Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon
Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road (2007) is a swashbuckling historical fiction about a pair of Jewish vagabonds in 10th century Khazaria. Amran is a large Abyssinian, while Zelikman is a somber doctor who explains that he does not save the lives of his patients — he only “prolongs their futility.” We meet our heroes in the midst of a con game and the two rogues soon find themselves in the middle of a royal plot.
June 22nd, 2016. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Michael Chabon | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman
Sometimes post-modernist novels, like time-travel novels, give me a headache. It’s because I’m confused. Is the writer subverting expectations with the ending, or it is just that they can’t wrap up a story? And that really shallow character, is that a flaw, or a comment on society’s view of that “type?” Did the novelist really just lift points and themes wholesale from other works because it was easy, or this is an “in-depth analysis and critique of mainstream culture’s tropes and values?”
So,
May 20th, 2016. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Austin Grossman | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
After finishing The Thief Lord, my daughter and I wanted to read more Cornelia Funke (pronounced “FOONK-ah”) so we picked up Igraine the Brave, a short novel that we listened to in audio format.
Igraine is a 12 year old girl who lives in a castle complete with a moat, drawbridge, stone lions and gargoyles, and lots of spiders (Igraine hates spiders). Her parents are famous magicians and her older brother is training with them.
July 7th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Cornelia Funke | Audio, Children | 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.
The bars are closing and the night’s last trains are shuttling people out of the city to their suburban beds. The city would be empty if it weren’t for the few remaining people who have decided to stay up After Dark.
May 15th, 2015. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Haruki Murakami | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Haunter of the Ring & Other Tales by Robert E. Howard
A very long time ago, when I was still in high school, Texas-born Robert E. Howard was one of my favorite authors, and this reader could not get enough of him, whether it was via such legendary characters as Conan the Cimmerian, King Kull, Solomon Kane or Bran Mak Morn.
Flash forward more years than I’d care to admit, and one day I realized that I hadn’t read a book of Howard’s in all that intervening time.
December 3rd, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Robert E. Howard | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Dangerous Space by Kelley Eskridge
Dangerous Space is a revelation. I had no idea these gorgeous short stories were out there. Put me on the list of people who will now read absolutely everything Kelley Eskridge writes, because if these are characteristic of her work, I want it all.
Eskridge often makes creativity her subject, writing movingly about various forms of art, especially music. The opening story, “Strings,” posits a world in which the classical composers are revered so completely that any deviation from their scores,
May 21st, 2014. Terry Weyna´s rating: 5 | Kelley Eskridge | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Shiny Beasts by Rick Veitch (with Alan Moore & S. R. Bissette)
Shiny Beasts is a 2007 collection of short story pieces dating from 1978-1994. Rick Veitch is an artist who worked with Alan Moore on his early run of Swamp Thing and eventually took over writing duties as well. Since Swamp Thing is a horror title, it’s no surprise that Shiny Beasts deals with the horrific at times as well, but usually in terms of the horror that man inflicts on himself and other men.
February 7th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Rick Veitch | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Butcher Bird by Richard Kadrey
Kadrey’s Butcher Bird was published in 2007, two years before his SANDMAN SLIM series. Butcher Bird, subtitled A Novel of the Dominion, shares some themes with its later cousin, but the shape and the tone of this book are completely different.
Spyder Lee is a tattoo artist in San Francisco. He shares his studio with his best friend Lulu Garou, who does piercings. One night, when Spyder steps out into the alley behind his favorite bar,
October 1st, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Richard Kadrey | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Jack Vance Treasury by Jack Vance (edited by Terry Dowling & Jonathan Strahan)
While I don’t think there’s any one novel or short story or even collection of Jack Vance‘s work that comes close to capturing all the best aspects of his writing, I do think that this 633-page Subterranean Press collection does a fairly good job of exposing the reader to a wide array of Vance’s oeuvre. In addition to eighteen stories that span much of Vance’s writing career, there’s a brief comment from Vance himself after each story that gives a little view into how his mind worked while in creative mode,
February 21st, 2013. Steven Harbin´s rating: 5 | Jack Vance, Jonathan Strahan | Nebula Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Terror is based on the British vessels HMS Erebrus and HMS Terror and their voyage to discover a northwest passage in the 19th century. Using their unknown fate as a literary springboard, Dan Simmons freely fills the gap in history as his imagination allows, and in the process has created a work of historical fiction that transcends genre. Classified horror due to one of its plot devices, the novel is in fact much deeper in scope.
January 14th, 2013. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 4.5 | Dan Simmons | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Me, too! I think independent bookstore are enjoying a golden age, and I plan to continue to support that. One…
I read the most recent Elysian article. I tried not be bummed out, because I already knew most of it,…
Wow, I'm really impressed by the 15- and 20-year old owning and running their own bookstores! I loved books as…
There were two interesting articles about publishing that I ran across, the first via a link in the second: No…
My pleasure, Robin! And yes, it surely is some kind of an experience, to be sure....