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The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
This, my friends, is how young adult fantasy is done. In The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley has created a world out of whole cloth and polished it until it shines. Or in this case, until it is a dusty desert full of horse riding warriors, a dwindling magic, demon barbarians invading from the north, and civilized white men invading from across the ocean. McKinley is a master of prose, and this book has stood the test of time for almost 25 years now.
September 10th, 2018. Ruth Arnell and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Robin McKinley | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
My usual response to reading any book by Diana Wynne Jones is: “how does she come up with this stuff?” This is swiftly followed by bewilderment (especially in the wake of Harry Potter) that nobody has ever adapted any of her work, despite the fact her stories would make for excellent on-screen entertainment.
Dogsbody (1975) is no exception. It begins by introducing the immortal Dog Star Sirius, who is in serious trouble with his peers.
August 30th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Diana Wynne Jones | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire’s novella Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day (2017) is a sensitive tale of love, loss, and regret — the kind that haunts people, turns them into ghosts, makes them flee thousands of miles from their homes, makes them linger somewhere long after it’s time for them to leave.
In 1972, Jenna Pace’s older sister Patty committed suicide in New York City, far away from her family home in Mill Hollow,
August 29th, 2018. Jana Nyman, Tadiana Jones and Skye Walker´s rating: 3.5, 5 | Seanan McGuire | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Jirel of Joiry by C.L. Moore
Just recently, I had some words to say regarding the stories that Golden Age sci-fi/fantasy author C.L. Moore placed in Weird Tales magazine, during the 1930s, that dealt with the futuristic smuggler/spaceman Northwest Smith. But as most fans of Catherine Lucille Moore will readily tell you, Smith was not the only character from this beloved writer who made semiregular appearances in the legendary pulp that decade. From October ’34 until April ’39, Moore also regaled readers with a wholly different character: Jirel of Joiry.
August 22nd, 2018. Sandy Ferber and Rob Rhodes´s rating: 5 | C.L. Moore | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The original readers of the legendary pulp magazine Weird Tales could have had little idea of what a landmark release the November ’33 issue would turn out to be. Kicking off the magazine that month, and preceding stories by such already established veterans as Edmond Hamilton, E. Hoffman Price, Clark Ashton Smith and Mary Elizabeth Counselman, was a story with the unusual title “Shambleau,” written by an author who nobody had ever heard of … for the simple reason that “Shambleau” was the very first sale by the 22-year-old writer C.L.
August 16th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | C.L. Moore | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Bill: Robert Jackson Bennett hit the trifecta, as far as I was concerned, with his DIVINE CITIES trilogy. I placed each book pretty much immediately on my respective best-of-the-year lists as I finished them, and then, once the trilogy was completed, put the whole thing on my best-of-the-decade list. So it would be more than a little unfair to expect his newest novel, Foundryside (2018), to match that experience. But like a younger sibling following after a genius older sister or brother,
August 10th, 2018. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Fatale (Vol. 5): Curse the Demon by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
In the fifth and final book of Fatale — Curse the Demon — Ed Brubaker returns us to Nicolas Lash’s story throughout most of the book. The year is 2014, and Jo, our femme fatale, has decided to fight back, and with Bishop, or Sommerset, on her trail, it doesn’t take much to lure him in. The question is who is luring whom, because from Sommerset’s perspective, he’s the one reeling Jo in so that they’ll meet in a grand finale.
July 28th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Ed Brubaker | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Pray for Rain by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
Pray for Rain is Book Four in the Fatale series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. And the noir-Lovecraftian story continues in unexpected ways. First, we find out what’s going on with Nicolas. And then, we get the story of Jo and a grunge band in Seattle in the 1990s. But of course, there are other characters in play: A strange man named Wulf is seeking her out, and Bishop, the cult leader, is still tracing her scent.
July 14th, 2018. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Ed Brubaker | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Scattered Among Strange Worlds by Aliette de Bodard
Scattered Among Strange Worlds (2012) contains two short stories and a sample chapter of Aliette de Bodard‘s debut novel Servant of the Underworld. The first story is “Scattered Along the Rivers of Heaven,” first published in the January 2012 issue of Clarkesworld, where it can still be read and listened to for free. It is a far-future science fiction story that incorporates some lines of classic Chinese poetry.
July 11th, 2018. Rob Weber´s rating: 5 | Aliette De_Bodard | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
“When I was born, the name for what I was did not exist.” Thus begins Circe’s self-told tale, and the yet-to-be-invented descriptor she references here is “witch,” though it could just as easily, and perhaps more significantly for this story, be “independent woman,” since both concepts, it turns out, are equally confounding to Titan, Olympian, and mortal alike, much to the reader’s satisfaction.
Beyond that bedeviling of the uber-powerful, there’s a lot that satisfies (and more) here: Madeline Miller’s lovely prose, how she stays faithful to the myths but fills the spaces between them with a rich originality,
July 9th, 2018. Bill Capossere and Ray McKenzie´s rating: 5 | Madeline Miller | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.