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Planet of Death by Robert Silverberg
Planet of Death by Robert Silverberg is an enjoyable read, but it was the first story/novel I’ve read of his that was this light on theme, which for me is central to good literature. I know that exploring complex themes is also of primary concern for Silverberg because he emphasizes theme in almost all of the forty-plus stories he included in his short story collections covering the period of time before his writing Planet of Death in 1960.
June 3rd, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 2.5 | Robert Silverberg | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter is a really interesting book without being a particularly good one.
The concept for The Long Earth itself arises from a short story Pratchett wrote before he became Pratchett with a capital P. Essentially, there are other versions of Earth strung out like a strand of pearls in parallel universes — and the ability to travel to these Earths has begun to spread through the human race with the advent of new technology called the “stepper.”
June 2nd, 2014. Kate Lechler and Ray McKenzie´s rating: 2.5 | Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Mandala by Stuart Moore (script) and Bruce Zick (art)
Mandala is the story of Michael Patrick Murphy who has the potential to be a mythic hero, Morningstar, savior of all mankind, but often he is just Michael, a confused man, or even worse, he turns into his lower, demonic self. Borrowing a page from Michael Moorcock, author Stuart Moore has Morningstar drift from one reality to another, trying in each new plane of existence to fight the serpents and evil gods who control all humans in a post-apocalyptic world.
May 30th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 2.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Ghosts of Watt O’Hugh by Steven S. Drachman
I confess to having mixed feelings when I was done with The Ghosts of Watt O’Hugh, by Steven S. Drachman, but the book’s relative brevity, strong finish, and the fact that its sequel, Watt O’Hugh Underground, was an improvement, means in the end I feel OK in recommending it, with a few caveats.
The cover will tell you right away we’re in Western world, with its neckerchiefed,
May 29th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Steven S. Drachman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Magic’s Price by Mercedes Lackey
In Magic’s Price, the third book in Mercedes Lackey’s THE LAST HERALD MAGE trilogy, we discover how this trilogy got its name. It’s been nine years since the previous story ended and the Herald-Mages are being knocked off one by one. Valdemar is in great danger. Vanyel is “the last Herald-Mage” and there’s a target on his back. If he dies, how will Valdemar survive a magical attack by enemies? Can Vanyel and Yfandes, his Companion horse, find and stop Master Dark,
May 21st, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Master of the World by Jules Verne
First published in French in 1904 and in English in 1911, The Master of the World is another of Jules Verne’s adventure novels with an SFF twist. It’s a sequel to Robur the Conqueror, though it’s not necessary to have read that book first (I didn’t). The story is set in 1903 and, as so many of Verne’s novels do, features fantastical machines and gadgetry. It should be of particular interest to those who love steampunk and to Verne’s fans who want to read one of the author’s last novels.
May 12th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Jules Verne | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Working God’s Mischief by Glen Cook
Working God’s Mischief is Glen Cook’s fourth installment in his THE INSTRUMENTALITIES OF THE NIGHT series. I had a mostly positive response to the opening novel, though it had its issues, but my pleasure waned somewhat through books two and three, leaving me to say at the end of my review of Surrender to the Will of Night that “the ratio between frustration and reward” was nearing the danger zone. Unfortunately,
May 5th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Glen Cook | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Meg Corbyn has escaped from the man who’s been using her prophetic abilities for his own profit. Meg has never been in the outside world — she’s been institutionalized since she was a child — and she has no idea how to take care of herself. The only place where she might successfully hide from her owner is in the Courtyard of the Others, a race of dangerous shapeshifters who are much more animal than human. Meg applies for the Others’ job opening as a liaison to the humans.
April 28th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Anne Bishop | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I’m starting to feel like a broken record (Google it kids) here the past month or so, having had the same general reaction to a long run of books now — “good premise, flawed execution.” The latest perpetrator is Lockstep, a new YA space opera by Karl Schroeder, who has come up with a wonderfully engaging premise and setting, but has failed to create that same sense of engagement with regard to the characters and plot.
Way back in time in the Lockstep universe,
March 25th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Karl Schroeder | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee
[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
I had high hopes for Chang-rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea. A literary author turning his hand to a post-apocalyptic tale that would focus less it seems on zombies and cannibals etc.,
March 7th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Chang-rae Lee | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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