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The Green Man by Harold M. Sherman
A short while back, I had some words to say about Festus Pragnell’s 1935 novel The Green Man of Graypec, which had originally appeared in the pages of Wonder Stories magazine and had given us the tale of a green-furred caveman living in a subatomic world. Now I am here to report on another green man, but one of a wholly different nature; one who hails not from the infinitesimally small microverse, but rather from a planet over a trillion miles away.
November 22nd, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Harold M. Sherman | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Along the Saltwise Sea by A. Deborah Baker
In the 2020 portal fantasy Over the Woodward Wall, by A. Deborah Baker (a pseudonym for the prolific Seanan McGuire), two children, Avery and Zib, climbed a granite wall that had inexplicably appeared in the road and were transported to a magical world, the Up-and-Under. It’s much like the land of Oz but with far sharper teeth, and Avery and Zib are anxious to find their way home to our world.
November 15th, 2021. Tadiana Jones and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | A. Deborah Baker | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next by Jeanette Winterson
In 12 Bytes: How We Got Here. Where We Might Go Next (2021), Jeanette Winterson offers up a dozen essays on Artificial Intelligence divided into four sections: “How we got here” (a dip into the history of computing), “What’s Your Superpower” (a philosophical/religious change in vision of matter), “Sex and Other Stories” (AI’s potential impact on love and sex), and “The Future” (what will change and what might not with the advent of AI).
November 12th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Jeanette Winterson | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Call of Fire (2017) continues the adventures of Ingrid Carmichael, introduced in Breath of Earth as a secretary at a geomancy school with tremendous hidden powers and who, in this second BLOOD OF EARTH novel, is on the run from an ambitious ambassador with deadly secrets. This time, Beth Cato takes Ingrid, Lee Fong, Cy Jennings, and the brilliant engineer Mr. Fenris up the Pacific Northwest coastline to Portland and Seattle, where the Japanese influence of the United Pacific conglomeration is inescapable.
November 11th, 2021. Jana Nyman and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Beth Cato | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander
Edie Spence has a degree in nursing and a job at the County Hospital, in the Y4 ward. County Hospital, the public hospital that treats everyone, insured or not, is a tough gig at any time — Y4 is both tougher and weirder, being the floor that treats daylight servants of vampires, vampires themselves, shapeshifters, and all sorts of were-folk. Oh, and did I mention zombies? The work is hard and dangerous, the pay is abysmal, but by working here, Edie guarantees protection for her junkie brother. As Nightshifted opens,
November 10th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Cassie Alexander | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
With Book of a Thousand Days (2007), Shannon Hale offers a delightful retelling of the Grimm fairy tale Maid Maleen.
Dashti is a mucker, a low-born girl who was born on the steppes. When her mother dies, she goes to the city to take a job as a maid to Lady Saren. Right away she is locked into a tower with her lady because, in defiance of her father’s wishes, Saren has refused to marry Lord Khasar.
November 9th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Shannon Hale | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
Addie, the 12-year-old Princess of the kingdom of Bamarre, is a sweet but cowardly girl. She comes by it honestly – her father, the king, is also a coward. Addie’s sister Meryl, however, is adventurous and courageous and she wants to save their kingdom from evil magical beasts and a plague they call the Grey Death. Addie adores and admires Meryl and she knows she’ll never be brave like her sister.
When Meryl gets sick, Addie is desperate to save her but,
November 4th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Gail Carson Levine | Audio, Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Night of the Living Dummy by R.L. Stine
R.L. Stine’s GOOSEBUMPS is a series of stand-alone short horror novels for children. I’ve been listening to the audiobook versions with my teenage daughter who loves to read scary stories in the couple of months before Halloween.
The seventh GOOSEBUMPS novel, Night of the Living Dummy (1993), is especially terrifying, but that may be because I’m one of those people who gets a bit freaked out by circus clowns, Chucky dolls,
October 29th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | R.L. Stine | Audio, Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein
Originally published in 1989, The Steerswoman, by Rosemary Kirstein, was reissued by the author in 2013, along with the rest of the four existing books in the STEERSWOMAN series. This first book introduces the world of steerswoman Rowan, and the order of steerswomen (and some men), who travel the world gathering and sharing information and knowledge. There is only one kind of knowledge steerswomen don’t have — magic.
When the book opens,
October 19th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Rosemary Kirstein | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
A decade-long war is finally over and the people who live on the planet of Beltane are relieved. During the war, Beltane, where many scientists lived, was recruited for the war effort and served, unwillingly, as an experimental lab. After the war, most of the scientists left the planet, creating a brain drain, and the people who remained were pacifists who looked forward to starting a new way of life without interference from the Confederation.
When a disfigured veteran named Griss Lugard is brought back home to Beltane,
October 15th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Children, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 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…