I downloaded this book, because I knew from Viv's blog that she is a fine writer, with high standards, so I knew I wasn't in for a misspelled, poorly formatted offering -- and I was intrigued by the opening passage I read as a sample.
Irrepressible artist Isobel has survived most things and managed to bounce back from everything so far. A sequence of domestic disasters finally signals to Isobel that perhaps things aren't quite as rosy as she'd like. With her half of the inheritance, Isobel buys an isolated holiday cottage where she hopes to be able to catch up with some painting, as well as have the occasional holiday. The cottage is idyllic, beautiful and inspiring, but odd things keep happening. Doors won't stay shut, objects go missing and reappear in the wrong places and footsteps are heard when there's no one there. One of Isobel's new neighbors suggests that it is the fairies who are responsible, but Isobel is more than a tad skeptical: there's not a hint of glitter or tinselly wings or magic wands.
As she works at a frenetic pace, the odd happenings begin to increase until even Isobel's rational, skeptical mind has to sit up and take notice. And that's when she gets really scared. Up until now, her motto has been that there's nothing in life that can't be made better by a cup of tea and some Hob Nobs. This time it's beginning to look like it'll take more than even chocolate biscuits to make things better.
Read more at Away with the Fairies, by Vivienne Tuffnell | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
Okay, before we start anything I should just come out and say this is by far the best book I have read this year and I have a feeling other novels will be hard pressed to keep this from being the best book I get to read in 2015. I have read another of Lebbon's novels, an Alien based book called Out of Shadows, which I reviewed here on SFReader and also enjoyed, but The Silence really took things up a notch and was just a superb novel.
In central Europe a cave is opened up that releases a creature that will later be known as the Vesps. These are meat eating bat like reptiles that hunt by sounds. They also reproduce at an alarming rate and their eggs hatch creatures that are already able to fly and kill. Soon all of Europe is being destroyed by these quickly multiplying beasts.
The thread of the story follows a small family as they attempt to struggle through the chaos as much of England flees north. Soon the Vesps are not the only thing to fear as humans begin to abuse one another as well.
Read more at Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
In central Europe a cave is opened up that releases a creature that will later be known as the Vesps. These are meat eating bat like reptiles that hunt by sounds. They also reproduce at an alarming rate and their eggs hatch creatures that are already able to fly and kill. Soon all of Europe is being destroyed by these quickly multiplying beasts.
The thread of the story follows a small family as they attempt to struggle through the chaos as much of England flees north. Soon the Vesps are not the only thing to fear as humans begin to abuse one another as well.
Read more at Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
The Silence, by Tim Lebbon | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Okay, before we start anything I should just come out and say this is by far the best book I have read this year and I have a feeling other novels will be hard pressed to keep this from being the best book I get to read in 2015. I have read another of Lebbon's novels, an Alien based book called Out of Shadows, which I reviewed here on SFReader and also enjoyed, but The Silence really took things up a notch and was just a superb novel.
In central Europe a cave is opened up that releases a creature that will later be known as the Vesps. These are meat eating bat like reptiles that hunt by sounds. They also reproduce at an alarming rate and their eggs hatch creatures that are already able to fly and kill. Soon all of Europe is being destroyed by these quickly multiplying beasts.
The thread of the story follows a small family as they attempt to struggle through the chaos as much of England flees north. Soon the Vesps are not the only thing to fear as humans begin to abuse one another as well.
Read more at The Silence, by Tim Lebbon | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
In central Europe a cave is opened up that releases a creature that will later be known as the Vesps. These are meat eating bat like reptiles that hunt by sounds. They also reproduce at an alarming rate and their eggs hatch creatures that are already able to fly and kill. Soon all of Europe is being destroyed by these quickly multiplying beasts.
The thread of the story follows a small family as they attempt to struggle through the chaos as much of England flees north. Soon the Vesps are not the only thing to fear as humans begin to abuse one another as well.
Read more at The Silence, by Tim Lebbon | Horror | SFReader.com Book Review
Those Above, by Daniel Polansky | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
I have only recently finished reading the final book charting the career of the awesome Warden in She Who Waits -- see my review here -- so was delighted to discover this latest slice of Polansky magic. Would I find this new epic fantasy as riveting?
Tall, strong, perfect -- for three thousand years Those Above have ruled over their human subjects. From the glittering aplaces of their eternal city they enforce their will with fire and sword. Twenty-five years ago mankind mustered an army and rose up against them, only to be slaughtered in a terrible battle. Hope died that day, but hatred survived. Whispers of another revolt are beginning to stir in the hearts of the oppressed: a personal servant who owes her whole existence to the perfect being she serves: a woman widowed in the war, who has dedicated her life to revenge: a general, the only man to ever defeat one of Those Above in single combat, summoned forth to raise a new legion: and a boy-killer who rises from the gutter to lead an uprising in the capital.
As you may have gathered from the blurb, this is a four-handed narrative in third person -- a contrast to the first person immediacy we got with the Warden's narrative of his struggles to prevail in Low Town.
