Previous SFF Author: Frank Aubrey
Speculative fiction in audiobook format.
Reposting to include Marion’s new review.
Assassin’s Quest by Robin Hobb
FitzChivalry Farseer’s life keeps getting worse. He has once again barely — and I mean just barely — survived Uncle Regal’s machinations. As Assassin’s Quest, the third book in Robin Hobb’s FARSEER trilogy, opens, Fitz’s situation seems hopeless. Only a couple of people know he still lives and Molly is not one of them. She’s gone, and it seems safest for Fitz to let her live in ignorance.
December 2nd, 2024. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Robin Hobb | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Typically I write a summary in my own words about a book I’m reviewing, but I would like to start this review by sharing the publisher’s description because it plays an important role in how I initially perceived Fourth Wing (2023) by Rebecca Yarros:
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history.
November 25th, 2024. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Rebecca Yarros | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
No Night Without Stars by Andre Norton
No Night Without Stars (1975), by Andre Norton, is a post-apocalyptic adventure set in a world where civilization has collapsed, and all that’s left are scavengers and warring factions.
The hero of the story is an ambitious and curious young man named Sander who has left his tribe, where he feels disrespected, to search for lost knowledge from the past. Sander hopes to discover the secrets of creating a particular alloy that smiths used to use.
September 12th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Andre Norton | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Fledgling (2019), the second book in Molly Harper‘s SORCERY AND SOCIETY series, picks up where Changeling left off, following Sarah Smith (posing as Cassandra Reed) as she endeavors to learn magic and navigate elite society at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies while keeping her identify as a former housemaid secret. If you haven’t read Changeling yet, you’ll want to do that first.
Sarah is feeling more comfortable with her magical abilities and her social situation.
September 10th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Molly Harper | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Sarah Smith is a Snipe, one of the non-magical servants who works in the home of the rich, powerful, and magical Winter family. Sarah’s life takes a dramatic turn when, in a stressful situation, she does a minor bit of magic in front of Mrs. Winter. Afraid of the consequences of harboring a magical snipe, Mrs. Winter concocts a whole new identity for Sarah and ships her off to the prestigious academy for young magical aristocrats. Here, Sarah is thrust into a world of privilege and power, where she must not only learn to control her newfound abilities but also navigate the treacherous social waters of a Victorian-esque society that looks down on those without a noble lineage.
August 19th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Molly Harper | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Ecolitan Enigma by L.E. Modesitt Jr
The Ecolitan Enigma (1997) closes out L.E. Modesitt Jr’s four-book ECOLITAN MATTER series. It’s a direct sequel to The Ecologic Envoy which was published in 1986, so you need to read that book first. The other two books in the series, The Ecolitan Operation (1989) and The Ecologic Secession (1990), take place 400 years earlier with different (but related) characters,
July 9th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | L.E. Modesitt_Jr | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Elizabeth Bear’s Grail (2011) concludes her JACOB’S LADDER trilogy. You’ll first want to read Dust and Chill which describe the generational ship called Jacob’s Ladder and introduce us to the ship’s strange denizens which include the ruling Conn family, various genetically engineered post-human species, and the ship’s fractured god-like AI.
Jacob’s Ladder has finally reached its destination, the planet they call Grail,
June 28th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Elizabeth Bear | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Chill (2010) is the second installment in Elizabeth Bear’s JACOB’S LADDER trilogy. It begins immediately after the events of the first book, Dust, which you’ll want to read first.
The story takes place on a dilapidated generation ship called Jacob’s Ladder which has been drifting through space, basically becalmed, for hundreds of years. During that time, due to the effects of nanotechnology, the ship’s denizens have evolved into inharmonious groups of post-human species and society has regressed to a type of feudalism with the Conn family as lords.
June 4th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Elizabeth Bear | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
With UnDivided (2014), Neal Shusterman rewards fans of his UNWIND DYSTOLOGY with a thrilling and satisfying finale. Readers will need to read the first three novels, (Unwind, UnWholly, and UnSouled) first.
The story picks up where UnSouled left off. Our heroes, Connor, Risa, Lev, Grace, and Cam are desperately trying to fight a batch of newly proposed legislation which gives the government even more power to unwind troublesome teens,
January 30th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Neal Shusterman | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
There are many words I could use to describe Lute by Jennifer Thorne. I could say words like “atmospheric” or “haunting.” I could also say “beautiful” or “terrifying.” Lute is a book that evokes many descriptors, but none really captures the story in its totality. The blurb from Tor Nightfire says “Wickerman meets Final Destination.” That description is about as accurate as it gets.
Lute is an island off the coast of Scotland,
January 22nd, 2024. Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Jennifer Thorne | Audio, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Frank Aubrey
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.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…