There are many words I could use to describe Lute by Jennifer Thorne. I could say words like “atmospheric” or “haunting.” I could also say “beautiful” or “terrifying.” Lute is a book that evokes many descriptors, but none really captures the story in its totality. The blurb from Tor Nightfire says “Wickerman meets Final Destination.” That description is about as accurate as it gets.
Lute is an island off the coast of Scotland,
January 22nd, 2024. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Jennifer Thorne | Audio, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Treacle Walker (2022), by Alan Garner, is a little book, a strange book, a layered book, a mystifying book, a linguistic romp of a book, a stimulating book, a delightful book. It may also be, to employ two of the many Google-necessitating words from its pages, a hurlothrumbo or lomperhomack, a macaroni or taradiddle of a book, though I’ll leave it to your own investigations as to whether any of those fit (if those few examples of Garner’s dialect didn’t scare you off,
January 15th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Alan Garner | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Fenris and Mott by Greg Van Eekhout
Fenris and Mott is Greg Van Eekhout’s charming middle grade fantasy-adventure, published in 2022. Mott—short for Martha—is a Pennsylvanian recently uprooted and transplanted to southern California, and Fenris is… well, Fenris is the wolf from Norse mythology, destined to eat the moon and usher in endless winter, endless darkness, and the age of the sword.
Mott is no stranger to broken promises, and when the book opens, she has come off a long string of them. Her absentee father is famous for making promises he doesn’t keep.
November 21st, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Greg Van-Eekhout | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien & Kat Weaver
Neon Hemlock has carved out a niche for itself in the novella/novelette market, and continues to deliver quirky, engaging stories across the subgenres. This magical, alternate history romp, Uncommon Charm (2022), is one more example.
Julia Selwyn-Stirling is the daughter of Lady Aloysia, the premiere magician in 1925 Britain. Depending on who you talk to, Lady Aloysia, who Julia calls “Muv,” is either the powerful secret weapon of the British government, or the blackmailer of that same government.
September 18th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Emily Bergslien, Kat Weaver | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
For the first 22 pages of Samit Basu’s The City Inside (2022), I didn’t have a freakin’ clue what was going on. I followed Joey (Bijoyini) Roy around her parents’ house, as she interacted with her intrusive “wellness system”—think very needy FitBit on steroids—as she talked to her parents about the Years that Can’t Be Discussed, as she dodged her performative adolescent brother, who was constantly auditioning for a place in the Flow. I understood vaguely that social media was a big thing,
September 12th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Samit Basu | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse
The setting in Rebecca Roanhorse’s 2022 novella Tread of Angels is eerie and vivid, like a strange dream, both ethereal and concretely described. The conceit of this world is wonderful and I would like to read more stories set here. This particular one was disappointing, with fairly flat characters acting out a familiar plot.
Long ago, the battle of the rebel angels against heaven actually took place. In the setting of the story, Lucifer’s great general Abaddon was vanquished and fell to earth.
March 24th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Rebecca Roanhorse | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Empire of the Feast by Bendi Barrett
“Within our sun is the Rapacious and it hungers.”
2022’s novella Empire of the Feast begins with something going wrong. Riverson awakes, being called Empress by a royal retainer, who is shocked to discover that the new ruler is not female, as all of the Stag Empire’s rulers have been. Furthermore, Riverson lacks the memories of his forebears — and it seems his immediate predecessor, the 31st Empress, was murdered. That’s pretty shocking, but it’s going to get more shocking real fast.
February 6th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Bendi Barrett | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher, doesn’t try to out-Poe Edgar Allan in her 2022 novella What Moves the Dead. Instead, she flips “The Fall of the House of Usher” sideways, giving us a creepy, atmospheric, heroic and sometimes funny look at the doomed siblings Madeline and Roderick, the moldering mansion they’ve inherited as the last of the family, and the surreal, creepy mountain lake or tarn that laps at the walls of the house. While the house of Usher does fall,
January 26th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | T. Kingfisher | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal
Uber-wealthy inventor and heiress Tesla Crane and her husband, retired detective Shalmaneser Steward, plan to enjoy their honeymoon on the interplanetary luxury liner Lindgren as it travels from Earth to Mars. Horribly, the trip is interrupted when a person is stabbed to death right outside their luxury suite, and to make matters worse, Shal is arrested for the crime. As the evidence against him mounts, will Tesla be able to prove he’s innocent? Will she and her gallant Westfield terrier service dog Gimlet discover the true killer?
January 20th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Mary Robinette Kowal | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Conan: Blood of the Serpent by S.M. Stirling
To say I was thrilled to discover a new Conan novel is the understatement of my year or maybe even decade. Conan of Cimmeria, barbarian, thief, warrior, outlaw, mercenary, reaver, king, Robert E. Howard’s legendary hero, the one who made him the father of Sword and Sorcery has returned. Conan is back, Baby!
Conan, and REH, not to mention ERB’s Tarzan, are not only what made me into a bookworm, but transformed me into the total fantasy geek I am today.
January 11th, 2023. Greg Hersom´s rating: 4.5 | S.M. Stirling | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
There were two interesting articles about publishing that I ran across, the first via a link in the second: No…
My pleasure, Robin! And yes, it surely is some kind of an experience, to be sure....
Thanks for the solution to a mystery many decades old. One of my favourite novels, this. Hilariously funny, completely unpredictable,…
Thank you. I’m all caught up. Back to reading Crimson Embers.
Enjoyed your review. I’m reading A War in Crimson Embers and am having the hardest time reminding myself where everybody…