Previous SFF Author: Frank Aubrey
Speculative fiction in audiobook format.
Mavra, Queen of the Black Vampires, is after “The Word of Kemmler,” the ultimate how-to on being an all-powerful necromancer. Mavra wants it, and is blackmailing Harry into getting it for her. Harry must find this book, while dodging a whole collection of black wizards who are also seeking the tome.
Jim Butcher’s Dead Beat is another one of the “middle” DRESDEN books that I love so much. Just about the time when most series start getting stale,
September 8th, 2010. Justin Blazier and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Jim Butcher | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Little, Big: or, The Fairies’ Parliament by John Crowley
“All Part of the Tale. Don’t Ask Me How…”
This review is going to be well-nigh impossible to write, as the subject matter is so impossible to describe. Well, John Crowley’s Little, Big is definitely a book. That’s a good start. But the second I try to narrow down rudimentary elements like plot and character, my brain gets a bit fuzzy. It’s about a family. And a house. And how this family lives in the house which is situated on the borders of another world which sometimes intrudes upon their own,
September 8th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4, 4.5 | John Crowley | Audio, Mythopoeic Award, Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Valentine’s Rising by E.E. Knight
Valentine’s Rising takes place immediately following the disastrous end of the previous novel, Tale of the Thunderbolt. The disaster was widespread and has changed Southern Command forever, and David Valentine and his remaining men must find ways to survive the situation. Valentine’s Rising is a tale of espionage, sacrifices, and all-out war.
E.E. Knight sticks with the same format he’s always used in the Vampire Earth novels: plenty of action,
September 3rd, 2010. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | E.E. Knight | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep
The atmosphere of Spider’s Bite might be described as “Southern-fried noir.” The setting is Ashland, an Appalachian city where magic is openly known and a ruthless magical mobster has her fingers in every pie. Most of the cops are corrupt. The hair is big and the food is gloriously unhealthy.
Gin Blanco is an assassin. She takes pride in her skill and doesn’t waste a lot of time brooding about her chosen career. Her profession makes her an unlikely heroine, but her tough,
September 2nd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter, Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds | Jennifer Estep | Audio | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
I read The Farseer Saga years ago and have since considered it one of my favorite fantasy epics. It’s one (along with The Lord of the Rings and Memory, Sorrow and Thorn) that I often suggest to new fantasy readers. But after more than a decade of reading deeper and further into fantasy literature, I’ve often wondered how well this saga would now appeal to my more mature (I hope) palate. When Tantor Audio recently released The Farseer Saga on audio,
September 1st, 2010. Kat Hooper, Rob Rhodes and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4.5 | Robin Hobb | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Note: You may also find this book published with the name Clarges.
In Clarges, a city in the far future, humans have conquered death. Unfortunately, there’s just not enough room for billions of immortal people to live forever, so they’ve passed the fair-play act which divides society into 5 phyle which must be maintained at certain population ratios. Those who choose to participate in fair-play must register in Brood, the lowest phyle, and receive 82 years of life, after which an “assassin”
August 30th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Jack Vance | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Place is a recuperation station outside of space and time where Spider soldiers in The Change War go for rest and relaxation between operations. This war has been going on between The Spiders and The Snakes since the beginning of time and Soldiers have been drafted (resurrected) into “The Big Time” from many points in history. From outside of time, they can plunge in at crucial moments and manipulate events to serve their cause, or they can change things ex post facto,
August 20th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Fritz Leiber | Audio, Free!, Hugo Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
“Weep, free maiden. Remember your pride and weep.”
Outlaw of Gor is the second novel in John Norman‘s cult classic Gorean Saga. After languishing on Earth for seven years, Tarl Cabot is finally returned to the Counter-Earth where he hopes to find his father and the woman he loves. Instead, he finds that things are not at all as he left them. After a bit of roaming, he winds up in a city he’s never been to before and gets tangled up in a battle of the sexes.
August 12th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | John Norman | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Night Myst by Yasmine Galenorn
Cicely Waters, 26 year-old black-clad, green-eyed, tight-abbed, tattooed, street-fighting witch, has been summoned back to her Cascadian hometown so she can use her powers to help solve the mystery of a witch’s murder and some strange disappearances. Soon Cicely finds that things are worse than she could have imagined when she learns that the Indigo Court, an old race of vampiric fae, are planning to take control of both their vampire and fae ancestors. Cicely and her pals will have to make an uncomfortable alliance with the Crimson Court vampires to beat this even nastier foe.
August 5th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Yasmine Galenorn | Audio | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
The Alchemist and The Executioness by Paolo Bacigalupi & Tobias Buckell
The Alchemist and The Executioness caught my eye as soon as it went up at Audible. (Both novellas are now available in print from Subterranean Press.) Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell offering linked fantasy novellas that take place in a shared world? Bacigalupi’s story read by Jonathan Davis? What could be more promising? (It turns out that had I been familiar with Katherine Kellgren,
July 30th, 2010. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4.5 | Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias Buckell | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Previous SFF Author: Frank Aubrey
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…