Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
These are stand alone novels (not part of a series).
The Truth Against the World by David Corbett
If you like Irish folklore and enjoyed Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, and/or The Road by Cormac McCarthy, then you owe it to yourself to read David Corbett’s 2023 novel The Truth Against the World.
Corbett comes out of the crime novel tradition, and The Truth Against the World brings elements of that, and, as always, an interesting pairing of protagonists. In this case,
November 27th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | David Corbett | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fenris and Mott by Greg Van Eekhout
Fenris and Mott is Greg Van Eekhout’s charming middle grade fantasy-adventure, published in 2022. Mott—short for Martha—is a Pennsylvanian recently uprooted and transplanted to southern California, and Fenris is… well, Fenris is the wolf from Norse mythology, destined to eat the moon and usher in endless winter, endless darkness, and the age of the sword.
Mott is no stranger to broken promises, and when the book opens, she has come off a long string of them. Her absentee father is famous for making promises he doesn’t keep.
November 21st, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Greg Van_Eekhout | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Hand of Kornelius Voyt by Oliver Onions
It was English author Mike Ashley, writing in Newman & Jones’ excellent overview volume Horror: 100 Best Books, who first introduced me to the remarkable collection Widdershins, from 1911. While enthusing about the eight splendidly spooky stories therein, and in particular “The Beckoning Fair One,” one of the greatest ghost stories in the English language, Ashley told his audience that in them “we find a portrayal of madness that leaves the reader uncomfortably unsure about the state of reality and sanity.” Indeed,
November 17th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Oliver Onions | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
The Pale House Devil by Richard Kadrey
The demon who inhabits Pale House in Richard Kadrey’s 2023 novella The Pale House Devil is the star of the show for me. Part of this short, fairly fast-paced story is centered in its point of view, and it is one fascinating, confounding creature. It also has a habit of eating people, so… that’s bad.
In this short outing, Kadrey introduces us to Ford and Neuland, paranormal mercenaries. Ford seems to be a more or less regular human with skills in magic,
November 14th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Richard Kadrey | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Thornhedge (2023), by T. Kingfisher, is a bittersweet fairy tale that starts off on familiar ground and shifts, making us consider who defines the monsters and the heroes. This brief novella reads as smooth as cream, and the story seems simple, but it is not.
Toadling is a fairy, left to maintain a hedge of thorns around a tower, where an enchanted maiden sleeps. From this, you might think you know the story. Toadling is dutiful, strengthening the thorn hedge to discourage the eager knights and princes who come at first,
November 9th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | T. Kingfisher | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Starling House is the central mystery of Eden, Kentucky. Eden is a company town, and that company is Gravely Power, who provides energy to a wide swathe of the southeast. They also poison the air, soil and water of Eden. Periodically the government imposes fines, and the Gravelys pay them and move on. Starling House is an isolated mansion in the woods, close to an abandoned mine shaft that goes deep into the earth. There is less “history” about Starling House than there are rumors, and Opal,
November 1st, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Alix E. Harrow | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Fingers of Fear by J.U. Nicolson
This will hardly be the first time that I have mentioned editor/author Karl Edward Wagner, and his so-called KEW 39 list, in one of my reviews here. But ever since 1983, when the list first appeared in the pages of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine, it has been used as a guide of sorts by horror readers in search of something different. Those 39 novels were divided amongst three categories: The 13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels, The 13 Best Science-Fiction Horror Novels,
October 31st, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | J.U. Nicolson | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock, following the cinematic marvels Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960), brought to the screen his fourth masterpiece in a row, The Birds. That latter film, I had long believed, was based on a short story from 1952 by London-born author Daphne du Maurier, also called “The Birds,” and indeed, at the very beginning of the 1963 film a title card does tell us “From the story by Daphne du Maurier.” It is only recently,
October 24th, 2023. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | Frank Baker | Film / TV, Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
First, a warning: If you are alone while you are reading this book, do not read it after it gets dark. I don’t care how good your motion-sensor lights, your security system and your Ring doorbell are; just don’t do it to yourself. Trust me.
2023’s A Haunting on the Hill, by master writer Elizabeth Hand, is an indirect sequel to another master writer’s classic work, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.
October 13th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Elizabeth Hand | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
If you participate in Bluesky or X (formerly Twitter), you may follow the account called The Midnight Society. If you’ve run across their delightful posts, which imagine conversations among various horror writers throughout history, you might have seen a recent one which featured imaginary J.K. Rowling and Stephen King trading barbs over relative book-length. It had resonance for me because I’d just finished 2023’s Holly, and I have to admit, I was relieved when I bought it and found out it was less than 500 pages in length.
October 10th, 2023. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Stephen King | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Agree! And a perfect ending, too.
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