Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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The Night Circus: On the Edge

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Erin Morgenstern studied theatre & studio art at Smith College. She is a writer and artist whose work is described as “fairy tales in one way or another.” The Night Circus is her first novel.

PLOT SUMMARY: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves,

Wizard’s Bane: A lot of fun

Wizard’s Bane by Rick Cook

In a world where magic is commonplace, what use is an expert-level computer programmer like Wiz Zamult? The only person who knew the answer was the great wizard Patrius, but bringing Wiz to this medieval world cost Patrius his life. Moria, a beautiful red-headed hitch witch, is tasked to be Wiz’s caretaker. However, Moria dislikes Wiz as much as he is infatuated with her. Somehow, this helpless stranger is the key to stopping the federation of evil wizards called the Dark League.

Wizard’s Bane is not the kind of book I would’ve picked up on my own.

September 12th, 2011. Greg Hersom´s rating: 4 | Rick Cook | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Super Sad True Love Story: On the Edge

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

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.

Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story demonstrates the power of the “dystopian future” premise, arguably because it does not feel like Shteyngart is writing about a distant enough future.

Spellbound: Even better than Spellwright

Spellbound by Blake Charlton

PLOT SUMMARY: In a world where one’s magical prowess is determined by one’s skill with words and ability to spell, Francesca DeVega is a gifted healer in the city of Avel, composing magical sentences that close wounds and disspell curses. Her life is suddenly thrown into chaos when a newly dead patient sits up and tells her that she must flee the infirmary or face a fate worse than death. Now Francesca is in the middle of a game she doesn’t understand — one that ties her to the notorious rogue wizard Nicodemus Weal and brings her face-to-face with demons,

September 9th, 2011. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Blake Charlton | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Awakenings: Tight and thrilling contemporary fantasy

Awakenings by Edward Lazellari

Last month, Tor.com posted an excerpt from Awakenings, the exciting debut novel by Edward Lazellari. That post fell smack in the middle of that site’s Noir-themed week, so maybe it’s not surprising that the excerpt was the novel’s prologue, which introduces Colby, a down-on-his-luck private investigator who gets contracted by some shady — and, as soon becomes clear, truly terrifying — characters to track down a list of people for unknown purposes.

However, the noir-ish tone of that excerpt may be a bit deceptive,

September 8th, 2011. Stefan Raets´s rating: 4 | Edward Lazellari | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Shadowplay: Exciting sequel

Shadowplay by Tad Williams

On the surface, Volume 1 of Shadowmarch has all the makings of a fully realized epic fantasy: maps, appendix, a rich background history, excerpts (Book of Regret, The Book of the Trigon, Revelations of Nushash) to preface each chapter, a huge cast of characters, races, locales, gods, goddesses and much more to bring the world of Shadowmarch to life.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot more involved in making a great fantasy and I felt that Shadowmarch was sorely lacking in some areas.

The Taker: Beautifully written, heartfelt

The Taker by Alma Katsu

FORMAT/INFO: The Taker is 448 pages long divided over four Parts and fifty chapters. Narration switches between Luke Findley’s third-person POV set in the present day, and Lanore McIlvrae’s first-person story which is set in the past and comprises most of the novel. From chapter nineteen through the end of chapter twenty-four, the book features a third-person narrative from Adair. The Taker is largely self-contained, coming to a satisfying conclusion that wraps up the novel’s major plotlines, but two sequels have been contracted.

August 30th, 2011. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Alma Katsu | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Palimpsest: Needs to be a novel

Palimpsest by Charles Stross

Agent Pierce murdered his own grandfather to join Stasis, the covert organization which works outside of time to reseed the Earth with humans every time they’re about to make themselves extinct. Pierce considers himself a loyal agent, and he didn’t even realize that there is a group that works in Opposition to Stasis — he’s only in training. So, why is someone trying to assassinate him?

Palimpsest follows Agent Pierce from initiation, through his twenty years of training, to his gruesome graduation ceremony,

Hard Magic: A little bit of everything

Hard Magic by Larry Correia

Jake Sullivan is not your average Heavy. He spent his jail time honing his skills and improving his mind and now he’s J. Edgar Hoover’s super-weapon, useful for fighting Fades, Torches, Brutes, and any of the other Actives who are using their magic for criminal purposes. Jake doesn’t like being used this way, but it’s his ticket out of prison. When the FBI asks Jake to bring down Delilah Jones, the Brute who used to be his girlfriend, Jake gets caught up in a world-wide battle that involves magic,

Promise of the Wolves: Completely charming

Promise of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst

CLASSIFICATION: In the publisher’s press release, Promise of the Wolves is compared to Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and Richard Adams’ Watership Down, neither of which I’ve read. So for me, I was reminded of The Lion King — if the movie had been set 14,000 years ago in southern Europe and starred wolves, ravens, humans, and elkryn instead of lions,

August 25th, 2011. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Dorothy Hearst | SFF Reviews | 3 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.