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Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire
Seanan McGuire has caused me to abandon work and kept me up nights more than any other author I’ve read recently. Her work is so compelling that I absolutely must find out what happens next. Ashes of Honor (2012) was no exception to this rule. It’s the sixth and latest in the OCTOBER DAYE series, and offers up new surprises about the knight and hero of the Court of Shadowed Hills, Toby Daye.
Toby is surprised herself when Etienne,
October 17th, 2012. Terry Weyna and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4, 5 | Seanan McGuire | Audio | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Existence is David Brin’s first novel in some time and while I’ve long bemoaned his absence, it’s hard to complain about the time he takes if this is what he ends up with. Existence is a big novel, bursting with ideas and filled to the rim with characters and plot. If not all of them play out fully; well, I’ll take that flaw happily considering the pay off here.
The novel is set in the next century in a world changed by a host of events,
October 11th, 2012. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | David Brin | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente
September returns to Fairyland to find that her shadow, which she sacrificed to save a child in the previous book, has become the Queen of Fairyland-Below. Worse, the shadows in Fairyland are disappearing into Fairyland-Below, where they enjoy the freedom to be the masters of their own fate. But the shadows are the sources of magic in Fairyland, and as more of them leave for the underworld, magic is disappearing from Fairyland. September has to solve this problem before Fairyland disappears forever.
October 9th, 2012. Ruth Arnell, Bill Capossere and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Catherynne M. Valente | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Planetary: The Fourth Man, Volume 2 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
Having just written a review of Volume 1 of Planetary by Warren Ellis, I didn’t think I’d feel any need to write a review of Volume 2; however, I just finished reading Planetary: The Fourth Man, Volume 2 again and feel that it certainly deserves a review of its own. Please read my first review to get a full picture of the complex nature of this profound yet quickly-paced comic book.
October 5th, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Warren Ellis | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Hrolf Kraki’s Saga by Poul Anderson
Poul Anderson took the Viking saga of Hrolf Kraki and crafted this magnificent fantasy novel from the legendary king’s story. Hrolf was a sort of Arthurian equivalent in the northern folk tales and myths, but Anderson brought him to life in this novelized retelling of his exploits.
Like much of northern mythology the story is dark in spots, dealing with such themes as murderous sibling rivalry, incestuous relationships, and the everyday brutality that must have been common in the era that was rightly called “the Dark Ages.”
October 5th, 2012. Steven Harbin´s rating: 5 | Poul Anderson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Once every hundred years, the desert clans’ gods come to walk among them. One young man or woman from each clan is chosen to serve as the vessel for that clan’s deity. The human soul dies and returns to the Dreaming, while the god takes over the body. Now incarnate in the vessel’s body, the god works magic to help keep the clan alive in the harsh conditions of the desert.
Liyana has known for years that she is destined to be the vessel for the goddess Bayla.
October 4th, 2012. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Sarah Beth Durst | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Daytripper by Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba
“Isn’t it strange how we always seem to remember the trivial things from our daily lives… yet so often we forget the most important ones?”
In the opening chapter of Daytripper, Bras de Oliva Domingos, main character of this lushly drawn graphic novel, stops for a beer and a pack of cigarettes on the way to a gala honoring his famous and powerful novelist father. He becomes involved in a shocking event, one that leaves the reader reeling.
September 28th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
[In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
Kurt Vonnegut was a POW in Dresden during World War II. He only survived the allies’ bombing of Dresden because the Germans housed the American prisoners in a meat-locker in a building they called Slaughterhouse-Five. For years afterward, Vonnegut attempted to write a book about his experiences,
September 21st, 2012. Kat Hooper and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Kurt Vonnegut | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban
[At The Edge of the Universe, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.]
Language is dependent on the society that uses it. We weave into our idiom words and phrases that explain our history and our present. Similes and metaphors embed themselves so deeply into our sentences that we don’t even notice them. Some are slang: we didn’t get the memo,
September 14th, 2012. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Russell Hoban | Edge | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin
With the recent Sci- Fi Channel miniseries, there is bound to be renewed interest in Ursula Le Guin’s classic first book in her Earthsea series, as there should be. This remains a classic fantasy for good reason. The world within which the characters move is fully developed, having a sense of past, present and future as well as a sense of a larger “there there”, as opposed to some fantasies that feel like a Hollywood stage set, as if nothing exists beyond the narrow social/geographical worlds the characters move through.
September 8th, 2012. Tim Scheidler, Bill Capossere, Kat Hooper, John Hulet and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Ursula K. Le-Guin | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 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.