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Against the Tide of Years by S.M. Stirling
It’s been several years since “the event” which pulled the island of Nantucket back in time to 1300 B.C. (We read all about this in Island in the Sea of Time, the first book in S.M. Stirling’s NANTUCKET trilogy.) The islanders have been busy learning how to live without all the modern conveniences of the 20th century. They are successfully learning how to farm and fish, breed animals, acquire fuels,
March 17th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | S.M. Stirling | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Bigger Bang by D. J. Kirkbride and Vassilis Gogtzilas
The Bigger Bang is a new IDW Publishing comic by D.J. Kirkbride (writer) and Vassilis Gogtzilas (art). As you can probably tell from the playful title, it’s a cosmic-scope sort of story, with a protagonist (named, um, Cosmos) who was birthed in the “Bigger Bang” that destroyed one universe, causing him to find another where he might attempt to atone for the nature of his birth.
That’s a weighty premise set against the biggest of all canvases,
March 14th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The sequel to The Magicians’ Guild, Trudi Canavan’s The Novice is book two in her THE BLACK MAGICIAN trilogy. After being mentored by the kindly Lord Rothen for a number of weeks, Sonea meets the rest of her class at the Guild as the term officially begins. Although she attempts to be friendly with them, all of her class eventually turns against her for being a lower class slum girl rather than members of the nobility like them.
March 13th, 2015. Kevin Wei´s rating: 2 | Trudi Canavan | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina was a subtle, exquisitely quiet novel, nuanced and filled with sharply realized characters. I absolutely fell in love with it, placing it on my list of top reads that year, so it kills me to report that the eagerly-awaited sequel, Shadow Scale, not only failed to meet my (admittedly high) expectations, but really disappointed across the board.
Shadow Scale picks up shortly after the events of Seraphina,
March 10th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Rachel Hartman | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Armageddon Rag by George R.R. Martin
The Armageddon Rag is the book that almost destroyed George R.R. Martin’s career. It was meant to be the work that put him on the map: he’d been getting bigger and bigger advances for his previous novels, and this was the planned bestseller that would make Martin a household name. It didn’t sell. In fact, it was such a monumental commercial flop that Martin couldn’t even get a small advance for another book, let alone the six-figure deals he’d been seeing up until then.
March 10th, 2015. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 2 | George R.R. Martin | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales by Terry Pratchett
Dragons at Crumbling Castle is a collection of fourteen stories written by Terry Pratchett and illustrated by Mark Beech. Each page of the books is covered in wacky fonts or scribbles to emphasize certain words and phrases, and the lines of print are double-spaced to promote easy reading for young eyes. The entire book is clearly engineered for elementary school readers. The stories were written when Pratchett was a teenager, working for his local newspaper; Pratchett writes in the Introduction that he touched them up a little before publication,
March 4th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2 | Terry Pratchett | Children, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum
The Emerald City of Oz is L. Frank Baum’s sixth OZ book. Here we find Dorothy Gale back at home in Kansas. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are about to lose their farm and they despair of what will happen to their niece Dorothy since they can no longer support her. The three decide that Dorothy should go live in Oz with her friend Princess Ozma who has often tried to get Dorothy to move there.
February 28th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | L. Frank Baum | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Impulse is Dave Bara’s debut novel, published earlier this month by DAW. The cover copy starts off like this:
Following in the tradition of such top science fiction writers as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Gordon Dickson, Frank Herbert and Joe Haldeman, Impulse, the first novel of THE LIGHTSHIP CHRONICLES, launches readers on a star-spanning journey of discovery, diplomacy and danger.
February 24th, 2015. Stefan Raets´s rating: 2 | Dave Bara | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum
OK. It’s obvious what’s going on here. As L. Frank Baum explained in the foreword to one of the OZ books (and I’ve seen such sentiments in some of his other forewords, too):
It’s no use; no use at all. The children won’t let me stop telling tales of the Land of Oz. I know lots of other stories, and I hope to tell them, some time or another; but just now my loving tyrants won’t allow me.
February 13th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | L. Frank Baum | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik
Tongues of Serpents is the sixth book in Naomi Novik‘s successful TEMERAIRE series. I understand Novik means to write three more, ending the nine-book series with the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Novik’s mix of dragons and history proved addictive for many readers but I must admit that I felt the series was running out of steam after reading the fifth book, Victory of Eagles. Given my reaction to the last book in the series,
February 8th, 2015. Rob Weber´s rating: 2 | Naomi Novik | SFF Reviews | no comments |
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…