The Infinity Concerto by Greg Bear
I give myself credit for finishing The Infinity Concerto, the first book of Songs of Earth and Power, written by Greg Bear in 1986. The Infinity Concerto has a compelling opening chapter but fails to deliver on that chapter’s promise.
Michael Perrin, the book’s main character, is a sixteen-year-old boy living in southern California, an only child who wants to be a poet. At a family party his father introduces him to the composer Arno Waltiri.
July 18th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2 | Greg Bear | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Originally published in 1984, William Gibson’s debut novel, Neuromancer, has it all: clones, artificial intelligences that manipulate human affairs, and ninjas. In contrast, our burned out hero, Henry Dorset Case, is not very impressive. But he’s trying.
When we meet him, Case is doing his best to hustle a living in Chiba City, Japan. He used to be a hacker, but his employers corrupted his body when they caught him stealing. Now, Case is searching for a miracle cure or perhaps a ticket out of this life.
October 24th, 2010. Ryan Skardal, Kat Hooper and John Hulet´s rating: 5 | William Gibson | Audio, Hugo Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
This is a great time to be an audiobook reader! I’ve said often recently that I’m so pleased with Audible Frontiers for bringing us some older fantasy literature on audio, and this month their UK production team released Stormwarden, the first novel of Janny Wurts’ THE CYCLE OF FIRE trilogy which was first published in 1984.
Having greatly enjoyed Wurts’ stand-alone novel To Ride Hell’s Chasm, and knowing how several of my fellow FanLit reviewers feel about her THE WARS OF LIGHT AND SHADOW saga,
October 1st, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Janny Wurts | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
When the grim reaper shows up a few seconds early, Zane shoots him instead of using the gun on himself as he’d planned. Now, instead of being dead, Zane is Death. He has to take over the office, riding around the world in his convertible pale horse collecting and measuring the souls of those who’ve committed equal amounts of good and evil during their lives — those who are “in balance.” In his new guise (complete with all of the accoutrements: scythe,
July 9th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Piers Anthony | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
THE DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a classic work of high fantasy, marks the beginning of a remarkable 6-book tale (the Chronicles Trilogy, followed by the even more magnificent Legends Trilogy), which greatly increased the interest in the Dungeons & Dragons game throughout the 1980’s. It certainly does contain more than a few stock fantasy elements (e.g. dragons, elves, dwarves, an unlikely group of friends somehow being chosen to stop the conquest of Evil…). However, the straightforward, simple way in which the tale is told and,
August 12th, 2008. Rob Rhodes´s rating: 4 | Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Black Company by Glen Cook
The Black Company is an ancient mercenary brotherhood, its members as hard-bitten as skilled. As their ongoing commission in the city of Beryl disintegrates, they escape through the “trap-door” (in its fullest sense) of new employment by a mysterious northern sorcerer; and they soon find themselves the elite unit in the army of the Lady — a legendary figure who, in the eyes of the opposing Rebels, is the embodiment of evil.
The first of Glen Cook’s Black Company novels,
July 1st, 2008. Rob Rhodes, John Hulet and Greg Hersom | Glen Cook | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Before there was J.R.R Tolkien, there was Robert E. Howard, who created what would later be called Heroic Fantasy or Sword-and-Sorcery. With the justly-earned popularity of Lord of the Rings, it seems to me that many writers and publishers of fantasy fiction have forsaken the heroic ballads for overly-complex, over-sized, and, endless series.
But David Gemmell has not forgotten the heart of a good fantasy tale which is simply heroes (or anti-heroes).
This is the story of Druss,
June 25th, 2007. Greg Hersom´s rating: 5 | David Gemmell | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
...as well as the 1932 sequel, "Topper Takes a Trip"!
It's such a rich and ancient ambience - in many ways the plot itself doesn't matter, I just like strolling…
I didn't know he wrote Topper!
Best new book: Play of Shadows by Sebastien Sebastien de Castell Honorary mention for The Naming Song by Jebediah Berry…
Best read for August was Karel Capek's War With the Newts, another one of his acerbic fables about the human…