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Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories by Lynda Clark
It seems that putting The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado on my best of 2021 list and noting how it’s redeemed my faith in short story collections was a bad idea, as I’ve apparently jinxed myself with regard to said collections, being that I’m now 0 for 3 on them since then. The third “0-fer” is Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories (2021) by Lynda Clark, which has its moments but left me disappointed overall.
August 5th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Lynda Clark | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Victory on Janus by Andre Norton
Victory on Janus (1966) is the sequel to Andre Norton’s Judgment on Janus (1963). The two novels make up the JANUS duology (Baen, 2002) which has recently been published by Tantor Media as an audiobook (2021). Gabriel Vaughan, the narrator, gives an excellent performance.
In Judgment on Janus, we met Naill Renfro, who was an indentured servant on the frontier planet of Janus.
July 19th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Eye of the Monster by Andre Norton
Tantor Media has published an audio version of Baen’s The Game of Stars and Comets (2009), an omnibus that contains these four novels by Andre Norton: The Sioux Spaceman (1960), Eye of the Monster (1962), The X Factor (1965), and Voorloper (1980). Each of these short novels stands alone and they are all set in Norton’s Council/Confederation universe. I’m reviewing them separately,
April 19th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
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 Bat Woman by Cromwell Gibbons
As some of you may have discerned, my favorite type of reading matter these days has been the science fiction, fantasy and horror books from the period 1900 – 1950, and so I am always on the lookout for modern-day publishers issuing new editions of these often out-of-print works. Case in point: Bruin Books, from Eugene, Oregon, which, a few years back, made it possible for me to finally obtain a reasonably priced copy of Paul Bailey’s wonderful horror novel Deliver Me From Eva (1946).
November 2nd, 2020. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 2.5 | Cromwell Gibbons | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 6 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 |
Sunset of the Gods by Steve White
Sunset of the Gods (2012) is the second novel in Steve White’s JASON THANOU (TEMPORAL REGULATORY AUTHORITY) series about time travelers who go back in time to study historical events. It would be helpful, but not necessary, to read the previous book, Blood of the Heroes, first.
This time Jason will accompany a couple of academics to witness the Battle of Marathon. There are a few historical debates about events that occurred while the Greeks were driving the Persians out of their country in 490 BC and the team hopes to settle these disputes.
September 1st, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Steve White | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
I’ll confess up front I’ve struggled mightily with Seth Dickinson’s series that started with The Traitor Baru Cormorant and continued with The Monster Baru Cormorant. I’ve found lots to admire in the first two books, especially intellectually, but I can’t say I actually much enjoyed them. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up book three, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant (2020).
August 10th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Seth Dickinson | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez
Woven in Moonlight (2020) is a lushly imagined YA fantasy based on Bolivian history and culture, and featuring a creative form of magic based on weaving. The plot is exciting, filled with twists and turns and betrayals. For me, though, I also found that it had some elements that distracted me from the story, and some others that made less sense when I thought about them later.
Ximena is a young girl who lost her family when the indigenous Llacsans rose up against the colonizing Illustrians.
July 24th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2.5 | Isabel Ibañez | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry
H.G. Parry’s A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (2020) is a sweeping fantasy novel that takes major events during the Age of Enlightenment — the French Revolution, the Haitian slave revolution, and the madness of King George — and overlays them with a skein of magic, investing the three major players with various powers: France’s Robespierre is a necromancer, Britain’s Prime Minister William Pitt is a mesmerist (among other things), and Toussaint Louverture is a weather mage (albeit a weak one,
June 22nd, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | H.G. Parry | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…