The Sandman (Vol. 7): Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Volume 7, Brief Lives, offers a nice contrast to Volume 6, Fables and Reflections. Whereas Fables and Reflections offered nine unrelated tales in terms of plot and characters (there are thematic connections, of course), Brief Lives is a single story, an adventure tale, a road trip. Dream goes on a journey with his youngest sister, Delirium.
Their need to go on this journey is set up in previous books.
July 2nd, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
After enjoying C.J. Cherryh‘s 1982 Hugo Award winner Downbelow Station, it was a natural thing to move on to her 1989 Hugo winner, Cyteen. I know that Cyteen is a very different creature, of course. It is a hefty 680 pages long, and extremely light on action. In fact, if you removed the extensive dialogue and exposition, I think the story would be about 50 pages long. That means the story had better be pretty compelling or it could be quite an ordeal to get through.
July 1st, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 2.5 | C.J. Cherryh | Audio, Hugo Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
For the life of me, I can’t understand why Forever Peace won the Hugo, Nebula, John W. Campbell Memorial Awards for Best science fiction novel in 1998. Certainly Joe Haldeman’s earlier 1975 The Forever War is a beloved science fiction classic that deals with the Vietnam War, time paradoxes, and the absurdity of endless conflict. First off, Forever Peace is not a direct sequel, and is hardly related other than sharing a military science fiction theme.
June 29th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 1 | Joe Haldeman | Hugo Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 6): Fables and Reflections by Neil Gaiman
Sandman: Fables and Reflections is a collection of nine separate stories that originally appeared in two separate groups plus an introductory short story and a lengthy Sandman Special about Orpheus and Eurydice. Basically, this collection is one of the most far-ranging and eclectic volumes available in the SANDMAN trade editions. The first grouping of stories about various emperors across time includes “Thermidor,” “August,” “Three Septembers and a January,” and “Ramadan” (Issues 29-31&
June 18th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4.5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 5): A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
“One of the key points of A Game of You is that nobody is a stereotype, and nobody is what he or she seems on the surface, once you get to know the person. Every single one of us has glorious, weird, majestic, stupid, magical worlds inside us.*” ~Neil Gaiman
The Sandman (Vol. 5): A Game of You collects issues 32 through 37, skipping issues 29-31, which are collected in volume six of THE SANDMAN.
June 11th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4.5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
I’ve had C.J. Cherryh‘s 1982 Hugo Award winner Downbelow Station on my TBR list for three decades, and was glad I finally got around to it via Audible Studios, ably narrated by Brian Troxell. It’s an intense, claustrophobic, gritty space opera with a huge cast of hard-nosed characters battling to survive the Machiavellian intrigues of freelance Merchanters, Earth bureaucrats, Company fleet captains, Pell station administrators, Union space forces, secret agents, stationers, and (incongruously) cuddly Downer aliens. It’s a big,
June 8th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | C.J. Cherryh | Audio, Hugo Award | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 4): Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
THE SANDMAN (Vol. 4): Season of Mists collections issues 21 through 28 of Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece, and since THE SANDMAN, like most series, was a monthly, we should notice that by issue 21 Gaiman was wrapping up his second year on the title and well into his third year by issue 28. He had gained confidence in his writing, and he was getting comfortable working with different artists. He realized that THE SANDMAN wasn’t going to be taken from him at a moment’s notice.
June 4th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Terminal Experiment by Robert J. Sawyer
Robert J. Sawyer is a very popular Canadian science-fiction author, with many novels under his belt and several major awards, including the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and 2006 John W. Campbell Award for Mindscan. I hadn’t read anything of his so I decided to give The Terminal Experiment a try. It’s about an engineer who creates three artificial copies of his consciousness,
June 2nd, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 2 | Robert J. Sawyer | Audio, Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Sandman (Vol. 3): Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman’s Dream Country, the third volume in his THE SANDMAN series, is a collection of four stand-alone stories. I think it makes for a great introduction to the world of Sandman because each story is incredibly different from the one that precedes it; therefore, this particular volume is more likely to include at least one story that appeals to new readers who may be put off by a volume collecting only a single storyline.
May 28th, 2016. Brad Hawley and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Neil Gaiman | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Healer’s War by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
This is another Nebula winner I’ve had on the shelf ever since it was published in 1998, but hadn’t got around to reading. So when I found an audio version on Audible narrated by Robin Miles, one of my favorite female narrators after listening to N.K. Jemisin’s phenomenal The Fifth Season, that was enough to pull it to the top of my TBR list. Elizabeth Ann Scarborough is mostly known as a writer of humorous fantasy novels,
May 26th, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Elizabeth Ann Scarborough | Audio, Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…