Previous SFF Author: Jay Posey
The Skull Throne by Peter Brett
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Peter Brett’s DEMON CYCLE series from the beginning, and the most recent addition, The Skull Throne, continues to impress, even as it sidelines two of its major characters for the vast majority of the book. Fair warning, the review can’t help but offer up some spoilers for prior novels, especially the last one, which ended literally on a cliffhanger.
The prior books have shifted from emphasizing various points of view,
April 7th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Peter V. Brett | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie’s Half the World is book two of his SHATTERED SEA trilogy. Although Yarvi and some of the cast from book one do make an appearance, Half the World isn’t exactly a sequel to Half a King, and I almost think you could read it without having read book one. The overarching storyline follows Father Yarvi’s quest to find allies abroad as Gettland’s enemies close in,
April 7th, 2015. Kevin Wei and Tadiana Jones´s rating: 5 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Bill Masen wakes in a hospital with bandages over his eyes. Finally, he will be able to expose his eyes to light — if only a nurse or doctor would come to remove the bandages. Well, no one is left to help Bill because a gnarly comet has blinded every person that watched its lightshow. Bill removes his bandages, leaves the hospital, and learns that English civilization — perhaps human civilization — has collapsed due to mass blindness.
Without its ability to see,
April 7th, 2015. Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3 | John Wyndham | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Devil’s Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth
Thomas Fool is an Information Man in Hell. As an Information Man, he investigates cases of violence and death; and there are many. Thomas thinks he’s been in Hell about six years. Before that, his soul floated in the sea of Limbo that surrounds Hell, until it was pulled out by a demon and embodied in the human form he wears now. Fool, as he calls himself, does not know why he is in Hell or what he must atone for, because no human who is fished from Limbo and sent here remembers any part of their human lives.
April 6th, 2015. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Simon Kurt Unsworth | Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clarke
The City and The Stars is a 1954 rewrite of Arthur C. Clarke’s first book Against the Fall of Night (1948). There are plenty of adherents of the original version, but the revised version is excellent too.
As one of his earlier classic tales, this one features many familiar genre tropes: A far-future city called Diaspar, where technology is so sophisticated it seems like magic, a young (well not exactly,
April 6th, 2015. Stuart Starosta and Kat Hooper´s rating: 5 | Arthur C. Clarke | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Reality Bug by D.J. MacHale
The Reality Bug is the fourth novel in D.J. MacHale’s 10-book PENDRAGON series for teens. In each novel, young Bobby Pendragon, a Traveler, visits a different “territory” (world) where he tries to prevent Saint Dane, the evil villain, from causing enough chaos to completely destroy the multiverse.
This time Bobby is summoned to the territory of Veelox, which seems peaceful at first. Then he learns that Veelox is quiet because 90% of its population is plugged into a computer simulation that allows them to control and play out all their fantasies.
April 6th, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | D.J. MacHale | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence by J. Richard Stevens
Captain America, Masculinity, and Violence, by J. Richard Stevens, is the second academic exploration of comics that I’ve read this week, and while Stevens’ text isn’t as strong as Liam Burke’s look at comic book films (you can see that review here), its sharper focus and thorough exploration of the Captain America character makes it a worthwhile addition to the field.
[note: apologies for what may be a lack of specificity in the review.
April 4th, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Comics, Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
How to Clone a Mammoth by Beth Shapiro
Those very few times we have covered non-fiction titles here, they’ve all been pretty firmly and directly connected to our main focus, limited to reviews of biographies or critical of well-known fantasy/science fiction authors.
Today though, I’m going to wander a bit further afield with a review of Beth Shapiro’s How to Clone a Mammoth, a straight popular science book. Why? Three basic reasons:
April 3rd, 2015. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Prudence is the first book in Gail Carriger’s new CUSTARD PROTOCOL series. It’s a spin-off of THE PARASOL PROTECTORATE, her five-book series which is about genteel vampires and werewolves in Victorian London. You don’t need to read PARASOL PROTECTORATE before starting Prudence, but you’ll understand the characters and world a little better if you do.
Those who are familiar with PARASOL PROTECTORATE will know who Prudence is. She’s the daughter of Lady Alexia Tarabotti,
April 3rd, 2015. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | Gail Carriger | Audio | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
The Forgotten Planet by Murray Leinster
There is a wonderful old term used to describe a feature of Golden Age science fiction novels: BEM, an acronym for “bug-eyed monsters.” Back in the 1930s and ‘40s, you see, the covers of many sci-fi pulp magazines featured illustrations of bulbous-orbed, invariably menacing aliens and other creatures; just do a Google Image search for the Thrilling Wonder Stories periodical and you’ll see what I mean! But anyone wanting to actually READ a book with more BEMs than any 10 other sci-fi books of the era combined would be well advised to pick up Murray Leinster’s The Forgotten Planet.
April 3rd, 2015. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | Murray Leinster | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Jay Posey
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.