A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel
Sylvain Neuvel’s A History of What Comes Next (2021) has both an intriguing premise and a potentially tense conflict at its core, but due to some issues with structure and style, the execution didn’t allow the book to achieve its potential.
Two women, Sara and her daughter Mia, are sort of Space Race Zeligs (look him up, youngsters), inserting themselves in key times and places to push humanity toward the stars. To that end,
February 10th, 2021. Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5, 3 | Sylvain Neuvel | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Debut author Stuart Turton’s The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018), originally published earlier this year in Great Britain as The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, is an intricately plotted murder mystery, set in an isolated early 20th century English mansion, with a highly imaginative speculative element that is only gradually revealed, as our main character tries to figure out who he really is, and how to solve the mystery of Evelyn Hardcastle’s pending death … or has her death already occurred?
February 3rd, 2021. Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Stuart Turton | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire
I’ve been hit and miss on Seanan McGuire’s WAYWARD CHILDREN portal series, finding some of the novellas lyrical and emotional and others frustratingly slapdash. Her newest, Across the Green Grass Fields (2021), unfortunately falls closer to the latter end of the spectrum.
As one expects by now, we have a young girl who steps through a doorway into another world. We meet Regan first at seven, part of a best friends trio with Heather Nelson and Laurel Anderson.
January 11th, 2021. Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2, 3.5 | Seanan McGuire | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
As a reader, it’s rare for me to find a book that has nearly every trope I love. The Mask of Mirrors (2021), Book One of M.A. Carrick’s ROOK AND ROSE series, manages just that. Reading the Advance Reader Copy of this book was like nibbling my way through a box of gourmet chocolates curated just for Reader Me. A large box of gourmet chocolates.
And what are those favorite tropes? Well,
December 16th, 2020. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | M.A. Carrick | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I was going to start this review of Piranesi (2020) by Susanna Clarke by stating that I was of two minds on the novel and then noting that this was both appropriate and also strong praise. Appropriate because the book is in many ways of the mind, and is as well of two worlds. Strong praise because my two minds were “I loved it” followed by “I liked it.” But then I thought more about it, and I decided my minds were really “I loved it,” “I liked it,” then “I loved it” again.
December 10th, 2020. Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Susanna Clarke | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Sometimes when I’m pondering a review of Brandon Sanderson, I feel like I’m back in one of those classic middle school conversations:
Me: I heard you like Brandon.
Also Me: Maybe I do
Me: Do you like like him?
Also Me: I said I liked him.
Me: Yeah, but like, like like?
Also Me: I don’t know. What’s that like, like like?
Me: It’s like, you stay up all night thinking about how much you like him.
November 19th, 2020. Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Brandon Sanderson | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Bloom by Kenneth Oppel
Three kids battle an invasive plant in Kenneth Oppel’s latest middle grade fantasy. Bloom (2020) is mysterious and thrilling all the way through. Our heroes are:
When black weeds appear suddenly and grow tall overnight, nobody knows what they are,
November 12th, 2020. Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Kenneth Oppel | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020) is a charming, thoughtful, sometimes-dark, sometimes moving, story about memory, love, rash decisions, female agency, stubborn defiance, mortality, resilience, and the power of art. In this time of Covid, a novel focused so much on the desire for human contact and fear of dying without leaving “a mark” is especially timely, though The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue would have been a highly recommended book in any other year.
October 23rd, 2020. Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston
Master of Poisons (2020) by Andrea Hairston is an epic fantasy set in an African-inspired world that is facing environmental devastation. Fertile land is turning into poison desert, and void-storms are a constant threat.
Djola is called Master of Poisons because, when both men were young, he saved the Arkhysian Emperor with his knowledge of antidotes. He was rewarded with the title and a place on the Emperor’s council. Now, he thinks he might be able to save the land with a legendary spell,
October 12th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter and Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5, 4 | Andrea Hairston | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Driftwood (2020) is a charming, meditative, and often poignant collection of linked stories by Marie Brennan that mostly succeeds both in its individual tales and as a whole, though I had a few issues. But given that one of those is it was too short, it’s still an easy book to recommend.
The book’s general setting is the titular Driftwood. Think of it as a beach whose tide, instead of washing up the pebbles and the sea’s detritus, washes up instead dying worlds.
September 18th, 2020. Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Marie Brennan | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Mine too, but to be fair, he's the only Iraqi torturer I know, fictional or otherwise. He has a great…
COMMENT Sayid ... my favorite Iraqi torturer!
Would you believe that this was the first time that I ever read it? SO glad that I finally caught…
LOVE The Big Front Yard!
Always my pleasure, Marion! And Part 2 of this review should be appearing soon....