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Rating: 2.5

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After: Like panning for gold

After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia by editors Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

When I saw the new Datlow and Windling anthology After: Nineteen Stories of Apocalypse and Dystopia, I was so excited. I love YA fiction, I love dyslit, I love short story anthologies and I love Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling as editors, so I figured it was a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, my reading experience didn’t live up to my expectations.

After is an anthology of short stories set after.

October 19th, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2.5 | Caitlín R. Kiernan, Carrie Ryan, Ellen Datlow, Garth Nix, Genevieve Valentine, Gregory Maguire, Jane Yolen, Jeffrey Ford, Katherine Langrish, N.K. Jemisin, Nalo Hopkinson, Richard Bowes, Sarah Rees Brennan, Terri Windling | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |

As the Green Star Rises: Will what’s-his-name ever find the princess?

As the Green Star Rises by Lin Carter

I picked up As the Green Star Rises, fourth in the five-book GREEN STAR series by Lin Carter, only because it was cheap at Audible. The last book, By the Light of the Green Star, was mildly entertaining but I didn’t feel compelled to go on. (At this point, probably nobody is reading further in this review, but for the sake of a sense of closure, I’ll go on just a bit.

Chocolate Lenin: A thriller with chocolate and rum

Chocolate Lenin by Graham Diamond

The Russian Federation is planning to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Jubilee, and Vlad Petrovsky is at the center of the public relations effort. It’s a plum assignment; long hours away from his family and dealing with crisis after crisis will all be worth it to Vlad if he succeeds. In the midst of this, he is pulled away from his assignment and tasked by the Prime Minister himself to support a vital, secret mission that threatens the future of all Russia.

At the center of Chocolate Lenin is a race against time to prevent a scientifically reproduced version of Vladimir Lenin from instigating another revolution.

The Phoenix Exultant: Disappointing sequel

The Phoenix Exultant by John C. Wright

I was really disappointed with The Phoenix Exultant, the second novel in John C. Wright’s THE GOLDEN AGE series, especially considering how much I had enjoyed its predecessor, The Golden Age. In many ways The Phoenix Exultant just did not feel like a true continuation of the first book.

One of the major stumbling blocks for me was that I just couldn’t believe the way Wright handled the voices he used for the characters in this volume.

September 19th, 2012. Terry Lago´s rating: 2.5 | John C. Wright | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Gathering Blue: Lacks any resolution

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry is the loosely linked sequel to The Giver. Set in the same world, this story is set in another village that has survived post-apocalyptic collapse of larger society. Instead of the peaceful, well-ordered, cooperative world that characterized the first book, Gathering Blue is set in a dirty, hardscrabble village, where violence and betrayal are commonplace.

The story centers on Kira, a young woman with a deformed leg.

August 31st, 2012. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2.5 | Lois Lowry | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Prankster: We’ve been Punk’d!

The Prankster by James Polster

We’ve been Punk’d!

It seems that lots of the interesting stuff that happens on Earth is caused by Pom Trager, an arrogant time travelling alien who plays tricks on us and shows the results on his reality TV show called The Prankster. While humans think that significant historical events are happening, or that our culture is advancing, aliens on another planet are laughing at us.

When one of his tricks goes awry, Pom Trager gets trapped in Santa Fe. To escape,

The Snow Queen: Won the Hugo?

The Snow Queen by Joan D. Vinge

The Snow Queen, published in 1980, is Joan Vinge’s science fiction adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale of the same name. In Vinge’s version, Anderson’s love story takes place on the planet Tiamat which is located near a black hole. Tiamat is a convenient rest stop for interstellar travelers and they often go down to the planet for respite or trade, but Tiamat also has its own special commodity: the Water of Life. This youth-preserving substance is made by killing a marine species found only on Tiamat and is available to rich travelers who are willing to leave their money or their technology behind.

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror: Difficult to engage with

At the Mountains of Madness and Other Tales of Terror by H.P. Lovecraft

Fans of Stephen King take note: This work and other tales of H.P. Lovecraft were among King’s main inspirations. Lovecraft bases most of his stories out of his Providence, just as King uses small town Maine so often as a setting. Likewise, each utilizes quirks of rural life and old wives’ tales to spin tales of the macabre that never quite fully explain themselves. Ghosts, miasmas, fiery pentagrams, voodoo magic, mysterious deaths, and the other typical plot devices used by horror are never intended to fully connect with reality.

Don’t Kill the Messenger: Doesn’t take itself too seriously

Don’t Kill the Messenger by Eileen Rendahl

Don’t Kill the Messenger is a paranormal romance that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Eileen Rendahl is not a visionary writer, but in this genre she doesn’t need to be, as long as she knows how to write a handsome, edgy love interest for the main character. My cynical attitude aside, Don’t Kill the Messenger is really not bad.

Melina drowned as a young girl. The near-death experience brought some pretty amazing changes,

August 1st, 2012. John Hulet´s rating: 2.5 | Eileen Rendahl | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Sorry Please Thank You: Stories by Charles Yu

Sorry Please Thank You: Stories by Charles Yu

[At The Edge of the Universe, we review books that may not be classified SFF but that incorporate elements of speculative fiction. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]

It is rare that I find myself blown away by a collection of short stories. Unless it is a “selected” anthology, where an editor can sort through a long career of writing and winnow out the mediocre and simply bad (even then there’ll most likely be at least a few I don’t care for),

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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