Posted by Kat Hooper | Nov 4, 2021 | SFF Reviews | 4
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine Addie, the 12-year-old Princess of the kingdom of Bamarre, is a sweet but cowardly girl. She comes by it honestly – her father, the king, is also a coward. Addie’s sister Meryl, however, is adventurous and courageous and she wants to save their kingdom from evil […]
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Posted by Tadiana Jones | Sep 27, 2018 | SFF Reviews | 1
Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn Summers at Castle Auburn (2001) was my first exposure to Sharon Shinn‘s fantasies, and it was pretty much insta-love for me (I like to think that Shinn returns my affections in a distant and anonymous fan-appreciation kind of way). It instantly set me off on a search for […]
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Posted by Rob Weber | Mar 26, 2015 | SFF Reviews | 1
The Octagonal Raven by L.E. Modesitt Jr His fantasy, in particular the RECLUCE saga, is a lot more popular but L.E. Modesitt Jr. has also written quite a few science fiction novels. I’ve read a number of these now and they are usually an all or nothing read for me. Some I enjoyed tremendously (Flash, […]
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Posted by Ryan Skardal | Mar 16, 2015 | SFF Reviews | 2
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson Scott Warden, known to most as “Scotty,” kept his wife and daughter, Janice and Kaitlin, in Thailand after the coding contracts dried up. Scotty now spends most of his time aimlessly “just living” in the ex-pat beach culture. Scotty’s broke, but at least he doesn’t deal drugs like his buddy, […]
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Posted by Marion Deeds | Jan 9, 2015 | SFF Reviews | 0
Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo Richard Paul Russo published Ship of Fools in 2001 and it won the Philip K Dick Award for that year. I read it when it came out but only remembered two or three scenes from it (powerful scenes, though, I should say). The re-read surprised me and maybe […]
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Posted by Ryan Skardal | Sep 5, 2014 | SFF Reviews | 1
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us. Haruki Murakami’s Sputnik Sweetheart is narrated by an elementary school teacher we know as “K.” […]
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Posted by Sandy Ferber | Aug 25, 2014 | SFF Reviews | 2
The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson by E.F. Benson I had read E.F. Benson’s The Horror Horn to start with (a collection of 13 of his best ghost stories), after seeing that it was considered one of the Top 100 Horror Books of all time in Newman & Jones’ excellent overview volume. Each of […]
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Posted by Kat Hooper | Dec 13, 2012 | SFF Reviews | 0
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link Stranger Things Happen is Kelly Link’s debut collection of weird stories, some of which won major awards. This was my first experience with Ms. Link’s fantasy fiction. Overall I was impressed with her imagination and style. While I admired all of the stories and liked several of them, the […]
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Posted by Bill Capossere | May 16, 2012 | SFF Reviews | 1
Dust by Arthur Slade If Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes met Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass in the world of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, you might end up with something like Arthur Slade’s YA novel Dust. Or at least, you might end up with the basic premise, setting, and tone and […]
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Posted by Marion Deeds | Sep 3, 2011 | SFF Reviews | 0
Dr. Franklin’s Island by Ann Halam Dr. Franklin’s Island, by Ann Halam (who also writes as Gwyneth Jones), is a YA updating of The Island of Dr. Moreau. In this version, three teenagers survive a plane crash and wash up on a tropical island. It is not a spoiler to say that the two girls […]
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Posted by Charles Tan (GUEST) | Oct 30, 2010 | SFF Reviews | 0
White Time by Margo Lanagan In the collection White Time, Margo Lanagan writes with a clear, distinctive style that doesn’t spoon-feed, but rather challenges the reader in a good way. Her text is multi-layered and works on multiple levels to create interesting speculative fiction stories, some using the tropes of science fiction and some those […]
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Posted by Kelly Lasiter | May 27, 2010 | SFF Reviews | 0
Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R. Green Simon R. Green lives in Bradford-on-Avon in real life, and I’ll wager a guess as to how Drinking Midnight Wine came to be written. I think Green has met some eccentric folks and seen some weird places in the time he has lived in that town, and so […]
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Posted by Rebecca Fisher | Apr 15, 2010 | SFF Reviews | 0
Echo by Francesca Lia Block For anyone who’s ever read Francesca Lia Block before, you’ll know what to expect here. Riddled with teenage angst, fairytale settings and dense, poetic language, Echo provides another glimpse into the mind of tortured, restless adolescence. As always, Block’s novel stands outside any particular genre; is it fantasy or drama? […]
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Posted by Rebecca Fisher | Jan 9, 2010 | SFF Reviews | 0
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding If you enjoy the atmosphere and imagination of Philip Pullman, Garth Nix, or Philip Reeve, then you’re sure to like Chris Wooding, a YA fantasy author who does not feel the need to fill his fantasy world with elves, dwarfs, wizards, dragons and every other fantasy cliché […]
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Posted by Rebecca Fisher | Apr 29, 2009 | SFF Reviews | 0
The Firebird by Sophie Masson The Firebird is a story made up of a range of Russian folklore, from the gnome-like ‘leshis’ to the greedy tsar to the Firebird itself. It reads like a fleshed-out fairytale, and contains much of the imagery and themes associated with such stories — everything from the persecuted younger brother […]
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Posted by John Hulet | Oct 19, 2007 | SFF Reviews | 0
The Hob’s Bargain by Patricia Briggs I think that the ability to create a world that is filled with magic and unknown places is perhaps too great a task to do in one book. There is a degree of detail that we, as readers, have come to expect due to the growing trend of long […]
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