Click on stars to FIND REVIEWS BY RATING:
Recommended: 
Not Recommended: 
Heaven’s River by Dennis E. Taylor
Heaven’s River (2021) is the fourth book in Dennis E. Taylor’s amusing and intelligent BOBIVERSE series. You’ll first want to read the previous three books, We Are Legion (We Are Bob), For We Are Many, and All These Worlds, or you’ll be lost. This review will contain mild spoilers for the previous books.
By this point in the Bobiverse timeline,
November 13th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Dennis E. Taylor | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Psychic Killer directed by Ray Danton
We’ve all heard the expression “if looks could kill,” but how about thoughts? What if it were possible to kill somebody, no matter the distance, using the power of the mind to manipulate objects? Well, that is precisely the setup of Ray Danton’s 1975 horror outing Psychic Killer, an undeniably shlocky yet undeniably fun exercise in out-of-body homicide. In the film, we meet a 33-year-old mental patient named Arnold Masters (Jim Hutton, father of Timothy, 42 here in his final film), who repeatedly declares his innocence of the charge of murdering his dying mother’s doctor (his mother had had no health insurance,
October 27th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Renegat by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Renegat (2019) is a long, slow-moving, complicated novel in Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s DIVING series. As usual, the story jumps around in time, following multiple plots and perspectives. The characters are new to us, so readers who are unfamiliar with the DIVING universe could start here if they want to, though it’d probably be best to read the series in either publication order, or the order we’ve presented on our author page.
October 12th, 2023. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Kristine Kathryn Rusch | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Maniac directed by Michael Carreras
Up until recently, I had been aware of only two films with the title Maniac: the 1934 camp classic directed by Dwain Esper and the repugnant 1980 picture with Joe Spinell as a deranged mannequin lover. The existence of the British The Maniac, a 1963 product from the great Hammer Studios, thus came as a nice surprise for me.
Part of the Hammer “Icons of Suspense” six-film box set, the picture shares a DVD with the studio’s 1958 film The Snorkel,
October 5th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Haunting of Julia directed by Richard Loncraine
You’ve got to feel a little sorry for the characters that Los Angeles-born actress Mia Farrow portrayed in her three big horror outings of the late 1960s to mid-‘70s. Her Rosemary Woodhouse, in the 1968 classic Rosemary’s Baby – surely one of the classiest fright fests of that great decade – was not only set up by her husband and later knocked up by Old Scratch himself, but was later the unwitting deliverer of the son of Satan. In 1971’s See No Evil,
October 3rd, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson
In a number of her novels, Kate Atkinson explores the idea of alternate possibilities, playing with “what if” scenarios for various characters. Showing she doesn’t need a full novel to explore the heady concept, Atkinson returns to that theme in Normal Rules Don’t Apply, a collection of eleven loosely linked short stories.
The first, “The Void”, is a masterclass in chilling mundanity as out in the countryside an old man and his equally old dog find their daily walk shockingly interrupted by a horrific sight.
September 25th, 2023. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Kate Atkinson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka
An Inheritance of Magic is a solid fantasy with an entirely engaging Everyman of a character who comes with an equally engaging cat. I could have done with a bit more clarity on the world the story is set in, and at times things seemed to come a little easily to the main character, but this was a generally enjoyable and interesting story, enough so that I’ll pick up the necessary sequel.
Stephen Oakwood is twenty years old and adrift in the world of London.
September 22nd, 2023. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Benedict Jacka | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien & Kat Weaver
Neon Hemlock has carved out a niche for itself in the novella/novelette market, and continues to deliver quirky, engaging stories across the subgenres. This magical, alternate history romp, Uncommon Charm (2022), is one more example.
Julia Selwyn-Stirling is the daughter of Lady Aloysia, the premiere magician in 1925 Britain. Depending on who you talk to, Lady Aloysia, who Julia calls “Muv,” is either the powerful secret weapon of the British government, or the blackmailer of that same government.
September 18th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Emily Bergslien, Kat Weaver | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes
Where Peace is Lost by Valerie Valdes moves along smoothly and quickly, is peopled by engaging characters, and nods toward some serious themes of ethics, violence, and colonialism. I mostly enjoyed this fast read, though found myself wishing its themes were delved into more deeply.
The novel is set in a universe where the Pale Empire has been conquering/colonizing other planets or planetary systems/alliances. Some years back, one of their stiffest foes, whose military and altruistic institutions were known as “Orders”,
September 8th, 2023. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Valerie Valdes | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
XINO #1 by Various Creators for Oni Press
XINO #1, the first of three issues, includes four stories about technology. The first, “Hue,” written by Melissa Flores, illustrated by Daniel Irizarrri, and lettered by Jim Campbell is the best of the four. In it, Matteo Mendoza, a blind man, is given sight through some new implants that enable him not simply to see as we do; rather, he can see things the rest of us cannot. At first, excited by the promise of vision for the first time in his life,
September 2nd, 2023. Brad Hawley´s rating: 3.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Is this part of the "New Management" branch of the Laundry Files? As in, has the Elder God Nyarlahotep taken…
I was reading along with no trouble suspending disbelief until I got to "internet influencers!" And then I thought, "Well,…
I recently stumbled upon the topic of hard science fiction novels, by reading a comment somewhere referring to Greg Egan's…
This story, possibly altered who I would become and showed me that my imagination wasn't a burden. I think i…
I have been bombarded by ads for this lately, just in the last week. Now I feel like I've seen…