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Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
This is the third book I’ve read by Rachel Hartman set in her fictional word. I absolutely loved the first, Seraphina, and was greatly disappointed by the second, Shadow Scale. Unfortunately, Tess of the Road (2018) falls more toward the latter than the former, making for another disappointing foray into this setting.
While set in the same world and in roughly the same timeline as the first books (it covers a lot of ground thanks to flashbacks,
February 26th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2.5 | Rachel Hartman | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Revival is a very modern Stephen King novel that channels H.P. Lovecraft at his cyclopean best. His key characters are bold, if not as colorful as some of his best work, and his themes are of familiar and well-trodden King territory. Often hammered by critics (professional and amateur alike) for his weak endings, King builds up to a conclusion that is strong and memorable. It’s monstrous, dark and creepy as hell. It’s pure Lovecraft and beautiful in its austerity.
February 16th, 2018. Jason Golomb and Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5, 4 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Best of Arthur C. Clarke: 1937-1971 by Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke’s first short story appeared 15 years before his first novel, and much of his oeuvre is to be found in short fiction. In fact, despite the success of his novels — Childhood’s End, Rendezvous with Rama, and The City and the Stars among them — Clarke produced as much short fiction in the middle and end of his career as the beginning.
February 11th, 2018. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 2.5 | Arthur C. Clarke | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Diviners is a 2012 YA fantasy in the supernatural horror genre, and the first book in THE DIVINERS series by Libba Bray. At a birthday party in Manhattan in the 1920’s, a group of partying teenagers decides to play with a Ouija board. They promptly do several things they’re really not supposed to do, like failing to make the spirit controlling the board say good-bye (is this really a thing?), thereby unleashing the spirit of a dead serial killer on the world.
February 5th, 2018. Tadiana Jones and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2.5, 4 | Libba Bray | Horror, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
The Hazel Wood (2018) is one of those novels whose reputation precedes it. Authors and critics alike are singing the book’s praises, dubbing it mesmerising, creepy, captivating. It promises to be a dark and twisting fairytale in the vein of Caraval and The Bear and the Nightingale, but can Melissa Albert‘s debut live up to its own hype?
Alice and her mother have moved from place to place for as long as she can remember.
January 30th, 2018. Ray McKenzie, Jana Nyman and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2.5 | Melissa Albert | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Neal Asher’s 2002 The Skinner follows closely on the heels of Gridlinked’s success and is the first in a sub-series of the POLITY called SPATTERJAY. The novel is part horror, part fantasy, part science fiction, and its main character may be the water world Spatterjay itself, filled with vividly imaginative, exotic (and hungry) forms of indigenous life. The Skinner, Asher’s second published novel, improves upon the first and gives lovers of action/adventure sci-fi hope that a new voice is emerging.
January 28th, 2018. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 2.5 | Neal Asher | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
The Maze Runner (2009) is a young adult read that zips along, mostly keeping the reader’s interest. James Dashner’s new novel is relatively suspenseful, but never as gripping as it could be due to weaknesses in detail and character.
The Maze Runner starts off strongly. Thomas is riding upward in a creaky old elevator, seemingly forever. Details have been wiped from Tomas’ memory, so he has no idea of where he’s coming from or where he’s heading.
December 21st, 2017. Bill Capossere, Tadiana Jones and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 2.5 | James Dashner | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Old Venus by Gardner Dozois & George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’s themed anthologies are some of the most popular on the market these days. Soliciting the genre’s best-known mainstream writers, selecting highly familiar themes, and letting the length run to 500+ pages, Rogues, Warriors, Dangerous Women, Songs of the Dying Earth, Old Mars,
November 18th, 2017. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 2.5 | Allen Steele, David Brin, Elizabeth Bear, Gardner Dozois, Garth Nix, George R.R. Martin, Ian McDonald, Joe Haldeman, Joe R. Lansdale, Lavie Tidhar, Matthew Hughes, Mike Resnick, Tobias Buckell | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Winds of Fury by Mercedes Lackey
I read Winds of Fury (1993) because I owned it at Audible and had already reviewed the previous books in this MAGE WINDS trilogy (Winds of Fate and Winds of Change). I haven’t been enthusiastic about the story or the characters thus far, so if you have enjoyed them, you should ignore this review because it won’t be helpful. If you haven’t read those books yet and are trying to decide whether to read them,
November 10th, 2017. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Mercedes Lackey | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Tremontaine Season One by Ellen Kushner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Joel Derfner, Patty Bryant, Racheline Maltese & Paul Witcover
Serial Box is another way to consume entertainment, pairing the pleasure of episodic television with the joy of a well-written book. Serial Box provides original works of written fiction in the form of a “season,” 10-16 chapters or episodes, released weekly. Like television, they use the metaphor of a “writers room,” and each work is produced by a team of writers, rather than an individual writer. It’s an interesting concept.
October 27th, 2017. Marion Deeds´s rating: 2.5 | Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
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I re-read 'The King of Ys' abpout every ten years. The prose is luminous, and the story absorbing. I commend…