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The Place is a recuperation station outside of space and time where Spider soldiers in The Change War go for rest and relaxation between operations. This war has been going on between The Spiders and The Snakes since the beginning of time and Soldiers have been drafted (resurrected) into “The Big Time” from many points in history. From outside of time, they can plunge in at crucial moments and manipulate events to serve their cause, or they can change things ex post facto,
August 20th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Fritz Leiber | Audio, Free!, Hugo Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Vault of Deeds by James Barclay
Vault of Deeds proved to be a funny read as James Barclay plays on heroic fantasy conventions, not unlike Jim C. Hines or A. Lee Martinez. In this novella, it’s up to a scribe — in this case someone who records the deeds of heroes — to save the day.
Barclay’s writing is easy to get into but goes beyond simply being functional or serviceable. Dialogue and action are frequently utilized to draw the readers in, and comedy is provided by the verbose and exaggerated prose spoken by the protagonists.
August 16th, 2010. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | James Barclay | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
“Weep, free maiden. Remember your pride and weep.”
Outlaw of Gor is the second novel in John Norman‘s cult classic Gorean Saga. After languishing on Earth for seven years, Tarl Cabot is finally returned to the Counter-Earth where he hopes to find his father and the woman he loves. Instead, he finds that things are not at all as he left them. After a bit of roaming, he winds up in a city he’s never been to before and gets tangled up in a battle of the sexes.
August 12th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | John Norman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Strange Wisdoms of the Dead by Mike Allen
I thought Strange Wisdoms of the Dead would be yet another attempt to convert me into a fan of speculative poetry, but leafing through the pages of this book I found something more massive. This is a comprehensive Mike Allen anthology covering ten years of work, compiling not just his poems but his fiction and collaborations as well.
Allen‘s poetry does dominate this book. Whether he’s talking about time sharks, spiders, or decapitated heads,
August 11th, 2010. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
… Knowing what to expect, especially in a novel like this one, may make all the difference as to how much you enjoy it (or This is going to be a tricky book to review, particularly since I’ve never seen reviews for a book on Amazon.com so evenly divided as they are for Elizabeth Kostova’s debut novel The Historian. The people who love it seem to really love it, and those that don’t…really don’t. I think it all comes down to what your expectations are,
August 10th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Elizabeth Kostova | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Night Myst by Yasmine Galenorn
Cicely Waters, 26 year-old black-clad, green-eyed, tight-abbed, tattooed, street-fighting witch, has been summoned back to her Cascadian hometown so she can use her powers to help solve the mystery of a witch’s murder and some strange disappearances. Soon Cicely finds that things are worse than she could have imagined when she learns that the Indigo Court, an old race of vampiric fae, are planning to take control of both their vampire and fae ancestors. Cicely and her pals will have to make an uncomfortable alliance with the Crimson Court vampires to beat this even nastier foe.
August 5th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Yasmine Galenorn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
I’m of two minds about Raised by Wolves. It features a suspenseful plot (especially in the second half) and one really good message, but also includes, possibly by accident, a couple of disturbing messages.
Bronwyn “Bryn” Clare is a human girl being raised by werewolves. As a little girl, she and her parents were attacked by a feral werewolf, a “Rabid.” A pack of “good” werewolves burst into the house and rescued Bryn but were too late to save her parents.
August 3rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Jennifer Lynn Barnes | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw
In Shadowcry (Wintercraft in the UK where I live) we meet Kate Winters, a young girl who discovers that she has the power to see through the veil and command the souls of the dead. She and her friend, Edgar — who is more than he first appears to be — are taken to the city of Fume and caught up in a power struggle between the Skilled and the High Council, who wish to destroy them.
Wintercraft is a really mixed bag.
July 7th, 2010. Amanda Rutter (guest)´s rating: 3 | Jenna Burtenshaw | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fast Ships, Black Sails edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer
I was never a big fan of pirates (ninjas, on the other hand…) but nonetheless, the very word evokes adventure and the high seas. Fast Ships, Black Sails doesn’t really stray far from that expectation and delivers eighteen stories marked with action, treachery, and a sense of wonder.
A good chunk of the stories revolve around traditional concepts of a pirate, with only a few exceptions, such as “Boojum” by Elizabeth Bear &
July 5th, 2010. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | Carrie Vaughn, Elizabeth Bear, Garth Nix, Jeff VanderMeer, Kage Baker, Michael Moorcock, Naomi Novik, Sarah Monette | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Tarnsman of Gor by John Norman
“Slavery apparently agrees with her”
While walking in a New Hampshire forest, college professor Tarl Cabot unexpectedly receives a strange communication from his long-lost father. Suddenly he is whisked away by spaceship to Gor, the Counter-Earth, a planet which we never see because it lives on the other side of the sun. Its powerful priest-kings have been able to shield it from even our theoretical view and, though the society seems primitive, its aloof rulers seem to be hoarding and selectively doling out secret knowledge and technological advances (such as spaceships and advanced medical and communication techniques).
June 28th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | John Norman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
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.