Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

Rating: 4.5

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Magic Slays: If you’re not reading this series, you should be!

Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews

Kate Daniels has opened her new business, Cutting Edge Investigations, but there’s just one problem: no clients. “If things kept going this way,” she muses, “I would be forced to run up and down the street screaming ‘We kill things for money.’” It’s not that she needs the money, really; it’s more that she wants to be a successful, independent businesswoman rather than just Curran’s consort.

So when a case comes her way, Kate takes it, even though it’s not the sort of mission she’s used to.

Dead on the Delta: Hard-to-put-down “rural fantasy”

Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay

Stacey Jay’s fairies are tiny, beautiful… and bloodthirsty. Chemical disasters caused them to mutate, and now they swarm the bayous of the Delta region in search of human blood. Most humans die from the bite. Some expire immediately in intense agony, while others go insane first and live a few more years in containment facilities before dying.

A few humans, though, are immune. Annabelle Lee is one of them. Being immune qualifies Annabelle for all sorts of unpleasant jobs, like collecting fairy poop samples for Fairy Containment and Control.

May 25th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Stacey Jay | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The Incredible Shrinking Man: A beautiful psychological study of masculinity

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson

Every day Scott Carey is getting shorter by 1/7 of an inch. The doctors have figured out why — he was exposed to a combination of insecticide and radioactivity — but so far they have not been able to make him stop shrinking. Now Scott is only one inch tall and he is trapped in the cellar of his family’s rented home with a stale piece of bread, an out-of-reach box of crackers, a sponge, a garden hose, a water heater, and a black widow spider.

Embassytown: Yes, linguistics.

Embassytown by China Miéville

Embassytown, China Miéville’s latest, is a sharply honed science fiction tale of linguistics. Yes, linguistics. And skeptical as one may be, it more than works. Despite its science fiction trappings, I would place Embassytown very close to The City & The City rather than Perdido Street Station and its sequels or Kraken in terms of style. I say that because while the strange alien race,

Perilous Prophecy: Had me reaching for the Kleenex

The Perilous Prophecy by Leanna Renee Hieber

Editor’s Note: This book was originally published as The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess.

In The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, we met Beatrice Smith, a member of the Guard that preceded Alexi Rychman’s circle. The Perilous Prophecy is a prequel, focusing on Beatrice’s time in the Guard and on the goddess Persephone as she makes preparations for the war against Darkness. While this book is set earlier than the two existing books,

May 10th, 2011. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Leanna Renee Hieber | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Broken Angels: Good noir science fiction

Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan

Three weeks ago I finished Broken Angels, the second book in Richard K. Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs trilogy. I’ve been struggling with this review ever since. Broken Angels is good noir science fiction. It is well-written. I just didn’t like it.

In some places in the book the timbers of the plot show through the flash-and-dazzle, but that is no more than a nuisance. Kovacs is a believable character in a complicated and exciting situation.

A Web of Air: Reeve manages the perfect balance

A Web of Air by Philip Reeve

You Can’t Murder the Truth!

The second of the prequel trilogy to Philip Reeve’s wonderful Hungry Cities series continues Reeve’s imaginative, exhilarating, unpredictable story of life in a post-apocalyptic world where seagulls have rudimentary communication skills, people live in houses that can be hoisted up and down hillsides, and an ominous event known as the Downsizing has left technology beyond the understanding of the human population.

In this brave new world lives Fever Crumb, an engineer who has left the city of London in order to join the traveling theatre known as the Lyceum,

The Damned Busters: A damn good book

To Hell and Back: The Damned Busters by Matthew Hughes

CLASSIFICATION: The Damned Busters is a whimsical PG-13 urban fantasy novel that combines the supernatural and superheroes with comedy and romance.

FORMAT/INFO: The Damned Busters ARC is 239 pages long divided over 12 numbered chapters. Narration is in the third-person, exclusively via the protagonist Chesney Arnstruther. The Damned Busters is self-contained, but is the first volume in the To Hell and Back series, which has a sequel — Costume Not Included— scheduled for publication in 2012.

May 2nd, 2011. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Matthew Hughes | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table: Arthur for kids

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green

If you’re in search of a King Arthur retelling for young readers that stretches from his birth to his death and includes everything that happens in between, I would personally recommend Rosemary Sutcliff’s Legends of King Arthur trilogy. To me, it is the quintessential compendium of Arthurian lore, taken from a variety of sources, and retold in Sutcliff’s beautiful poetic-prose. Variations of the legend are a dime a dozen these days, but to me,

Heaven’s Needle: A new direction for Liane Merciel

Heaven’s Needle by Liane Merciel

PLOT SUMMARY: The mountain fortress Duradh Mal, mysteriously destroyed centuries ago, has many legends, but only one truth. And now, in the shadow of that once-mighty fortress, something evil is stirring. Unaware of the danger, the high priest of the Dome of the Sun has sent two inexperienced Illuminers to the village of Carden Vale, at the foot of Duradh Mal, on what should be a routine tour of religious service. The warrior Asharre, strong and tall, her face scarred with runes, her heart scarred by the loss of her sister,

April 22nd, 2011. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4.5 | Liane Merciel | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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.