It is hard to believe that Storm Front, the first book of the Dresden Files, came out more than a decade ago. Jim Butcher introduces his scrappy wizard-detective in this inaugural adventure. That was a more innocent time, and Harry was a more innocent character back then.
Harry is a working wizard in Chicago. He has an office with the word “Wizard” on the door and he advertizes in the yellow pages. (“No Children’s Parties;
August 2nd, 2016. Marion Deeds, Ray McKenzie, Kat Hooper, Terry Weyna and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Jim Butcher | SFF Reviews | 14 comments |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
“The Grammarian’s Five Daughters” by Eleanor Arnason (1999, originally published in Realms of Fantasy, June 1999, reprinted in 2004 and free online at Strange Horizons)
This sweet little story was right up my street. Not only is it told in a slightly kooky, fairy-tale style, it’s also all about words (hoorah!).
August 1st, 2016. Katie Burton, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dark Matter (2016) is a tense science fiction thriller that was nearly unputdownable. It sucked me in almost immediately and didn’t spit me out again until I was on the other side of about a four hour reading marathon.
Jason Dessen is a brilliant physicist who in some respects has “settled.” Fifteen years ago, on the cusp of a scientific breakthrough in quantum mechanics, his girlfriend Daniela, a gifted artist, unexpectedly told him that she was pregnant. After an internal struggle,
July 26th, 2016. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Blake Crouch | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Tahira Ghani is a manager and park ranger for a Pleistocene-era wild animal park in the U.S. prairie lands, near the Rockies. Using genetic manipulation and interbreeding programs with existing animal species,
July 25th, 2016. Tadiana Jones, Kate Lechler and Jana Nyman | Caighlan Smith, Kij Johnson, Seth Dickinson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg
Maire, a baker in the small village of Carmine, is notable for two unusual characteristics. First, other than her name, she has complete amnesia about everything in her life up to the time she appeared near the village four and a half years ago. And secondly, Maire has the magical gift of infusing her baked goods with feelings and abilities that will be absorbed by the person who eats her food: strength, love, mercy, patience … even, it seems, some magical abilities.
One day a pale,
July 22nd, 2016. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3 | Charlie N. Holmberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
“Elephants and Corpses” by Kameron Hurley (May 2015, free on Tor.com, 99c Kindle version).
Nev has the ability to jump from a dying body into a nearby dead one, as long as he’s actually touched the dead body. He keeps a cache of dead bodies on hand so he’s never stuck for something for his soul to jump into.
July 18th, 2016. Tadiana Jones and Marion Deeds | Genevieve Valentine, Kameron Hurley, Walter M. Miller | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Arabella of Mars by David D. Levine
What if Isaac Newton, instead of watching an apple fall from a tree and being inspired to develop a new theory of gravity, had observed a bubble rising from his bathtub and begun to meditate on space travel? Well, in the world of Arabella of Mars, a delightful and unique blend of a Regency-era nautical adventure and the pioneering science fiction of Jules Verne or Edgar Rice Burroughs, it resulted in Captain Kidd commanding the first voyage to Mars in the late 1600s.
July 13th, 2016. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | David D. Levine | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Manamouki by Mike Resnick (1990, originally published in Asimov’s magazine, anthologized in Hugo and Nebula Award Winners from Asimov’s Science Fiction, also included in Kirinyaga). 1991 Hugo award winner (novelette), Nebula award nominee.
Kirinyaga is a terraformed planet where the inhabitants, descendants of a Kenyan tribe,
July 11th, 2016. Tadiana Jones | Mike Resnick | Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Dina Demille, a young woman, runs a quiet bed-and-breakfast in a small Texas town. Her inn is a quirky old Victorian home that looks like “a medieval castle and a Southern-belle, antebellum mansion had a baby and it had been delivered into the world by a gothic wedding cake decorator.” Dina’s only companion is a small black and white Shih Tzu named Beast, aside from her single permanent guest in the inn, but Dina is hoping her inn will become more popular ― with space aliens.
The Gertrude Hunt Bed-and-Breakfast is,
July 11th, 2016. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Ilona Andrews | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about. In honor of the U.S. Independence Day today, several of our stories deal with the theme of freedom — though not always in the sense one might expect.
“And Never Mind the Watching Ones” by Keffy R.M. Kehrli (Dec. 2015, free in Uncanny, $3.99 Kindle magazine issue)
This strange and gorgeous story sets out as a somewhat mundane tale.
July 4th, 2016. Kate Lechler, Kat Hooper, Tadiana Jones and Jana Nyman | Glen Hirshberg, Michael Flynn, Mike Resnick, Stephen King, Tobias Buckell | SFF Reviews | 3 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.