Small Gods by Sir Terry Pratchett
Small Gods (1992) was the first DISCWORLD book I read, and it made me love the series. I reread it recently, and, allowing for certain themes that repeat in all the DISCWORLD books, I found I still enjoyed it. Pratchett delivers a message on the nature of hypocrisy, fanaticism and faith, with lots of smartypants good fun along the way.
Brutha is a novice at the Temple of the Great God Om. While Brutha is a hard worker and a well-meaning lad,
February 28th, 2018. Marion Deeds and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Terry Pratchett | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
Editor’s note: This is Marion’s review of Shards of Honor, Barrayar, and The Warrior’s Apprentice. Kat’s comments about The Warrior’s Apprentice are at the bottom.
Do you like fancy military uniforms? Shiny spaceships that blow things up? Brooding aristocrats with hulking stone castles and dark secrets? Snappy comebacks and one-liners? Voluptuous women warriors? Swords and secret passages? Surprising twists on standard military tactics of engagement?
If you answered “Yes” to three or more,
February 22nd, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Best of Lucius Shepard by Lucius Shepard
I’ll come right out and say it. Lucius Shepard was one of the best SF short story writers of the 1980 and 1990s. His prose, imagery, themes, and style are so powerful, dynamic, and vivid that it’s a real crime that he didn’t gain a wider readership when he was alive, though he did win many SF awards.
Although he had already been publishing his stories in SF magazines like SF&F and Asimov’s for several years,
February 16th, 2018. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Lucius Shepard | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Bill: I think it’s going to be impossible to review City of Miracles (2017) without reference to events from Robert Jackson Bennett’s first two books in the series (City of Stairs, City of Blades). or without discussing the major precipitating event (no real pangs of guilt here; that event is also detailed in the official bookseller summary), so consider this your fair warning: There be spoilers ahead!
February 14th, 2018. Bill Capossere, Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
Editor’s note: This is Marion’s review of Shards of Honor, Barrayar, and The Warrior’s Apprentice. Kat’s comments about Barrayar and Stuart’s review are at the bottom.
Do you like fancy military uniforms? Shiny spaceships that blow things up? Brooding aristocrats with hulking stone castles and dark secrets? Snappy comebacks and one-liners? Voluptuous women warriors? Swords and secret passages? Surprising twists on standard military tactics of engagement?
If you answered “Yes” to three or more,
February 12th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Audio, Hugo Award | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
Marion: City of Blades is the second book in Robert Jackson Bennett’s THE DIVINE CITIES series, which tells several sides of the story of a major international cultural conflict. Saypur, a civilization that has been oppressed by the Continent for centuries, rose up and subdued its oppressors by killing their gods. In the wake of the Saypuri revolution and its conquest of the Continent, all of the Continental Divinities have vanished,
February 7th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler, Bill Capossere and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Editor’s note: This is Marion’s review of Shards of Honor, Barrayar, and The Warrior’s Apprentice. Kat’s comments about Shards of Honor and Tadiana’s and Stuart’s reviews are below.
Do you like fancy military uniforms? Shiny spaceships that blow things up? Brooding aristocrats with hulking stone castles and dark secrets? Snappy comebacks and one-liners? Voluptuous women warriors? Swords and secret passages? Surprising twists on standard military tactics of engagement?
If you answered “Yes” to three or more,
February 6th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper, Tadiana Jones and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3.5, 5 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Audio | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
City of Stairs is a glorious, mind-bending mash-up; part second-world fantasy, part political thriller and part murder mystery. Shara Thivani and her “secretary” Sigrud are my two new favorite action heroes.
Robert Jackson Bennett once again, has taken a conventional sub-genre and made it original, creating an experience that reads like an actual sociological thriller set in another, magical world.
Shara Thivani is a junior ambassador from the Saypuri islands – at least, that is her cover.
February 2nd, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor
Dennis E. Taylor’s BOBIVERSE series has turned out to be a real winner, starting with We Are Legion (We Are Bob) in September 2016 and continuing with For We Are Many in May 2017. Usually I tend to read fairly serious, literary, and ambitious SFF books, but after going through not one, but two long episodes dealing with a debilitating herniated disc this year and being confined to lying on my back for weeks,
December 22nd, 2017. Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Dennis E. Taylor | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood was once, via a review of her work, once taken a bit publicly to task by Ursula K. LeGuin for not wanting her books (specifically The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood) to be labeled “science fiction,” because, LeGuin speculated, Atwood did not want to be relegated to the genre ghetto. Atwood, however, responded that it was merely a definitional issue.
November 29th, 2017. Bill Capossere, Stuart Starosta, Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Margaret Atwood | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 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.