Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Fantasy Literature for Young Adults (over the age of 12).
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
I loved Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, thought Catching Fire was quite good if not as great as the first one, and was only so-so on Mockingjay. Also, it’s an uphill battle to write a good, enjoyable prequel if the reader already knows what’s going to happen to the main character in the later books and (spoiler) it’s highly unpleasant.
July 26th, 2021. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Suzanne Collins | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Victory on Janus by Andre Norton
Victory on Janus (1966) is the sequel to Andre Norton’s Judgment on Janus (1963). The two novels make up the JANUS duology (Baen, 2002) which has recently been published by Tantor Media as an audiobook (2021). Gabriel Vaughan, the narrator, gives an excellent performance.
In Judgment on Janus, we met Naill Renfro, who was an indentured servant on the frontier planet of Janus.
July 19th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2.5 | Andre Norton | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Judgment on Janus by Andre Norton
Naill Renfro lives in The Dipple, a ghetto on the pleasure planet of Korwar (same setting as in Catseye). He and his mother arrived there years ago as refugees when their home was destroyed by a space war. Now his mother is dying and she’s in a lot of pain and anguish. To purchase a final gift and a peaceful death for his mother, Naill sells himself into indentured servitude on a frontier planet called Janus.
When Naill arrives on Janus,
July 12th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Andre Norton | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott
Unconquerable Sun (2020) is the latest YA novel from Kate Elliott, the first novel in THE SUN CHRONICLES, and is nominated for a 2021 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction novel. The conceit is that Elliott has gender-flipped the historical narrative of Alexander the Great, adding a space opera setting full of galaxy-spanning politics and military battles, along with the complications created by unimaginably wealthy and privileged people.
Unfortunately, this one was not a success for me.
June 21st, 2021. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2 | Kate Elliott | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
Deathless Divide (2020) is the sequel to Justina Ireland’s 2018 novel Dread Nation, the fresh take on zombies I reviewed previously. Much like its predecessor, Deathless Divide maintains a break-neck pace and an engaging cast of characters from beginning to end.
I enjoyed Deathless Divide just as much as I did Dread Nation.
June 16th, 2021. Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Justina Ireland | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Yadriel’s Latinx community in East Los Angeles practices brujería. The men are brujos who escort ghosts to their final resting place and the women are brujas who have healing powers. But Yadriel’s large close family has not supported his desire to be a brujo because he is transgender. Their community has strict gender roles, they don’t see him as a boy, and they don’t think the brujo magic will work for him (though the women’s bruja magic definitely doesn’t work for Yadriel).
Yadriel is determined to prove not only that he is a boy,
June 9th, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Aiden Thomas | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar
16-year-old Sheetal seems like any other normal Indian-American teenager. She’s close to her large family, has a best friend and a boyfriend, and she’s looking forward to going to college. What most people don’t know, though, is that her father, a famous astrophysicist, married a star.
Sheetal’s mother left years ago to ascend to her celestial court, and she told Sheetal never to let anybody suspect that she’s half star. To hide this fact, Sheetal dyes her silver hair black, but lately the hair dye has not been taking.
May 21st, 2021. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Shveta Thakrar | Audio, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Tarisai, who has the magical gift of being able to perceive the memories of objects and people, has always lived a sheltered life in her mother’s large house. She rarely sees her mysterious mother and is taken care of by unfriendly servants and tutors who are rigorously educating her for some unknown task. Lonely, Tarisai longs for companionship, travel, freedom, and a sense of purpose.
When she is 11 years old, without any explanation, Tarisai’s mother sends her to the capital to compete to be one of the crown prince’s 11 counselors.
May 17th, 2021. Kat Hooper and Terry Weyna´s rating: 4.5 | Jordan Ifueko | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders
2021’s Victories Greater That Death is the first book in Charlie Jane Anders’s new Young Adult space opera series, UNSTOPPABLE. The book is filled with smart, heroic young people, extraterrestrials, space adventures, horrifying villains, bad food and plenty of relationships, as six Terran humans get pulled up onto The Royal Fleet warship Indomitable. The Royal Fleet is smack-dab in the middle of a war with a faction that calls itself Compassion.
May 12th, 2021. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Charlie Jane Anders | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Winterkeep (2021) is the fourth book set in Kristin Cashore’s GRACELING REALM fantasy world, the prior novels being Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue. The first was a five-star, best-of-the-year choice for me, and Fire was nearly as good. The third book was a bit of a drop-off, though not far. Unfortunately though, Winterkeep continues that downward trend,
January 26th, 2021. Bill Capossere´s rating: 3 | Kristin Cashore | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
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…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…