Sailor Twain: Or the Mermaid in the Hudson by Mark Siegel
So while I keep saying that I appear not to be the person for whom graphic novels are created, as I have hardly ever found one I strongly respond to, I’m also stubborn (or dumb) enough to keep trying now and then. The most recent attempt was Mark Siegel’s Sailor Twain. Alas, I’m still that guy.
Set on a steamer traveling up and down the Hudson during the late 1800s, Sailor Twain is the story of two men — Twain,
March 28th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Moon Moth by Jack Vance; adapted as a graphic novel by Humayoun Ibrahim
My favorite Jack Vance story is “The Moon Moth,” so when I heard that First Second had a graphic novel version of the story, I was extremely excited. However, I also was nervous, as one is when a favorite novel is made into a movie: Will the adaptation live up to my high expectations? In this case, I’m pleased to report that Ibrahim’s The Moon Moth,
March 14th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Jack Vance | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne Valente
I read the first few chapters of this novella as an act of faith, because Valente has earned my trust as a reader, and because Silently and Very Fast has an award and nomination list longer than most people’s entire short stories (it won the Locus Award for Best Novella, and was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards). So I waded through dense cyber-fairytale imagery on the assumption that it would resolve itself into a story. It did.
February 25th, 2014. Alix E. Harrow´s rating: 4 | Catherynne M. Valente | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
G. Willow Wilson’s Alif the Unseen is an embracingly fresh and layered novel that has its faults, but remains entertaining and thought provoking throughout. Not to mention timely, as it deals with the idea of revolution and change in the Middle East, a book that is about the Arab Spring despite being written before the Arab Spring actually took place.
Alif the Unseen is set in a nameless “City” in an authoritarian Arab country ruled by an Emir whose security apparatus has long kept the population in check.
January 9th, 2014. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | G. Willow Wilson | Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson
[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.]
Jeanette Winterson is the author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Sexing the Cherry and Passion. She writes beautiful prose about fascinating characters, some of whom really existed,
November 29th, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Jeanette Winterson | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Blue Heron by Gene O’Neill
This year’s Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in long fiction went to Gene O’Neill for The Blue Heron. Dark Regions Press originally printed a mere 13 signed copies of the novella-length work, but plans to issue a trade paperback edition this year. A bit of research on the internet also suggests that it was briefly available as an e-book on the author’s own website or Facebook page, but that no longer appears to be the case. (update: Find it here.)
I’m frankly puzzled by the Stoker win.
July 1st, 2013. Terry Weyna´s rating: 2.5 | Gene O'Neill | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Complete John Thunstone by Manly Wade Wellman
One of the subgenres of fiction that I’ve always been interested in is that of the “supernatural detective,” also sometimes known as “occult detective fiction.” Recent examples of the trope include the TV show The X-Files and the paranormal detective comic book character John Constantine, one of whose creators was Alan Moore. The stories in The Complete John Thunstone center around another character named John, one John Thunstone, a wealthy man-about-town occult detective created by fantasist and regional writer Manly Wade Wellman in the 1940’s.
June 26th, 2013. Steven Harbin´s rating: 5 | Manly Wade Wellman | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Guiding Nose of Ulfänt Banderōz by Dan Simmons
A few years ago Subterranean Press published what has ever since been my favorite anthology of all time — Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance. It’s a hefty collection of stories written by 22 authors who consider Jack Vance an influence on their own work. Each wrote a story set in Vance’s DYING EARTH universe and many of them attempted — often quite successfully —Vance’s trademark style. Each also wrote an afterward which explains how Vance influenced them personally.
June 7th, 2013. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Dan Simmons, Jack Vance | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Doktor Glass by Thomas Brennan
“Not enough time had passed since he had sat on the side of that very bed, there, and held Sarah’s hand while the drugs had struggled to do their work. He didn’t know if he could trust himself. He felt like one of the Span’s great cables wound too tight. Even braided steel snapped under enough strain.”
To differentiate it from alternate-history fantasy or “gas-lamp” tales, steampunk almost has to have some outstanding piece of technology. It might be airborne penny-farthings,
June 6th, 2013. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Thomas Brennan | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In his debut novel, The Vorrh, Brian Catling offers readers a fantasy in the tradition of Mervyn Peake’s GORMENGHAST novels rather than Tolkien’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS. The characters do surprising and often incredible things, they explore an African wilderness rarely seen in fantasy, and they sometimes manage to inspire the reader to imagine what it would be like to live in such a fantastic setting.
May 30th, 2013. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Brian Catling | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…