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Rising Stars: Compendium (Part One) by J. Michael Straczynski
Having just finished Straczynski‘s Rising Stars, I now have a new comic book to add to my list of favorites. JMS, as he’s known, is the creator of Babylon 5, and he applies his grand world-building skills to this superhero comic. As Neil Gaiman writes in the introduction to Rising Stars, with Babylon 5, JMS did what should have been “impossible,”
December 13th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | J. Michael Straczynski | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Wild Fell begins in the small town of Alvina, Ontario, in 1960, when Sean Schwartz asks his high school sweetheart, Brenda Egan, if she believes in ghosts. Whether he’s trying to scare her into cuddling closer, looking for some excitement to end the summer before school begins again, or is entirely sincere in his question, his question is a prelude to asking Brenda if she’ll cross a mile of Devil’s Lake to Blackmore Island to explore the remains of a mansion called Wild Fell.
December 9th, 2013. Terry Weyna´s rating: 5 | Michael Rowe | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Sorrow’s Knot had some big footsteps in which to follow, since Erin Bow’s debut novel Plain Kate was pretty terrific. But I’m pleased to report that Sorrow’s Knot not only lived up to my expectations but exceeded them. This is a fantastic novel, and better than Plain Kate.
Sorrow’s Knot is set in a world that feels a lot like the Pacific Northwest,
December 6th, 2013. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Erin Bow | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Salute the Dark by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Salute the Dark is the fourth book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s SHADOWS OF THE APT series. At this point, the world of the Apt and Inapt is in total war. The expansionist Wasp Empire is sweeping across the Lowlands and any outlying city that sparks a glint in Emperor Alvdan II’s eye. War Master Stenwold Maker’s agents are scattered everywhere in attempt to give the Lowlands any sort of advantage against the encroaching horde. Cities like Sarn and Myna are in open rebellion.
December 5th, 2013. Pat Doherty´s rating: 5 | Adrian Tchaikovsky | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear
This review turned out a bit rambly, but I’m too lazy to self-edit today, so I’m going to cut to the chase and place my overall opinion right up front for anyone who doesn’t feel like reading over a thousand words of enthusiastic rambling:
Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear is the best fantasy novel I’ve read all year, and you should read it too.
The setting of Range of Ghosts is a fantasy version of a place that vaguely resembles Central Asia around the time of the dissolution of the Mongol Empire.
November 8th, 2013. Stefan Raets´s rating: 5 | Elizabeth Bear | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Apollo’s Song (Parts I & II) by Osamu Tezuka
Apollo’s Song (Part I and Part II) by Osamu Tezuka is a imaginative tale of out-of-body experience, time travel, fantasy, science fiction, mythology and love, all by the God of Manga himself. If you’ve never heard of Osamu Tezuka, you are missing out. He’s best known in the United States for Astro Boy, his very early comic-turned-anime that was broadcast in the U.S. as a Japanese-import English-dubbed cartoon.
October 25th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor & the Bogus Identity (Vol 1) by Mike Carey (writer) & Peter Gross (artist)
The Unwritten by Mike Carey is one of the best current series being published right now. It is one of the few titles put out by Vertigo — DC’s mature line of comics — that has kept Vertigo from losing its respected place in the world of comics. Vertgo was started by Karen Berger with Neil Gaiman’s wonderful Sandman stories,
October 18th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Mike (M.R.) Carey | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
This review is my 50th column for Fanlit, so I want to mark this personal milestone by writing about the most important epic fantasy comic in existence. I know a few people might argue with me, but only a few. There’s a general consensus that Bone by Jeff Smith is not only the best epic fantasy comic, but possibly the ONLY epic fantasy comic depending on how you define “epic fantasy.” All arguments are minor quibbles as far as I’m concerned because none of them would call into question the high quality and staggering brilliance of Bone.
October 11th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Jeff Smith | Comics | SFF Reviews | 9 comments |
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein
Most of Robert A. Heinlein’s adult novels have interesting ideas or premises but many lack likeable characters and/or fun quickly-moving plots. Fortunately Double Star has all the right elements and is entertaining from start to finish. It’s one of Heinlein’s best novels, I think, and I must not be alone in that opinion since it won the Hugo Award in 1956 and was nominated for Locus’ All-Time Best Science Fiction Novels. Double Star is a character-based novel that explores some important political issues without getting preachy.
October 2nd, 2013. Kat Hooper, Tadiana Jones and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4, 5 | Robert A. Heinlein | Audio, Hugo Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, Volume 1 by Motoro Mase
Though I haven’t read too much manga — pronounced “mahn-gha,” in case you were wondering — I am starting to acquire a taste for it. I think part of my problem was trying to read it slowly like I do American comics (and like I recommend in my essay here on FanLit, “How To Read Comics“). Watching my daughter devour quickly the entire 20-volume set of Bakuman,
September 27th, 2013. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | no 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.