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The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan & Teresa Patterson
The World of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time is a companion for readers of Robert Jordan’s THE WHEEL OF TIME novels. Although I enjoyed the ~14 (15, if New Spring is included or fewer if the final three novels are counted as one, the way Jordan intended) WOT novels, I don’t recommend this companion. Here’s why.
The book is written from the point of view of fictional historians from within Randland,
January 3rd, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Robert Jordan | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
The Whizbang Machine by Danielle A. Vann
Fifteen year old Elizabeth Yale has been living alone with her mother for eight years, since her father suffered an untimely death and her beloved grandfather Jack, unable to cope with the tragedy, left town to travel around the world. Elizabeth has missed Jack terribly, so she’s delighted when she gets a letter from Jack announcing that he’s coming home, and even more excited when her mother agrees to let her take a trip to Morocco with Jack in a few days.
November 18th, 2016. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2 | Danielle A. Vann | Children | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
For those seeking non-stop action and little else, Flashfall, by Jenny Moyer, offers up a solid if somewhat predictable entry in the Strong Nervy Young Female Fights Oppression but not Love genre (trademark pending on SNYFFOL). But those who desire depth of character and of worldbuilding will probably want to look elsewhere for those elements.
A century after a solar apocalypse, sixteen-year-old Orion is a “caver” who, with her partner Dram, mines the all-important cirium, “an element born of the flash curtain [that] can be milked and refined into the only effective shields we have against the band of radioactive electromagnetic particles the sun sent crashing through our atmosphere.”
November 10th, 2016. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Jenny Moyer | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds
Absolution Gap (2003) is the third book in Alastair Reynolds’ REVELATION SPACE series of large-canvas hard SF in which post-human factions battle each other and implacable machines bent on exterminating sentient life. The series has elements of Bruce Sterling’s Schismatrix, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey,
November 2nd, 2016. Stuart Starosta´s rating: 2 | Alastair Reynolds | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
There are two main storylines in Throne of Glass (2012). In one, a deadly assassin is unleashed from prison to travel to the capital and take part in a royal tournament for hired killers where the competitors often meet mysterious and gruesome ends (because, you know, assassin tournament). In the other, an extremely flaky girl tries on lots of expensive dresses, goes to parties, gushes over how pretty she looks today, and flirts with attractive men who like to pamper her with expensive presents.
September 30th, 2016. Tim Scheidler and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | Sarah J. Maas | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance by Mark Rahner, Tom Peyer, and John Layman Illustrated by Edu Menna, Randy Valiente, Rod Rodolfo, Jose Malaga, and Colton Worley.
Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance is a large (250 pages) collection of, well, new Twilight Zone stories in graphic form. Or maybe “newish” might be better, as several have deliberate (I’m assuming) echoes of classic Twilight Zone tale, and most have, at least in my mind, a bit of a retro feel to them. I’m not sure this element however is as intentional,
September 24th, 2016. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
While rereading Kim Stanley Robinson‘s MARS trilogy, books I consider to be among the very best in science fiction, I came across various references to White Mars; Or, The Mind Set Free: A 21st-Century Utopia (1999) by Brian W. Aldiss, written in collaboration with prominent physicists Roger Penrose. Robinson’s utopian vision of a terraformed Red Planet is not something everybody would see as ideal or even morally acceptable. In the MARS trilogy Robinson pays a lot of attention to the discussion between what he calls the Reds,
August 12th, 2016. Rob Weber´s rating: 2 | Brian W. Aldiss | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Long Utopia: by Terry Pratchett & Steven Baxter
I read this book thinking it was, finally, the end of Terry Pratchett and Steven Baxter’s LONG EARTH series. Unfortunately, I have since read that one more is going to come out. In some ways, this is fine. The Long Utopia (2015) in no way provides a conclusion to many of the plotlines that Pratchett and Baxter have set in motion in previous installments and about which I am still, despite my better instincts,
July 25th, 2016. Kate Lechler´s rating: 2 | Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Voodoo Island directed by Reginald LeBorg
The 1957 Boris Karloff film Voodoo Island seems to have a widespread reputation as being one of the actor’s all-time worst, so it was with a feeling of resignation and borderline cinematic masochism that I popped this DVD into the player the other night. Voodoo Island was Karloff’s first horror picture in four years, his only release for 1957; he would rebound a bit the following year, with the releases of the fun shlockfest Frankenstein 1970 and the even better (British) film Grip of the Strangler.
July 19th, 2016. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 2 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | no comments |
3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
The elements that make 2001: A Space Odyssey a classic — the pacing, dramatic tension, smartly efficient plot lines — are mostly missing from Arthur C. Clarke‘s Space Odyssey finale, 3001: The Final Odyssey. What it retains is Clarke’s obvious exuberance for biological, technological and cultural evolution. Each book in the series represents an evolution in itself even, of Clarke’s own perspective and thinking on the growth of humanity overtime,
June 28th, 2016. Jason Golomb´s rating: 2 | Arthur C. Clarke | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…
You managed to work in your two loves; vintage fiction and films!