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Magic of Blood and Sea by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Magic of Blood and Sea (2017) combines two of Cassandra Rose Clarke’s novels, The Assassin’s Curse (2012) and The Pirate’s Wish (2013), into one volume. Originally, these novels were published by Strange Chemistry, the YA branch of Angry Robot Books, but the imprint went defunct (as sometimes happens) and the publication rights to their various books were scattered to the four winds. In this particular case,
March 20th, 2017. Jana Nyman and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4.5 | Cassandra Rose Clarke | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Greatmask (2016), the third and final book in Ashley Capes‘s BONE MASK TRILOGY successfully brings each character’s arc to a satisfying conclusion and wraps up all the disparate subplots — while still leaving room for the promise of new adventures on the horizon.
Anaskar has been invaded by the blue-cloaked Ecsoli; they now control all three tiers of the city, from the seaside docks to the lofty palace where King Oseto is held captive. Would-be rebels hide in the back alleys and taverns,
March 20th, 2017. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Ashley Capes | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Hold Back the Night by Pat Frank
Hold Back the Night (1951; 2017) is the third of Pat Frank’s classic Cold War-era novels receiving a re-issue from Harper Perennial, after Mr. Adam (1946; 2016) and Forbidden Area (1956; 2016). Originally published during the Korean War, Hold Back the Night finds inspiration from the very real events which occurred during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir and tells the story of a single group of U.S.
March 16th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Pat Frank | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In Warm Bodies (2010), our world has been overrun by the zombies, and the few humans who are left are fighting a rearguard action. They huddle in walled enclosures, sending out occasional armed expeditions for food and supplies. Regular school classes have fallen by the wayside, replaced by classes and demonstrations on how to best kill a zombie permanently (head shots).
R is a zombie who doesn’t remember his past life, except that his name maybe started with the letter R.
March 14th, 2017. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Isaac Marion | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Tea starts her story by accidentally raising her brother from the dead. This is surely a traumatic enough experience for a young girl, but it marks her with the dark magic of the bone witch, unlike her sisters who possess ‘normal’ magic. So on top of having to deal with her corpse brother, Tea is now spurned by the village she’s grown up in. The Bone Witch (2017) explores Tea’s journey of coming to terms with the darkness within her and finding her place in a world that fears her.
March 6th, 2017. Ray McKenzie and Skye Walker´s rating: 4.5 | Rin Chupeco | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
There is an old saying that goes: Evil never dies; it merely sleeps. And when that evil awakes, it does so soundlessly — or almost so.
Nick Cutter has built upon the foundations laid by Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker to deliver a thoroughly thrilling novel that should be on the lists of top horror of 2017. There were points where I actually smiled while reading Cutter’s Little Heaven.
March 2nd, 2017. Jason Golomb´s rating: 4.5 | Nick Cutter | Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Foreign espionage and sabotage undermining the credibility of American armed forces. A counter-intelligence group mocked and silenced for its theories. Shadowy plans, decades in the making. The fate of the world caught in the balance between devastation and salvation. Pat Frank describes all of these in Forbidden Area, which was first published in 1956 and is still terrifying sixty-one years later.
Harper Perennial’s 2016 re-issue of Forbidden Area only clocks in at just over 200 pages and contains four interlocking plotlines,
February 27th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Pat Frank | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Smash by Sara Latta & Jeff Weigel
Smash, written by Sara Latta and illustrated by Jeff Weigel, is a clear and concise explanation for young people of the standard model of physics (including the newly discovered Higgs Boson) and in particular of how the giant CERN supercollider contributes to furthering the model’s accuracy/completeness. Saying the book is aimed at the young, however, does it a bit of a disservice, as it works just as well for adults looking for that same clarity and concision.
In tried and true format,
February 25th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Comics, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly
While Lara Elena Donnelly’s debut novel Amberlough (2017) isn’t quite the Fleming-esque spy thriller it purports to be, Amberlough certainly doesn’t disappoint. Set in Amberlough City, a decadent, Industrial-era locale reminiscent of Paris in the early 1900s, Amberlough tells the story of Cyril DePaul and his lover Aristide Makricosta, who also happens to be the city’s greatest crime lord. Cyril, a former field operative in Amberlough’s Federal Office of Central Intelligence Services who landed a cushy desk job after an assignment went awry,
February 23rd, 2017. Kevin Wei and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Lara Elena Donnelly | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
It may be obvious from reading some of my previous reviews that I really enjoy books in which authors successfully blend elements of detective fiction into their speculative fiction. Six Wakes (2017), by Mur Lafferty, folds the concept of a locked-room mystery into a generation-ship tale, much to my delight.
Six Wakes begins when Maria Arena, a clone, comes to consciousness in the cloning bay of the Dormire and discovers that the exterior of her clone-vat is smeared with blood.
February 6th, 2017. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Mur Lafferty | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
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