Mars, Inc. (2013), by Ben Bova, is an interesting exploration of how to get to Mars, not by way of NASA or the government, but by privatizing the space industry and using big business, investors, and the like to get there. While you might expect some trips into space in this book, most of the novel takes place on solid ground, watching Art Thrasher gather his investors, headhunt for scientists, and test out his program.
That’s both the strength and the weakness of the novel.
July 8th, 2018. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 3 | Ben Bova | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Scarlet in the Snow by Sophie Masson
Sophie Masson‘s unofficial fairy tale trilogy is linked only by the presence of feya (powerful fairies) and certain geographical locations, which hint that Scarlet in the Snow, Moonlight & Ashes, and The Crystal Heart all exist in the same world, though none of the stories or characters ever interact.
Each one is based on a traditional fairy tale, with Scarlet in the Snow providing some interesting twists on the story of Beauty and the Beast.
November 15th, 2017. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Sophie Masson | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young by Kurt Vonnegut
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young collects nine graduation speeches delivered by Kurt Vonnegut. Published in 2013, this posthumous collection is introduced by the writer Dan Wakefield. The earliest speech was delivered in 1978, while the latest was given in 2004.
These speeches are almost exactly what Vonnegut’s fans would expect of him — so much so that I wish I’d attempted to write a speech from the point of view of Kurt Vonnegut before beginning this book.
September 27th, 2017. Ryan Skardal and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Kurt Vonnegut | Edge, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Death first comes to Otto Hundebiss on the battlefield. Surrounded by Otto’s friends and comrades, he offers to take Otto with him as well. Otto declines, and Death and his ghostly army vanish. So begins Sally Gardner‘s twisted take on the Hans Christian Anderson tale of the tinderbox. And it doesn’t get any more light-hearted after that…
Otto staggers through the woods in which the battle took place, a bullet in his side and a sword wound in his shoulder, and eventually passes out.
August 25th, 2017. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3 | Sally Gardner | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Shazam! by Geoff Johns (writer) and Gary Frank (artist)
Shazam! was told in short installments in the back pages of The Justice League, in issues 7-11, 0, 14-16, and 18-21. As his story progressed, he was eventually added to the primary Justice League story. In other words, by issue #21, Billy Batson, as Shazam, was a member of the Justice League and the short installments were no longer needed. However, DC has collected all these installments into this single trade collection,
September 17th, 2016. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Geoff Johns | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I’ll start by saying that I’m not hugely familiar with Neil Gaiman’s work. I’ve read Stardust and watched his two Doctor Who episodes… and that’s it. At first I wasn’t sure whether or not to absorb more of his work before tackling The Ocean at the End of the Lane, but decided against it for the sake of a fresh perspective. So consider this a review from someone who has very few preconceptions about Gaiman’s style and themes.
August 31st, 2016. Rebecca Fisher, Marion Deeds, Kelly Lasiter, Tadiana Jones and Stuart Starosta | Neil Gaiman | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 13 comments |
Some Remarks by Neal Stephenson
Some Remarks compiles eighteen short texts by Neal Stephenson. Aside from a couple short stories, this is a book of essays, interviews, and speeches. These short texts should please most Stephenson fans because they combine humor, insight, and exposition — in other words, these are infodumps gloriously freed from narrative.
Hesitant readers would do well to test this book by reading its opening essay, “Arsebestos.” Stephenson points out that although sitting all day is unhealthy, much of corporate America requires its office drones to sit in cubicles.
July 27th, 2016. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Neal Stephenson | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Andrew Martin is a distinguished mathematics professor at Cambridge University who has just discovered the solution to the Riemann hypothesis, thereby solving the secret of prime numbers and unlocking the secrets of the universe. That is, at least, until he is assassinated by an alien race and his body is taken over by a Vonnedorian agent intent on wiping out all traces of his mathematical discovery so that the puny human race will never hold the secret of the primes.
So begins The Humans,
January 14th, 2016. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 4 | Matt Haig | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick
I’ve been reading a lot of Philip K. Dick the last two years: 10 novels, 7 audiobooks, and now three short story collections. The more I read, the more I’m drawn to his hard-luck life story and strange religious experiences in the 1970s. In particular, his VALIS trilogy was probably the strangest SF exploration of suffering and salvation I’ve ever read. The only books left to read are two biographies and his 944-page Exegesis of personal writings.
November 30th, 2015. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
A serial killer is at a serious advantage when they can jump through time at will, as Harper Curtis of Lauren Beukes’ The Shining Girls can. This does not bode well for Kirby Mazrachi, intended victim of said serial killer who should’ve died after Harper sliced open her stomach and slit her throat. But Kirby miraculously survived the attack and is determined to find the man that derailed her life.
The problems with trying to find a time-travelling serial killer,
November 3rd, 2015. Ray McKenzie, Terry Weyna and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Lauren Beukes | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 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!