Fantastic Reviews Blog

Book Tasting: Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 02:51:00 +0000

Originally published in Russian in 2002 as Крадущийся в тени

Shadow Prowler, Tor Books, English translation by Andrew Bromfield, copyright 2010, 557 pages

About Book Tastings: In a book tasting, we read only the opening 25 pages of a book. We’ll tell how the book begins and then say whether those pages inspired us to continue reading the book. A book tasting is not a book review; it doesn’t evaluate the entire book. (For more about Book Tastings, click here)

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Shadow Prowler is an epic / high fantasy novel. It’s book one of The Chronicles of Siala trilogy.

The first 25 pages, which I read, are comprised of chapter 1 and six pages of chapter 2.

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Shadow Harold is creeping through the streets of Avendoom at night. This is not unusual for him. Lately people fear being out at night because demons have appeared in the city since the Nameless One began stirring in the Desolate Lands.

This night Harold finds the streets strangely quiet. He hears hasty footsteps and Harold freezes in the shadows. A winged demon falls upon a man passing nearby, kills him, and then flies away carrying the body. Afterwards, the normal night sounds return.

Harold cautiously moves from shadow to shadow to his destination, a large house which is the residence of Duke Patin. Harold, a master thief, took a commission to steal an item from the duke’s collection. The house appears quiet and unoccupied. Harold expects only a few servants inside. Harold then thoroughly checks his equipment.

When picking the lock of a side gate, Harold hears horsemen approaching and hides. He sees thirteen riders: uniformed royal guardsmen and a mysterious veiled woman with two cloaked riders beside her. He thinks it strange. A few minutes later, another group of uniformed horsemen gallop by. Harold waits some time before he returns to open the gate.

Harold enters the duke’s house by the kitchen door. He knows the plan of the house. A servants’ staircase leads to the second floor. He carefully treads toward the ducal apartments.

In the corridor, there is a garrinch, a monstrous watchdog creature. Harold hides in the shadows and luckily the garrinch passes him by.

Harold is surprised to see a light under the ducal bedchamber’s door. He hears voices. One voice is recognizable as the duke’s, the other voice sounds malicious. They are arguing about loyalty and plans of the king. The argument ends with a scream from the duke.

Harold peeks into the room and sees the duke with his throat ripped out and a winged demon with yellow eyes by the open window. Harold shoots the demon in its back with his small crossbow before it flies away.

Harold grabs the item he was hired to steal and makes a run for it. In the corridor he is spotted by the garrinch watchdog. Harold throws the contents of a phial into the garrinch’s face. The beast is overpowered by magical itchiness and Harold escapes. He knows the city will be in an uproar tomorrow.

A couple of days later, at twilight, Harold discreetly goes to The Knife and Ax in the Port City district of the city. Harold’s presence gets some malicious glances from others in the establishment. The owner and innkeeper, Old Gosmo, is a former thief. Gosmo passed the information on the commission to steal the item from the duke to Harold. Harold inconspicuously passes the bundled stolen item to Gozmo and, in return, inconspicuously gets paid in pieces of gold. One of the inn’s serving men immediately takes the item to an unknown client. Harold fakes amazement upon hearing the news that the duke had up and died recently.

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The first 25 pages of Shadow Prowler feature the tale of a burglary told in first person from the point-of-view of the thief himself. This burglary ended up being more complicated than he expected. Along the way, we learn of various ominous developments happening in the old, walled city of Avendoom.

The English translation of this Russian book starts by successfully setting a dark atmosphere. There’s a feeling of impending doom. It’s written in a highly readable way.

There is evidence of fantasy worldbuilding. In this world, there exist magicians. Other humanoids such as dwarves, gnomes, ogres, and giants are mentioned. A feared Nameless One is restless in the icy Desolate Lands. But none of these have been encountered yet in the first 25 pages of the book.

Harold the thief completes one thieving contract job. I don't know whether the item he stole - a gold statuette of a dog - will become significant later. There are various worrisome issues which seem to need tackling, such as the winged demons hunting in the city at night. What direction will this thief character go next? I want to continue reading this book to find out.

