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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Klara and the Sun (2021) is the newest novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, and the best description I can think of it is that it’s the newest novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. In other words, it’s very “Ishiguro”-like in its themes, its voice, its prose style and will call up memories of earlier works such as Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, which I consider high praise indeed.
May 13th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Kazuo Ishiguro | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
2021’s Oddity is a wonderful middle-grade adventure, with a valiant and compassionate young heroine, a beguiling take on alternate early-USA history, and a plethora of action and magic. Adults who read it with younger readers might discover it sparks a serious conversation about loyalty, values, and how we decide what’s right and what’s not.
Karin Rytter’s illustrations, which look like woodcuts, enhance the reading experience. So does the tone Brown employs, which reminded me a little of some of Philip Pullman’s middle-grade books,
May 7th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Eli Brown | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human by Jeremy DeSilva
First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human (2021), by Jeremy DeSilva, is an eminently readable non-fiction work. I read through it in as single sitting, propelled forward by DeSilva’s prose and enthusiasm, and I was captivated throughout, as well as ending up much better informed about our species’ evolution and bipedalism (along with learning why I’ve ended up with so many sprained ankles, inflamed Achilles, bad knees, and a bad back).
DeSilva is a paleoanthropologist,
May 5th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
B.P.R.D.: 1948 by Mike Mignola (writer), John Arcudi (writer), Max Fiumara (artist), Dave Stewart (colorist), and Clem Robins (letterer)
This is another early B.P.R.D. story, this one taking place in 1948. The B.P.R.D. headquarters have been moved from New Mexico to New England. The professor is still magically visited in his office by Varvara, the little Russian girl who oversees the supernatural branch of the Russian government. She is always written well by Mignola, who is accompanied by Arcudi on writing duties this time. And I particularly like it when she tells the professor that he is a “strange little moth.
April 17th, 2021. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Mike Mignola | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Twilight Zone created by Rod Serling
Viewers who tuned in to CBS at 10 PM on October 2, 1959, a Friday, to try out the brand-new show with the unusual title The Twilight Zone could have had little idea that the program they were about to watch would soon develop into one of the legendary glories of 1960s television. Today, of course, The Twilight Zone needs no introduction. For most of us — at least, for those of us younger than 65 years old — it is a show that has always been with us,
April 16th, 2021. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Film / TV | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Hilda and the Black Hound by Luke Pearson
The fourth book in the HILDA series by Luke Pearson sees our little blue-haired adventurer grappling with two brand new mysteries. Taking place in a Scandinavian-inspired setting filled with all sorts of mythological creatures, Hilda and her mother have recently moved to the city after their log-cabin was destroyed — and Hilda is finding it a bit difficult to adjust.
Her mother suggests she join the Sparrow Scouts, something she was involved with as a little girl,
April 14th, 2021. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Hilda and the Bird Parade by Luke Pearson
The third book in the HILDA series by Luke Pearson sees our blue-haired adventurer in quite different surroundings. After the events of Hilda and the Midnight Giant, Hilda and her mother have moved to the city, far away from the open spaces of the countryside and the multitude of magical creatures that live there.
Still, Hilda is trying to make the best of it, even if her mother is far more nervous about her roaming the city by herself than she was the country.
April 12th, 2021. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Einstein’s Fridge: How the Difference Between Hot and Cold Explains the Universe by Paul Sen
At some point in your schooling you learned the Laws of Thermodynamics. And then, at some point shortly thereafter (or at least, shortly after the test on them), you promptly forgot them. And even if you later in life you kept up with reading about science, well, there was always something sexier to read about: black holes, new particles, rovers zipping around on Mars. But in Einstein’s Fridge: How the Difference Between Hot and Cold Explains the Universe (2021),
April 2nd, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
The illicit adventures of Murderbot continue in Artificial Condition (2018), the terrific sequel to Martha Wells’ 2017 Nebula award-winning novella, All Systems Red. Murderbot, a deeply introverted cyborg security unit, or SecUnit, who previously hacked the governor software that forced obedience to human commands, has illegally gone off the grid, eschewing the safety of a mostly-free life with a sympathetic owner in order to travel on its own. Disguising itself as an augmented human,
April 2nd, 2021. Tadiana Jones, Kat Hooper and Jana Nyman´s rating: 5 | Martha Wells | Locus Award, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens — and Ourselves by Arik Kershenbaum
Usually, when one thinks about “universal laws,” the first disciplines that come to mind are mathematics and physics. Pi, or the law of gravity, for instance. But in The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens — and Ourselves, Arik Kershenbaum makes the case for “universal laws of biology.” And then further argues that said laws, which we can formulate based on our experiences and observations here on Earth,
March 22nd, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
[…] Tales (Fantasy Literature): John Martin Leahy was born in Washington State in 1886 and, during his five-year career as…
so you're saying I should read it? :)
As a native New Yorker, I love the idea of the city being filled with canals and no skyscrapers! And…
How did I miss this? Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
I guess that is true, Marion. And when it comes to "You Only Live Twice," I saw the movie TWICE…