Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 3.5

Click on stars to FIND REVIEWS BY RATING:
Recommended:
Not Recommended:

Quest of the Spider: These books are like bonbons

Quest of the Spider by Lester Dent

I have just reacquainted myself with six dear old friends. As I mentioned in my FanLit minibio (below), back in high school, this reader just could not get enough of the adventures of Doc Savage and his five faithful associates, eagerly devouring four dozen of the Doc Savage paperbacks that Bantam books released in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. These paperbacks were hugely popular back in the day and are now highly prized collectible items, not only for the stories themselves, but for the beautifully rendered cover illustrations that James Bama created for well over 100 of them.

July 5th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Lester Dent | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Weaver’s Lament: The Industrial Revolution and social upheaval with magic

Weaver’s Lament by Emma Newman

Weaver’s Lament (2017) is Emma Newman’s second novella in her INDUSTRIAL MAGIC series. The first one is Brother’s Ruin. Both stories feature Charlotte Gunn, a young woman from a respectable family who is hiding several secrets; she is secretly an illustrator of popular fiction and she is secretly magical, having clandestine meetings with a magus to learn to control her abilities. In the first story, Charlotte used her abilities to enhance her older brother’s lesser skill and get him accepted into the Royal Society (who pays the family of nascent magi a pretty penny).

July 3rd, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Emma Newman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Lost Plot: Kai and Irene must save the Library! Again!

The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman

The Lost Plot (2017) is the fourth book in Genevieve Cogman’s INVISIBLE LIBRARY series. Committed to the Library’s mission to maintain the balance between chaos and order, Irene Winters and her student, Kai, end up in a world in a Prohibition timeline, as they track down a Librarian who has violated the Library’s neutrality by assisting an agent of Order (a dragon).

To put it simply, if you enjoyed the other INVISIBLE LIBRARY books,

July 2nd, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Genevieve Cogman | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Stories of the Raksura, Volume 2: More tales that enhance Wells’ world

Stories of the Raksura, Volume 2: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below by Martha Wells

Note: This review will contain mild spoilers for the RAKSURA novels.

Here is the second volume containing the novellas and short stories written by Martha Wells to accompany her BOOKS OF THE RAKSURA. I really enjoyed the first volume, Stories of the Raksura, Volume 1. I liked the tight and focused nature of the novellas and short stories and thought they were actually,

Robot Titans of Gotham: Robots and bats and mutants, oh my!

Robot Titans of Gotham by Norvell Page

In my recent review of the anthology volume Rivals of Weird Tales, I mentioned that one of my favorite stories therein was the novella-length “But Without Horns,” which was written by Norvell Page and first appeared in the June 1940 issue of Unknown magazine. I also expressed a desire to read some of Page’s many tales dealing with his most famous character, the Spider. Well, I am here to tell you: Mission accomplished!

Summerland: Solid plotting, but left me a bit cold

Summerland by Hannu Rajaniemi

Hannu Rajaniemi’s Summerland (2018) is what you might get if you took the setting/premise of Kevin Brockmeier’s The Brief History of the Dead and gave it to John le Carré to turn into a novel, though I’d argue it’s lacking a bit in the character depth and emotional touch of those two authors.

Summerland is basically an espionage/counter-espionage novel set in late 1930s Britain, who is involved in a proxy-war with Russia (led by a sort of over-soul known as “The Presence”) via the Spanish Civil War,

The Siren Depths: Best book in the series so far

The Siren Depths by Martha Wells

Book three in Martha Wells’ BOOKS OF THE RAKSURA is The Siren Depths (2012). (By the way, the novels’ titles are only vaguely related to the plot, I’ve noticed.) If you’ve loved this series so far, I feel certain that you will love The Siren Depths. In my opinion, it’s better than both of the previous books (The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea).

Sufficiently Advanced Magic: Amazing LitRPG world that hijacks the plot line

Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe

Sufficiently Advanced Magic (2017) took 2nd place in SPFBO 3, which wrapped up last week. The book is a strong addition to the highly popularized LitRPG subgenre, though Rowe avows it is not strictly LitRPG. I am not a follower of the subgenre, but this book has enjoyed such runaway popularity over the past year, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Introducing Corin Cadence, resident of a world where people can earn magical enchantments by progressing through magic towers where they encounter tests of strength,

June 18th, 2018. Taya Okerlund´s rating: 3.5 | Andrew Rowe | SFF Reviews | no comments |

An Unkindness of Ghosts: Impressive debut novel

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

An Unkindness of Ghosts (2017), by Rivers Solomon, is a book that a lot of people will absolutely love unconditionally, a lot of people will love even as they hate reading large parts of it, and that will leave some people (cough cough this reviewer) a bit cold, which they will softly note while they keep their eyes down and move quietly for the exit. Despite falling into that last category, I’d still recommend Solomon’s debut novel for its stark depiction of a slave society that has too many echoes of our own world despite the sci-fi setting and for its diverse set of characters.

Thunderhead: A tug-of-war between forward momentum and backsliding

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman follows up Scythe, which introduced readers to a mostly-perfect futuristic world in which death isn’t permanent (until it very much is) with Thunderhead (2018), the second installment in his ARC OF A SCYTHE trilogy. Regrettably, I won’t be able to discuss anything about Thunderhead without spoiling some of Scythe’s details, so consider yourself warned and/or prepared.

Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova are no more — at least,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

We have reviewed 8456 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

Subscribe to all posts:

Get notified about Giveaways:

Support FanLit

Want to help us defray the cost of domains, hosting, software, and postage for giveaways? Donate here:

You can support FanLit (for free) by using these links when you shop at Amazon:

US UK CANADA

Or, in the US, simply click the book covers we show. We receive referral fees for all purchases (not just books). This has no impact on the price and we can't see what you buy. This is how we pay for hosting and postage for our GIVEAWAYS. Thank you for your support!

SFF Deals

Recent Discussion:

dui Win on The Giallo Films of Edwige FenechMarch 31, 2025
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contribution to giallo films! Her charisma and the unique blend of suspense and…
big mumbai lottery on The Giallo Films of Edwige FenechMarch 29, 2025
What an intriguing exploration of Edwige Fenech's role in giallo films! I appreciate how you highlighted her unique blend of…
Marion Deeds on The Salt-Black Tree: Magical cars are coolMarch 27, 2025
Hahaha! You might like the one "Shocktober" scene near the end!
Sandy Ferber on The Salt-Black Tree: Magical cars are coolMarch 25, 2025
For some strange reason, I get the feeling I might like this one! 😁
Bill Capossere on Murder by Memory: Intriguing setting but didn’t connectMarch 25, 2025
Wow, 20 dollars? That seems a lot for a 100-or-so-page book, but most of my novellas have come via ARCs…