To Honor You Call Us by H. Paul Honsinger
The term “military science fiction” has, at times, been misused. The military part of the science fiction gets lost, and in essence you have something that loosely approximates combat in the future. To Honor You Call Us, book one of H. Paul Honsinger’s MAN OF WAR series, is not cut from that cloth and it was almost shockingly good.
Max Robichaux is a young Union Space Navy Lieutenant with a history. He’s made mistakes in the past,
January 22nd, 2015. John Hulet´s rating: 4.5 | H. Paul Honsinger | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
I finished listening to the audio version of Crown of Vengeance, the first in Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory’s DRAGON PROPHECY series. It tells the story of Vielissar Farcarinon, an Elvish mage who discovers when she is twelve that her parents were killed and her ancestral house destroyed by the people who fostered her, House Caerthalion. She nurses her rage and quest for vengeance as she learns to channel the Light. However, she soon finds out that she is the Child of the Prophecy,
October 1st, 2014. Kate Lechler´s rating: 4 | Mercedes Lackey | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Ack-Ack Macaque by Gareth L Powell
“Let me get this straight. You’re a World War II fighter pilot,” I say to Ack-Ack, the one-eyed, cigar-chomping macaque as he leads me through the corridor of the airship.
“Right.”
“But it’s 2059.”
“What’s your question?” He glares, a daiquiri glass clenched in his left paw.
“How do you fit in, exactly?”
He spins to face me. “I’m the main character, aren’t I? Ack-Ack Macaque, that’s the book’s name. See?
September 30th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Gareth L. Powell | BSFA Award | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards
Arkamondos the scribe has just been given a new and unusual commission. He’s been hired by a notorious band of Syldoon soldiers to travel with them and observe and transcribe their adventures. The leader of this motley crew is Captain Killcoin, a brooding authoritarian figure whose weapon of choice is a frightening looking flail that has magical properties. Killcoin is accompanied by a few loyal companions who are just as scary and tough as he is. Arkamondos is intimidated by all of them, and he wonders if he’s made a big mistake,
July 18th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Jeff Salyards | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
THE ETERNAL SKY by Elizabeth Bear
Sometimes the whole feels less than the sum of its parts. Sometimes, you just wonder if you should have read a book (or three) at a different time. Sometimes you step back from your thoughts about a book (or three) and think, “Ingrate. What more did you need?” You feel, I don’t know, “churlish.” Like when that other person who is so smart and deep and beautiful and cute (which is different from beautiful) and witty and likes all the same music and read those same books and all in all just so great,
July 10th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Elizabeth Bear | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Girl is the second novella in a series called THE SOUTHERN HAUNTINGS SAGA by Bryan Hall, a young, relatively new writer. If it is any indication, this fellow has a great career ahead of him.
The protagonist of The Girl is Creighton Northgate — Crate — who is a sort of psychic, and a sort of private detective, and a sort of ghostbuster, though he rejects all three descriptors. What it amounts to is that he can see ghosts,
July 7th, 2014. Terry Weyna´s rating: 3.5 | Bryan Hall | Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter is a really interesting book without being a particularly good one.
The concept for The Long Earth itself arises from a short story Pratchett wrote before he became Pratchett with a capital P. Essentially, there are other versions of Earth strung out like a strand of pearls in parallel universes — and the ability to travel to these Earths has begun to spread through the human race with the advent of new technology called the “stepper.”
June 2nd, 2014. Kate Lechler and Ray McKenzie´s rating: 2.5 | Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Mage’s Blood, by David Hair, is a sprawling epic clash of civilizations that will seem familiar to those who know their history and world cultures, though the addition of magic and some geographic repositioning keeps it from being simply historical fantasy or fully allegorical.
The setting and premise is given to us in an early (and somewhat clumsy) exposition by two of the characters:
When Kore made this land, he made two great continents [Yuros and Anitopia], separated by vast oceans,
November 25th, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | David Hair | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear
This review turned out a bit rambly, but I’m too lazy to self-edit today, so I’m going to cut to the chase and place my overall opinion right up front for anyone who doesn’t feel like reading over a thousand words of enthusiastic rambling:
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear is the best fantasy novel I’ve read all year, and you should read it too.
The setting of Range of Ghosts is a fantasy version of a place that vaguely resembles Central Asia around the time of the dissolution of the Mongol Empire.
November 8th, 2013. Stefan Raets´s rating: 5 | Elizabeth Bear | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Extinction Gambit by Michael Pryor
Michael Pryor’s The Extinction Gambit, book one of the EXTRAORDINAIRES series, is not the best book I’ve read this year. But it does have the best pithy plot summary uttered by a character:
“So the Olympic Games are being jeopardized by a band of evil sorcerers who want my brain,” Kingsley said, “while I try to find my foster father who may have been abducted by creatures from the dawn of time.”
That’s Kingsley Ward,
October 22nd, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Michael Pryor | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…