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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 |
The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest
When Laurie Forest’s debut YA fantasy novel The Black Witch was published in 2017, there was a massive explosion of outrage in the Twitterverse and elsewhere online. Accusations of various types of prejudice — racism (albeit based on fantasy races), homophobia, white saviorism, ableism, lookism and more — were hurled against it. In my opinion those charges were unfair and based on a superficial reading of the text, missing the fact that the main character’s prejudices were clearly being shown as unthinking bias and bigotry,
June 10th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Laurie Forest | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
This doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it’s almost soul-crushing. I adored the first 25% of Zack Jordan’s The Last Human. It was on its way to being my favorite book so far this year. It was imaginative, clever, exciting, funny, and warm. I loved it. Then, it took a turn, and I struggled to finish it.
The Last Human (2020) is about a girl named Sarya who is being raised by a huge sentient black widow spider.
May 6th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Zack Jordan | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
This book made no sense to me at all. I was hoping for some explanations at the end but it…
Oh, Marion, you say "but dark" as if it were a bad thing! 😂
Hammer Studios is... reborn? I only ever read the "Kane" stories, which I found good but dark. It's a little…
Oh...and the men used the name "The Great Northern Expedition" to throw people off as to their actual destination, even…
Oh, it IS, Marion! It is!