The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
A vulnerable boy makes his way into an alternate world filled with magic and danger. To return to his own world, he must find a talisman held by the land’s king. He is beset by dangers, unsure who to trust.
So far, this sounds like many other books and stories; myths, fairy tales, “Thomas the Rhymer,” The King of Elfland’s Daughter, The Wizard of Oz,
November 22nd, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | John Connolly | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
American Morons by Glen Hirshberg
[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.]
Glen Hirshberg is one of our modern short story masters. His first collection, The Two Sams, won the International Horror Guild Award for best collection, and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award as well. American Morons was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for best collection in 2007.
February 25th, 2011. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4.5 | Glen Hirshberg | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Grass-Cutting Sword by Catherynne M. Valente
The Grass-Cutting Sword is a metaphor, comprised almost entirely of exquisite imagery, and every single word has obviously been chosen with a poet’s eye for sound and sight. It is a creation myth and a Grendel for the nuclear age, a story of beginnings and endings, of beauty and hideousness. The images Catherynne M. Valente chooses in The Grass-Cutting Sword will haunt your nightmares and inform your dreams. Close your eyes, for instance, and envision the monster of the tale from this excerpt of its self-description:
I am Eight.
February 22nd, 2011. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4 | Catherynne M. Valente | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
[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.]
Slake-moth, Uruk-hai, or vampire, the mark of great SFF authors is often their ability to describe monsters and horrors. They say that children are desensitized to violence, but I submit that many SFF readers have become desensitized to monsters. I have read about many SFF monsters before bed,
February 18th, 2011. Ryan Skardal, João Eira and Kat Hooper | Cormac McCarthy | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 17 comments |
In the Palace of Repose by Holly Phillips
Holly Phillips is a brilliant prose stylist, and it shows in her first collection of short stories, In the Palace of Repose. These stories, all but two of them original to this volume, range from the joyful to the mysterious to the ominous. They are uniformly excellent. Phillips uses words the way a musician uses notes, playing a resonant, fey tune. It is easy to journey with her into the foreign and fantastic worlds she builds, just as one might follow a gentler Pied Piper.
January 13th, 2011. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4 | Holly Phillips | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Saffron and Brimstone by Elizabeth Hand
We’ve been living through a renaissance of science fiction and fantasy short fiction in the past decade. New authors are entering the field through the monthly magazines both online and in print. Small presses are also producing excellent work: Small Beer Press, Night Shade Books, and Golden Gryphon among them.
I’d not previously heard of M Press, but if it is a new entry into the small press arena, I’m happy to welcome it, especially if it continues to publish books as strange and brilliant as Elizabeth Hand’s Saffron and Brimstone.
January 11th, 2011. Terry Weyna´s rating: 4.5 | Elizabeth Hand | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip
Solstice Wood is a sequel (of sorts) to Patricia McKillip‘s earlier novel Winter Rose. The latter book is a dark and intricate fairytale based on the ballad of Tam Lin, in which a young girl attempts to free her love from the designs of a faerie queen. Though still set in the mountains around Lynn Hall, Solstice Wood takes place hundreds of years later, as contemporary men and women deal with the repercussions of Rois Melior’s dealings with the fey-folk.
November 27th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Patricia McKillip | Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Strange Wisdoms of the Dead by Mike Allen
I thought Strange Wisdoms of the Dead would be yet another attempt to convert me into a fan of speculative poetry, but leafing through the pages of this book I found something more massive. This is a comprehensive Mike Allen anthology covering ten years of work, compiling not just his poems but his fiction and collaborations as well.
Allen‘s poetry does dominate this book. Whether he’s talking about time sharks, spiders, or decapitated heads,
August 11th, 2010. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Captian Luka Silvero and his bloody Reivers are the most despicable, cut-throat, greedy sea-wolves of the Old World and they’re just the right stuff to rid the seas of something even more evil: the cursed Butcher Ship. Of course it takes the right incentive of a hefty reward and, for Luka, it’s either sink the Butcher Ship or face his just reward at the end of noose. After all, a buccaneer does have his reputation to think of. Plus there is always the unbreakable pirate code…
I don’t know what it is about pirates,
June 19th, 2010. Greg Hersom´s rating: 4 | Dan Abnett | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Mother Aegypt and Other Stories by Kage Baker
When Kage Baker died from cancer earlier this year, I was regretful that I had never gotten around to reading any of her work. I had always heard good things about her writing, both from friends and from other writers, and had seen she had been nominated for a number of writing awards I value. I always intended to get around to it, but we all know what our reading piles are like and I never did. Wanting to read her work,
June 15th, 2010. Guest´s rating: 4 | Kage Baker | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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