Reposting to include Bill’s new review.
Deadly Memory by David Walton
In 2023’s Deadly Memory, by David Walton, the challenges humanity faces have never been higher. A virus so deadly it can kill nearly every species on the planet is loose, and a pheromone-based drug that allows the wearer to dominate everyone who smells it is in the hands of authoritarians from more than one global power. The source of the substance, and the possible antidote to it, is hidden away,
May 22nd, 2023. Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | David Walton | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dead Country by Max Gladstone
Dead Country (2023) is Max Gladstone’s seventh title in his highly recommended CRAFT series (OK, technically, it’s the start of a new trilogy entitled CRAFT WARS), which might make some readers who sadly have yet to wade into the series hesitant to pick it up. But in some ways, Dead Country is oddly a perfect place to enter this universe. Let me explain.
No, there is too much.
April 5th, 2023. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4 | Max Gladstone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Martha Wells continues her popular and highly-acclaimed MURDERBOT DIARIES series with another novella, Fugitive Telemetry (2021), which actually takes place before the only novel in the series so far, Network Effect. (So you could read this one before that novel, but you do need to read books 1-4 first.) At this point in time Murderbot, the introverted and snarky cyborg who is the narrator and the heart of this series, is a fairly new resident on Preservation,
January 24th, 2023. Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman, Skye Walker and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Martha Wells | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Network Effect by Martha Wells
Martha Wells’ Murderbot has been gathering enthusiastic fans (which would be certain to have Murderbot hiding behind its opaque armored faceplate), along with multiple Nebula, Hugo and other awards and nominations, as each of the first four novellas in the MURDERBOT DIARIES series has been published over the last three years. In Network Effect (2020), the first full-length novel in this series, Wells is able to explore a more complex plot and to more fully develop Murderbot’s character and its relationships with others.
December 29th, 2022. Tadiana Jones, Jana Nyman, Marion Deeds, Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Martha Wells | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham
I have to say, my timing of reading Daniel Abraham’s newest novel, Age of Ash (2022), couldn’t have been better, coming as it did right after I finished the last EXPANSE novel, the series he co-wrote with Ty Franck (as James S.A. Corey). After all, while THE EXPANSE has been my favorite sci-fi series for the past number of years, Abraham was also responsible for two of my favorite fantasy series: THE LONG PRICE QUARTET and THE COIN AND THE DAGGER,
August 26th, 2022. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 5 | Daniel Abraham | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse
Fevered Star (2022) is the follow-up to Rebecca Roanhorse’s enjoyably original Black Sun, set in a fantastical Mesoamerica (with a few other cultures mixed in as well). As the second book, it does suffer somewhat from that dreaded middle book curse, but Roanhorse offers enough original worldbuilding here to compensate for the book’s weaker aspects, leaving the reader eager to see the trilogy’s conclusion.
As with Black Sun,
August 16th, 2022. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 4, 4.5 | Rebecca Roanhorse | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
FORMAT/INFO: Leviathan Wakes is 592 pages long divided over a Prologue, 55 chapters and an Epilogue. Extras include an interview with the author and an extract from Caliban’s War, the second book in The Expanse series. Narration is in the third person, alternating between Executive Officer James Holden and Detective Miller, except for the Prologue (Julie) and Epilogue (Fred). Leviathan Wakes is mostly self-contained, coming to a satisfying stopping point,
August 9th, 2022. Robert Thompson, Bill Capossere and Justin Blazier´s rating: 4.5, 5 | James S.A. Corey | Audio | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Reposting to include Marion’s new review.
Last Exit by Max Gladstone
Here is Max Gladstone’s recipe for a Last Exit (2022) cocktail:
Gladstone’s newest is a darkly compelling and intense work,
June 16th, 2022. Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Max Gladstone | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 10 comments |
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
One thing we can be sure to expect from Colson Whitehead is the unexpected. The double Pulitzer Prize winner shot to fame with the alternate history (and FanLit favourite) The Underground Railroad. He debuted with speculative fiction, later wrote a zombie novel, and his work now takes another twist: a heist novel, in the form of his latest release, Harlem Shuffle (2021).
The book follows Ray Carney, a furniture salesman in 1950s –
October 21st, 2021. Ray McKenzie and Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Colson Whitehead | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
What do a pair of young kids on the opposite sides of the fall of Constantinople, the protagonist of an ancient Greek tale, an eco-terrorist, a Korean war vet and former prisoner-of-war, and a young girl on a generation ship have in common? Well, besides all being major characters in Anthony Doerr’s newest novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land (2021). To find out what else ties them all together, you’ll have to read the book, which I do recommend despite some issues.
October 14th, 2021. Bill Capossere and Ray McKenzie´s rating: 4 | Anthony Doerr | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…