4 | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

The Guns of Avalon: Never trust a relative

The Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny

Warning, from me: If you haven’t read Nine Princes in Amber yet, don’t read this review.

Another warning, from Corwin: “Never trust a relative. It is far worse than trusting strangers.”

Corwin has escaped from his brother’s prison and he’s ready for revenge. He doesn’t have the manpower that Eric has, so he needs a technological advantage. Traditional firearms don’t work in Amber, but Corwin once noticed that a jewelers’ rouge from the shadow world of Avalon,

Perelandra: The Garden of Eden on Venus

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Perelandra (1943) is the second volume of C.S. Lewis’s SPACE TRILOGY and I liked it even better than Out of the Silent Planet, its predecessor. Cambridge professor Dr. Elwin Ransom is back on Earth and has told his friend Lewis about the adventures he had on the planet Mars and the supernatural beings he met there. When Ransom explains that there’s an epic battle between good and evil, that the planet Venus is about to play an important part,

September 12th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | C.S. Lewis | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Shift: A prequel and companion to Wool

Shift by Hugh Howey

Editor’s Note: Shift is an omnibus containing three separate stories that together are considered the second book in Hugh Howey’s SILO series after Wool (which originally had 5 parts): “First Shift,” “Second Shift,” and “Third Shift.” When Ruth reviewed Shift, “Third Shift” had not yet been published. Kat mentions “Third Shift” in her review below.

Shift is the second book in the SILO series by Hugh Howey,

September 11th, 2012. Ruth Arnell and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Hugh Howey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Nine Princes in Amber: Still fresh and original today

Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

“I’d get what I needed and take what I wanted and I’d remember those who helped me and step on the rest. For this, I knew, was the law by which our family lived, and I was a true son of my father.”

When Corwin wakes up in a private hospital after driving his car over a cliff, he has no idea who he is. When he realizes that he has healed too fast and that he’s being drugged so he’ll stay unconscious,

September 11th, 2012. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Roger Zelazny | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

The System of the World: The end of an excellent series

The System of the World by Neal Stephenson

The System of the World combines the final three “novels” — Solomon’s Gold, Currency, and The System of the World — of Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle. The novel’s title refers to the third volume of Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica.

Most people remember Isaac Newton today because of the Principia Mathematica. In it,

September 6th, 2012. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Neal Stephenson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Giver: Good story, important questions

The Giver by Lois Lowry

I was first introduced to this book by students in my Ancient Political Theory class while discussing Plato’s Republic. “This is like The Giver!” I had never read the book, so I picked it up and found that, indeed, there are many similarities. The Giver by Lois Lowry is set in a utopian future society where all individuality has been suppressed and people live lives planned by a central council of Elders who dictate who will marry,

Going Postal: Learning how to hope

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

When searching for a strong conflict to anchor a story, most fantasy authors rely on dragons, invading hordes of orcs, and universe-ending supernatural beings and phenomena. In Going Postal, Terry Pratchett tries to save Ankh-Morpork’s post office.

Oddly, by aiming lower – just saving the post office? – I felt that Pratchett had taken more of a gamble than his more bombastic peers. Then again, Going Postal is the thirty-third novel in Pratchett’s spectacularly successful DISCWORLD series,

August 25th, 2012. Ryan Skardal and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 5 | Terry Pratchett | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Hidden Things: An almost-there book

Hidden Things by Doyce Testerman

In Hidden Things, by Doyce Testerman, Calliope Jenkins gets a strange phone call, then an even stranger phone message from her ex-boyfriend (now partner) in a private detective firm. The odd part in the phone call is his closing warning: “Watch out for the hidden things.” The even weirder part about the later message is that it comes several hours after his corpse was found. Soon after, Calliope finds herself on the road to Iowa where her partner Joshua was killed,

The Dog Stars: Carves out its own successful niche

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars is the newest entry into the post-apocalyptic genre (at least, it was when I began this review, by now it’s probably been succeeded by a dozen others), but despite joining an ever-growing list of such novels, The Dog Stars does a nice job of standing out amongst the crowd.

The Dog Stars follows Hig, a small plane pilot who took up refuge at the local airport after a devastating plague tore through the world,

August 22nd, 2012. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Peter Heller | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Out of the Silent Planet: Subtle allegory

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

You probably know that C.S. Lewis was a Christian apologist who wrote many popular books — both fiction and nonfiction — which explain or defend the Christian faith. His most famous work, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, some of the most-loved stories in all of fantasy fiction and children’s literature, is clearly Christian allegory. Likewise, his science fiction SPACE TRILOGY can be read as allegory, though it’s subtle enough to be enjoyed by those who don’t appreciate allegorical stories and just want to read a thoughtful science fiction adventure with an intelligent hero.

Rating: 4

The Guns of Avalon: Never trust a relative

Perelandra: The Garden of Eden on Venus

Shift: A prequel and companion to Wool

Nine Princes in Amber: Still fresh and original today

The System of the World: The end of an excellent series

The Giver: Good story, important questions

Going Postal: Learning how to hope

Hidden Things: An almost-there book

The Dog Stars: Carves out its own successful niche

Out of the Silent Planet: Subtle allegory

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