Book Tasting post by Amy Peterson

Book Tasting: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 19:10:00 +0000

Remarkably Bright Creatures, Ecco Press, copyright 2022, 368 pages

About Book Tastings:
In a book tasting, we read only the opening 25 pages of a book. We’ll tell how the book begins and then say whether those pages inspired us to continue reading the book. A book tasting is not a book review; it doesn’t evaluate the entire book. (For more about Book Tastings, click here)

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Remarkably Bright Creatures is an adult fiction New York Times best seller. The genre could be considered a mixture of several categories: literary fiction, magical realism and mystery. The story begins inside a fictional aquarium near Puget Sound in the fictional town of Sowell Bay. The book “chapters” follow different characters. The Marcellus sections are told as an inner dialogue, first person, showing him to be sentient. The other chapters, following Tova and Cameron, are told in third person.

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We first meet Marcellus, a Giant Pacific Octopus, who lives in an aquarium tank. He can read the plaque next to his tank stating, “Octopuses are remarkably bright creatures.” He knows how long he’s been in captivity and that his species lives for about 1,460 days. That means he has about 160 left to live.

At night Marcellus likes to escape his tank and scavenge for extra food. Sometimes he takes a few blue bay mussels from another tank, but usually he likes to forage through the human areas for scraps. Unfortunately, he can only survive 18 minutes out of the tank before “The Consequences” set in, and he must hurry back to the tank before he passes out or dies.

One evening, Marcellus gets tangled up in a thin power cord and can’t return to his tank. He’s in mortal danger as the minutes tick by.

The next chapter follows Tova, 70 years old, who is the aquarium’s janitor. As Tova cleans, she greets all the creatures as she wipes down the sides of the various tanks. On this day, when she gets into the break room, she sees Marcellus, tangled up in a cord. Tova frees him, which makes Marcellus very grateful, although a few suction marks end up on Tova’s arm.

Tova had a son Eric who mysteriously disappeared a couple of decades ago when he was 18. The authorities believe he committed suicide in Puget Sound, but Tova knows he wouldn’t have done that. The years have gone by, but her gut feeling remains sad yet hopeful.

Tova and her friends started a knitting group 25 years ago called the Knit-Wits. They started the group around the time they became empty nesters, when their kids went to college or got married. Tova’s empty nest was because her son went missing.

Currently, the group talks about grandkids, which Tova understands but finds sad because she can’t come to terms with losing her son. Her hope to find Eric never leaves her.

Driving home from her knitting meeting, Tova looks at the sunset over Puget Sound and thinks about her own family from Sweden and brother Lars. She also thinks about her son, maybe or maybe not, missing somewhere in that body of water.

When Tova gets home, she gets a phone call about the death of her brother Lars, which brings up memories of her childhood and Sweden.

At the end of the 25 pages, we’re introduced to a third character. Cameron Cassmore has borrowed his friend’s truck to drive to Welina Mobile Park to help his Aunt Jeanne clean up her overgrown clematis vine. Cameron is amazed that he knows so much detail about plants, which sounds like a mystery to be solved.

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This novel captured my attention immediately by starting with the inner monologue of Marcellus the octopus. Each chapter with Marcellus begins with a heading telling us the number of days he’s been in captivity. He is portrayed as a matter-of-fact creature, with clear observations.

In this short Book Tasting reading, we have three of Marcellus’s sections, two of Tova’s chapters and one page into the chapter about Cameron Cassmore.

When we follow Tova, the author Van Pelt uses rich metaphors and similes to describe actions and feelings, such as Tova sees a partially hidden octopus that is “like a child’s hide and seek misstep.” She sees the octopus’s eye that glints “like a naughty child’s.” The octopus’s arm winds around hers “like a maypole ribbon.” Tova keeps her thoughts deep inside “like an old bullet.” Also, Tova “feels as if she’s a mistaken jigsaw piece who found her way into the wrong puzzle.” Van Pelt uses her unique metaphors and similes to add richness to this poignant fascinating story, and it works beautifully.