Read more at Those Above, by Daniel Polansky | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
Tall, strong, perfect -- for three thousand years Those Above have ruled over their human subjects. From the glittering aplaces of their eternal city they enforce their will with fire and sword. Twenty-five years ago mankind mustered an army and rose up against them, only to be slaughtered in a terrible battle. Hope died that day, but hatred survived. Whispers of another revolt are beginning to stir in the hearts of the oppressed: a personal servant who owes her whole existence to the perfect being she serves: a woman widowed in the war, who has dedicated her life to revenge: a general, the only man to ever defeat one of Those Above in single combat, summoned forth to raise a new legion: and a boy-killer who rises from the gutter to lead an uprising in the capital.
As you may have gathered from the blurb, this is a four-handed narrative in third person -- a contrast to the first person immediacy we got with the Warden's narrative of his struggles to prevail in Low Town.
Read more at Those Above, by Daniel Polansky | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga | Zombies | SFReader.com Book Review
Being a fan of The Walking Dead television show specifically, and apocalyptic fiction in general, I snagged a copy of The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga. The novel was published in October, 2011 and is a spin-off of The Walking Dead comic book series. The book explores the background and origin of one of the series' most infamous villains, The Governor.
The novel begins not long after the start of the zombie apocalypse. TV stations, radio stations, and other services are going off the air one by one. The living are becoming scarcer, more desperate, and more dangerous. People are fleeing and hiding as the zombies begin to take over the countryside. We're introduced into this world through Philip Blake, his daughter Penny, his older brother Brian, and Phillip's friends Bobby and Nick, sharing their struggles to survive.
And that's mainly what this is -- a survival story. The course of the book follows the adventures (and misadventures) Phillip and his small group as they seek refuge and safety, and as they begin to fully understand just how messed up everything has gotten. Whenever they find a haven, it's not long before the rotten jaws of reality clamp down. It's an interesting examination on the nature of the survival instinct, and how different characters deal with hopelessness and fear. We see some rise to the occasion, while others collapse under its weight.
Read more at The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor, by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga| Zombies | SFReader.com Book Review
Abracadaver, by Laura Resnick | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
This is the seventh book in Laura Resnick's Esther Diamondurban fantasy series and the odd shenanigans surrounding the main character continue.
In this case, the story picks up immediately after the end of the previous book, with Esther wondering why Nelli--their familiar from another dimension, there to help them fight evil--nearly tears her sometime-boyfriend's partner's throat out. Suspicious that Quinn is behind the corpses that are suddenly starting to rise again after death, she attempts to watch him while continuing to keep her new job as a recurring character in the TV show The Dirty Thirty, a gig she does NOT want to screw up.
Read more at Abracadaver, by Laura Resnick | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
In this case, the story picks up immediately after the end of the previous book, with Esther wondering why Nelli--their familiar from another dimension, there to help them fight evil--nearly tears her sometime-boyfriend's partner's throat out. Suspicious that Quinn is behind the corpses that are suddenly starting to rise again after death, she attempts to watch him while continuing to keep her new job as a recurring character in the TV show The Dirty Thirty, a gig she does NOT want to screw up.
Read more at Abracadaver, by Laura Resnick | Dark Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
The Copper Promise, by Jen Williams | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
This is a really good swords and sorcery fantasy, with all the necessary ingredients to make it a fast-paced, thoroughly entertaining read...
thecopperpromiseThere are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel: some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths. For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him... and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There's the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they're done. But sometimes there is truth in rumour. Sometimes it pays to listen. Soon this reckless trio will become the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they're not even getting paid.
Read more at The Copper Promise, by Jen Williams | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
thecopperpromiseThere are some far-fetched rumours about the caverns beneath the Citadel: some say the mages left their most dangerous secrets hidden there; others, that great riches are hidden there; even that gods have been imprisoned in its darkest depths. For Lord Frith, the caverns hold the key to his vengeance. Against all the odds, he has survived torture and lived to see his home and his family taken from him... and now someone is going to pay. For Wydrin of Crosshaven and her faithful companion, Sir Sebastian Caverson, a quest to the Citadel looks like just another job. There's the promise of gold and adventure. Who knows, they might even have a decent tale or two once they're done. But sometimes there is truth in rumour. Sometimes it pays to listen. Soon this reckless trio will become the last line of defence against a hungry, restless terror that wants to tear the world apart. And they're not even getting paid.
Read more at The Copper Promise, by Jen Williams | Fantasy | SFReader.com Book Review
Netflix Marvel's Daredevil TV Series - SFReader Review
I have to admit I was pretty stoked to learn Netflix was going to produce a Daredevil series. Daredevil has always been my favorite superhero, though I'd be hard pressed to say why. Maybe because he doesn't really have super-powers, just a bit of super perception and lots of training. It seemed that he was always the underdog and we all love to root for the underdog.
Read more at Netflix Marvel's Daredevil TV Series Review
I read somewhere the DC comics are about superheros trying to be human and Marvel comics are about humans trying to be superheros. I think Daredevil is the embodiment of this approach.
Matt Murdoch was blinded as a child when he knocked an old man out of the way of a speeding truck. In the comic, the truck was carrying radioactive waste; the TV series has reconned it just just be some sort of chemical.
In any case, said chemical/radioactive waste from the wrecked truck gets into Matt's eyes, blinding him, but at the same time heightening all his other senses. He can hear heartbeats from across the room, smell perfume from two blocks away, "read" a book with his fingertips by feeling the impressions of the ink on the page. In the comics, it's also explained that he has heightened body awareness, giving him extraordinary balance, agility and strength.
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