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Shatter City by Scott Westerfeld
Shatter City (2019) is the sequel to Scott Westerfeld’s Impostors, a set of four novels extending his UGLIES series by picking up roughly a decade after that earlier quartet ended. As I noted in my review of Impostors, this series doesn’t quite match the high quality of those earlier books, and seems aimed at a somewhat younger audience, but still retains enough of Westerfeld’s plotting strengths to make for an often exhilarating read.
January 15th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Scott Westerfeld | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
Wizard tournaments and wizard duels are standard fare in fantasy now, and Kat Howard puts the concept to good use in her fast-paced An Unkindness of Magicians. Published in 2017, the story follows a group of families based in Manhattan, who call themselves the Unseen World. They use magic to enrich themselves, gain power and ensure their comforts. Periodically, they engage in a magical struggle for control called the Turning, in which each family or House appoints a champion who duels other champions,
January 13th, 2020. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Kat Howard | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley
Robin Longbow, a lowly apprentice to the forester of Nottingham Forest, is on the way to Nottingham fair when he is waylaid by bullies. After he accidentally kills one of them, he is forced to flee and go into hiding. If he’s discovered by the sheriff of Nottingham, he’ll be hung by the regent who is sitting in for King Richard the Lionheart while he’s away fighting in Palestine.
But Robin’s friends Much and Marian see Robin’s exile as an opportunity to strike back at the regent and his Norman allies.
January 7th, 2020. Kat Hooper and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Robin McKinley | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Atlas of a Lost World by Craig Childs
In Atlas of a Lost World (2018), author Craig Childs takes the reader on a series of outdoor adventures as he traces the various confirmed and possible paths that North and South America’s first inhabitants took to enter the New World. Parallel to his own journey, he delves into the current research, theories, and archaeological finds. The end result is a bit of a mixed bag, though Childs never is less than an engaging guide.
January 6th, 2020. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse by K. Eason
Billed as “The Princess Bride meets Princess Leia” and “a feminist reimagining of familiar fairytale tropes,” How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (2019) is a science-fantasy starring the first princess born to the royal family of her planet in generations (usually they have boys).
At her naming ceremony, the fairies bless Rory with all the usual fairytale drivel: golden hair, blue eyes, sweet disposition, embroidery and harp-playing skills, and all the other things she’ll need to please a husband.
January 6th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | K. Eason | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier by Myke Cole
It’s amazing how a main character can spoil a book. Shadow Ops: Fortress Frontier is the second book in the SHADOW OPS series by Myke Cole. I didn’t like the first book, Control Point, very well because I loathed Oscar Britton, the main character. He offended my pride as a soldier. Yet I decided to try the second book and this time I have to give Myke Cole some real credit for giving me a reason not to hate his SHADOW OPS series….
January 3rd, 2020. John Hulet and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Myke Cole | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Quantum Garden by Derek Künsken
The Quantum Garden (2019) is the second installment of Derek Künsken’s QUANTUM EVOLUTION series, following the adventures of conman Belisarius Arjona, one of a few thousands of “Homo quantus” — a bio-engineered species able to deal with floods of data, strange math, and quantum effects. The first book in the series, The Quantum Magician, saw Belisarius gather a crew of misfits in order to help an oppressed “client culture” smuggle a fleet of uniquely advanced spaceships through a wormhole so as to gain their independence from the powerful Congregate.
December 31st, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Derek Kunsken | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Labyrinth’s Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed
Before I review The Labyrinth’s Archivist (2019), some disclosure. The author, Day Al-Mohamed, and I share a small press publisher, Falstaff Books, and we shared an editor. The Labyrinth’s Archivist shares a general theme with my novella and both are part of the press’s BROKEN CITIES line. I haven’t met Al-Mohamed and I get no compensation for reviewing the book. I bought the book on my own. If I hadn’t enjoyed it,
December 20th, 2019. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Day Al-Mohamed | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Waste Tide (2019) by Chen Quifan (tr. Ken Liu) is a book that I wanted to like thanks to its compassionate exploration of its topical subject. And it’s certainly not a bad book by any stretch. But it also wasn’t a compelling book, and I found myself putting it down way more than is usual for me and being at least a little resistant to picking it up again each time.
The novel is set on the modern hell (a comparison made explicit — perhaps too much so — by a Dante reference) that is Silicon Isle,
November 27th, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3.5 | Chen Quifan | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
Peter Grant, mediocre policeman and inferior wizard, is back. Broken Homes (2013) is the fourth instalment of Ben Aaronvitch’s PETER GRANT series, and the detective returns with his love of acronyms and Red Stripe. Once more under the supervision of DCI Thomas Nightingale, Peter, Lesley and (the newly initiated) thirteen-year-old Abigail, must police the supernatural elements of London’s crime scene.
The story opens with a series of seemingly unconnected crimes: a car accident,
November 25th, 2019. Ray McKenzie and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Ben Aaronovitch | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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yes, I mean, there are certainly lots of good sci-fi/fantasy novellas out there, so they aren't impossible to do, but…
Well, your review is a perfect match for what they marketed it as, so... that's good. I'm having the same…
Rumor has it he is actively writing the final novel, Master Alvin, publishing chapters through his subscription only service, but…
That's what I think,too!