Previous SFF Author: Martin L. Shoemaker
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
I didn’t have a great experience with the first WAYWARD CHILDREN book I read by Seanan McGuire — Every Heart a Doorway — which put me off the next few books in the series. But I decided to give the well-reviewed series another shot with In an Absent Dream (2019), and I’m glad I did as it certainly struck a far more responsive chord and has encouraged me to take a look at the others I’ve missed.
January 22nd, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Seanan McGuire | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Our exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we’ve read recently that we wanted you to know about.
“Birch Daughter” by Sara Norja (2018, free at Fireside Magazine)
“Birch Daughter” is about Aino, a young woman whose mother was turned into a birch tree by an evil spell. After hearing from the forest-folk in her dreams, Aino sets out to save her mother from her fate.
There’s a certain delicacy to “Birch Daughter.” From the first few lines it made me acutely aware of every choice every character made,
January 21st, 2019. Skye Walker, Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman and Bill Capossere | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton
Arwen Elys Dayton’s latest novel, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful (2018) is a novel comprised of six linked stories, each taking part in a different point in humanity’s future, beginning “A few years from now,” leapfrogging to various points beyond, and ending when “They have left us far behind.” Dayton doesn’t specify the precise year or time period, letting the pace and scale of scientific advancements inform the reader’s imagination. Her teenaged protagonists each experience some kind of alteration (or lack thereof) and must cope with backlash,
January 18th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Arwen Elys Dayton | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Thief of Forthe and Other Stories by Clifford Ball
If I were to ask 1,000 people what the words “Clifford Ball” meant to them, those to whom it meant anything, I have a feeling, would reply that the Clifford Ball was the first weekendlong concert bash that the jam band Phish ever held, back in August ’96, in Plattsburgh, N.Y. Fewer, perhaps, would know that the provenance for the name of that shindig was the aviation pioneer Clifford Ball, whose moniker the Phish folks thought would be a cool and punny handle for their event.
January 17th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Clifford Ball | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Trifles and Folly: A Deadly Curiosities Collection by Gail Z. Martin
I haven’t read any of Gail Z. Martin’s DEADLY CURIOSITIES novels, but Tantor Audio sent me Trifles and Folly: A Deadly Curiosities Collection (2016) and I thought it’d be a good introduction to the series.
The premise reminds me of Juliet Blackwell’s WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES, which stars a young woman, Lily Ivory, who gets vibes from used garments. She has a vintage clothing store in San Francisco and,
January 16th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Gail Z. Martin | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Sapphire Goddess: The Fantasies of Nictzin Dyalhis by Nictzin Dyalhis
Unless you have perused the pages of the dozen or so Weird Tales anthologies that have been released over the past 50-plus years, odds are that you have not come across the name “Nictzin Dyalhis.” But during the 15-year period 1925 – 1940, Dyalhis was extraordinarily popular with the readers of that legendary pulp magazine, despite the fact that he only had eight stories published therein during that decade and a half. And of those eight,
January 9th, 2019. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Nictzin Dyalhis | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
It Happened at the Ball edited by Sherwood Smith
This collection of thirteen (mostly) fantasy short stories and a novelette or two is tied together by their ballroom settings, whether it be the Almack’s Regency ballroom (where a group of young ladies happens upon an overly potent magical love potion in Marissa Doyle’s “Just Another Quiet Evening at Almack’s”) or a Civil War-era ball in Galveston, Texas (P.G. Nagle’s “A Waltz for May”). There are also some other themes that surface and resurface: masks and hidden identities,
January 2nd, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Brenda Clough, Marie Brennan, Marissa Doyle, Pati Nagle, Sherwood Smith | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Reposting to include Marion’s review of the new SYFY channel adaptation of Nightflyers. You can find it below our reviews of the novella.
Nightflyers by George R.R. Martin
Nightflyers was first published in 1980, won the Locus Award for best novella, and was nominated for a Hugo Award. It was made into an unsuccessful film in 1987. It’s recently been on people’s radars due to the upcoming SYFY series based on the novella. You can purchase it in several new (2018) formats including an illustrated edition,
December 31st, 2018. Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | George R.R. Martin | Audio, Film / TV, Horror, Locus Award, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley
After reading Robert Sheckley’s Dimension of Miracles, I was eager to read more of his work. That novel was intelligent, creative, thought-provoking, and entertaining. So I picked up Untouched by Human Hands, a collection of Sheckley’s short stories published in the 1950s in the various pulp magazines.
My edition is the audiobook produced by Skyboat Media and read by Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki, and Harlan Ellison.
November 15th, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Robert Sheckley | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
“Thirty-Three Percent Joe” by Suzanne Palmer (2018, free online at Clarkesworld, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Science fiction humor is very hard to pull off, and rarely works for me. This Suzanne Palmer story is a radiant exception. Palmer hits a grand-slam with a human soldier who has 33% of his body replaced with smart parts, including a heart,
November 12th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones | Daryl Gregory, Suzanne Palmer | 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…