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The Running Man: Don’t read the introduction!

The Running Man by Stephen King

Ben Richards hates America’s dystopian future. Because he quit his job cleaning up atomic waste before it could sterilize him, Ben finds himself blacklisted and unemployable. He and his wife, Sheila, did manage to conceive, but their daughter now suffers from pneumonia in polluted Co-Op City. Sheila makes ends meet by turning tricks, which bothers Ben.

Ben looks at the people around him and is sickened by their devotion to the Network, a corporation that organizes and televises gladiator games for the masses. Ben knows the games are rigged — no one ever wins — but,

The Lascar’s Dagger: Not bad, but nothing special

The Lascar’s Dagger by Glenda Larke

The Lascar’s Dagger is an interesting blend of political intrigue, religious debate and illustrations of how stereotyping is seldom a good idea. Glenda Larke writes at a fairly easy to consume level, neither demanding that the reader track complex plot elements nor boring the reader with nothing interesting to say. For the first book in a new series, it’s not bad, but I’m not dying to read the next book in the series either.

Saker is a rogue.

April 29th, 2014. John Hulet´s rating: 2 | Glenda Larke | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

The Stochastic Man: Silverberg very near the top of his game

The Stochastic Man by Robert Silverberg

Although his previous output had for several decades been nothing short of prodigious, by the mid-’70s, sci-fi great Robert Silverberg was finally beginning to slow down. The author had released no fewer than 23 sci-fi novels during his initial, “pulpy” phase (1954-1965), and a full 23 more from 1967-1972, his second, more mature, more literate period. And following 1972’s Dying Inside — whose central conceit of a telepath losing his powers has often been seen as corresponding to Silverberg’s self-professed, supposed diminution of his own writing abilities (not that any reader would ever be aware of it) — for the first time in the author’s career,

Magazine Monday: Subterranean Magazine, Spring 2014

The Spring 2014 issue of Subterranean Magazine is as strong as this magazine ever is, and that’s saying a lot. Kat Howard’s story, “Hath No Fury,” stands out as a memorable work about the old gods in the modern age. It is a story about women who are victimized by men, and the women who refuse to allow those victims to go unavenged. Based loosely on the myth of Medea and Jason, the story is told in the first person by one of the Erinyes — the Furies — who in Howard’s contemporary New York are charged with avenging women murdered by husbands,

Written in Red: Dullest protagonist ever

Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Meg Corbyn has escaped from the man who’s been using her prophetic abilities for his own profit. Meg has never been in the outside world — she’s been institutionalized since she was a child — and she has no idea how to take care of herself. The only place where she might successfully hide from her owner is in the Courtyard of the Others, a race of dangerous shapeshifters who are much more animal than human. Meg applies for the Others’ job opening as a liaison to the humans.

Why You Should Read Comics: A Manifesto!

What is Free Comic Book Day?

Started in 2002, Free Comic Book Day — FCBD — is always the first Saturday of May. To get your free comics next week, you’ll need to locate a local comic bookstore and, if in doubt, give them a call to see if they are participating. Chances are, if it’s an independent comic book store, they are offering free comics, because FCBD is designed to celebrate comics, to introduce comic books to new readers, to celebrate the unique independent comic book stores that sell them, and to support comic book stores by bringing in new customers in addition to the regular patrons.

April 25th, 2014. Brad Hawley | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks

While Image is my favorite major publisher of monthly comic titles, First Second is my favorite publisher with a small output of high quality graphic novels, using the term in a very limited sense to refer to comic books that are complete, unified novels either issued at a single point with no previous monthly issues OR trade collections of monthly issues clearly designed to be complete, sustained narrative stories with thematic coherence (such as Watchmen and Daytripper).

April 25th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4.5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |

RUNAWAYS, vol 2: Teenage Wasteland

Runaways: Teenage Wasteland by Brian K. Vaughan

Almost every teenager has a point where he or she decides that parents are either evil, or the lackeys of evil. In the case of six young people in Marvel’s RUNAWAYS, they discover to their shock that their parents truly are, and not just garden variety evil, either; the parents are costumed super-villains. At the end of the first volume of this comic book series collection, the Runaways have gathered information and weapons, and have gone into hiding in a secret hideout.

Sex Criminals: Matt Fraction Emphasizes the “Graphic” in “Graphic Novel”

Sex Criminals by Matt Fraction (writer) and Chip Zdarsky (artist)

Sex Criminals is not just as dirty as it sounds — it’s far more perverse than that. So, if you are even slightly likely to be offended by intentionally offensive material, then I’d stop reading right now. On the other hand, if offensive material becomes less offensive to you by the very fact that it IS intentional — as is the case here for me — then please read on: You just might find Sex Criminals does it for you.

April 25th, 2014. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |

Nightwings: One of Silverberg’s more charming creations

Nightwings by Robert Silverberg

Originally appearing as three separate but linked novellas in the pages of Galaxy magazine, Robert Silverberg‘s Nightwings was, remarkably, the author’s 35th science fiction novel in 15 years; just one of six that he came out with in 1969 alone (the others being Across a Billion Years, the remarkable Downward to the Earth, Three Survived, To Live Again,

Next SFF Author: Ashley Poston

Previous SFF Author: Jay Posey

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Recent Discussion:

David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 5, 2025
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
Bill Capossere on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
We’re in total agreement David!
David C Walton on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Marion Deeds on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil: Ambitious, atmospheric, and ultimately unevenJuly 3, 2025
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.