Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Play of Shadows: In which the play’s the thing

Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell

Welcome to Play of Shadows, in which, in the fabled city of Jereste, our Hero, Damelas Chademantaigne, flees a duel and takes refuge with a Theater Troupe. Our young Hero faces many adversaries, among them a Duellist, (the Vixen); An Assassin, (the Black Amaranth), and a dreaded vigilante army (the Iron Orchids), while he Confronts Undesirable Truths from the Past, and is charged by a Duke to perform A Play that will Reveal the Truth and may destroy Jereste in the process.

August 27th, 2024. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Sebastien De-Castell | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |

A Sorceress Comes to Call: A charming love story interrupted with sorcery and murder

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher’s most recent 2024 novel, is a magical regency-style romance, with lengthy interruptions by the machinations of a cruel, selfish sorceress, attacks by her demonic familiar, and the occasional murder.

I don’t think I’ve read anything by Kingfisher that I didn’t love, and this book is no different, although the questions I had with this one surfaced while I was reading and not afterward. To focus on what worked best,

One Hundred Shadows: A haunting novella told in simple, spare prose

One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun (translated by Jung Yewon)

One Hundred Shadows (2024) by Hwan Jungeun (translated by Jung Yewon) is a haunting novella told in simple, spare prose. But don’t let that simplicity, and the surface gentleness of the style, fool you. This is a story that is sharp in its criticism of Korean society (really, capitalist society in general) even as it is tender toward its characters, one that is thoughtful and moving even as it is spartan in its dialogue and language. It’s the kind of book that passes quickly in terms of reading experience but lingers in the mind for some time after you’ve turned the last page.

The Drowning House: Priest is the empress of the cursed house story

The Drowning House by Cherie Priest

Cherie Priest should be crowned the queen of cursed houses. First there was Maplecroft, her Lizzie Borden/Lovecraftian suspense novel with the atmospheric house there, then The Family Plot with the old house steeped in family evil. With 2024’s The Drowning House, Priest gives us not one but two cursed houses… and one makes an appearance in a way I’ve never seen before.

In the middle of a wild early-autumn storm,

Snow Rubies: Baz Kill

Snow Rubies by Ganpat

As you might have noticed, thanks to the publishing company known as Armchair Fiction, I have lately been on something of a reading binge when it comes to lost-race fare. Just recently, I wrote here of three books in Armchair’s ongoing Lost World – Lost Race Classics series, which currently stands at a most impressive 58 titles. Those novels were James De Mille’s A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder (1888),

Gyo by Junji Ito (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 Joseph Dominguez.

Joseph Dominguez is a first-year student at Oxford College and is considering majoring in Finance and QSS.

July 27th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics, Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life

Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life by Ferris Jabr

Ferris Jabr’s Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life is an excellent work of science journalism that takes a pretty common topic in popular science — the history of our planet — but explores it through a relatively unique prism: how living creatures have been “a formidable geological force,” both shaped by and shaping the planet as we currently know it. Jabr’s clear description of Earth’s transformation over eons would have been enough to make this book worth reading,

July 5th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |

My Darling Dreadful Thing: I bought the romance in this gothic horror love story

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen

Johanna Van Veen’s My Darling, Dreadful Thing (2024) is a gothic horror love story set in the 1950’s Netherlands. Lush descriptions and an original, creepy take on spirit companions made this story a seductive, engaging read.

Roos Beckman has had a spiritual companion named Ruth since she was a little girl, when she was first pressed into service by the woman she calls Mama to help fake seances. Crouched in a cubby under the floorboards, Roos pulled ropes and pushed levers to create the effects of spiritual visitation.

Invincible Vol. 1: Family Matters by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker (An Oxford College Student Review!)

Javier Davis is a first-year student at Oxford College and is considering majoring in Business.

June 29th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

So Bright The Vision: Brownies and milk

So Bright The Vision by Clifford D. Simak

I have been on something of a kick this past year as regards Clifford D. Simak and his shorter fiction of the 1950s. All the Traps of Earth (1962), The Worlds of Clifford Simak (1961) and Other Worlds of Clifford Simak (1962) had all proved to be truly wonderful – or perhaps I should say “wonder-filled” – collections,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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