With a third main character (Cameron) introduced, Van Pelt seems to hint that somehow, all these lives (and maybe more) will come together in some special way. I’m looking forward to reading this delightful, well-written, moving story to see how Shelby Van Pelt connects all the dots. Hopefully, Tova will find the answers she seeks within the next 343 pages of this story.

Book Tasting post by Jackie Sachen Turner

Book Tasting: The World Swappers by John Brunner

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:43:00 +0000

The World Swappers, Ace Books, copyright 1959, 156 pages

About Book Tastings:
In a book tasting, we read only the opening 25 pages of a book. We’ll tell how the book begins and then say whether those pages inspired us to continue reading the book. A book tasting is not a book review; it doesn’t evaluate the entire book. (For more about Book Tastings, click here)

The World Swappers is science fiction book by John Brunner (1934-1995) who was a British author of science fiction novels and stories.

The first 25 pages are chapters 1 through 3 plus two pages of chapter 4.

Chapter 1 begins with a man, Counce, alone on a boat in the middle of the Pacific awaiting the landing of a starship on the ocean. The starship lands at high speed, comes to a stop less than a half mile away, then disappears using “blanking frequencies.” The deck of Counce’s boat becomes hot and Counce jumps overboard. The starship blows up his boat using a “sonic” weapon.

Counce swims underwater to where the starship was. When he surfaces, he sees two men. One man has a gun; the other man is Bassett. Counce is ordered aboard the starship. Bassett asks Counce what he wants, not who he is. Counce boldly claims that he knows what Bassett wants, which is to rule the galaxy.

Chapter 2 starts with an infodump. It’s the 26th century and human populations exist on Earth plus 31 more planets. Nearly all the colony planets hate Earth. Computers predict Earth will go through a severe crisis in around fifty years. Earthlings who become dissatisfied during this crisis will have no place to escape to because there are no uninhabited, livable worlds within explored space.

Counce and Bassett, who are apparently both men in positions of power, think Earth needs to improve relationships with the colonial planets so that they’ll accept new immigrants from Earth. But they disagree where to start. Counce demands to be allowed to deal with the planet Ymir for Bassett or to be let go to swim to a nearby sub. Bassett orders his starship to jump a couple of miles. Bassett threatens Counce, and his goons unsuccessfully attempt to take Counce prisoner. Counce disappears.

Chapter 3 is set on the planet Regis, the farthest outpost of humanity. At the north pole of Regis, there’s an excavation site where a crew are digging for evidence of a supspected, although not yet encountered, non-human, space-traveling species they call the Others. An empty food container which was not human-made is found. Almost all the crew leave Regis via “transfax” with their proof aliens had been on Regis. They apparently work with Counce. Recent recruit Anty Dreean is ordered to stay behind with another crew member to search for what else the Others left behind. Anty is fascinated when he digs up a broken cathode-ray tube made by aliens.

In the first two pages of chapter 4, back on Earth, Counce arrives via “transfax” on a crowded sub borrowed from Dateline Fisheries near where the starship landed. Counce meets up with two of his probably important allies.

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I’m not sure where the plot of The World Swappers will eventually go, but the first 25 pages were interesting enough to make me want to read more.

The book features science fictional unreal technology such as the transfax (a teleporter), blanking frequencies (a cloaking field), a sonic weapon (which destroys by finding critical resonance), the Metchnikov drive (a FTL propulsion system), and speculative vibrations in space which spread like wakes from FTL ships.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find either Counce or Bassett to be particularly relatable characters. They are supposedly powerful men, but the author Brunner doesn’t provide any background of who they are, not even their first names. It makes their conflict feel less real. Counce seems set up to be the protagonist and Bassett the antagonist.

Anty Dreean, the young recruit at the polar dig on Regis, is a potentially a more relatable character. He might become important later regarding contact with the alien Others.

