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

Deceiver: A suspenseful work of dark fiction

Deceiver by Kelli Owen

DarkFuse, an independent publisher of horror, suspense and thrillers, has a thriving novella series. For $85 per month, you can subscribe to the limited hardcover editions of the novellas, which are published at the rate of two each month. (The subscription also includes a hardcover novel every month.) Only 100 copies are printed, though the works are also available in electronic form. It’s a delight to see a publisher take an interest in publishing this shorter form, which is often exactly the right length for genre works (and for mainstream fiction,

Moonhead and the Music Machine by Andrew Rae

Moonhead and the Music Machine by Andrew Rae

I’ve recently had the good fortune to discover comics and graphic novels published by Nobrow Press, and if you’ve never heard of Nobrow before, Moonhead and the Music Machine by Andrew Rae is an excellent place to start. It is a stunning graphic novel that is representative of Nobrow‘s highly selective catalog. Nobrow puts out high quality art books, so if you are a fan of sequential art,

June 27th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Forever Watch: This debut shows much promise

The Forever Watch by David Ramirez

You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get from a debut novel. Sometimes they come out of nowhere to blow you away — “Really? You did that on your first try?” (OK, we all know it wasn’t really a “first try” — drafts and all — but still). Sometimes you’re left wondering if perhaps the author should have tried for “debut short story” or “debut blogging” or even “debut fly swatting.” And then there’s the more common middle ground, where you can see some strong concepts,

June 19th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | David Ramirez | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Quick: Not (just) another vampire novel

The Quick by Lauren Owen

The blurb of Lauren Owen’s debut novel The Quick piqued my interest, with its talk of an unlikely romance, Victorian London’s secret underworld, and a mysterious members-only institution, The Aegolius Club. And its cover, an understated black-and-white photo of a young man reading in a library, spoke to the part of me that loves elegant, emotionally-withdrawn period dramas. Had I known it was another vampire novel, I might have been less excited about picking it up. And that would have been a real shame.

Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell

Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell by Paul Dini (author) and Joe Quinones (artist)

Paul Dini’s Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell is a stand-alone graphic novel that tells a single tale of their working together; however, Dini also works in some flashbacks that flesh out the history of Canary’s and Zatanna’s relationship, my favorite parts of the book. Overall the story is a good one, but it’s not exceptional. And as a story about two strong women, it fails in a few ways that are disappointing considering the story was published in 2014.

June 12th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 2 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Word Exchange: Literary thriller with a side of doomsaying

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

[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.]

When I started listening to Alena Graedon’s The Word Exchange on audiobook (read by Tavia Gilbert and Paul Michael Garcia), I was bowled over. The sheer beauty of Graedon’s language, the book’s inventive dictionary structure, its references to Alice in Wonderland,

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown

Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown

Who doesn’t love The Princess Bride? And who doesn’t have a soft spot for Andre, that sweet, kindly giant, when he rhymes, “Does anybody want a peanut” and when he catches the lovely Princess? If you feel as I do, you’ll want to read Box Brown’s fascinating biography of Andre the Giant: Life and Legend.

Brown’s biography comes from someone who grew up with a great love for professional wrestling,

June 6th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Mandala by Stuart Moore and Bruce Zick

Mandala by Stuart Moore (script) and Bruce Zick (art)

Mandala is the story of Michael Patrick Murphy who has the potential to be a mythic hero, Morningstar, savior of all mankind, but often he is just Michael, a confused man, or even worse, he turns into his lower, demonic self. Borrowing a page from Michael Moorcock, author Stuart Moore has Morningstar drift from one reality to another, trying in each new plane of existence to fight the serpents and evil gods who control all humans in a post-apocalyptic world.

May 30th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 2.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Afterparty: Discussed by Marion and Kat

Afterparty by Daryl Gregory

Daryl Gregory’s pharma-tech novel Afterparty is good entertainment with many wonderful moments. At times it is wildly inventive — filled with images like an apartment full of tiny genetically-engineered bison roaming the “range” of wall to wall grass, or an angel named Dr. Gloria who wears a business suit, white coat, glasses, carries a clipboard and has wings.

Kat and I read this book about the same time. We both gave it four stars but we may have liked different things,

Beowulf: Tolkien’s translation

Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien (author) & Christopher Tolkien (editor)

The last few years has seen the release by the Tolkien Estate of several hybrid books that combined original retellings/translations of ancient hero legends (Sigurd, Arthur) with further commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien (on the source material) and Christopher Tolkien (on his father’s work). The latest in this series is Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf, which has perhaps incurred greater interest since outside of his fiction, Tolkien is perhaps best known for his famed essay, “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” As with the prior two,

May 22nd, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | J.R.R. Tolkien | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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