Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 2

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The Whizbang Machine: An original MG mystery with execution issues

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.

Flashfall: Could have used more polishing

Flashfall by Jenny Moyer

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.”

Absolution Gap: Overlong, tedious and frustrating conclusion

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,

Throne of Glass: Teenage escapism and wish-fulfilment

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.

Twilight Zone: Shadow and Substance by Mark Rahner, Tom Peyer, and John Layman

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 |

White Mars: A response to KSR’s MARS trilogy

White Mars by Brian W. Aldiss

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: Intriguing mysteries, disappointing characters

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: For Uncle Boris completists only

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: Short, unnecessary series conclusion

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 |

2061: Odyssey Three: Blandly going where he has gone twice before

2061: Odyssey Three by Arthur C. Clarke

This is not a great book. It’s really more of an extended novella or perhaps part one of Arthur C. Clarke‘s SPACE ODYSSEY finale, 3001. This story has none of the depth, nuance or scale of Clarke’s classic original, 2001 nor its solid follow up 2010.

Beware of spoilers for the previous novels below. I’m assuming anyone who reads this review will likely have read the two preceding novels,

June 23rd, 2016. Jason Golomb´s rating: 2 | Arthur C. Clarke | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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