Previous SFF Author: Jay Posey
Pillar to the Sky by William R. Forstchen
While reading William R. Forstchen’s Pillar to the Sky, I kept thinking this is what would have happened if, back in the 1960’s, NASA had commissioned Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein to co-write a story that would get Americans excited about space exploration… and then forgot to send it to an editor. Pillar to the Sky has an exciting premise and an appealing nostalgic feel, but it’s marred by some annoying editorial issues.
April 23rd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3 | William R. Forstchen | Audio | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar
In A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar takes us on a journey that is as familiar and foreign as a land in a dream. It’s a study of two traditions, written and oral, and how they intersect. Samatar uses exquisite language and precise details to craft a believable world filled with sight, sound and scent.
The book follows Jevick, who journeys from Bain, the Harbor City of the land of Olondria to a distant valley, on a quest to settle the ghost that haunts him.
April 23rd, 2014. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Sofia Samatar | Stand-Alone, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In 2010, I put Kate Milford’s The Boneshaker on my list of favorite books of the year. In 2012, I put her The Broken Lands on my list of favorite books of the year. Well, another two years have passed, Milford is out with another story, and, well, you know the rest . . .
Though maybe not all the rest, as there’s a bit of a twist to her newest work, Bluecrowne.
April 22nd, 2014. Bill Capossere | Kate Milford | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sky Raiders is the first book in Brandon Mull’s new FIVE KINGDOMS series for Middle Grade readers. It’s about a boy named Cole who takes his friends, including a girl he has a crush on, to a haunted house on Halloween Night. The occupants of the house lure the kids into the basement where they’re abducted, taken to another world called The Five Kingdoms, and sold into slavery.
As you might guess, Cole feels a little guilty about this.
April 22nd, 2014. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Brandon Mull | Audio, Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Expiration Day by William Campbell Powell
Expiration Day, by William Campbell Powell, was a book I almost didn’t bother finishing and only ended up doing so because of that added sense of obligation of having received it for free to review. Had I picked it up on my own, I almost certainly would have dropped it somewhere about halfway in. As usual, in these cases, this will be a relatively short review so as not to belabor the issue.
In 2049, humanity has all but died out and is racing to find a cure to this plague of infertility that has been around for some while now.
April 22nd, 2014. Bill Capossere´s rating: 1.5 | William Campbell Powell | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The April issue of Apex Magazine opens with Sigrid Ellis’s editorial, in which she explains that the issue is about repair: “It’s an often-broken world we inhabit. Things falter, plans and bodies and hopes go awry. But we, and the world, keep going. Rebuilt, repaired and reformed. The future will not look like the past. It’s out there, waiting for us, anyway.” They are hopeful words, appropriate to the Easter season, and the fiction Ellis gives us this month is equally hopeful.
“Perfect” by Haddayr Copley-Woods doesn’t start out hopefully,
April 21st, 2014. Terry Weyna | Lavie Tidhar, Pamela Dean | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
We’ve got Jaleigh Johnson with us today. I recently enjoyed her new Middle Grade novel, The Mark of the Dragonfly, which has a wonderful premise and setting. Johnson is best known for her contributions to the FORGOTTEN REALMS shared universe, so Middle Grade is a new realm for her. Curious about how she approached this challenge, I asked her what she does differently when she writes for kids. Her response is below and, at the end, she wants to know what YOU are looking for in a story for children.
April 17th, 2014. Bill Capossere | Jaleigh Johnson | Thoughtful Thursday | 10 comments |
Malvolio’s Revenge by Sophie Masson
I’ve read plenty of Sophie Masson’s novels and enjoyed them all, but I’m fairly certain that Malvolio’s Revenge may end up being my favourite. Though Masson usually writes straight-out fantasy stories, this is a more of a mystery with a few supernatural trappings thrown in.
The book’s title is a bit misleading, for this book isn’t a sequel to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Instead it refers to the title of a play that the travelling troupe of actors who comprise our main characters are performing all around Louisiana.
April 17th, 2014. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Sophie Masson | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Revolutions by Felix Gilman
At not quite the halfway point in Felix Gilman’s The Revolutions, the main character — Arthur Shaw — reacts to a particular text he is reading:
It was a hodge-podge of Masonry, Greek myth, Egyptian fantasy, debased Christianity, third-hand Hinduism, and modern and ancient astronomy, promiscuously and nonsensically mixed . . . The Book was riddled throughout with paradox and absurdity and contradiction . . . But after a week or two of study, Arthur began to enjoy it.
April 16th, 2014. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Felix Gilman | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
Shattered Pillars by Elizabeth Bear
Elizabeth Bear’s entire ETERNAL SKY trilogy is now sitting in a neat row on my bookshelf. I adored the first book and consumed the second one so quickly it went by in a blur of semi-divine horses and cool but unpronounceable names. Before I read Steles of the Sky (released on April 10th), it’s worth pausing to reconsider the middle book in what might be one of my favorite fantasy series in recent years.
In Shattered Pillars,
April 16th, 2014. Alix E. Harrow´s rating: 4 | Elizabeth Bear | SFF Reviews | 2 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.