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The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guinis an iconic voice whose books, like Left Hand of Darkness and The Word for World is Forest, made people rethink their assumptions of the society they lived in. She is intimidatingly intellectual but writes characters who are real and full of heart. She is a personal role model of mine, so it’s difficult to write a less-than-glowing review about The Telling, a late entry into Le Guin’s HAINISH CYCLE stories.
December 19th, 2011. Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Hunter From the Woods by Robert McCammon
Robert McCammon’s werewolf WWII British spy, Michael Gallatin, is back in a collection of short stories that surround the events in McCammon’s best-selling book, The Wolf’s Hour:
November 29th, 2011. Greg Hersom´s rating: 2.5 | Robert McCammon | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Acquainted with the Night by Piper Maitland
An elderly academic is murdered. In his death throes, he leaves a cryptic message intended for a young female relative. This coded message sends the young female relative and an attractive male academic on a treasure hunt across Europe. They discover a secret that casts new light on religious history and on the female lead’s genealogy, fall in love, and are pursued by both legal authorities and criminal goons. You may be thinking you’ve read this book before. Piper Maitland adds a vampire twist to the formula,
November 25th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2.5 | Piper Maitland | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In the early 21st century, Earth has become overcrowded and has begun to look toward space as a potential new home. Only one habitable planet has been found — Whale’s Mouth — and it’s said to be a paradise. Rachmael ben Applebaum’s company has developed a spaceship that will take settlers there, but the trip takes 18 years. Just as business is about to begin, it’s undercut by Trails of Hoffman, Inc., a company who has developed a new teleporting technology that will get settlers to Whale’s Mouth in only 15 minutes.
November 21st, 2011. Kat Hooper and Sandy Ferber´s rating: 2.5, 3 | Philip K. Dick | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 31 comments |
Every once in a while a novel comes along that’s touted as new, exciting, daring, meaningful, poignant, fresh, full of big ideas, etc. That’s what I’ve heard, so that’s what I was expecting and hoping for in Lauren Beukes’ novel Moxyland — especially since it has a nice blurb from William Gibson and has been compared to Neuromancer.
Moxyland takes place in a futuristic (2018) Cape Town, South Africa. The Cape Town setting is unique,
November 14th, 2011. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Lauren Beukes | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
The 14th century alchemist alchemyst Nicholas Flamel has the secret codex containing the recipe for the elixir of life hanging around his neck. For centuries, Dr. John Dee has been hunting for him because he wants that book. Dee has finally traced Flamel to his bookstore in 21st century California. He busts in, gets all but the last two pages of the book, and kidnaps Flamel’s wife. Now the world is in danger because Dee plans to bring the dark Elder gods to power and they will enslave humans.
November 12th, 2011. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Michael Scott | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
In Endurance, Jay Lake continues the exploration of a strange and beautiful world. We feel the smoothness of a length of silk, hear the sounds from the docks, smell the curries and the spices in the food cooked in the taverns. As Green, his main character, travels through Copper Downs, the reader sees the city from the roofs she travels, and wanders deep into the tunnels and caves beneath the city’s foundation. We see the rust-frozen machines used eons ago, built by the sorcerer-engineers to work the mines,
November 8th, 2011. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5, 3 | Jay Lake | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Falling Machine by Andrew P. Mayer
It’s hard for me to grasp just what Andrew P. Mayer is trying to do in his 1880’s Society of Steam debut, The Falling Machine. Mayer sets his book in New York City during the Gilded Age. The book, first of a trilogy, appears to be a fable or a parable about the transition of power, or the dangers of privilege, or something. I can’t quite tell what. I can’t tell who I am supposed to cheer for,
October 14th, 2011. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Andrew P. Mayer | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Moonshadow: Rise of the Ninja & The Nightmare Ninja by Simon Higgins
Moonshadow: Rise of the Ninja and Moonshadow: The Nightmare Ninja are the first two installments in a series of children’s books by Simon Higgins about, well, ninjas. The first book is mostly entertaining if a bit slight, but the second, unfortunately, is disappointing due to an overreliance on fight scenes. While the Moonshadow series has potential, it took a step backward in book two.
October 11th, 2011. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2, 2.5 | Simon Higgins | Children | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
Cadel Piggott doesn’t really fit in. His genius IQ and his peculiar obsessions seem strange to his classmates. He’s not a malicious child, but his boredom drives him to challenge himself by hacking into computers and designing intricate pranks. It doesn’t help that his parents are constantly busy and don’t spend any time with him. The only person who really seems to care about Cadel is Dr. Thaddeus Roth, his psychologist. Thaddeus even encourages Cadel’s obsessions and pranks. As Cadel gets older, Thaddeus gradually starts to reveal why he’s interested in the boy — he wants to enroll him in Dr.
October 7th, 2011. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Catherine Jinks | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.