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Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
Words of Radiance is book two in Brandon Sanderson’s huge STORMLIGHT ARCHIVE series, projected to be ten books. In fact, at 1100 pages, Words of Radiance is almost large enough to be its own series (at least once upon a time — I’m thinking say of Zelazny’s AMBER series, or Donaldson’s original COVENANT trilogy). With another eight thousand pages to go,
March 11th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Brandon Sanderson | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Battling Boy by Paul Pope
The more graphic novels I read from First Second publishers, the more impressed I am: Paul Pope’s fairly recent Battling Boy (2013) is yet another excellent release from :01. Paul Pope, known for his distinctive art style, mainly writes for an older crowd with books I enjoy but am not willing to hand over to my 8- and 11-year-old children. However, Pope changes direction, if not his wonderful art style, with Battling Boy,
February 21st, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or; a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World by Rachel Cantor
[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
When I distill down my responses to Rachel Cantor’s debut novel, A Highly Unlikely Scenario, or; a Neetsa Pizza Employee’s Guide to Saving the World,
February 21st, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Cantor | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Shiny Beasts by Rick Veitch (with Alan Moore & S. R. Bissette)
Shiny Beasts is a 2007 collection of short story pieces dating from 1978-1994. Rick Veitch is an artist who worked with Alan Moore on his early run of Swamp Thing and eventually took over writing duties as well. Since Swamp Thing is a horror title, it’s no surprise that Shiny Beasts deals with the horrific at times as well, but usually in terms of the horror that man inflicts on himself and other men.
February 7th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Rick Veitch | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
King Arthur is another in Osprey Publishing’s MYTHS AND LEGENDS series, this one written by Daniel Mersey and illustrated by Alan Lathwell. Compared to the subjects of the prior two I’ve reviewed (Jason and the Argonauts, Thor), King Arthur is a much more complex and difficult figure to try and explain in concise fashion, seeing as how his stories span multiple centuries,
January 22nd, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Myths-&-Legends | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein’s best books are those he wrote for kids, and Citizen of the Galaxy is one of the best of those. Originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction in 1957, this is an anthropological adventure story with strong libertarian and anti-slavery themes.
We first meet Thorby, a young belligerent orphaned slave boy, as he has just landed on an unfamiliar planet and is on the auction block. Nobody wants him — he’s too feisty — but he is eventually sold for a pittance to Baslim,
January 17th, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Robert A. Heinlein | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Cosmic Odyssey by Jim Starlin (writer) and Mike Mignola (artist)
On the one hand, the story of Cosmic Odyssey is a simple one — a terrible and dangerous force known as the anti-life equation threatens our universe, and all the good characters must unite with the evil Darkseid to save the day. On the other hand, this story is rich with Jack Kirby’s wonderful cosmic characters that form the background for much of DC’s Cosmic Universe as it remains to this day.
To understand why you should read Cosmic Odyssey is to understand its background,
December 27th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
I consider the Man Booker Prize to be one of the most reliable guides to finding excellent work, much more so than say the Pulitzer or the National Book Award. And so when the long list comes out I dutifully copy it and think about picking up some of them eventually (usually when they’re out of hardcover).
December 20th, 2013. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Ruth Ozeki | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
Daughters of the Nile concludes Stephanie Dray’s trilogy about Selene, the daughter of Cleopatra, who survived the fall of her mother’s kingdom and went on to become a queen herself. I’ve never been quite sure how to categorize this series — is it fantasy? is it historical fiction with magic realism? — but I’ve certainly been enjoying it.
In Lily of the Nile, we saw Selene as a young girl coming of age; in Song of the Nile we saw her dealing with the issues of young womanhood in addition to the precarious political situation in which she lived.
December 11th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Stephanie Dray | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin
At age 84, I think it’s safe to say that Ursula Le Guin will not be publishing additional books in the EARTHSEA CYCLE. The qualities of the last book to be published, The Other Wind, particularly the subtle and cathartic value of its denouement and the state in which the main characters are left, make the extension of the Cycle beyond six books unlikely. Walking away on a high note, the Cycle is here concluded in grand style.
December 11th, 2013. Jesse Hudson´s rating: 4.5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 2 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.