Ruffleclaw is a chapter book (114 pages) recently written and illustrated by Cornelia Funke, the German author and artist whose books (e.g., Inkheart, The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider) are loved by children and adults around the world. Ruffleclaw is translated into English by Oliver Latsch. I listened to the audio version which is read by the author and is just over 1.5 hours long.
January 11th, 2016. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Cornelia Funke | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
DC Super Heroes Origami: 46 Folding Projects for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and More! by John Montroll
John Montroll has spent decades creating original origami patterns and publishing books so that others can learn from his experiments. I actually own a few of them, and have used them to practice my skills at paper-folding. When I found out that he’d partnered with DC Comics to produce DC Super Heroes Origami, I knew I just had to try my hand at the contents.
There are a total of 46 projects in DC Super Heroes Origami: 6 easy,
December 29th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Perchance to Dream by Charles Beaumont
If the name “Charles Beaumont” strikes a familiar chord with you, it is likely because you have seen that name in the opening or end credits of any number of popular entertainments. Beaumont was the screenwriter for the 1958 sci-fi shlock classic Queen of Outer Space, The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, and the Roger Corman films The Premature Burial, The Intruder (featuring William Shatner’s finest performance ever, sez me), The Haunted Palace and The Masque of the Red Death.
December 29th, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Charles Beaumont | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
In Kirsty Logan’s watery debut, the world as we know it still exists, only it is entirely underwater. Eerie and poetic, The Gracekeepers has been dubbed a dystopia, but it actually reads much more like a regular fantasy. Small scraps of land are all that remain of earth’s continents after rising water levels, leaving humanity in two groups: “clams,” the lucky few who cling to the land and “damplings,” those that must live out on the sea. The two groups have an uneasy relationship: half-mistrustful,
December 23rd, 2015. Ray McKenzie and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3 | Kirsty Logan | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
In order to explain why Bone Gap impressed me so much, I may have to spoil it a little. I may have to tell you that it’s partly based on one of my favorite classical myths: the story of Persephone. With the recent popularity of bad-boy love stories in YA fantasy, this myth’s been revisited more than once, but mostly these retellings have disappointed me. Spineless Persephones, boring Hadeses, little to write home about. With Bone Gap, Laura Ruby gave me a version I’m profoundly happy to have read.
December 18th, 2015. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Laura Ruby | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Neal Stephenson doesn’t shy away from big concepts, long timelines, or larger than life events. His most recent novel, SevenEves, begins with the moon blowing up. Readers never find out what blew up the moon, because all too quickly humanity discovers that the Earth will soon be bombarded by a thousand-year rain of meteorites — the remnants of the moon as they collide with each other in space, becoming smaller and smaller — which will turn Earth into an uninhabitable wasteland. Humankind has a 2-year deadline to preserve its cultural legacy and a breeding population.
December 17th, 2015. Kate Lechler, Stuart Starosta, João Eira and Kat Hooper | Neal Stephenson | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 18 comments |
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
When the dust rises over the desert, the villagers know that Lo-Melkhiin is coming with his guards to choose another wife. He always takes one wife from each village, or each district within a city. And she always dies.
E.K. Johnston’s A Thousand Nights is a young adult fantasy retelling of the Scheherazade framing story for One Thousand and One Nights, the famous collection of Persian, Arabic and Middle Eastern folk tales.
December 8th, 2015. Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere | E.K. Johnston | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Dragon Heart by Cecelia Holland
Cecelia Holland’s Dragon Heart had so much potential, with its gothic, Mervyn Peake-like setting and darkly surreal family dynamics. Unfortunately, Dragon Heart never fulfilled its promise, marred especially by a frustrating lack of fluidity or cohesion.
The relatively slim novel (about 270 pages) is set mostly in Castle Ocean, home to the ruling family of a small coastal land threatened (and really mostly-conquered) by an aggressive large empire to the east.
December 1st, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Cecelia Holland | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
I may have to give up my long-held identity as someone who doesn’t enjoy reading horror, because I have really enjoyed some horror novels lately. David Mitchell’s latest, Slade House, is a sort of haunted house-slash-mystery story told over several decades, in several different voices, and it was delightful.
The book begins with a young boy, Nathan, who visits a house down narrow, twisting Slade Alley with his mother. The gate is set in the wall of the alley,
November 30th, 2015. Kate Lechler, Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 4.5 | David Mitchell | Horror | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Three Moments of an Explosion by China Miéville
I am, like many, a huge Miéville fan (I’ve lost track of how many of his books I’ve placed on my best-of-year lists). I’m also more of a fan of the long-form rather than the short form, especially in the genre, greatly preferring novels and novellas to short stories. So how, I wondered, would I respond to Three Moments of an Explosion? Would Miéville’s style and deep ideas win out, or would the short story form constrain him, robbing him of some of his tools?
November 23rd, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | China Mieville | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Thanks. I mentioned it on the last few Thoughtful Thursday giveaways, too. My family and I missed out on the…
None of your Business, if you live in the USA, you win a copy of GHOST STATION! Please contact me…
Thanks for letting me know. I've notified Kat. It seems like this all started with the large update several months…
Sawyer scavenges and scoops up all kinds of goods from the crashed plane. He hoards them and barters them for…
Thanks!