Previous SFF Author: Martin L. Shoemaker
Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh
Silver in the Wood (2019) is an enchanting novella by Emily Tesh, who is a finalist for the 2020 Astounding Award. It is the first in Tesh’s GREENHOLLOW DUOLOGY; the sequel, Drowned Country, will be released in August.
Tobias has lived alone for a long time. He’s a sort of guardian of the forest, keeping its assorted supernatural creatures from getting out of hand. (He’s also a couple of other things,
June 26th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Emily Tesh | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
King Kull by Robert E. Howard & Lin Carter
There’s a reason why I never lend out books anymore, even to my closest friends; namely, the fact that when I used to loan them out, I never got them back in the same good condition, or, even worse, never got them back at all. Cases in point: three paperbacks from one of my old favorite writers, Texas-born Robert E. Howard. Back in the mid-‘60s, Lancer Books released all of Howard’s Conan the Barbarian stories in a now-classic series of 12 paperbacks,
June 26th, 2020. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Lin Carter, Robert E. Howard | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (2020) is a surprisingly warmhearted fantasy novella set in a war-torn Asian country. It’s a queer take on wuxia, a time-honored genre of Chinese fiction based on heroes skilled in the martial arts, frequently in superhuman, fantastical ways (think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or even Kung Fu Panda).
One day,
June 24th, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Zen Cho | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Cleric Chih and their hoopoe, Almost Brilliant, are on a journey to the capital — both to view the next month’s impending eclipse and to be present at “the new empress’ Dragon Court” — and along the way, the two make a stop at Lake Scarlet, where an old woman invites the pair to stay and catalogue, for the first time, the treasures held there. Chih soon discovers that the old woman, named Rabbit, has a fair number of stories to tell as well: stories of The Empress of Salt and Fortune,
June 22nd, 2020. Jana Nyman´s rating: 5 | Nghi Vo | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Between 1955 and 1995 Poul Anderson published a series of short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels, about the Time Patrol, a secret group of people from all over the world whose job is to protect the world history we know. They jump up and down the timeline, making sure that terrorists and other disruptors don’t use time travel to remake history to suit their own malign purposes. Or any purposes, actually. Their goal is to keep history the same, even with all its evils,
June 22nd, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Poul Anderson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. This week’s post reviews two more Locus Award nominees, along with other recent short fiction works that we’ve enjoyed.
Late Returns by Joe Hill (2019, included in the Full Throttle collection). Locus award finalist (novelette)
Joe Hill, who like his famous father typically writes in the horror genre, switches it up in Late Returns, a novelette that was originally published in his Full Throttle (2019) collection of short fiction.
June 18th, 2020. Tadiana Jones, Skye Walker and Kat Hooper | Joe Hill, Suzanne Palmer, Tobias Buckell | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds’ Permafrost (2019), a finalist for the 2020 Locus Award for Best Novella, is billed as “a time-traveling climate fiction adventure.” It takes place in two timelines.
In 2080, humanity seems to be coming to an end, mostly due to a lack of food. Valentina Lidova, an elderly Russian math teacher, attempts to continue teaching her malnourished students, knowing all the while that it’s futile.
Then she’s visited by someone from an institution called Permafrost who offers a crazy-sounding solution.
June 18th, 2020. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Alastair Reynolds | Audio, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
SHORTS: Our column exploring free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. This week’s post reviews several more of the current crop of Locus Award nominees in the short fiction categories.
“A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy” by Rebecca Roanhorse (2019, anthologized in The Mythic Dream, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe). 2020 Locus award finalist (short story).
In the future, people’s memories can be stored and preserved even after they’ve died, and other people can inject them like drugs.
June 15th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter, Tadiana Jones, Skye Walker and Terry Weyna | Elizabeth Bear, Fonda Lee, Ken Liu, Rebecca Roanhorse, T. Kingfisher, Theodora Goss | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Phantoms of the Midway by Seanan McGuire (2019, anthologized in The Mythic Dream, edited by Dominik Parisien and Navah Wolfe). 2020 Locus award finalist (novelette).
Most kids dream of running away to join the carnival. Seventeen-year-old Aracely dreams of running away from the carnival. Her mother, Daisy, is the boss and the tattoo artist of the traveling fair,
June 8th, 2020. Kelly Lasiter and Tadiana Jones | Ann Leckie, Fonda Lee, Kelly Link, Seanan McGuire, Ted Chiang | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews
Sweep with Me (2020), the fifth book in Ilona Andrews’s INNKEEPER CHRONICLES series, finds Dina DeMille fretting with her boyfriend Sean about an upcoming official review of Dina and the Gertrude Hunt, her magical inn for interstellar travelers. The innkeepers’ Assembly is concerned about some of the goings-on at the Gertrude Hunt and whether Dina and Sean have been keeping their rules, including not letting anyone on Earth know that their inn isn’t an ordinary one.
June 1st, 2020. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Ilona Andrews | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Martin L. Shoemaker
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…