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The Rivers of Zadaa by D.J. MacHale
With The Rivers of Zadaa, the sixth book in his PENDRAGON series for young adults, D.J. MacHale gets the series back on track after a disappointingly preachy fifth book. If you haven’t read the previous books, but plan to, I advise you to read no further in this review. It’s impossible to talk about The Rivers of Zadaa without spoiling some of the plot of the previous books.
This time Bobby and Saint Dane are battling it out on Zadaa,
April 10th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Midnight Blue-Light Special by Seanan McGuire
Midnight Blue-Light Special (2013), book two in Seanan McGuire’s INCRYPTID series, wraps up some plot points, deepens some characters and expands the world of the stories. McGuire takes the expected “The Covenant Strikes Back” plot, but incorporates a few nice twists along the way.
The Covenant of St. George is a group dedicated to a “scorched earth” policy toward magical creatures, working hard to exterminate any cryptid race, no matter how harmless or,
April 9th, 2015. Marion Deeds and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Seanan McGuire | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov
Jan Benes, a brilliant scientist from the Other Side, has knowledge that can deliver America a military advantage. Benes has decided to defect, but when the Americans smuggle Benes into the country, They shoot him. Though Benes survives, an inoperable blood clot threatens to end his life. But wait! There may be a new technology that could allow surgeons to remove the blood clot from inside Benes’ body.
Miniaturization is that secret new technology. Controlled by the Combined Miniature Defense Force (CMDF), miniaturization will allow “four men and one woman” in a submarine armed with surgical lasers to enter Benes’ blood stream.
April 2nd, 2015. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3.5 | Isaac Asimov | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In Edan Lepucki’s debut novel California, published in 2014, Cal and Frida are a young couple trying to eke out a living in a post-apocalyptic Californian wilderness. Their relationship has fared relatively well during their two years of near-isolation, but the intrusion of strangers — first a small family, then Frida’s unexpected pregnancy, and later a commune with its own deep problems and secrets — reveals severe cracks in their seemingly perfect marriage.
Perhaps post-apocalyptic isn’t the right descriptor for the time setting.
April 1st, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Edan Lepucki | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Beyond Thirty by Edgar Rice Burroughs
By 1916, Edgar Rice Burroughs was already a popular and regular contributor to the pulp periodicals of the day. Though a late starter — his first work, the John Carter story “Under the Moons of Mars,” was serialized in All-Story Magazine in 1912, when Burroughs was 36 — his output increased rapidly, to the point that by 1916, he had already seen the first three Carter works, the first two Tarzan titles, the first Pellucidar entry (At the Earth’s Core),
April 1st, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Edgar Rice Burroughs | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Note: Contains spoilers for previous PENDRAGON novels.
In The Never War, the third book in D.J. MacHale’s PENDRAGON series, Bobby is now 15 years old and is gaining experience as a Traveler. His job is to protect Earth and other territories of Halla (which includes all peoples, places, and times that have ever existed) from Saint Dane, the super duper evil villain whose goal is to increase chaos everywhere. Somehow,
April 1st, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Story of the Amulet by Edith Nesbit
The Story of the Amulet is a sequel to Edith Nesbit’s famous story collection, Five Children and It, in which five siblings discover a wish-granting sand fairy named The Psammead. Each story in Five Children and It tells of a single day when the children ask the Psammead for something they think they want. Their wishes always backfire and give Nesbit the opportunity to humorously illustrate the adage “be careful what you wish for.” At the end of Five Children and It,
March 28th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Edith Nesbit | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Aurora, by Kim Stanley Robinson, has major issues with pacing, characterization, and to some extent, plotting. Which would seem to make this review a no-brainer “not recommended.” But if one can overlook issues of plot, character, and pace (and granted, that’s a Grand Canyon-level overlook), there’s a lot here to often admire and sometimes enjoy, and a reader who perseveres will, I think, not only be happy they did so, but will also find Aurora lingering in their mind for some time.
March 27th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Kim Stanley Robinson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Earth Abides by George R. Stewart
George R. Stewart’s Earth Abides (1949) won the International Fantasy Award and was selected as one of David Pringle’s Best 100 SF Novels, but I’m guessing many SFF readers have never heard of it. You may have heard of pastoral SF (ala Clifford Simak), and this book may be best classified as post-holocaust pastoral SF, perhaps even “bucolic SF” (similar books include Leigh Bracket’s Long Tomorrow and Pat Frank’s Alas, Babylon).
March 27th, 2015. Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5, 4.5 | George R. Stewart | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks
Surface Detail (2010), the penultimate CULTURE novel, is another wild ride in Iain Banks’ far-future universe. Interestingly (or at least I think so), this novel deals with the afterlife, as does the final CULTURE novel, The Hydrogen Sonata, which was published several months before Banks’ unexpected death of gallbladder cancer in 2013.
Though speculation about what happens beyond death is a heavy subject, Banks deals with it flippantly in Surface Detail (and also to a lesser extent in The Hydrogen Sonata).
March 25th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Iain M. Banks | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.