Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
These are stand alone novels (not part of a series).
A beautiful fairytale for the YA reader, Chalice is a very loose reinterpretation of a Beauty and the Beast story. Mirasol is a beekeeper who is forced to become the Chalice for her demesne after the previous Chalice and Master are killed in an accident. Her role is to bind her abused land back together and to the new Master, a Priest of Fire, a being who isn’t quite human and can burn both the land and human flesh with the barest touch.
September 18th, 2008. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3.5 | Robin McKinley | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
As much as I love reading fairytales, there’s always the sense that I’m only getting half of the story. There’s never any character development, explanations on where those magical artifacts come from, or why the bad guys act so villainous beyond the fairly rudimentary: “they’re evil.” In fairytales, things just happen, with little or no back-story.
Which is why I’ve always appreciated authors who consider the missing pieces to any fairytale and fill them accordingly with their own ideas. Donna Jo Napoli has built her career on this technique,
September 1st, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Helen Lowe | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Situation by Jeff Vandermeer
I’m a big fan of both Jeff VanderMeer and PS Publishing, so imagine my surprise when I found a copy of The Situation in my hard drive, a giveaway from Wired that I had downloaded but forgotten, mainly because it wasn’t in my immediate must-be-read-for-review-or-else-we’ll-send-ninjas queue. The first scene immediately hooked me, evoking a New Weird atmosphere as corporate drones created insects that crawled into your ears and conjured nightmares, all the while being quite readable instead of the overwhelming details that characterize China Mieville‘s NEW CROBUZON novels.
August 26th, 2008. Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3.5 | Jeff VanderMeer | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Through a Brazen Mirror by Delia Sherman
Through a Brazen Mirror is the sort of book that deserves a wider audience than it’s gotten so far. The author is a lesbian, and the book contains a gay character. Since mainstream publishers are still a little squeamish about such things, this book gets the label “Queer Fantasy” slapped on it, gets published by a small press, and the upshot of it is that most straight readers have never heard of the darn thing. And that’s a shame. This isn’t just a good “gay book,”
July 9th, 2008. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Delia Sherman | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
I was drawn to Christopher Priest’s novel after having watched and enjoyed the Nolan brothers’ film adaptation of The Prestige. Going into the reading, I knew that several plot twists would be spotted a mile away, but the film is sufficiently different from its source material that Priest’s work contains several surprises.
Journalist Andrew Westley is brought under false pretences to a Derbyshire estate to meet with a young woman who is quite desperate to get in contact with him.
June 17th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Christopher Priest | Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Crystal Mountain by Ruth Sanderson
If it were up to me, I’d make sure every single children’s bookshelf had at least one of Ruth Sanderson’s wonderful books. Her stories are simple, sweet, and yet thought-provoking, and her illustrations are clear, uncluttered and utterly beautiful. The Crystal Mountain is no exception, and is definitely up there as one of her best works.
As she did with The Golden Mare, the Firebird and the Magic Ring, Sanderson ingeniously combines more than one fairy or folk tale to create a story that is both new and familiar.
June 17th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Ruth Sanderson | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Great God Pan by Donna Jo Napoli
Donna Jo Napoli is famous for her retellings of fairytales; from Rapunzel (Zel), Rumplestiltskin (Spinners) and Hansel and Gretel (The Magic Circle), but she’s also done a couple of Greek myths as well: Sirena, and this, The Great God Pan. Taking inspiration from two mythological mysteries: the fate of Iphigenia (the king’s daughter sacrificed in order to ensure safe passage to Troy) and the goat-legged god Pan (of whom Plutarch wrote: “the great god Pan is dead!”),
June 13th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Donna Jo Napoli | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Orphaned and married off at the age of 5, Marian Fitzwater is awakened during the night of her 15th birthday, the day of which she was to move to her husband’s castle, to be told that he has just died.
As an unmarried woman with land attached to her name, she is now not only a very desirable catch, but now a pawn in the Queen of England’s strategic chess game to supposedly turn all of England to her son, King Richard’s favor. The catch is,
June 12th, 2008. Guest´s rating: 3 | Elsa Watson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Storm at the Edge of Time by Pamela F. Service
Storm at the Edge of Time is a good idea, and nicely presented, but on reading it one realises it could have been a lot better with a little more length and time, as well as depth into the characters and circumstances.
Jamie is a young American girl holidaying in Scotland, Arni is a young Viking living on the coast, and Tyaak is a half-human, half-alien boy who is going through with his rite-of-passage stay on Earth’s island of Britain.
June 7th, 2008. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | Pamela F. Service | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
CLASSIFICATION: With its intriguing blend of steampunk, gothic romance, political intrigue, and fairy tale spirit — not to mention metaphors on such real world issues as terrorism and racial discrimination — The Alchemy of Stone is like a bizarre, but captivating cross between Frankenstein, Pan’s Labyrinth, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Steamboy, Tool’s animated stop-motion music videos, and the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle).
June 7th, 2008. Robert Thompson´s rating: 4 | Ekaterina Sedia | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
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