Nicole has been running with the wrong crowd. One day she wakes up, hungover as usual, in some guy’s apartment. A street thug named Bungie is kicking her, demanding that she drive him to the hospital because he’s about to bleed out. In the hospital’s parking lot, Bungie and Nicole attempt to kidnap a young doctor named Sam when two wispy creatures with butterfly wings approach and take all three of the humans to a huge spaceship called the Fyrantha.
On the ship,
September 23rd, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Timothy Zahn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: The Serpent’s Heir by Dean DeBlois, Richard Hamilton, & Doug Wheatley
This graphic novel takes place shortly after the events of the film How to Train Your Dragon 2, which finds Hiccup as the new chief of Berk in the wake of his father’s death. Amidst the rebuilding of the village, the suspicious nature of Berk citizens at the presence of outsiders, and the ongoing training of new dragons, it’s a struggle for Hiccup to adjust to his new role as leader.
So when an envoy named Calder arrives from the island of Nephenthe,
July 1st, 2019. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
The plot of T. Kingfisher’s Clockwork Boys (2017) is of the “misfit company of strangers on a dangerous mission” type. Their country has been invaded by the so-called Clockwork Boys, nearly unstoppable, 10-foot-tall centaur-like creatures who are laying waste to the countryside. (I like the allusion to the out-of-control gang of boys in A Clockwork Orange.) The Dowager Queen has previously sent soldiers and spies to distant Anuket City, from which the Clockwork Boys regularly emerge,
June 5th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | T. Kingfisher | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Seventh Decimate by Stephen R. Donaldson
Seventh Decimate (2017) is the first book of Stephen R. Donaldson’s newest series, THE GREAT GOD’S WAR. The story centers on two nations that have been locked for generations in devastating warfare, each having their own version of how the war began. Amika has all the advantages: size, money, population, trading partners, more wielders of magical forces (“decimates”), against the smaller, land-locked, more beleaguered Belleger.
The story, though,
May 7th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | Stephen R. Donaldson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
Spellslinger sounded right up my street — a young adult novel full of magic, cons, card tricks and a plucky underdog. If it didn’t live up to my high hopes I blame the misleading words emblazoned on the back cover that read “Magic Is A Con” — an enticing promise that isn’t delivered because, well, magic turns out not to be a con. Nevertheless, while it wasn’t the story I expected, Spellslinger is an enjoyable romp in its own way.
March 15th, 2019. Katie Burton and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Sebastien De-Castell | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
In The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (2017), Theodora Goss has created something really exciting and rewarding: a novel that pays homage to the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century works of speculative fiction which inform every standard the modern incarnation of the genre is judged by, and yet stands on its own as a twenty-first century creation.
The epigraph — “Here be monsters” — and a subsequent recorded exchange between Mary and Catherine set the scene: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is a collaborative effort,
February 1st, 2019. Jana Nyman, Tadiana Jones, Marion Deeds and Skye Walker´s rating: 4.5 | Theodora Goss | Locus Award | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
Kingdom of Exiles by S.B. Nova
Here we have the tale of Serena Smith, blacksmith’s daughter exiled from her puritan-like settlement and then kidnapped by fairies and sold in the Kingdom of Aldar, which has much worse political problems than the oppressive community from which she’s taken. The difference is, she finds a way of making a difference — a thing she could not do in her human home.
I feel like this kind of fairy story is a bit at war with itself. Kingdom of Exiles (2017) bills as a feminist tale and means to make Serena fierce and self-actualizing,
January 14th, 2019. Taya Okerlund´s rating: 2 | S.B. Nova | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
Nahri, a young woman living alone in 18th century Cairo, gets by doing minor cons, fake healing rituals and a little theft. She knows nothing about her parents or heritage but, in addition to being able to diagnose disease in others with a glance and occasionally truly heal them, her own body automatically heals of injuries almost instantly and she has the magical ability to understand ― and speak ― any language.
Nahri’s life gets upended when she accidentally summons Darayavahoush, a fiery,
January 7th, 2019. Tadiana Jones, Ray McKenzie, Bill Capossere and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | S.A. Chakraborty | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
The Book of Never Volumes 1 – 3 by Ashley Capes
Never is a man with a magical gift and a history that’s as mysterious as his name. Hunted by the soldiers of ruthless Commander Harstas, Never is known for having blood with an usual trait: every time it mingles with that of another person (usually in combat situations), he takes on their memories, personality, and — at the start of this story — any illnesses they might carry.
Now struck with a strange fever that he can’t seem to break,
November 28th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Ashley Capes | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
I always find it a little nerve-wracking when an author returns to a successful series after a long time away. There’s always the fear, for me at least, that one of two things is going to happen: either the author will be nostalgic about the original work to the extent that s/he makes the new book into a fawning tribute without substance, or the author will have changed enough in the time between installments that the magic is just gone. I’m happy to say, though, that Philip Pullman‘s new novel dispels both of those fears.
November 7th, 2018. Tim Scheidler, Ray McKenzie, Katie Burton and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3, 4.5 | Philip Pullman | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…