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Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
Kingfisher’s Nettle and Bone (2022) was exactly the book I needed to read when I read it, so I am grateful to it and the writer for that. Kingfisher’s original fairy tale is a satisfying read at any time, with characters who engaged my imagination and find original ways to solve their problems.
Marra is a princess, the third daughter of a small kingdom with a deep-water harbor, nestled between two powerful warlike nations,
June 2nd, 2022. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | T. Kingfisher | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (vol. 9): The Reign of the Black Flame by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), James Harren (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Clem Robins (letters).
At the end of last issue, Liz regains her powers and returns to the B.P.R.D., and Fenix, too, returns to the base. Both of them are in time to join the teams going into New York, so this issue starts with them on the ground, on a fact-finding mission. Kate Corrigan gave them orders to assess the threats in New York and,
May 14th, 2022. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
2022’s Siren Queen by Nghi Vo is another 5-star read. Set in the same world as The Chosen and the Beautiful, Siren Queen looks at the magic of movies, and the exploitative studio system of the medium’s early days. In Vo’s world, the magic of movies is real magic, and that magic is often hungry.
Our main character is a Chinese American girl in Los Angeles who becomes enthralled with the magic of moving pictures.
May 13th, 2022. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Nghi Vo | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
The Stardust Thief (2022), by Chelsea Abdullah, is one of the more impressive debut novels I’ve read lately, offering up a bevy of strong narrative elements with barely a weakness to be found and using a well-known tale (1001 Nights) not as a basis for a retelling but as the germ of something that is its own lushly original story. It wasn’t until I neared the end that I had the happy realization this wasn’t a stand-alone novel but would give me two more chances to spend time in this world.
May 2nd, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Chelsea Abdullah | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
How to Build a Human: In Seven Evolutionary Steps by Pamela S. Turner and illustrated by John Gurche
I often tell my first-year college students that when they start out doing research, they should begin not with the academic journals, which so many of them do, and not with the newspaper or magazine articles, but with books written for young readers. Because what they want is something that is brief, broad, shallow but informative, easy to understand. Something that strips out the overwhelming details and provides them a strong foundational understanding of the major points so that when they do eventually research more deeply,
April 22nd, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay
As I write this, it’s early spring in Rochester, and those who live in the Northeast know what that means. Cold. Clouds. Wind. The false promise of warmth. The precipitation that no longer falls in feet and inches but instead has become a more annoying (and far less pretty) alternation of rain and sleet and hail that you know has to stop soon, will stop soon, but still Just. Keeps. On. Happening. Bleak, yes. But then here it is: a new Guy Gavriel Kay book arriving like an early harbinger of spring — a shaft of sun through the cloud cover,
April 18th, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Guy Gavriel Kay | SFF Reviews | 12 comments |
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (vol. 8): Lake of Fire by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), Tyler Crook (art), Dave Stewart (colors), Clem Robins (letters)
The B.P.R.D. is running missions to try to save people from the apocalyptic events happening around the world. They’ve lost to the monsters in England and in multiple large cities in the U.S., so at the moment they are focusing on trying to get into New York and launch some rescue missions. We follow some of the B.P.R.D. agents who are going into New York, including Howards with his mystical,
April 16th, 2022. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Inheritors of Power by Juliette Wade
“…A single executive, when chosen by vote of the general population, is not at all the same as a king.”
Inheritors of Power (2022) is like a magic trick, exploding everything I thought I understood about the Varin society from the first two books in the BROKEN TRUST series. I had assumed that the political system in place in Varin’s underground cities had started off basically good and jiggled off-track over time. With Book Three, I have to re-examine that conclusion,
March 18th, 2022. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Juliette Wade | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth (Vol. 6): The Return of the Master by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), Tyler Crook (art), Dave Stewart (colors), and Clem Robins (letters)
In Colorado, Fenix, the young girl who shot Abe Sapien, confesses to Kate at the B.P.R.D., and she also offers her services since she can tell when certain events are going to happen, though she doesn’t have a lot of control over her power. So far, she’s been able to lead a group of young people safely during the apocalyptic evens of B.P.R.D.
March 12th, 2022. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Dionysos: The New God by George O’Connor
With Dionysos, writer/illustrator George O’Connor’s OLYMPIANS series comes to an end after 12 titles and at this point, having reviewed a third of them and read more, all’s that need be said is either now you can complete your collection or, if you haven’t yet purchased any — and really, why haven’t you? —, now you can go out and get the whole thing. Because it’s simply great, start to finish. We’ve reviewed these previous installments: Zeus,
March 1st, 2022. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | 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…