN series — is a difficult book to review because it is both the perfect ending to the series and an anti-climatic closing narrative that I find disappointing. How are these both possible? The first three issues in this volume are a three-part ending to Dream’s story. At the end of that third issue,
August 13th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
A Fire Upon the Deep was a big success for Vernor Vinge, winning the 1993 Hugo Award. Seven years later, he followed up with A Deepness in the Sky, set 20,000 years earlier in the same universe, and this captured the 2000 Hugo Award and John W. Campbell Award. I came to both books with high expectations and was eager for a big-canvas space opera filled with mind-boggling technologies,
August 10th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3 | Vernor Vinge | Audio, Hugo Award | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 9): The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman
The Kindly Ones, Volume 9 of THE SANDMAN, is about revenge and repercussions, and at thirteen issues, it explores these topics in the longest story arc in the series. The Kindly Ones refer to the Three Furies, whom we’ve met in previous volumes. These three female entities help a wronged woman seek revenge, enlarging her fury and giving it power beyond all imagination. The object of their combined fury has much to fear,
July 30th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) was the big breakout novel from Vernor Vinge, winner of the 1993 Hugo Award and nominated for the Nebula. It features a unique premise I haven’t encountered before: the universe has been separated into four separate Zones of Thought: the Unthinking Depths, Slow Zone, Beyond, and Transcend. Starting from the galactic core, the Zones demarcate differing levels of technological and biological advancement — but this doesn’t simply mean different stages of development.
July 26th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3 | Vernor Vinge | Hugo Award | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin
The Shadowed Sun (2012) is the second book in N.K. Jemisin’s DREAMBLOOD two-book series, inspired the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Nubia. However, rather than simply changing some names and using thinly-disguised history as her template, she introduces an entirely new religious and social system, one centered around worship of Hananja, the dream goddess represented by the moon. The story this time is set a decade after the events of the previous book, and features some of the same characters like Nijiri,
July 13th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | N.K. Jemisin | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 8): Worlds’ End by Neil Gaiman
Brief Lives, volume 7 of Sandman, told a single story, a road-trip, about Dream. It was preceded by Fables and Reflections, volume 6, in which nine separate tales were told of varying quality. Volume 8, Worlds’ End, blends the two approaches via Gaiman’s Chaucerian narrative: There are a series of separate stories told in Worlds’ End,
July 9th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4.5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin
We’ve all read zillions of fantasies set in medieval Europe, or the equivalent thereof. But lately we’re being treated to fantasies set in cultures that are very different from Western civilization (or even Western Dark Ages), and set instead in places like China (Daniel Fox’s MOSHUI: THE BOOKS OF STONE AND WATER), Mexico (Aliette de Bodard’s OBSIDIAN AND BLOOD) and Arabia (Saladin Ahmed’s THE CRESCENT MOON KINGDOMS).
July 8th, 2016. Terry Weyna and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | N.K. Jemisin | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Thanks! These are the "easy" ones, ha!
can't wait to get to these after the usual post-end-of-term review backlog gets a little cleared up--your review and David's…
Agreed! I have loved both of these books. I wasn't as perceptive as you at guessing the true target, though,…
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the Giallo genre! I love how you highlighted her unique blend…
Ever since Tor.com became Reactor they seem to have been focusing increasingly less on books and more on visual media…