Fans of the Deadlands tabletop RPG series will be happy to know that Boneyard (2017), Seanan McGuire’s addition to the two previously published tie-in novels Ghostwalkers (2015) and Thunder Moon Rising (2016), is chock-full of Weird West goodness, steampunk-style mechanical creations, and mighty strange bumps in the night. Fans of McGuire’s fiction will be happy to know that Boneyard’s weirdness is matched by a strong and complicated main character,
October 17th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Seanan McGuire | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Cast No Shadow by Nick Tapalansky & Anissa Espinosa
Cast No Shadow, written by Nick Tapalansky and illustrated by Anissa Espinosa, is a mostly muddled graphic story that mixes the paranormal, teen romance/angst, and coming of age in a blend that never really coheres.
Greg Shepard is a boy born without a shadow in a small town whose mayor regularly tries to rejuvenate the town via a string of cheap tourist-trap draws (The World’s Biggest fill-in-the-blank). Being without a shadow is the least of his issues though: his mother died when he was young,
October 16th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
As I mentioned in my review of Blade Runner 2049, I thought the film was engrossing, atmospheric, and evocative, combining a deeply thoughtful and philosophical story with visual flare.
Whether you’ve had a chance to see it or not, here are some questions I’d like to discuss:
1) What are some other films (or books) that do a good job of questioning and/or blurring the concept of identity between humans and the Artificial Intelligence that we create?
2) Can you think of a film series that should have ended rather than adding one or more sequels?
October 12th, 2017. Bill Capossere | Philip K. Dick | Film / TV | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 7 comments |
Blade Runner 2049 directed by Denis Villeneuve
Despite a very few missteps, Blade Runner 2049 is a true visual wonder and a rich, multi-layered narrative that feels languorous and evocative rather than slow, despite its nearly three-hour length.
The story picks up thirty years after the original (we get a bit of textual exposition to fill in the gap at the very start), with Ryan Gosling as K, a replicant serving the LAPD force who, in the opening scene, is charged with bringing in an allegedly dangerous replicant. Though he succeeds (painfully),
October 12th, 2017. Bill Capossere | Philip K. Dick | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Superhero Comics by Chris Gavaler
Superhero Comics (2017) is my second Chris Gavaler book looking at the genre (I read On the Origin of Superheroes: From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1), and considering how impressed I was with both of them, I will gladly pick up a third if there is one.
The book is part of the Bloomsbury Comics Study Series, which aims for the sweet spot between the academic and the lay reader in creating a text that can especially be used in the college classroom,
October 11th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Comics, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Genius Plague by David Walton
Fungi are fascinating, successful, scary organisms, and in the past several years speculative fiction writers have been making the most of them. David Walton steers away from the brooding, surreal and creepy approach to fungi others have chosen in favor of straight-up science fiction adventure in his 2017 novel The Genius Plague. An outbreak of a fungal infection leaves the survivors smarter, more visionary… and fully loyal to mycelia. Soon a greenhorn NSA codebreaker is fighting to save humanity and his own family.
October 3rd, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | David Walton | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle Between Marvel and DC by Reed Tucker
Once upon a time, Reed Tucker reminds us in Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle Between Marvel and DC, comic book fans might come to blows over the great dividing question of their time: Are you Marvel or DC? This may seem a strange debate for those who are now living through what could easily be called the Age of Marvel, as their ubiquitous heroes dominate our screens both large or small. It’s nearly impossible,
October 2nd, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
As anyone who reads the dust jacket will realize, Michael Crichton’s Dragon Teeth (2017) is about dinosaur fossils and the obsessed palaeontologists who traveled into the American frontier during the Gilded Age to gently dig them up. Sadly, it’s not about dinosaurs eating people.
William Johnson is a student at Yale. The son of a wealthy Philadelphia family, Johnson goes west to win a bet against his rival. He joins Professor Marsh, an eccentric and paranoid man who specializes in the bizarre new science,
September 19th, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Michael Crichton | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Light Years by Emily Ziff Griffin
Light Years (2017), Emily Ziff Griffin’s debut YA novel, explores a New York teenager’s coming of age and spiritual and emotional awakening in a world rapidly descending into chaos because of a deadly pandemic. Luisa Ochoa-Jones is an unusually bright 17 year old software coder, on the short list of finalists competing for a coveted fellowship offered by a brilliant tech entrepreneur, Thomas Bell. In her face-to-face meeting with Bell, Luisa demonstrates her prized software program LightYears, which scans the Internet for people’s emotional reactions to a video,
September 15th, 2017. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Emily Ziff Griffin | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan
At nearly 500 pages, Louisa Morgan’s A Secret History of Witches (2017) might seem daunting, but it’s partitioned into five sections, individually focusing on a subsequent member of the Orchiére family as they flee persecution in France, set up roots in England, and eventually become involved in World War II. I zipped through this book in an afternoon, and while romance does have its own part to play, the interactions between mothers and their daughters is the most significant aspect of the novel.
September 12th, 2017. Jana Nyman | Louisa Morgan, Louise Marley | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 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.