Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Fantasy Literature for Young Adults (over the age of 12).
Imagine a world in which the Library of Alexandria still existed, a world in which all of that accumulated knowledge and human history was still accessible to any literate person. That sounds pretty amazing, right? What most people might not take into account, however, is how drastically different that world would be from our own with the benefit of said knowledge and the attendant power given to its keepers. Ink and Bone, the first volume of a planned YA series by Rachel Caine,
December 10th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Rachel Caine | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
A Knot in the Grain by Robin McKinley
I’m not sure if I bought this fantasy short story collection by Robin McKinley when I first saw it in the mid-1990s because McKinley was one of my favorite fantasy authors or because I was entranced by the cover art on the paperback, with the colorful contrast between the girl in a brilliant sapphire dress and the bright gold background of buttercups. Actually, at that time I was pretty much automatically buying everything McKinley wrote. Regardless, I very much enjoyed the collection of five fantasy short stories,
December 9th, 2015. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Robin McKinley | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston
When the dust rises over the desert, the villagers know that Lo-Melkhiin is coming with his guards to choose another wife. He always takes one wife from each village, or each district within a city. And she always dies.
E.K. Johnston’s A Thousand Nights is a young adult fantasy retelling of the Scheherazade framing story for One Thousand and One Nights, the famous collection of Persian, Arabic and Middle Eastern folk tales.
December 8th, 2015. Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere | E.K. Johnston | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Grudging, a newly published young adult fantasy and the first in a new series called BIRTH OF SAINTS from Michelle Hauck, is set in a country reminiscent of medieval Spain, where noble warhorses are a soldier’s right arm and religious faith is a significant part of most people’s lives, giving this fantasy an somewhat unusual cultural flavor.
Seventeen year old Ramiro wants nothing more than to be a respected soldier in his pelotón like his older brother Salvador: to fight in hand-to-hand combat with his sword and earn the right to grow a beard,
November 25th, 2015. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Michelle Hauck | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan
Nastasya is a burned-out immortal who has spent hundreds of years trying to avoid any sort of real emotion. With her equally jaded friends, she spends all her time in endless, meaningless carousing. She’s not very likable at first, but that’s the whole point. When her friend Incy’s casual cruelty gives Nastasya a wake-up call about what her life has become, she doesn’t like herself much either.
Horrified with herself, afraid of Incy, Nastasya does the only thing she can think of. She turns to River,
November 18th, 2015. Kelly Lasiter and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3, 3.5 | Cate Tiernan | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Stories of supernaturally-afflicted hotels are easy to find, but can be hard to get right. Characters first must be brought to the hotel, enticed to stay, and then convinced to linger even when presented with evidence that they should run for the hills. Suzanne Young takes a stab at the “haunted hotel” novel with Hotel Ruby, a mostly successful YA romance-horror mash-up with really enjoyable elements of surprise.
After their mother’s sudden and unexpected death, Audrey Casella and her older brother Daniel are being relocated from Arizona to Nevada,
November 4th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Suzanne Young | Horror, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Today Jana welcomes Lindsay Francis Brambles, whose debut YA horror novel Becoming Darkness is available from Switch Press (Jana’s review can be found here). They discuss world-building, fictional texts within novels, and the practical challenges of conveying fantastical ideas. One lucky commenter will win a copy of Becoming Darkness! (see below for giveaway details)
Jana Nyman: In Becoming Darkness, Sophie Harkness’ voice is vulnerable, yet self-assured, with all the nuances of a young woman who struggles with the challenges of adulthood and maturity while realizing how very little she knows about the greater world.
October 27th, 2015. Jana Nyman | Lindsay Francis Brambles | Young Adult | Author Interviews | 4 comments |
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
Yes, my dear child, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement.
Rick Yancey’s story revolves around Dr. Wathrop who investigates and studies monsters — he’s the Monstrumologist. The setting is late 19th century New England, and the Monstrumologist has taken in Will Henry, the orphan of his former assistant. It’s through this young apprentice’s eyes that Yancey tells his tale of mythological monsters run amuck in pre-industrial Massachusetts. The Monstrumologist is a creepy,
October 23rd, 2015. Jason Golomb´s rating: 3 | Rick Yancey | Horror, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet
There are two things to know about Leah Bobet’s An Inheritance of Ashes. The first is that it is going on my list of potential best books of the year. It’s that good. The other is that you should ignore the genre marketing which has Bobet’s novel listed as YA, I assume because of its sixteen-year-old protagonist. But An Inheritance of Ashes has a deeply adult sensibility, whether in its treatment of war,
October 19th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 5 | Leah Bobet | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Becoming Darkness by Lindsay Francis Brambles
Becoming Darkness is the first of the HAVEN trilogy by debut author Lindsay Francis Brambles, a YA horror series which asks “What if the Nazis won WWII?” with the added twist of a global vampirism plague. It’s mostly quite good, with allusions to literary predecessors like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and layers of complicity in nearly a century’s-worth of conspiracies. The overall concept is interesting and the narrative flows well, and many of the characters are engaging.
October 5th, 2015. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Lindsay Francis Brambles | Horror, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
What a fascinating exploration of Edwige Fenech's contributions to the giallo genre! I love how the post highlights her unique…
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…