Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Order [book in series=yearoffirstbook.book# (eg 2014.01), stand-alone or one-author collection=3333.pubyear, multi-author anthology=5555.pubyear, SFM/MM=5000, interview=1111]: 2014.01

Extinction Game: Post-apocalyptic parallel universes!

Extinction Game by Gary Gibson

I was really looking forward to Gary Gibson‘s Extinction Game, as it combines two of my favorite concepts: parallel universes and post-apocalyptic settings. But while I found it a generally pleasant read, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit it was a bit disappointing, perhaps because of those high expectations.

The premise is so great I’m shocked that it hasn’t actually been done before. Jerry Beche, one of the few survivors of an extinction-level, planet-wide plague, hasn’t seen a person for years,

October 14th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Gary Gibson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Accidental Highwayman: Fast-paced and funny

The Accidental Highwayman by Ben Tripp

Ben Tripp’s YA book, The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides, is the first in a series, and it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

It tells the story of Kit Bristol, an orphan and circus performer who has become a valet to a mysterious gentleman. He quickly learns that his employer is none other than Whistling Jack, a notorious highwayman with a bounty on his head.

Janissaries: My expectations were too high

Janissaries by Chris Kennedy

I stumbled on Janissaries, the first book in Chris Kennedy’s THEOGONY series, as a recommendation by Amazon after some other books that I have purchased. The description is kind of up my alley because I like the idea of the Earth fighting to preserve itself from an alien race. So, I dropped a couple of bucks and picked up this self-published story. It gets good reviews at Amazon.

Chris Kennedy has a story that he wants to tell about how the history of the earth is tied into different alien races having impacted us and left traces of them.

October 8th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 2 | Chris Kennedy | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Dirty Magic: An entertaining set-up novel

Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

Dirty Magic tells the story of Kate Prospero, a woman with plenty of baggage to lug around as she struggles through life taking care of her teenaged brother and barely making ends meet. Slowly Wells reveals the fictional (somewhat superheroish) city of Babylon, and as Kate is fleshed out, her history (much of which remains a mystery) is also deliciously divulged to readers. In fact, it’s probably the pacing in regards to world building and character development that really makes Dirty Magic shine.

October 1st, 2014. Sarah Chorn´s rating: 4 | Jaye Wells | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Maplecroft: A gothic tour de force by a writer at the peak of her powers

Maplecroft by Cherie Priest

There is a special joy when a dedicated reader finds a book, written by a gifted writer at the peak of her powers, who journeys into slightly different territory and completely masters it. That joy is what I felt as I finished Maplecroft by Cherie Priest.

Priest has written a lot and she has never tied herself to a single sub-genre. She’s crafted dark fantasy, steampunk, steampunk zombie books and vampire fiction. Now she has essayed Lovecraftian Gothic with Maplecroft,

September 8th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Cherie Priest | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

Lock In: An enthralling novel of big ideas

Lock In by John Scalzi

In Lock In, Haden’s syndrome has created millions of people who are conscious and alert, but have no voluntary control of their bodies; they are, effectively, “locked in” to themselves. Government funded technology has developed ways to assist these, who are called “Hadens,” to function; both in a non-physical information-world called the Agora, and by using sophisticated Personal Transports or android bodies called “threeps.” (You might be able to figure out where that name comes from if you remember a certain gold-colored android from a popular trilogy of movies a few decades ago.) Chris Shane is a Haden,

Blood and Iron: For lovers of Ander Offutt’s Conan pastiches

Blood and Iron by John Sprunk

My favorite part of Blood and Iron is when Mulcibar tells shipwreck-survivor-turned-slave-turned-super-wizard-turned-Queen’s-Protector Horace, in all sincerity, that Queen Byleth is a strict mistress, but not cruel. Sorry, dude, you’re just wrong. Turning the brother who betrayed you over to your crazy mad scientist to be tortured as part of his experiment might qualify as “strict.” Sashaying down to the torture chamber/secret lab in your tissue-thin designer gown and gloating over said brother during torture is cruel. That’s okay, though, because tall,

September 2nd, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Jon Sprunk | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |

The House of the Four Winds: Shoddy plot and no romance

The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

Do you ever read a book and wonder how it got published? Or read an established author and think, “Don’t they understand basic storytelling?”

The House of the Four Winds, by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, starts innocently enough. Princess Clarice of the Duchy of Swansgaarde must go out and seek her fortune because she has eleven sisters and a brother, and the Duchy cannot support twelve royal dowries. Clarice is a master sword fighter and intends to make her living as an instructor.

August 15th, 2014. Kate Lechler´s rating: 1 | Mercedes Lackey | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |

Illusive: This brisk YA thriller follows all the rules

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Emily Lloyd-Jone’s debut novel, Illusive, is a briskly-paced futuristic adventure for middle school readers. Jones created an interesting adventure, but stayed safely within the conventions and tropes of YA, drawing heavily from familiar works, resulting in a book that is fun, but predictable and in places a bit derivative.

Ciere (pronounced See-ARE) is a seventeen-year-old thief, part of a high-end theft ring. Ciere and her compatriots have special, almost magical abilities, awakened as a result of a vaccine they were given to combat a pandemic that broke out in 2017.

The Ultra Thin Man: Shows real promise

The Ultra Thin Man by Patrick Swenson

I have to admit that sometimes I hate reviewing first-time novels. Not those first-time novels where you can’t believe this was a first foray into novel writing and not the product of an experienced author using a pen name. And not those first-time novels where you can’t believe no one — an editor, a reading group, a spouse — suggested that perhaps the book wasn’t quite ready for prime time (or late, late night even). And certainly not those first novels that are so painfully,

August 12th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Patrick Swenson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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