Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Across the Great Barrier: Great adventure for young adult readers

Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede

Eff is back in this alternative magical history of the settling of the West. After the encounter with the mirror bugs that almost destroyed most of the settlements across the Great Barrier and came close to killing Eff’s brother and father, Eff gets hired on to a small expedition to chart the extent of the mirror bugs’ devastation. What they find surprises everyone — magic has completely disappeared from the soil and all the magical plants and animals are gone. As their journeys continue,

Song for the Basilisk: Music can heal and destroy

Song for the Basilisk by Patricia McKillip

One of Patricia McKillip’s earlier novels, Song for the Basilisk has all the hallmarks of her fantasy fiction: unique prose, ambiguous characters, fairytale settings, court intrigue, and a love of musical instruments. Here especially McKillip calls on her appreciation for viols, flutes, harps and picochets (the one-stringed instrument on the cover), in which music plays a crucial part in the narrative.

As a child, Rook is pulled from the ashes of a fireplace and smuggled away to the isle of Luly where the bards live.

Heartless: Witty frivolity and endless imagination

Heartless by Gail Carriger

Alexia is now largely pregnant and ready (though not overly willing) to enter into her confinement when an insane ghost appears and warns of a plot to assassinate the queen. As if that isn’t enough, the vampires have been repeatedly attempting to kill Alexia, or at least the infant inconvenience she carries (mechanical porcupines — what will they think of next), necessitating that Alexia and Conall move to London and come under the protection of Lord Akeldama who is wittier than ever before as he deals with the loss of his favorite drone,

August 13th, 2011. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 4.5 | Gail Carriger | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Working Stiff: Always riveting

Working Stiff by Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine’s Working Stiff is technically a zombie novel, but it’s not your typical zombie novel. It’s not your typical urban fantasy, either. In fact, it might be more properly termed urban soft science fiction, as the zombifying agent is a nanotech drug rather than magic. But whatever you call it, it’s an excellent book that has me kicking myself for not having tried Caine’s novels before (I’d only read her short story “Death Warmed Over”).

Bryn Davis is one of the most relatable urban-fantasy heroines I’ve seen.

August 12th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Naamah’s Blessing: As always, Carey sweeps us away

Naamah’s Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel and Naamah books have become comfort reads for me. When I open up one of these novels, I always know I’ll find beautiful writing and a world I enjoy returning to again and again. A world where love in all its forms — not just romantic or sexual — can defeat evil and change the course of history. Naamah’s Blessing, the final installment of the trilogy about Moirin mac Fainche, is no exception.

After their adventures in Bhodistan,

August 9th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Jacqueline Carey | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Armor: A novel about suffering

Armor by John Steakley

…everything you were hiding from was in there with you. That’s the trouble with armor. It won’t protect you from what you are.

Felix is a loner, a broken man with a mysterious past. When he’s dropped with thousands of fellow soldiers on a toxic planet nicknamed “Banshee,” he’s the only survivor of the battle with the 8-foot tall “Ants” that live there. That’s partly because of the special armor he wears — his black nuclear-powered scout suit — and partly because of the emotional armor he wears — what he calls “The Engine” — his lack of fear and compassion in dangerous situations.

Ghost Story: You have to read The Dresden Files

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher

Writing this review is going to be impossible without spoiling some of the series for those who have not read through Changes, just a little warning. The title of this book, Ghost Story, does a pretty good job of revealing the entire premise of the story: Harry is a ghost. Like all ghosts he has a task that must be completed in order to be at peace. A lot of what was planted in Changes bears fruit in Ghost Story.

August 4th, 2011. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Jim Butcher | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

The Dark City: Fast and gripping

The Dark City by Catherine Fisher

The Dark City is the first of a four-book series by Catherine Fisher published years ago in England and now being released (in its entirety rather than year by year) to the US. Classified as young adult, I’d say it skews toward the upper end of YA while also being one of those YA novels that, though it might read a little thin to adults, can absolutely be enjoyed by them.

The books are set in the near-medieval world of Anara,

The Uncertain Places: The quieter style of contemporary fantasy

The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein

The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein is the story of a family haunted by a long-ago pact with the fairies. Like all fairy tales, it’s also a story about human problems, so it’s easy to find yourself within these pages even if mysterious beings have never cleaned your house in the middle of the night.

In 1971, Berkeley students Will and Ben go to visit the eccentric Feierabend family who live in a rambling house in Napa Valley.

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume Two: Adjustment Team (1952-1953)

The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick Volume Two: Adjustment Team (1952-1953) by Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick wrote 121 short stories over his career, mostly for science fiction magazines. Subterranean Press has been collecting them in chronological order over several volumes. The first volume, The King of the Elves, contained 22 stories spanning the years 1947-1952. This second volume, Adjustment Team, covers the years 1952-1953 and includes 27 stories with notes that make up approximately 488 pages.

Many of these stories use themes that were common in 1950s SF shorts — space exploration,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.