So Bright The Vision by Clifford D. Simak
I have been on something of a kick this past year as regards Clifford D. Simak and his shorter fiction of the 1950s. All the Traps of Earth (1962), The Worlds of Clifford Simak (1961) and Other Worlds of Clifford Simak (1962) had all proved to be truly wonderful – or perhaps I should say “wonder-filled” – collections,
June 20th, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Clifford D. Simak | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A decade-long war is finally over and the people who live on the planet of Beltane are relieved. During the war, Beltane, where many scientists lived, was recruited for the war effort and served, unwillingly, as an experimental lab. After the war, most of the scientists left the planet, creating a brain drain, and the people who remained were pacifists who looked forward to starting a new way of life without interference from the Confederation.
When a disfigured veteran named Griss Lugard is brought back home to Beltane,
October 15th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Children, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Dimension of Miracles by Robert Sheckley
A few years ago, Neil Gaiman produced a series of audiobooks called Neil Gaiman Presents in which he identified several of his favorite novels that had not yet been produced in audio format, found suitable narrators, and provided his own introductions to the books. I’ve purchased almost all of them.
In his introduction to Robert Sheckley’s Dimension of Miracles (1968), Gaiman discusses his discovery of Sheckley’s work after reading about the author in Brian W.
October 23rd, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Robert Sheckley | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Snail on the Slope by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
Chicago Review Press and Blackstone Audio have been translating and reprinting some of the Strugatsky brothers’ works and they’ve sent me review copies. I read Monday Starts on Saturday several months ago but never managed to write a review, which I feel terrible about because I really liked that book. I will try to review it soon.
Being familiar with their style — which is bizarre, ironic, visually arresting, and funny — I figured I’d like The Snail on the Slope (1968),
August 21st, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Boris and Arkady Strugatsky | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Following the publication of 1960’s Trouble With Lichen, fans of the hugely popular English sci-fi writer John Wyndham would have to wait a good solid eight years for his next novel to be released. During that time, the author limited himself to the shorter form, coming out with 10 stories. One of those short stories was “Chocky,” which initially appeared in the March ’63 issue of the legendary American magazine Amazing Stories, which had been started by author and editor Hugo Gernsback back in 1926.
May 16th, 2017. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | John Wyndham | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were two writers who initially established themselves not only in the world of realist fiction, but also as effective observers on society. As a result, their later novels Nineteen Eighty-four and Brave New World are heralded as two of the greatest science fiction novels ever written, with literary purists even willing to make allowances despite the sci-fi leanings. Perhaps it is John Brunner’s misfortune that his career was established in the world of science fiction.
August 25th, 2016. Jesse Hudson | John Brunner | Hugo Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Necklace of Raindrops by Joan Aiken
Joan Aiken’s sweet collection of eight short children’s bedtime stories, originally published in 1968, has just been released in audio format by Listening Library. The audiobook is just over 1.5 hours long and is excellently and lovingly narrated by the author’s daughter, Lizza Aiken. It contains these stories:
“A Necklace of Raindrops” ̶ Every year on her birthday, the North Wind gives Laura Jones a new raindrop for her necklace. Each raindrop gives Laura a special power. When a jealous schoolmate steals the necklace,
January 25th, 2016. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Joan Aiken | Audio, Children, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner was arguably the most brilliant, though-provoking, and intelligent SF film ever made, with a uniquely dark vision of a deteriorated future Earth society and a morally ambiguous tale of a bounty hunter Rick Deckard hunting down and ‘retiring’ a series of very intelligent Nexus-6 type replicants (androids) that want very much to live. The movie changed the way moviegoers looked at SF films, and brought great credibility to its director and the genre for a much wider audience,
September 9th, 2015. Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Film / TV, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany
It doesn’t get any more New Wave SF than this very slim 1968 Nebula-winning novel (157 pages), and it’s hard to imagine anything like this being written today. The Einstein Intersection is a mythical retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice story in a far-future Earth populated by the mutated remnants of humanity. Being a Samuel R. Delany book, the writing is disjointed, jazzy, lyrical, playful, and tantalizing. The surface events are fairly obscure, but it’s clear that the real narrative is buried beneath,
July 2nd, 2015. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 2 | Samuel R. Delany | Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Nova is Samuel “Chip” Delany‘s 1968 space opera with mythic/Grail Quest overtones. It is packed with different themes, subtexts, allegorical and cultural references, and literary experiments, and the young author (just 25 years old) is clearly a very talented, intelligent, and passionate writer.
But I didn’t enjoy it, sadly. While I thought Babel-17 was a very fast-paced, vivid and engaging space opera that centered on language and identity, Nova felt very turgid and forced.
June 29th, 2015. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3 | Samuel R. Delany | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…