Previous SFF Author: C.M. Eddy_Jr
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.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood was once, via a review of her work, once taken a bit publicly to task by Ursula K. LeGuin for not wanting her books (specifically The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, and The Year of the Flood) to be labeled “science fiction,” because, LeGuin speculated, Atwood did not want to be relegated to the genre ghetto. Atwood, however, responded that it was merely a definitional issue.
November 29th, 2017. Bill Capossere, Stuart Starosta, Rebecca Fisher and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Margaret Atwood | Audio, Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Early in 2013, a new murder mystery came out. Written by an author named Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo’s Calling was set in England and featured an army veteran detective with a prosthetic leg (he was injured saving other soldiers in Afghanistan), a strange family and an unusual name; Cormoran Strike. A few months later, through a series of different sources, it was revealed that “Robert Galbraith” was a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling,
November 16th, 2017. Marion Deeds and Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3, 4 | J.K. Rowling | Edge | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young by Kurt Vonnegut
If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young collects nine graduation speeches delivered by Kurt Vonnegut. Published in 2013, this posthumous collection is introduced by the writer Dan Wakefield. The earliest speech was delivered in 1978, while the latest was given in 2004.
These speeches are almost exactly what Vonnegut’s fans would expect of him — so much so that I wish I’d attempted to write a speech from the point of view of Kurt Vonnegut before beginning this book.
September 27th, 2017. Ryan Skardal and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Kurt Vonnegut | Edge, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
As anyone who reads the dust jacket will realize, Michael Crichton’s Dragon Teeth (2017) is about dinosaur fossils and the obsessed palaeontologists who traveled into the American frontier during the Gilded Age to gently dig them up. Sadly, it’s not about dinosaurs eating people.
William Johnson is a student at Yale. The son of a wealthy Philadelphia family, Johnson goes west to win a bet against his rival. He joins Professor Marsh, an eccentric and paranoid man who specializes in the bizarre new science,
September 19th, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 2 | Michael Crichton | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
A bit of classic magical realism today. First published in 1989 in installments, Like Water for Chocolate was a bestseller in Laura Esquivel’s native Mexico and subsequently around the world. A popular film version earned the story a place in yet more hearts (if you are tempted to watch it, don’t watch the version with the English voice-over, stick with the Spanish). The story is a heady combination of love, passion, family drama, food, recipes, and magic, all set against the backdrop of the Mexican Revolution.
September 6th, 2017. Katie Burton´s rating: 5 | Laura Esquivel | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Gods of War by Conn Iggulden
Every reader who starts Conn Iggulden’s Emperor: The Gods of War (2006) already knows that in this novel Caesar crosses the Rubicon, defeats Pompey, meets Cleopatra, and is ultimately betrayed by Marcus Brutus, his best friend. The point of the plot is not what happened but why. Caesar spent his life fighting for the Republic, but he betrayed it. Why? Brutus spent his life fighting for Caesar but chose to murder him. Why? The Gods of War should not work as a novel if it does not excel at character development.
August 8th, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 4 | Conn Iggulden | Edge | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden
Conn Iggulden’s The Field of Swords (2005) follows a Caesar who is no longer young. Though he is still eminently capable and still driven to work day and night in pursuit of glory, he is exhausted rather than energized by his work in Spain. Naturally, the real story begins when he returns to Rome to form an alliance with Pompey and Crassus.
Rome considers itself the greatest city in the world, but, to our eyes,
June 13th, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Conn Iggulden | Edge | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden
Julius is a young soldier. He fights in northern Africa, but he is not in command. Still, he is very well trained, is charismatic and trusts his instincts, and he is beginning to learn what it means to command and why he loves everything Rome stands for. He is confident, idealistic, and capable, a potent combination that leads to many victories. By the end of the novel, he will deal with Spartacus and Sulla, pirates, and senators who wish him ill. He will taste true power,
May 31st, 2017. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | Conn Iggulden | Edge | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
I’ve long been a huge fan of George Saunders’ short stories, which I consider to be generally brilliant both individually and taken as a whole in terms of their commentary on this world and the strange creatures (us) who inhabit it. That commentary is often a blend of satirical fireworks and a warmer, more human exploration of the human condition, and it is the latter of those two that one recognizes most often in his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo,
April 14th, 2017. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | George Saunders | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Mindwarpers by Eric Frank Russell
For his ninth novel out of what would ultimately run to 10, English sci-fi author Eric Frank Russell pulled a bit of a switcheroo on his readers. The book in question was initially released in the U.K. in 1964 in a hardcover edition by British publishing house Dennis Dobson, sporting the title With a Strange Device. A year later, it was released here in the U.S. as a 50-cent Lancer paperback (the edition that I was fortunate enough to acquire at Brooklyn bookstore extraordinaire Singularity),
April 13th, 2017. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Eric Frank Russell | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: C.M. Eddy_Jr
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