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The Tricksters by Margaret Mahy
Margaret Mahy was one of New Zealand’s most seminal writers, and one of only a few authors to twice-win the Carnegie Medal — first for The Haunting and then for The Changeover. As good as these books are, my personal favourite is The Tricksters, written for a slightly older audience and filled with her trademark New Zealand scenery, supernatural occurrences, family dramas and the awakening of a young person to adulthood.
November 17th, 2014. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Margaret Mahy | Edge, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Let’s skip the highty-flighty, atmospheric float of intros and get right to the point. Iain M. Banks’ 1996 Excession is gosh-wow, sense-wunda science fiction that pushes the limits of the genre as far into the imagination — and future — as any book has. The AI ship-minds, post-human world-is-your-oyster humanity, and incredible roster of engine speeds, galaxies, drones, weaponry, biological possibilities, planets, orbitals, etc., etc. of previous books have been topped. Banks took a look at the savory milieu of the Culture, cocked his head and asked: “How can I up the ante?” The titular ‘excession’ is the answer.
November 14th, 2014. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 4.5 | Iain M. Banks | BSFA Award | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
SubCulture Omnibus by Kevin Freeman (writer) and Stan Yan (artist)
I love to read, but for the life of me, I can’t stay up reading all night. Or at least, that’s usually the case. However, last night I had one of those rare occasions because I made the mistake of starting to read the SubCulture Omnibus by Kevin Freeman and Stan Yan. The subculture in this book is geek- or fanboy-culture. The geek/fanboy group in this comic consists of mostly young adults who have met through,
November 8th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Locke and Key (Vol 3): Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill (writer) and Gabriel Rodriguez (artist)
Toil and trouble; the cauldron begins to bubble.
(May contain spoilers of earlier volumes.)
In Crown of Shadows, the third volume in Locke and Key, written by Joe Hill and drawn by Gabriel Rodriguez, the simmering sense of doom we encountered in Volume Two comes to a boil. More keys are found. More truths are revealed to the reader, and where truths are not uncovered,
October 25th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Joe Hill | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Portent: Duende by Peter Bergting
It seems as if every month when I go into the comic shop, I discover a new science fiction, fantasy, or horror title. These genres are getting better and better treatment in comic books. They are done so well and there are so many of them that you could happily spend your time reading only SFF and horror comics and have no time left over for novels in those genres. Just last night I read an excellent fantasy title: The Portent: Duende by Peter Bergting.
October 25th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow (author) and Jen Wang (artist)
Though Cory Doctorow’s In Real Life is a fictional story about a teenager introduced to the world of online multiplayer role-playing games, it’s also about ethical issues involving the internet and labor. These ethical issues are not the usual ones we expect when discussing ethics and the internet: In Real Life mentions the obvious concerns we all have about online predators, but it focuses on the way the internet has the potential to be a force for good in terms of activism,
October 18th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Cory Doctorow | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Second Trip by Robert Silverberg
In his 1969 novel To Live Again, Robert Silverberg posited a world of the near future in which it is possible for the very rich to have their personae recorded and preserved, and later placed in the mind of a willing recipient after their own demise, as a means of surviving the death of the body and sharing their consciousness with another. It is a fascinating premise and a terrific book, and thus this reader was a tad apprehensive at the beginning of Silverberg’s similarly themed novel The Second Trip.
October 14th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Robert Silverberg | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Over the past few months I’ve read seven novels by Ian McDonald and have appreciated his thoughtful and beautifully written stories. I admired all of them, even those that I didn’t particularly like. McDonald’s stories are unique, many have exotic settings you can get immersed in, and most have fascinating science fiction ideas while also portraying poignant human struggles.
Empire Dreams (1988) is a sampler of ten of McDonald’s short stories and novelettes that offer fans and new readers a few glimpses of the author’s brilliance and versatility.
October 2nd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Ian McDonald | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill (author) & Gabriel Rodriguez (artist)
Psst. Hey, you. Yeah, you. You wanna see something really scary? Here. It’s the first volume of Joe Hill’s horror comic Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, the trade collection of the first six chapters in this story. The art is done by Gabriel Rodriguez. The volume is beautifully drawn, emotionally authentic and downright scary.
In the opening pages, a deranged student, Sam Lesser, savagely murders high school guidance counselor Rendell Locke.
September 5th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Joe Hill | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Ever since reading Kress’ wonderful collection Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories I’ve been keeping an eye out for her short fiction. A number of her short works won Nebulas and Hugos, the most recent was a Hugo in 2009 for her novella The Erdmann Nexus, which unfortunately I haven’ t read yet. The novella Act One was nominated for the Hugo, Locus and Nebula award but won none of them. It was originally published in Asimov’s in 2009.
September 5th, 2014. Rob Weber´s rating: 4.5 | Nancy Kress | SFF Reviews | no 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.