Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
These are stand alone novels (not part of a series).
The Book of Love: A Novel by Kelly Link
The Book of Love (2024) is both a book only Kelly Link could have written and a book only Kelly Link could have written. What I mean by that is that the book has Link’s DNA all over it, all the elements and feel of a Kelly Link story, from statues coming to life and walking off their plinths to ancient temples rising alongside a sleepy seaside town to beautifully stunning transformations and transmutations. There are cats of course.
March 12th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Cosmic Puppets by Philip K. Dick
By the time 1956 rolled around, future cult author Philip K. Dick had already seen 80 of his short stories published, as well as his first novel, 1955’s Solar Lottery. But 1956 would turn out to be an important year for the seemingly indefatigable writer. His second and third novels, The World Jones Made and The Man Who Japed,
March 5th, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Philip K. Dick | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
I was a big fan of Katherine Arden’s WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY and ended my review of that series by saying I was greatly looking forward to seeing what she did next. Well, what’s next is The Warm Hands of Ghosts (2024), a standalone historical novel set in the horrors of WWI that happily mostly maintains the high bar of quality Arden set with that earlier trilogy, though I had a few issues with some elements.
February 29th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Katherine Arden | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
The Butcher of the Forest (2024) is a dark fantastical novella by Premee Mohamed that hearkens back to the original old folktales by refusing to sand off the edges of the genre to make it safe or cozy. More faerie than fairy, as much horror as fantasy, it is as unsettling and bittersweet a read as it is a worthy one.
The tale is set in an empire ruled by The Tyrant, “the man with a thousand names and a thousand cities under his bootheel … bringer of death,
February 27th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Premee Mohamed | Horror, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Sentinels From Space by Eric Frank Russell
In the science fiction novel of 1953, mutants and their various abilities – especially telepathic – were apparently all the rage. Alfred Bester’s The Demolished Man, the first novel to win the Hugo Award, showed us how difficult a proposition murder could be in a society of mind readers. In Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore’s Mutant, the “Baldies” referred to in the title had to learn how to live among a society that feared and despised them.
February 23rd, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3.5 | Eric Frank Russell | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
“It’s easier to be a villain than a pub owner, I’ll tell you that much.”
I think most people know the plot of John Scalzi’s 2023 novel, Starter Villain. Our protagonist, Charlie, is divorced. He’s been downsized out of his job as a business journalist, and is eking out a living as a substitute math teacher. When the story opens, his best or only friend is his cat Hera. Then Charlie learns that his enigmatic Uncle Jake,
February 19th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | John Scalzi | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Reign of Wizardry by Jack Williamson
Perhaps because Jack Williamson was named the second science fiction Grand Master, in 1976, and managed to cop both the coveted Hugo and Nebula Awards, it is easy to forget that the Arizona Territory-born author did write in other fields than just sci-fi. For example, I have already written here of his marvelously scary novella “Wolves of Darkness” (1932), as well as his now-classic lycanthropy novel Darker Than You Think (1948) … two works that doubtless helped him win the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement,
February 6th, 2024. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Jack Williamson | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 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 |
Daybreak – 2250 A.D. (aka Star Man’s Son) by Andre Norton
It’s 2250 A.D., two hundred years after a nuclear holocaust destroyed most life, knowledge, history, and civilization on Earth. Fors, a young man with a mutation that renders his hair silver and his hearing and sight extra keen, is a descendent of a group of scientists who used to do nuclear research before it all went wrong. Fors desperately wants to become a Star Man like his father who died on a quest ten years ago.
January 10th, 2024. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
And so, I have just come to the end of a lot of nine novels from the remarkable publisher known as Valancourt Books. And what an ennead they were! In chronological order: Ernest G. Henham’s Tenebrae (1898), a tale of fratricide, guilt, madness … and giant spiders; R.C. Ashby’s He Arrived at Dusk (1933), which tells of the ghost of a Roman centurion haunting modern-day Northumberland; G.S. Marlowe’s I Am Your Brother (1935),
December 29th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | John Symonds | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
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.