The first 25 pages didn’t seem overly dated. That’s good comsidering this was book was published in 1959. Although several details reflected its age: Counce’s small boat was powered by a (nuclear) reactor and it leaked radiation when the boat was blown up and that radioactivity wasn’t depicted as worrisome or harmful; the technological artifact found on Regis was a cathode-ray tube (which is considered old technology now); and Counce and Bassett were depicted as casually smoking cigarettes and cigarillos.

I believe there are story ideas worth exploring in this science fiction book.

Book Tasting post by Amy Peterson

Book Tasting: My Brother’s Keeper by Tim Powers

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 20:37:00 +0000

My Brother's Keeper, Baen Books, copyright 2023, 301 pages as trade paperback, cover art by Eric Williams

About Book Tastings:
In a book tasting, we read only the opening 25 pages of a book. We’ll tell how the book begins and then say whether those pages inspired us to continue reading the book. A book tasting is not a book review; it doesn’t evaluate the entire book. (For more about Book Tastings, click here)

My Brother’s Keeper is a fictionalized book featuring English literature’s famous Brontë family in the village of Haworth in West Yorkshire, England.

The prologue takes place in the Brontë children’s past. A young teenage Branwell comes into the kitchen where he tells his younger sisters about his dream where he saw their dead older sister Maria at the crag called Ponden Kirk, which lies beyond the parsonage and into the moors. He then insists that his younger sisters Anne and Emily accompany him there that very day. At Ponden Kirk, the three do a ritual where they slice their hands with a knife and mix their blood on the rock. Branwell believes that act will bring back their dead sister Maria. But it doesn’t, so they go home to tell their older sister Charlotte about their adventure.

Chapter One begins years later with 27-year-old Emily feeling drawn to Ponden Kirk again. She takes her dog Keeper with her. There she finds a wounded man with a patch over one eye who reveals nothing about himself or his serious deadly wounds. Emily runs to the nearest neighbor for help, and a memory from seven years ago crosses her mind. A huge weird looking dog had bitten the back of her hand, leaving a strange scar. When Emily and her neighbors get back to Ponden Kirk, the wounded stranger has gone. But he left without his bloodied double-bladed knife that Emily decides to secretly pick up and put in her pocket.

Emily shows her siblings and father the knife when she returns home, telling them about her adventure. Mr. Brontë knows what the wounded man looked like before Emily could describe him. Branwell remembered the first time he saw a double-bladed knife, when he was coerced into participating in a weird “baptism.”

It was 10 years ago when Branwell was drunk and met a Reverend Farfleece who asked Branwell about the scar on the back of his hand. Branwell’s scar, just like Emily’s, was from the bite a large malformed dog. Rev. Farfleece tells Branwell he must go through a special baptism to protect himself from that evil dog-like creature. Branwell follows Farfleece to a church where he meets a woman holding the double-bladed knife, which Branwell knows must be part of this baptism. All this he keeps secret from his family.

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I’m intrigued with this alternate reality novel where Tim Powers pulls historical information about the Brontë family and then recreates storyline around those facts, taking it into a different genre altogether. My only issues with continuing this novel are twofold. First, within the first twenty-five pages the storyline jumps from one age of the characters to other ages, introducing backstory. Emily is around twelve and her brother is one year older. Then we read about Anne being 6, but wait, that was 4 years earlier, which makes her 10? Switch then to an older Emily, but then we read about when she was four years younger than that. Then something happened when Branwell was 18 but now Emily is 27. You get the picture.

The second issue is with Branwell. His character is one of idleness filled with social anxiety, where he worries a lot about what people think of him. His actions have the opposite effect from what he’d like, which makes him look foolish rather than in charge of his life. It’s tough to read his story.

Still, I’m enjoying this book, mostly the storyline that follows Emily. Tim Powers has a way with words that pulls me into the story and vividly lets me visualize in detail. I will continue reading this book, and I’m looking forward to reading about the different elements that might come forth in the next pages. The gothic looking cover art makes me think Tim Powers will enter the horror genre.

Powers usually writes science fiction and fantasy, so I expect more crazy plots and twists for the remaining pages with some weird fantastical or alternate reality elements.

