Between 1955 and 1995 Poul Anderson published a series of short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels, about the Time Patrol, a secret group of people from all over the world whose job is to protect the world history we know. They jump up and down the timeline, making sure that terrorists and other disruptors don’t use time travel to remake history to suit their own malign purposes. Or any purposes, actually. Their goal is to keep history the same, even with all its evils,
June 22nd, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Poul Anderson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Chrysalids by John Wynhdam
It’s no wonder that David dreams of a distant and wondrous city at night: life in the post-apocalyptic settlement, Waknuk, is difficult. Waknuk’s people are descended from the survivors of the Tribulation, which everyone knows was sent by God to punish the Old People. Though David and his community are lucky to have any land to live on, they must always guard against Deviations — in their crops, in their livestock, and in their children.
Deviations are not made in God’s True Image. Children that,
April 27th, 2017. Ryan Skardal, Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | John Wyndham | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov
Re-reading a favorite book from your teenage years is always a risky endeavor. I’ve been dismayed by how often my youthful memories are tarnished by a re-read, and I end up wondering if my taste as a young adult was all in my mouth.
But I couldn’t resist trying The End of Eternity (1955) by Isaac Asimov again, partly because I remembered liking it so well as a teenager, but my memories of it were so extremely hazy (for the longest time,
March 31st, 2017. Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Isaac Asimov | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett
If indeed social movements occur in cycles that over time have a net result of zero, what then is the value of scientific pursuit? If humanity will inevitably revert to primitivism, of what use is maneuvering toward that fuzzy idea of ‘civilization’? Is it just to give us something to do with our time on Earth? Is it an innate, unavoidable aspect of being human we should shun? Is it just false hope? Or, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? These questions and more Leigh Brackett examines in her oft-overlooked 1955 magnum opus The Long Tomorrow.
March 20th, 2017. Jesse Hudson and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Leigh Brackett | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Halfling and Other Stories by Leigh Brackett
The Halfling and Other Stories gathers together eight tales, of varying lengths, that Leigh Brackett, the so-called “Queen of Space Opera,” wrote between the years 1943 and ’57. The collection initially appeared as an Ace paperback in ’73, but it was the second edition, released in ’83, that this reader was fortunate enough to lay his hands on. This is a generous collection of over 300 pages of Brackett’s work, and for the most part,
April 6th, 2016. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Leigh Brackett | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney
Although Don Siegel’s 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers has long been a favorite of this viewer — it is, most assuredly, one of the genuine sci-fi champs of the 1950s — it was only very recently that I finally got around to reading Jack Finney’s source novel. The occasion was Simon & Schuster’s 2015 release of the book’s 60th anniversary edition, with a most interesting foreword by author Dean Koontz. Actually, Finney’s novel had originally appeared serially in 1954 in Collier’s,
December 3rd, 2015. Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Jack Finney | Audio, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Men, Martians and Machines by Eric Frank Russell
More than four decades before Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his mixed crew of Earthlings, aliens and android made their initial appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation, English author Eric Frank Russell was charming readers with his tales of a similarly composed starship crew. Russell (1905 – ’78) had been a contributor to John W. Campbell’s seminal Astounding Science-Fiction magazine since 1937, when it was simply called Astounding Stories (Campbell would, years later, name Russell as his favorite science fiction author,
April 16th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Eric Frank Russell | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Earthlight by Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke is one of the most influential writers of science fiction. His quiet optimism, faith in science, and ability to tell straightforward but intriguing tales endeared him to a generation of fans that continues to this day. Earthlight, his sixth published novel, follows directly on the heels of his successful Childhood’s End, and though rather simplistic in presentation, adheres to the author’s style in perfect fashion.
Earthlight is the story of Bertram Sadler,
May 19th, 2014. Jesse Hudson and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Arthur C. Clarke | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Solar Lottery by Philip K. Dick
Although the Philip K. Dick novel Solar Lottery is correctly cited as being the writer’s first full-length piece of fiction to see the light of day, it was hardly the first time the budding author saw his name in print. The 26-year-old Dick had already seen some 35 short science fiction stories published between 1952 and 1953, beginning with his first sale, “Beyond Lies the Wub,” in the July 1952 issue of Planet Stories; he would see 27 stories go into print in 1953 alone!
August 26th, 2013. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…