Amorphous shapeshifting blobs, winged children, and giant flying bears, oh my. Jeff VanderMeer’s Borne (2017) is a lyrical and lovely novel whose stylistic aplomb, weird inventiveness, and great heart more than compensate for what might have ordinarily been noted as flaws in the book. Sure, there are issues, but I loved nearly every minute of Borne, and if it hadn’t come in the same month I’d finished the exceptional City of Miracles and A Gentleman in Moscow,
May 2nd, 2017. Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Jeff VanderMeer | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Agents of Dreamland by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Caitlín R. Kiernan delivers another atmospheric, disturbing horror story with her novella Agents of Dreamland, published by Tor in 2017. Kiernan shifts between the tropes of secret agent thriller, creepy death-cult horror and Lovecraftian terror from space, as agents from two competing intelligence agencies try to parse a mass-murder atrocity that took place at Moonlight Ranch, on the banks of California’s Salton Sea.
Kiernan gets style points for including the Salton Sea. It’s a perfect metaphor for the idea of poisoned dreams and it functions well in this short work as an isolated place where a charismatic cult leader prepares his followers to be,
April 24th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Caitlín R. Kiernan | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Weird Dinosaurs: The Strange New Fossils Challenging Everything We Thought We Knew by John Pickrell
I don’t know if I’d call the creatures detailed in John Pickrell’s Weird Dinosaurs all that “weird,” to be honest. One gets the sense that the main title is more marketing than description. But the subtitle — The Strange New Fossils Challenging Everything We Thought We Knew — is nearer to the mark with regard to the book’s contents, even allowing for perhaps a bit of hyperbole.
April 17th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
I’ve long been a huge fan of George Saunders’ short stories, which I consider to be generally brilliant both individually and taken as a whole in terms of their commentary on this world and the strange creatures (us) who inhabit it. That commentary is often a blend of satirical fireworks and a warmer, more human exploration of the human condition, and it is the latter of those two that one recognizes most often in his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo,
April 14th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | George Saunders | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Void Star (2017) is a brilliant, dense and challenging hard science fiction novel with a literary bent, rich in descriptions and imagery. It’s set in a relatively near future, perhaps a hundred years or so in our future. The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of three characters from vastly different social strata:
April 13th, 2017. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Zachary Mason | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Ashley Poston’s debut novel Geekerella (2017) is definitely not just another Cinderella revision. Classic elements of the familiar story are all present in one shape or another, but Poston brings a distinctly nerd-friendly flair to her tale, and modernizes the characters in ways that turn impossible archetypes into accessible, complicated people.
Danielle “Elle” Wittimer lives with her stepmother and twin stepsisters in a crumbling old Charleston, SC house. Sadly, her mother died when Elle was just four years old,
April 7th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Ashley Poston | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The British Superhero by Chris Murray
One certainly cannot fault Chris Murray on his research for The British Superhero (2017), and one’s reaction to it will probably depend on just how exhaustive a look at the topic one desires. I’ll confess that at times my eyes glazed a bit at some of the summaries of the more obscure storylines, especially those that lasted only a single issue or two, but despite those occasional moments, the book is an informative exploration of an often over-looked realm of superhero comics.
March 30th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Wanderers by Meg Howrey
The Wanderers (2017), by Meg Howrey, focuses on a simulated mission (code name: Eidolon) to Mars more realistic than anything ever attempted before. Prime Space has chosen three exemplary, experienced astronauts (American Helen, Japanese Yoshi, and Russian Sergei) for a 17-month, fully immersive simulation in the Utah desert in preparation for the real thing two years later. We join the “journey” via their 3rd-person POVs, but are also given a broader view thanks to their family members (one might consider them “satellites” orbiting the main characters — always tied to them): Helen’s actress daughter Mireille,
March 22nd, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Meg Howrey | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages
Ellen Klages’ short novel Passing Strange (2017) is a beautiful, fantastical melding of history, romance, magic and revenge, set against a meticulously researched San Francisco of 1940. At just over 200 hundred pages, the story follows six women in the city, each one in some way an outcast. Add a present-day story frame that includes secret passages in Chinatown, pulp magazine covers of the 1940s, and an elaborate scam, and for many of us you have something irresistible.
I loved Passing Strange from the cover by Gregory Manchess.
March 21st, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Ellen Klages | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Another Castle: Grimoire Written by Andrew Wheeler, Illustrated by Paulina Ganucheau, Lettered by Jenny Vy Tran
Another Castle: Grimoire is a solid enough graphic story, better suited for younger readers than older ones due to its relatively simple story and characterization, though even aimed at that audience I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth and writing craft.
The story follows the adventures of Princess Misty, daughter to the king of Beldora and, like many a princess in the old stories,
March 11th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.