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The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean
Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
~ Albert Einstein
Sam Kean is my favorite pop science author, ever since I read Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us in 2017. Kean has an engaging voice, a solid understanding of science,
October 5th, 2021. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars by Simon Morden
Simon Morden’s The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars (2021) is a detailed look at the history of Mars’ geology, and there lies both its appeal and, for some, perhaps, its lack of appeal. As fascinating as much of the book is, I confess it sometimes got a little too deep into the weeds (or the rock formations) for my own preferences, though having “too much information” is hardly a major indictment for a non-fiction work.
September 28th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Simon Morden | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Doom of the Haunted Opera by John Bellairs & Brad Strickland
The Doom of the Haunted Opera (1995), the sixth book in John Bellairs’ and Brad Strickland’s LEWIS BARNAVELT series for middle grade readers, has best friends Lewis and Rose Rita back together again after having separate adventures in the previous two novels, The Ghost in the Mirror (Rose Rita) and The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder (Lewis).
September 20th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Brad Strickland, John Bellairs | Audio, Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Intrigue on the Upper Level by Thomas Temple Hoyne
Just recently, I had some words to say about Jack Williamson and Dr. Miles J. Breuer’s 1931 novel The Birth of a New Republic, in which a group of citizens (living on the Moon) rises up in rebellion against the despotic corporate forces oppressing them. Well, now I am here to tell you of another sci-fi book of the early ‘30s dealing with still another revolt against the powers that be.
September 15th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Thomas Temple Hoyne | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder by John Bellairs & Brad Strickland
Thanks to author Brad Strickland, who picked up John Bellairs’ children’s series after Bellairs’ death, the LEWIS BARNAVELT adventures continue with the fifth installment, The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder (1993). Surprisingly, I can detect no difference between the writing styles of the two authors. Strickland continues this series with the utmost respect for Bellairs’ vision and characters.
In The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder we learn what Lewis and his uncle Jonathan were doing while Lewis’s best friend Rose Rita and Mrs.
September 14th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Brad Strickland, John Bellairs | Audio, Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
The Witness for the Dead is the long-hoped-for sequel to Katherine Addison’s marvelous and unusual 2014 fantasy, The Goblin Emperor, in which we met Maia, a half-goblin, half-elf young man who unexpectedly inherited the throne of the elf kingdom when his father, the emperor, was killed along with his brothers in an airship explosion. Thara Celehar, an elven prelate and a Witness for the Dead, was a minor character in that novel who investigated the airship accident at Maia’s request and eventually was able to unearth the truth of why it occurred.
September 3rd, 2021. Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Katherine Addison | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Figure In The Shadows by John Bellairs
Lewis Barnavelt, 11 years old and recently orphaned, has been settling in at his uncle’s house. It’s 1949, about a year since we saw him last (in The House With a Clock in Its Walls) and he has made a new friend – a tomboy named Rose Rita.
When Uncle Jonathan opens a trunk owned by his father (Lewis’s grandfather), Lewis, a lover of history, is bequeathed with his grandfather’s lucky coin. When he begins wearing the coin around his neck,
September 2nd, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Brad Strickland, John Bellairs | Audio, Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Birth of a New Republic by Jack Williamson & Miles J. Breuer
In his 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, author Robert A. Heinlein gave his readers a tale of a penal colony on the Moon that rebels and declares its independence from Earth. The book went on to win the coveted Hugo Award and probably didn’t hurt Heinlein’s chances of being named sci-fi’s very first Grand Master, in 1974. But, as it turns out, this was not the first time that a writer had presented his fans with such a literally revolutionary scenario.
August 30th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack Williamson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun (2020) introduces a new series set in an ancient Mesoamerica that is a mix of partly-familiar cultures and original fantasy elements, creating a heady brew that rolls along smoothly even as it moves back and forth in time and amongst a quartet of POVs.
Those POVs belong to:
August 27th, 2021. Bill Capossere and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Rebecca Roanhorse | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner
Dellaria Wells is an untrained fire witch, living hand-to-mouth in the slums of Leiscourt, trying to keep track of her drip-addicted mother. Behind on rent and threatened with a curse by her landlady, Delly plans to answer a mysterious advertisement recruiting various women to protect a Lady of Some Importance. When she is interviewed — through the bars of a cell, as it happens — Delly gives a succinct summation of her skills to the interviewer:
“… Why on earth would I be willing to interview a criminal for a position in my employer’s household,
August 24th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | C.M. Waggoner | SFF Reviews | no 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…