Click on stars to FIND REVIEWS BY RATING:
Recommended: 
Not Recommended: 
THE ASGARDIANS 1: Thor by George O’Connor
So I’ve lost track of how many of George O’Connor’s graphic novel retelling of myths I’ve reviewed, from his original series OLYMPIANS to the first book of his current ASGARDIANS series, Odin. He’s back with book two, everyone’s favorite Norse god — Thor, and all I can say is what I’ve been saying since the beginning: the story is great, the artwork is great, they’re not just for kids,
October 10th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Children, Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott
2023’s Thistlefoot, by GennaRose Nethercott, is one of my favorite reads of 2024. This literary fantasy draws from Jewish and Eastern European folktales, with a concretely modern setting, a gloss of mythic American West (hobos and tumbleweeds), and sentences that sing with poetry.
Isaac Yaga is a street performer and a con artist. He can impersonate almost anyone, and he is always on the run, either from the people whose pockets he’s picked, or from his own guilty memories, accompanied only by a small black cat named Hubcap.
September 13th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | GennaRose Nethercott | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Complete John Silence Stories by Algernon Blackwood
For English author Algernon Blackwood, success as a writer came fairly late in life. Although today deemed one of the 20th century’s greatest purveyors of supernatural and “weird” fiction, Blackwood evinced little interest in the field until he was in his mid-30s. Up till that time, he had tried his hand in numerous professions – from a dairy farmer in Canada to a NYC journalist, from hotel operator to model, from personal secretary to bartender. It wasn’t until Blackwood turned 37 that his first short-story collection,
August 29th, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | Algernon Blackwood | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Weyward, by Emilia Hart, (2023), is women’s fiction with magic. The stories of three different women in three different eras wrestling not only with their connection to nature, but with the restrictions and exploitations of society, are captivating, and it’s all delivered with beautiful descriptions and flowing language.
I’m going to go down a rabbit hole here. I recently had to make a long drive (2 ½ hours each way) and used most of that time to chew over why I categorize this as “women’s fiction with magic” rather than “fantasy.” Here’s what I’ve decided;
August 26th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Emilia Hart | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Marcos Martin (artist), and Muntsa Vincente (colors)
In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level (see my Manifesto!). I post the best of my students’ reviews in this column.
August 24th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Brian K. Vaughan | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Reposting to include Marion’s new review.
Blade of Dream by Daniel Abraham
Blade of Dream is Daniel Abraham’s second book in his KITHAMAR trilogy, though to call it a “sequel” is a bit of a misnomer as rather than directly following the events of Age of Ash, this new story parallels that first book’s events in time, actually intersecting with a few scenes here and there but mostly, or at least somewhat,
August 16th, 2024. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Daniel Abraham | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Mercy of Gods by James S. Corey
After the brilliance that was THE EXPANSE, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (collectively writing as James S. Corey) are back with The Mercy of Gods (2024), the first book in their new series, THE CAPTIVE’S WAR, and it’s just as good as one would expect it to be. While it shares some narrative DNA with the prior series, The Mercy of Gods is more, um, expansive than THE EXPANSE,
August 5th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | James S.A. Corey | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
P. Djèlí Clark has in past works show himself to be a master of the short novel form, and that holds true with his newest, The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, a fast-paced mystery romp full of dark humor set amidst a twisting turning tale. I had a blast reading it and can’t imagine that reaction won’t be widely shared amongst those wise enough to pick it up.
That odd title (it gets explained in the opening scene) is the name of an assassins guild working in the port city of Tal Abisi.
July 30th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | P. Djèlí Clark | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
2024’s Horror Movie is the first Paul Tremblay book I’ve read. Having finished this disturbing, baffling and freaky tour de force, I will now seek out his other works.
Haunted films or cursed films are nothing new in the horror subgenre or even in pop-culture folklore. Tremblay takes this time-honored trope and runs with it. The book makes its way through three storylines; a present tense storyline narrated by our first-person narrator; his recollections on that time in 1993 when he was part of an independent film called Horror Movie (that was never completed);
July 25th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Paul Tremblay | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North
Amongst the slew of modern myth retellings the last few years (so many the NY Times recently wrote an article on the number “flooding bookstores”), one of the strongest has been THE SONGS OF PENELOPE by Claire North. The first two, Ithaca and House of Odysseus, were excellent, and North maintains that high standard with the just-released The Last Song of Penelope (2024),
July 16th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Claire North | SFF Reviews | no comments |
What a fantastic review! I loved how you highlighted the blend of action and character development in "Foundryside." The intricate…
On her blog, "Aunt Beast" says she is in the early stages of working on another Tinfoil Dossier novella, so…
Caitlin Kiernan is an amazing stylist, but her work leaves me feeling bleak and hopeless.
Came here to say this, and calling Baralis Iss' "accomplice"? I would be hard-pressed to fear anyone with a General…
For those who've been following the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross, what is reported to be the final book…