4.5 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

Rating: 4.5

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The Great White Space: Black mountain side

The Great White Space by Basil Copper

For those of you who have read everything written by the great H. P. Lovecraft but are still hankering for another solid dose of cosmic horror and tentacled monstrosities, hoo boy, have I got a doozy for you! Although written four decades after the so-called “Sage of Providence” dominated the field of weird fiction in the 1930s, this book – Basil Copper’s The Great White Space – is such a convincing pastiche that all fans of the genre should be left happily grinning nevertheless.

Bury Him Darkly: Malice from the chalice

Bury Him Darkly by John Blackburn

Although it’s been almost 18 years since I last read English author John Blackburn’s first novel, A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958), I still vividly recall several segments of the book, mainly due to the forcefulness of the writing therein. And really, with its plot conflating a female ex-Nazi scientist, deserted Russian villages, and a fungoid mutation that is slowly spreading across Europe, the book is inherently hard to forget.

Sunburn: Coming-of-age in Greece

Sunburn by Andi Watson (story) and Simon Gane (art)

Sunburn by Andi Watson and Simon Gane is a beautiful graphic novel that tells the coming-age-story of a girl named Rachel Collingwood, who is invited to Greece by acquaintances of the family. The story is unexpected, and the visuals are stunning.

The graphic novel starts off quietly in England as Rachel, complaining about her soggy toast, has breakfast with her family. Their meal is interrupted by a call from Dianne, wife of Peter Warner,

December 7th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Absolution: Still feels freshly fascinating

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer

These f—-ing people complaining about this f—-ing book. What the f—-ing f? Sure it’s f—ing weird, sure you don’t get any f—-ing answers, but if you f—-ing read the first three f—-ing books, what the f—- did you expect? Goodnight f—-ing Moon? The Very F—-ing Hungry Caterpillar? If you’re gonna f—-ing buy a Jeff Vanderf—-ingMeer book, then you better expect a f—-ing Vanderf—ker.

Sorry, sorry. Got a little too immersed in the final section of Absolution, and I’ve seemingly picked up the voice of that section’s narrator,

November 19th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Jeff VanderMeer | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

The Navigator’s Children: If this is the end, it’s a fully satisfactory one

The Navigator’s Children by Tad Williams

A long, long time ago in a world far, far away (otherwise known as 1988), a younger me picked a heavy (like really heavy) book titled The Dragonbone Chair off the shelf in the bookstore. If you had told that younger, thinner, more-haired me that I’d still be reading about those characters almost 40 years later in 2024, I would have laughed at the absurdity. But here I am, just putting down The Navigator’s Children (2024),

November 15th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Tad Williams | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Doctors Wear Scarlet: Hated the movie, loved the book

Doctors Wear Scarlet by Simon Raven

The British film Bloodsuckers, from 1970, was easily one of the worst cinematic experiences I’ve sat through in recent memory; a confused and confusing mess of a movie, made even more disappointing for me by dint of the fact that the two lead actors whose participation induced me to watch the film in the first place – namely, Peter Cushing and Patrick Macnee – don’t even appear on screen together once! And yet, I thought, the central premise of the film,

Ghost Drum: A dark and haunting Slavic fairy tale

Ghost Drum by Susan Price

Susan Price is a gifted author, though like Anne Pilling, I suspect her work is just a tad too dark and uncanny to draw in a devoted child fanbase. Truly, she pulls no punches with what she writes for her young audience – here for example, the protagonist is killed when she’s deliberately impaled with a large stake. Though she finds a way to reanimate her body, it’s not before hungry wolves chew off one of her arms. You know,

Abeni’s Song: A beguiling middle grade adventure

Abeni’s Song by P. Djèlí Clark

P. Djèlí Clark’s 2023 middle-grade adventure novel, Abeni’s Song, kicks off a new series with an engaging heroine, wonderful magic and thrilling adventures. Set in an African forest during the 18th or 19th century, Abeni’s Song follows Abeni as she tries to recover her friends and family from an enemy who calls himself the Witch Priest. The Witch Priest has given the adults of Abeni’s village to the “ghost ships.” It is up to her,

Bruce Wayne: Murderer? by Various Authors (an Oxford College Student Review!)

In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level (see my Manifesto!). I post the best of my students’ reviews in this column. Today, I am proud to present a review by Lixin (Lareina) Yan:

Lixin (Lareina) Yan is a first-year student at Oxford College and is considering majoring in Visual Arts and Psychology.

September 28th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Facial Justice: Jael Bait

Facial Justice by L.P. Hartley

It was Anthony Burgess, writing in his 1984 overview volume 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939, who first made me aware of L.P. Hartley’s truly remarkable creation Facial Justice. In his essay in that volume, Burgess tells us that Hartley’s novel is “a brilliant projection of tendencies already apparent in the post-war British welfare state.” It is one of the very few sci-fi novels that the Clockwork Orange author chose to spotlight in his book,

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December 2024

Paul Connelly on The Great White Space: Black mountain sideDecember 20, 2024
The geography is confusing me--how does one get to a village in Tibet by ship? And even the northernmost part…
Marion Deeds on The Great White Space: Black mountain sideDecember 20, 2024
Oh, this sounds interesting!
Paul Connelly on WWWednesday: December 18, 2024December 18, 2024
Locus reports that John Marsden died early today. Marsden authored the 7 book series that started off with the novel…
Marion Deeds on WWWednesday: December 11, 2024December 16, 2024
Mmmmm!
Becky Ashwell on WWWednesday: December 11, 2024December 15, 2024
I *do* have pear trees... hmmm.

Rating: 4.5

The Great White Space: Black mountain side

Bury Him Darkly: Malice from the chalice

Sunburn: Coming-of-age in Greece

Absolution: Still feels freshly fascinating

The Navigator’s Children: If this is the end, it’s a fully satisfactory one

Doctors Wear Scarlet: Hated the movie, loved the book

Ghost Drum: A dark and haunting Slavic fairy tale

Abeni’s Song: A beguiling middle grade adventure

Bruce Wayne: Murderer? by Various Authors (an Oxford College Student Review!)

Facial Justice: Jael Bait

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