It struck me on reading this YA novel that there’s a definite hierarchy to the stories that are told within the STAR WARS universe. Obviously the movies are the most important: they are seen by the most people, and encompass the most important events in the overarching space epic. They’re “tent-poles” so to speak.
In second place are the animated television shows such as The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels which build on the canon that’s laid out in the movies,
December 9th, 2019. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | E.K. Johnston | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin
Snow & Rose (2017) is a charming middle grade level retelling of the Snow-White and Rose-Red fairy tale with illustrations by the author, Emily Winfield Martin. Rose and Snow are the beloved eleven and nine year old daughters of a nobleman and his commoner wife, a sculptor. Rose has black hair and rosy cheeks, and is patient and gentle; Snow has white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes, and has a wilder and more adventurous personality. They have a fat grey tabby cat called Earl Grey (I adore that name!
November 18th, 2019. Tadiana Jones and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Emily Winfield Martin | Children | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente
In her Afterword, Catherynne M. Valente lays out the inspiration for 2017’s collection of linked short stories The Refrigerator Monologues. Valente was inspired partly by the work of comics writer Gail Simone, who created and popularized the term “Women in Refrigerators” as a way to describe women cape-and-mask heroes, and how they are treated in conventional comics. As for structure, Valente looked toward Eve Ensler’s groundbreaking theatrical work The Vagina Monologues.
November 8th, 2019. Marion Deeds and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Catherynne M. Valente | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
I’ll admit it — I’m pretty scared of Mount Everest before you populate it with ghosts. Ever since I read Jon Krakauer’s riveting nonfiction book Into Thin Air, I’ve felt a little shudder at the very thought of climbing it. So when I heard about The White Road (2017), a horror novel set on Everest, I figured it was guaranteed to freak me out in epic fashion.
Simon and his friend Thierry run a website dedicated to creepy things.
August 22nd, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Sarah Lotz | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Buzzkill by Donny Cates (writer), Mark Reznicek (writer), and Geoff Shaw (artist)
Buzzkill, collecting all four issues of the mini-series, is a funny superhero parody by Donny Cates and Mark Reznicek, with art by Geoff Shaw. I sought it out because Donny Cates is one of my favorite new writers, with great titles like Redneck from Image and the insane Marvel title Thanos Wins, which features a cosmic Ghost Rider who is a resurrected Frank Castle,
May 11th, 2019. Brad Hawley´s rating: 3.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Lands of the Earthquake by Henry Kuttner & Under a Dim Blue Sun by Howie K. Bentley
The publishing company known as DMR Books had previously been a very solid 2 for 2 with this reader.
Earlier this year, I had hugely enjoyed DMR’s recent releases The Sapphire Goddess and The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories, showcasing as they did two undersung authors who had been popular with the Weird Tales audience of the 1920s and ‘30s;
May 9th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Henry Kuttner, Howie K. Bentley | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
After her enchanting debut, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley returns with another multicultural Victorian adventure, this time in the form of a quinine expedition to the deepest, darkest corners of Peru.
The Bedlam Stacks (2017) follows the escapades of Merrick Tremayne, whom we initially meet in the bucolic backwaters of Cornwall. He is living under the good grace of his brother, Charles, after sustaining a leg injury working as an agent-cum-smuggler for the East India company.
March 15th, 2019. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 3 | Natasha Pulley | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
I really loved Robin Sloan’s Sourdough (2017), but not everyone will. You probably will if you’re a foodie (I am), an introvert (I am), and a bit geeky (I am). If you love sourdough bread (I do) and magical realism (I do), you’ve just got to read Sourdough. And you must try the audio version. It’s amazing.
Lois is new to San Francisco. She moved from Michigan,
March 1st, 2019. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Robin Sloan | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Jane Austen Project by Kathleen A. Flynn
I’m an enthusiastic Jane Austen fan (Pride and Prejudice is my desert island book of choice) but I had never heard of her unfinished novel The Watsons until reading The Jane Austen Project (2017), a compelling time travel novel by Jane Austen devotee Kathleen A. Flynn. In this novel, an old Austen family letter has recently surfaced, indicating that Jane Austen actually did finish The Watsons but then destroyed most of it.
February 26th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Kathleen A. Flynn | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Clockwork Apple by Osamu Tezuka
Clockwork Apple by Osamu Tezuka is a collection of short stories from Tezuka’s most mature period of writing. The stories were published with dates ranging from 1968 to 1973. The collection itself was translated by Steven LeCroy and published in English by Digital Manga, Inc., a company that is making it possible for fans to read in English the great works of the “God of Manga.” There are eight stories in this collection:
“The Execution Ended at Three O’Clock” is about a Nazi officer who tortured and killed many people,
October 13th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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.