Previous SFF Author: Jay Posey
Small Gods by Sir Terry Pratchett
Small Gods (1992) was the first DISCWORLD book I read, and it made me love the series. I reread it recently, and, allowing for certain themes that repeat in all the DISCWORLD books, I found I still enjoyed it. Pratchett delivers a message on the nature of hypocrisy, fanaticism and faith, with lots of smartypants good fun along the way.
Brutha is a novice at the Temple of the Great God Om. While Brutha is a hard worker and a well-meaning lad,
February 28th, 2018. Marion Deeds and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 4 | Terry Pratchett | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
City of Stairs is a glorious, mind-bending mash-up; part second-world fantasy, part political thriller and part murder mystery. Shara Thivani and her “secretary” Sigrud are my two new favorite action heroes.
Robert Jackson Bennett once again, has taken a conventional sub-genre and made it original, creating an experience that reads like an actual sociological thriller set in another, magical world.
Shara Thivani is a junior ambassador from the Saypuri islands – at least, that is her cover.
February 2nd, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
Early in 2013, a new murder mystery came out. Written by an author named Robert Galbraith, The Cuckoo’s Calling was set in England and featured an army veteran detective with a prosthetic leg (he was injured saving other soldiers in Afghanistan), a strange family and an unusual name; Cormoran Strike. A few months later, through a series of different sources, it was revealed that “Robert Galbraith” was a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling,
November 16th, 2017. Marion Deeds and Ryan Skardal´s rating: 3, 4 | J.K. Rowling | Edge | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
I have enjoyed Seanan McGuire’s OCTOBER DAYE urban fantasies, but a few of her more recent novels in the series seemed to introduce too many characters and bring too many different magic systems into play. However, the latest two novels, Chimes at Midnight and The Winter Long (which I’ll review soon), have knocked my socks off with tight plotting and memorable characters. Now I once again find myself impatient for the next one to arrive,
November 10th, 2017. Terry Weyna and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Seanan McGuire | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
At seven minutes past midnight, Conor O’Malley is visited by a monster. But it’s not the monster he’s expecting. This monster is wild and ancient. This monster comes in the form of a yew tree that usually stands atop the hill Conor can see from his bedroom window, in the middle of the graveyard. Except that now it is here, outside his bedroom window, and it wants something from Conor.
Conor O’Malley started getting nightmares after his mother got sick. In them he has terrible visions,
October 18th, 2017. Ray McKenzie´s rating: 5 | Patrick Ness | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
I was a big fan of V.E. Schwab’s 2013 novel Vicious, noting in my review how she had overcome the possible burden of overfamiliar concepts (it’s a folks-with-powers-who-have-some-gray-to-them kind of novel) with supremely polished execution. Well, she’s pretty much done the same with her newest novel, A Darker Shade of Magic, which takes many of the usual fantasy tropes and, again, just handles them all so smoothly that you simply don’t care much that you’ve seen them all before.
June 2nd, 2017. Bill Capossere, Ray McKenzie, Tim Scheidler, Marion Deeds and Skye Walker´s rating: 4 | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
In 2131, humans are minding their own business when a large object thought to be an asteroid is detected at the edge of our solar system. As it gets closer to Earth it is photographed and found to be unnatural — obviously an alien spaceship. A team of scientists is sent to meet the ship dubbed “Rama” and to make our first contact with an alien species. When they get there, they find Rama uninhabited and they set out to discover all they can about the aliens who must have launched it.
May 19th, 2017. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Arthur C. Clarke | BSFA Award, Hugo Award, Locus Award, Nebula Award | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Chrysalids by John Wynhdam
It’s no wonder that David dreams of a distant and wondrous city at night: life in the post-apocalyptic settlement, Waknuk, is difficult. Waknuk’s people are descended from the survivors of the Tribulation, which everyone knows was sent by God to punish the Old People. Though David and his community are lucky to have any land to live on, they must always guard against Deviations — in their crops, in their livestock, and in their children.
Deviations are not made in God’s True Image. Children that,
April 27th, 2017. Ryan Skardal, Sandy Ferber and Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | John Wyndham | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
Warning: Some inevitable spoilers for the previous novels, A Natural History of Dragons and The Tropic of Serpents, will follow.
Voyage of the Basilisk: A Memoir by Lady Trent (2015) is the third in Marie Brennan’s series A NATURAL HISTORY OF DRAGONS, and I found it falling somewhere between books one and two in terms of the reading experiences (better than the first,
April 21st, 2017. Bill Capossere, Marion Deeds and Jana Nyman´s rating: 3.5 | Marie Brennan | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence
Prince Jalan Kendeth is the black sheep of the family. A self-confessed untrustworthy scoundrel and coward who has taken every advantage of the life of luxury that comes with being royalty, he is perfectly content with his life as it is and has no plans to change or inclination for greater things. However, when he crosses paths with a courageous Viking named Snorri, Jal discovers that he may have been destined to stand against an undead evil. Snorri is returning north to rescue his family and,
March 31st, 2017. Greg Hersom and Tim Scheidler´s rating: 5 | Mark Lawrence | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Jay Posey
There were two interesting articles about publishing that I ran across, the first via a link in the second: No…
My pleasure, Robin! And yes, it surely is some kind of an experience, to be sure....
Thanks for the solution to a mystery many decades old. One of my favourite novels, this. Hilariously funny, completely unpredictable,…
Thank you. I’m all caught up. Back to reading Crimson Embers.
Enjoyed your review. I’m reading A War in Crimson Embers and am having the hardest time reminding myself where everybody…