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A Gift for a Ghost by Borja Gonzalez (writing and art)
A Gift for a Ghost is a comic book of two intertwined stories, one from 1856 and the other from 2016. In 1856, a young woman, Teresa, talks with a skeleton, asking him why he is crying. After a short conversation, they go look at the stars. This scene is typical of the visions that Teresa has throughout the book. In 2016, another young woman, Gloria, gets dressed in her room, which is covered in music posters.
November 20th, 2021. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
The Bone Shard Daughter (2020) by Andrea Stewart is a fast-paced, enticing read, with an attractive world and a magical system that grabs the imagination with both hands and doesn’t let it go.
Stewart’s debut is the first book of a series, THE DROWNING EMPIRE. In an archipelago empire, the imperial Sukai dynasty defeated the powerful Alanga, who ruled it. The current emperor, Shiyen, uses bone shard magic to protect his citizens from the possible return of the Alanga.
November 12th, 2021. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Andrea Stewart | SFF Reviews | no comments |
King of the Dinosaurs by Raymond A. Palmer
In two of my recent book reviews here, for David V. Reed’s Empire of Jegga (1943) and for Nelson S. Bond’s That Worlds May Live (also 1943), I mentioned that both novels, in their current Armchair Fiction incarnations, feature copious, vintage footnotes from Raymond A. Palmer, the editor of Amazing Stories, the pulp magazine in which those tales first appeared.
November 8th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Raymond A. Palmer | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Abaddon by Koren Shadmi (writing and art)
The Abaddon by Koren Shadmi is a horror story of existential dread: A man knocks on the door of an apartment, asking if this is the open house for a room to rent. He meets three out of the four housemates right away, as they are all relaxing in the living room. Unfortunately, when asked his name, he can’t quite remember it, and instead says to call him, “Ter.” Thus starts a surreal story in which questions without answers are the norm.
November 6th, 2021. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told by Douglas Wolk
I have to confess that I went into Douglas Wolk’s All of the Marvels: A Journey to the Ends of the Biggest Story Ever Told (2021) with a certain set of expectations, leading to some early disappointment as I read. But once I realized that my expectations were askew, and then eventually (admittedly a bit grudgingly at first) set them aside, I was able to settle in and enjoy Wolk’s work for what it was as opposed to being annoyed by what it was not.
November 5th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Comics, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve
It’s been many a year since I’ve read Frank Herbert’s Dune, so I can’t say with any authority where in the book Denis Villeneuve ends his film version, but I do feel comfortable saying it was too far. Because even at roughly 2 ½ hours, Dune the movie is too short to do justice to Dune the book. In fact, as that became more and more evident, I found myself thinking even more frequently that if Peter Jackson could get three movies out of The Hobbit (ignoring that he really didn’t),
November 3rd, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Frank Herbert | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
If I told you that I’d killed a man with a glance, would you wait to hear the rest?
This question opens Jessie Burton‘s latest novel, Medusa (2021), a feminist retelling of the famous Greek myth. Told through the eyes of the snake-headed Medusa herself, the story reframes her tale as Burton uses myth to examine our own culture of victim-blaming, slut-shaming and toxic masculinity, provoking the question: Is Medusa truly a monster?
October 28th, 2021. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 4 | Jessie Burton | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull
No Gods, No Monsters (2021) is one of the books that had me admiring it more than enjoying it. Strongly crafted on a sentence level, built on a structure both complex and deftly handled, and dealing with some seriously weighty themes, the book still left me, despite all that, a bit cold, a bit resistant to its charms. Still, as you’ll see, I’m mostly strongly recommending it, even if it didn’t wholly win me over.
We begin with a scene that seems all too familiar.
October 18th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Cadwell Turnbull | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
What do a pair of young kids on the opposite sides of the fall of Constantinople, the protagonist of an ancient Greek tale, an eco-terrorist, a Korean war vet and former prisoner-of-war, and a young girl on a generation ship have in common? Well, besides all being major characters in Anthony Doerr’s newest novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021). To find out what else ties them all together, you’ll have to read the book, which I do recommend despite some issues.
October 14th, 2021. Bill Capossere and Ray McKenzie´s rating: 4 | Anthony Doerr | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Empire of Jegga by David V. Reed
I have a feeling that most people, when they begin a book in the genre of the Golden Age space opera, go in expecting a slam-bang action affair replete with starship battles, interplanetary conflict, weapons of superscience, hissable villains and cheerable heroes. Well, I am here now to tell you of a Golden Age space-opera novel in which all those aspects are indeed most certainly present, but in very much a secondary role. The book is one that you may very well be unfamiliar with,
October 12th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | David V. Reed | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…