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The DC Infinite Crisis and the “Old” 52 (Part 1): The Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1
Previously, I’ve written about one of my favorite single DC events: Identity Crisis. It’s an excellent story contained in a single volume. In other words, it’s what I would call a graphic novel because it is unified in narrative and theme and is contained in a single volume, even though it was published initially as monthly comics. At the end of my Identity Crisis review,
September 12th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Geoff Johns | Comics | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Egg and Spoon by Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire’s Egg and Spoon is being marketed as a YA novel, and I hope that designation doesn’t drive any readers away. This book blends the humor and hunger of real life with the wonder and otherworldliness of fables, resulting in a story that broke my heart so subtly, it was like a crack developing in an egg.
Egg and Spoon follows two young protagonists in Tsarist Russia. Elena Rudina, a peasant girl from the village of Miersk,
September 9th, 2014. Kate Lechler´s rating: 5 | Gregory Maguire | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
There is a special joy when a dedicated reader finds a book, written by a gifted writer at the peak of her powers, who journeys into slightly different territory and completely masters it. That joy is what I felt as I finished Maplecroft by Cherie Priest.
Priest has written a lot and she has never tied herself to a single sub-genre. She’s crafted dark fantasy, steampunk, steampunk zombie books and vampire fiction. Now she has essayed Lovecraftian Gothic with Maplecroft,
September 8th, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Cherie Priest | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
In Lock In, Haden’s syndrome has created millions of people who are conscious and alert, but have no voluntary control of their bodies; they are, effectively, “locked in” to themselves. Government funded technology has developed ways to assist these, who are called “Hadens,” to function; both in a non-physical information-world called the Agora, and by using sophisticated Personal Transports or android bodies called “threeps.” (You might be able to figure out where that name comes from if you remember a certain gold-colored android from a popular trilogy of movies a few decades ago.) Chris Shane is a Haden,
September 8th, 2014. Marion Deeds, Terry Weyna, Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | John Scalzi | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
This was my first time reading an Elizabeth Knox novel, but I know for certain that it won’t be my last. Quite famous in her (and my) country of New Zealand, Knox is best known for her adult novel The Vintner’s Luck and her YA duology Dreamhunter and Dreamquake. Mortal Fire is set in the same world as the Dreamhunter books, one that’s so similar to our own that only a few name changes and the presence of hidden magic differentiates it.
September 6th, 2014. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Elizabeth Knox | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
We all have that friend, family member or co-worker who thinks speculative fiction is stupid. To be fair, they have a lot of ammunition for this short-sighted view; the Star Wars prequels, vampire-boyfriend sagas and numerous homogenized series with trashy covers. Ben H. Winters, however, is the secret defensive weapon in our arsenal, and the LAST POLICEMAN series is the smart, thinking-person’s SF you can offer as a rebuttal.
World of Trouble (2014) is the final book in the trilogy.
September 1st, 2014. Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 5 | Ben H. Winters | Audio | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Fans of David Mitchell (of which I am definitely one) will feel right at home with his newest work, The Bone Clocks. You’ve got your chameleon-like ability to shift voice across a wide variety of genders and ages via multiple POVs, your richly vivid characterization, the literary and at times lyrical passages of internal monologue or description, spot-on dialog, an interconnected-story structure that spans time and space, the erudite use of history, and imaginative yet grittily real extrapolations of future settings and language.
August 28th, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | David Mitchell | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson by E.F. Benson
I had read E.F. Benson’s The Horror Horn to start with (a collection of 13 of his best ghost stories), after seeing that it was considered one of the Top 100 Horror Books of all time in Newman & Jones’ excellent overview volume. Each of those 13 stories was so good that I just had to have more, and so picked up this collection — The Collected GhostStories of E.F.
August 25th, 2014. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 5 | E.F. Benson | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The People Inside by Ray Fawkes
The People Inside by Ray Fawkes is a follow-up to his fairly recent graphic novel One Soul. Ray Fawkes is currently writing a number of titles for DC, and those titles are well-written, but One Soul and The People Inside are absolutely brilliant works of art that attempt to expand the possibilities of sequential art on the printed page. Lately, I’ve seen a number of advances in sequential art in the area of digital comics;
August 22nd, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Invisibles (Vol. 1): Say You Want a Revolution by Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison gained recognition in the United States for revamping the flagging title Animal Man. He’s now known also for some of his early, quirky Vertigo titles such as Doom Patrol and The Invisibles. I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to sit down and start The Invisibles, but I’m glad I did. At the moment,
August 15th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Thanks! These are the "easy" ones, ha!
can't wait to get to these after the usual post-end-of-term review backlog gets a little cleared up--your review and David's…
Agreed! I have loved both of these books. I wasn't as perceptive as you at guessing the true target, though,…
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the Giallo genre! I love how you highlighted her unique blend…
Ever since Tor.com became Reactor they seem to have been focusing increasingly less on books and more on visual media…