The Court of the Midnight King by Freda Warrington
The Court of the Midnight King (2003), by Freda Warrington, is an alternate history of England’s King Richard III with some supernatural elements. I’m kind of bummed that I didn’t discover it in 2003, because I’d probably have liked it even more. I was going through a big Plantagenet and Tudor phase, and if you could find a way to work Goddess religion into the plot, so much the better. As it is,
July 23rd, 2020. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Freda Warrington | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Chinese science fiction author Cixin Liu has had a successful career in China for many years, winning China’s prestigious Galaxy Award nine times. But it wasn’t until 2014, when his 2007 novel The Three-Body Problem was first published in English, that he became well-known outside of Asia. Since then, some of his earlier novels, like Ball Lightning (originally published in China in 2004), have been translated and published in English. Supernova Era (2019,
November 21st, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Cixin Liu | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
I picked up Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003) because it’s set in one of my favorite places in the universe: Walt Disney World. I grew up less than an hour’s drive from the Magic Kingdom, so I’m intimately familiar with the park and, though I’m now middle-aged, I never get tired of visiting. I love the idea of a far-future science fiction story set inside my favorite theme park.
Jules is a man who’s over 100 years old but looks to be in his 20s due to rejuvenation techniques and the ability to back yourself up with a clone.
August 27th, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Cory Doctorow | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Demo by Brian Wood & Becky Cloonan
Demo is a collection of eighteen coming-of-age short stories about young people. It’s a giant collection of close to five hundred pages. Usually, but not always, one of the characters has a “super power,” but none of the stories is a superhero story. None of these characters tries to be “super” in any way — characters do not run — or fly — around saving others from villains, nor are there any global threats that need attending. In most instances, these stories deal with everyday issues,
April 14th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In Raw Spirit (2003), Iain Banks (Iain M. Banks to science fiction readers) and his friends journey in search of the perfect dram.
It would not be wise to approach this book for an overview of Scotch, how it’s made, and how to drink it. One part stunt memoir, one part travelogue, and one part wide ranging digressions, Raw Spirit is really held together by Banks’ love of Scotch and of hanging around with his buddies.
December 29th, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Iain M. Banks | Non-fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms by Fumiyo Kouno (An Oxford College Student Review!)
In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level (see my Manifesto!). I’ll be posting the best of my students’ reviews in this column.
June 24th, 2017. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Tempestuous Voyage of Hopewell Shakespeare by Sophie Masson
I’ve always enjoyed Sophie Masson‘s books; to put it simply, her stories are imaginative and her prose is elegant. The Tempestuous Voyage of Hopewell Shakespeare is no exception, (though it’s not one of my favourites of hers) inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Twelfth Night, and containing all that those titles imply: adventure, romance, mystery, magic, mistaken identity, and of course — a voyage that ends in a shipwreck upon the shores of an exotic island.
January 23rd, 2017. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Sophie Masson | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
I’m certainly late to the party when it comes to reading Audrey Niffenegger‘s first novel — I remember it making a huge splash when it was first published, and was astonished to flip open my copy and realise it was released back in 2003. Time certainly flies, which is an apt idiom to recall when reading The Time Traveler’s Wife.
Clare meets Henry for the first time when she’s six and he’s thirty-six.
September 23rd, 2016. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Audrey Niffenegger | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
AVENGERS The Red Zone written by Geoff Johns, art by Olivier Coipel and Andy Lanning
I ended up with this story arc (this is the term I’m going to use as it appears when I search for this story) through a Reddit gift exchange over a year ago in which I was also delighted to receive some original art by my gifter. This context lent itself well to the reading of the story as I was very happy to receive it and more likely to overlook flaws – it may or may not be the first physical set of comic books I have owned.
July 2nd, 2016. Skye Walker´s rating: 3.5 | Geoff Johns | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson
Time does not flow for me. Not for me the progression in a straight line from earliest to latest. Time eddies. I am now then, now there, sometimes simultaneously.
Nalo Hopkinson published The Salt Roads in 2003. Originally the book was marketed as historical fiction, and sometimes as magical realism, if those categories matter. The concrete nature of the world-building and the attention to detail, especially in the sections set on the island of St.
June 8th, 2016. Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Nalo Hopkinson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
This book made no sense to me at all. I was hoping for some explanations at the end but it…
Oh, Marion, you say "but dark" as if it were a bad thing! 😂
Hammer Studios is... reborn? I only ever read the "Kane" stories, which I found good but dark. It's a little…
Oh...and the men used the name "The Great Northern Expedition" to throw people off as to their actual destination, even…
Oh, it IS, Marion! It is!