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Naondel by Maria Turtschaninoff
Naondel (2016) is the second book in Maria Turtschaninoff’s RED ABBEY CHRONICLES series, but it’s not a sequel; it’s a prequel. Set many years before the events of Maresi, Naondel tells the story of the women who, fleeing their own oppression, founded the Red Abbey as a sanctuary for themselves and others. It is set in what seems to be an amalgam of several Asian cultures,
November 1st, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Maria Turtschaninoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein
Winner of the National Book Award, Lisa Goldstein’s The Red Magician (1982) is such an unusual fantasy novel. I read it because Tantor Audio has just released the first audio edition of the book.
As the story begins, a young girl named Kisci is growing up in a small, isolated Jewish community in Eastern Europe. Her family’s rabbi is visiting Kisci’s home and expressing his displeasure at the way Kisci’s school is teaching Hebrew as if it were a common language.
October 25th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Lisa Goldstein | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Wild, Wild Planet directed by Antonio Margheriti
The mid-1960s was a very interesting time for Italian sci-fi on the big screen. In September ’65, future giallo legend Mario Bava gave the world the artfully done Planet of the Vampires, a film whose set design, it has been suggested, very possibly influenced the look of the movie Alien over a decade later. In December ’65, director Elio Petri delivered the film that is, for this viewer, the best of the Italian sci-fi bunch to this date, The 10th Victim,
October 23rd, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Robert Sheckley | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Wayward (2013), the second book in Blake Crouch’s WAYWARD PINES trilogy, picks up right where book 1, Pines, left off. I’ll avoid THE major spoiler for Pines, but minor ones are inevitable, and if there was ever a series where you absolutely need to read the books in order, this one is it. Ethan Burke is the newly-minted sheriff of the small town of Wayward Pines,
October 17th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Blake Crouch | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Queen’s Gambit by Jessie Mihalik
I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed The Queen’s Gambit (2017), the first novella in Jessie Mihalik’s ROGUE QUEEN series. It’s about Samara, the queen of a nation that stayed independent in a war between two powerful galactic empires. But, without allies to trade with, the people of Queen Samara’s Rogue Coalition are practically starving.
To earn some money for her country, Samara decides to attempt to rescue emperor Valentin Kos from the Quint mercenaries who are holding him captive,
October 15th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Jessie Mihalik | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin
A single spaceman arrives on Earth (which he calls “Tellus,” a Latin word similar to Terra) on an important mission from a far-off planet that was colonized by a group of rich white men who left Earth centuries ago. The spaceman, as well as the collective AI that was implanted in his brain and constantly speaks to him in his mind, expected to find a world completely barren of life, decimated by climate change and toxic pollution. What they actually find is far different, and both the man and his chatty AI have huge problems adjusting to this new reality.
September 27th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | N.K. Jemisin | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Hills Have Spies by Mercedes Lackey
If, like I was, you’re utterly unfamiliar with Mercedes Lackey’s hugely popular and wide-ranging VALDEMAR series and the various interconnected novels set within that kingdom, The Hills Have Spies (2018) is a good entry point. The narrative flow is familiar in a retro, 1980s kind of way, evoking the fantasy genre I immersed myself in during my adolescence, with an appealing and likeable main character, various clever animal companions, a dastardly villain who spends most of the novel off-page,
September 18th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Mercedes Lackey | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Frostfire (2019), by Jamie Smith, is a middle-grade fantasy set in the mountainous land of Adranna. Adranna lies in the shadow of the great peak of Aderast, and all of its magic comes from the shimmering glacier that flows from it. A handful of young people are chosen each year to climb to the glacier and claim a small piece of it, a frostsliver, which gives them special abilities and marks them as people of importance in Adranna’s society.
Sabira is a fourteen-year-old girl who has been chosen to receive a frostsliver.
September 16th, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Jamie Smith | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
As far as fairy tale retellings go, mingling the tale of The Twelve Dancing Princesses with the 1920’s New York speakeasies makes a lovely kind of sense. The prohibition, the dance halls, the high society – it all fits perfectly with the story of twelve princesses who sneak out of their rooms every night, much to the bewilderment of their father when he sees their worn-out shoes every morning.
Genevieve Valentine transports the familiar beats of the story to a Fifth Avenue townhouse in the Roaring Twenties,
September 16th, 2019. Rebecca Fisher and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Genevieve Valentine | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
Priest of Lies (2019) is the second book in Peter McLean’s WAR FOR THE ROSE THRONE. You’ll need to read the first book, Priest of Bones, first. This review will have some spoilers for that first novel.
It’s been six months since the events that happened at the end of Priest of Bones. Tomas is now married to Elsa, the Queen’s Man who has been (unbeknownst to the rest of the Pious Men) directing his behavior in service of the crown.
September 12th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Peter McLean | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
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.
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,…