Book Tasting post by Jackie Sachen Turner

Fantastic Reviews Book Tasting :: The Basics

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 22:48:00 +0000

Reading the opening 25 pages of a book can tell you a lot about a book. Those pages build the stage for a story. They usually contain something intended to catch your interest, or at least your attention. It’s enough pages to provide a good sample of the author’s writing. Often, they can tell you if the book is something that you’d like to read, or not.

Years ago, this blog featured something called “Battle of the Books.” It was sort of a March Madness competition bracket for 16 books. In the first round of our "Battle of the Books," the reviewer read the opening 25 pages of two books and then chose which of the books they most wanted to continue reading. It was sometimes like judging between apples and oranges. But we learned then that reading the starting 25 pages of a book can be surprisingly informative.

We're introducing a new feature on this blog called “Book Tasting” posts. These will be based on reading the first 25 pages of content of a book, which can include a prologue. We’ll write our personal opinions and thoughts about only those starting pages, without reading the back cover blurb which may give away details of the plot. We’ll ponder whether that small sample of the book sparked our interest in the book.

We acknowledge that a book is much more than its beginning 25 pages, so we can’t call a “book tasting” truly a book review. It takes more pages than that for a book to develop an interesting plot. Some excellent books start slowly. After reading only 25 pages, we’re unlikely to guess where a book will eventually take us.

A “Book Tasting” is a way for us to try out books that we have sitting unread on our to-be-read stacks and to share our first impressions of them.

Winner 2025 Philip K. Dick Award

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Mon, 05 May 2025 23:36:00 +0000

The 2025 Philip K. Dick Award, for work published in 2024, was announced at Norwescon 47 on April 20, 2025, along with a special citation. The award is presented annually to a distinguished work of science fiction originally published in paperback form in the United States.

   WINNER
   Time's Agent, Brenda Peynado (Tordotcom)

   with SPECIAL CITATION for
   Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit US)

Finalists for 2025 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novelette and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Thu, 01 May 2025 03:26:00 +0000

Finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards were announced in April 2025. The winners will be announced at Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, on August 16, 2025. Eligibility Year: 2024

NOVEL
Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit US; Tor UK)
The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader; Sceptre)
Service Model, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom; Tor UK)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK)
A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey; Hodderscope UK)

NOVELLA
The Brides of High Hill, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom; Titan UK) Navigational Enganglements, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom) The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)
The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler (Tordotcom)
What Feasts at Night, T. Kingfisher (Nightfire)

NOVELETTE
“The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video”, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld May 2024)
“By Salt, by Sea, by Light of Stars”, Premee Mohamed (Strange Horizons 9 Jun 2024)
“The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea”, Naomi Kritzer (Asimov's Sep/Oct 2024)
“Lake of Souls”, Ann Leckie (Lake of Souls)
“Loneliness Universe”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny May/Jun 2024)
“Signs of Life”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Jul/Aug 2024)

SHORT STORY
“Five Views of the Planet Tartarus”, Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed Jan 2024)
“Marginalia”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Uncanny Jan/Feb 2024)
“Stitched to Skin Like Family Is”, Nghi Vo (Uncanny Jan/Feb 2024)
“Three Faces of a Beheading”, Arkady Martine (Uncanny May/Jun 2024)
“We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed May 2024)
“Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole”, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld Feb 2024)

Finalists for 2025 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Sat, 15 Mar 2025 16:54:00 +0000

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) announced the finalists for the 60th Annual Nebula Awards. This year's awards recognises works published in 2024. The Nebula Awards will be presented in a ceremony on Saturday, June 7, 2025.

