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The Rookery (2021) is Deborah Hewitt’s sequel to her debut novel, The Nightjar, which I described in my review as having many of the issues one expects in a debut novel but that also left the reader eager to see what she did next based on her “imaginative content and writing style.” The sequel has its own issues but does improve on its predecessor. Some inevitable spoilers for book one to follow.
August 19th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Deborah Hewitt | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley
If Natasha Pulley’s latest novel, The Kingdoms (2021), were a movie script, the elevator pitch might have been “Master and Commander meets The Final Countdown” (look it up, kids). Part time-travel story, part love story (several actually), part Patrick O’Brian story, it curves and recurves through beauty and brutality (more of the latter than the former), time and space, trauma, and rescue (more of the former than the latter), as it delights,
August 11th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Natasha Pulley | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Stars are Ours by Andre Norton
Tantor Media has been publishing the omnibus editions of Andre Norton’s science-fiction adventures in audiobook format. The omnibus (originally published by Baen) called Star Flight contains the novels The Stars are Ours and Star Born (the PAX/ASTRA duology). Both novels are set in the same universe (ours, actually) but they stand alone.
The prologue of The Stars are Ours,
August 10th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Andre Norton | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Queen’s Triumph by Jessie Mihalik
The Queen’s Triumph (2020) is the third and final volume of Jessie Mihalik’s ROGUE QUEEN trilogy. I’ve enjoyed this series and recommend it to anyone looking for a short, fun, and sexy space opera with a strong female lead. Tantor Audio’s editions, narrated by Rachel Dulude, are pleasant and worth a try.
It’s been two weeks since the events of the last book, The Queen’s Advantage. Samara Rani, the young and inexperienced queen of her small country,
August 6th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Jessie Mihalik | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Stone From the Green Star by Jack Williamson
As I mentioned recently in my review of Edmond Hamilton’s 1930 novel The Universe Wreckers, this Ohio-born author was just one of three writers who helped to popularize the genre now known as “space opera,” the other two being E.E. “Doc” Smith and Jack Williamson. I’d recently experienced Smith’s seminal six-book LENSMAN series, written between 1934 and ’48, but it had been a good number of years since I’d read anything by Williamson,
June 18th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Jack Williamson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
War of the Maps by Paul McAuley
On an artificially created planet made up of numerous islands, a middle-aged man called the lucidor is stalking his prey. At first, we don’t know much about Remfrey He, the man the lucidor hunts, except that he’s an arrogant and corrupt man who, thanks to the lucidor’s detective work, was convicted and imprisoned years ago. But now he’s been set free because his skills will be helpful in fighting “the invasion,” a war with an unknown enemy which has brought genetically engineered monsters to the realm.
June 17th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Paul McAuley | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar
16-year-old Sheetal seems like any other normal Indian-American teenager. She’s close to her large family, has a best friend and a boyfriend, and she’s looking forward to going to college. What most people don’t know, though, is that her father, a famous astrophysicist, married a star.
Sheetal’s mother left years ago to ascend to her celestial court, and she told Sheetal never to let anybody suspect that she’s half star. To hide this fact, Sheetal dyes her silver hair black, but lately the hair dye has not been taking.
May 21st, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Shveta Thakrar | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Ikessar Falcon by K.S. Villoso
The thing I loved the most about The Ikessar Falcon is the dragons. This second book in K.S. Villoso‘s CHRONICLES OF THE BITCH QUEEN, published in 2020, has plenty of action, world-building, political intrigue and romantic conflicts, but in this book, we learn much more about the dragons, their connection to the magical substance agan, and their role in the nation of Jin-Sayeng.
This review may contain spoilers for the first book,
April 28th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | K.S. Villoso | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Anyone who’s read the first four installments of Brandon Mull’s FIVE KINGDOMS series for middle graders will undoubtedly want to read the fifth and concluding volume, Time Jumpers (2018). We all want to know if Cole and his friends will be able to escape the Outskirts and return home, and we want to know if the kids’ families and friends will still remember them!
This time Cole is visiting the last of the five kingdoms: Creon.
April 9th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Mull | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In the Palace of Shadow and Joy by D.J. Butler
D.J. Butler tries his hand at the two-loveable-rogues-for-hire story and mostly succeeds.
Our two loveable rogues are Indrajit Twang and Fix. Indrajit is the poet of his very small clan of people. He has come to the great city of Kish to find (he hopes) an apprentice who can learn the epic poem of his race so it can be passed down to the next generation. If he does not succeed, all of the history and culture of these few hundred people will be lost.
April 7th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Dave (D.J.) Butler | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…