Kim Newman’s latest novel, Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard(Titan Books) is, in my view, the first essential vampire book of the decade. It combines rollercoaster action with satire, mordant wit and scares aplenty. This fourth volume in the author’s cult, Anno Dracula series sees an undead waif called Ion Popescu on the run from communist Romania’s […]
Clinging to the Wreckage: How to Save Science Fiction
October 9, 2013 by 49 Comments
In its introduction to its list of the best science fiction and fantasy of the year, the io9 website says 2012 was a great year for books that transcended genre boundaries. I had no problem with them talking about science fiction that turned out to be fantasy (not sure what they actually meant by that, […]
Book Review: A THOUSAND PERFECT THINGS by Kay Kenyon
September 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In her epic new work, A Thousand Perfect Things (Premier Digital Publishing), award-winning author Kay Kenyon creates an alternate 19th century earth ruled by the warring factions of scientific Anglica (England) and magical Bharata (India). The main protagonist is Astoria (Tori) Harding, a young woman who aspires to be a scientist in the mould of her […]
Book Review: SEA CHANGE by S.M. Wheeler
August 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Lilly is the unhappy child of two powerful but dysfunctional parents who despise each other. The girl, however, finds solace at the ocean, where she meets and befriends an eloquent, intelligent sea monster, a kraken, whom she names Octavius. Octavius wants to hear stories all the time and, in exchange, he teaches the girl about […]
Short Story Review: The Storyteller’s Wife by Eugie Foster
August 9, 2013 by 2 Comments
The idea of children being stolen by fairies and some lifeless changeling being substituted to fool the parents into believing it real has been around in fairytales for centuries. But the substitution of an adult is less common. In the case of Eugie Foster’s Urban Fantasy short story, The Storyteller’s Wife, the supposed suicide of […]
Book Review: BLACKOUT and ALL CLEAR by Connie Willis
July 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Connie Willis is the only writer I can think of in science fiction who can combine high tension with dry wit; belly laughs with nail biting; and clever scientific ideas with ripping yarns. Her latest work(s), Blackout and All Clear (which won the 2011 Hugo Award), a single novel the publishers (Bantam Spectra) chose to release in […]