FINALISTS:

NOVEL
Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory, Yaroslav Barsukov (Caezik SF & Fantasy)
Rakesfall, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Asunder, Kerstin Hall (Tordotcom)
A Sorceress Comes to Call, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
The Book of Love, Kelly Link (Random House; Ad Astra UK)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK)

NOVELLA
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom)
The Tusks of Extinction, Ray Nayler (Tordotcom)
Lost Ark Dreaming, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Tordotcom)
Countess, Suzan Palumbo (ECW)
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)
The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)

NOVELETTE
"The Brotherhood of Montague St. Video", Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 5/24)
"Katya Vasilievna and the Second Drowning of Baba Rechka", Christine Hanolsy (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 4/18/24)
"Another Girl Under the Iron Bell", Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/24)
"What Any Dead Thing Wants", Aimee Ogden (Psychopomp 2/24)
"Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being", A.W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld 11/24)
"Joanna’s Bodies", Eugenia Triantafyllou (Psychopomp 7/1/24)
"Loneliness Universe", Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 5-6/24)

SHORT STORY
"The Witch Trap", Jennifer Hudak (Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet 9/24)
"Five Views of the Planet Tartarus", Rachael K. Jones (Lightspeed 1/24)
"Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole", Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24)
"Evan: A Remainder", Jordan Kurella (Reactor 1/31/24)
"The V*mpire", PH Lee (Reactor 10/23/24)
"We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read", Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed 5/24)

Finalists for 2025 Philip K. Dick Award

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 18:45:00 +0000

Finalists for this year’s Philip K. Dick Award, for best original science fiction paperback published in the US in 2024, have been announced. Winners will be announced at Norwescon 47 on April 18, 2025, in SeaTac WA.

Alien Clay, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Orbit US)

City of Dancing Gargoyles, Tara Campbell (Santa Fe Writers Project)

The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)

Time's Agent, Brenda Peynado (Tordotcom)

Triangulum, Subodhana Wijeyeratne (Rosarium)

Your Utopia: Stories, Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur (Algonquin)

2024 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novelette and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 22:44:00 +0000

The 2024 Hugo Awards were presented at Glasgow 2024, The 82th World Science Fiction Convention, in Glasgow, Scotland on August 11, 2024

These are only a few of the many award categories, these are the written fiction categories for works published in the eligibilty year of 2023.

NOVEL
Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)

NOVELLA
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)

NOVELETTE
"The Year Without Sunshine", Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Nov/Dec 2023)

SHORT STORY
"Better Living Through Algorithms", Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023)

Winners of 2024 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 23:54:00 +0000

The 2024 Nebula Awards were presented by The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) at the Westin Pasadena and online on Saturday, June 8, 2024

BEST NOVEL
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera, published by Tordotcom

BEST NOVELLA
"Linghun" by Ai Jiang, published by Dark Matter Ink

BEST NOVELETTE
"The Year Without Sunshine” by Naomi Kritzer, published by Uncanny

BEST SHORT STORY
"Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200" by R. S. A. Garcia, published by Uncanny

Finalists for 2024 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novelette and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Sat, 06 Apr 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Finalists for the 2024 Hugo Awards were announced in late March 2024. The winners will be announced at Glasgow 2024, the 82nd World Science Fiction Convention, in August 2024.

NOVEL
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty, (Harper Voyager)
The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (Tordotcom)
Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh, (Tordotcom, Orbit)
Starter Villain, John Scalzi (Tor, Tor UK)
Translation State, Ann Leckie (Orbit US, Orbit UK)
Witch King, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

NOVELLA
"Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet", He Xi (Adventures in Space)
Mammoths at the Gate, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
The Mimicking of Known Successes, Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Rose/House, Arkady Martine (Subterranean)
"Seeds of Mercury", Wang Jinkang (Adventures in Space)
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Tor, Titan UK)

NOVELETTE
I AM AI, Ai Jiang (Shortwave)
"Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition", Gu Shi (Clarkesworld Feb 2023)
"Ivy, Angelica, Bay", C. L. Polk (Tor.com 8 Dec 2023)
"On the Fox Roads", Nghi Vo (Tor.com 31 Oct 2023)
"One Man's Treasure", Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Jan/Feb 2023)
"The Year Without Sunshine", Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Nov/Dec 2023)

SHORT STORY
"Answerless Journey", Han Song, (Adventures in Space)
"Better Living Through Algorithms", Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023)
"How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub", P. Djèlí Clark (Uncanny Jan/Feb 2023)
"The Mausoleum's Children", Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny May/Jun 2023)
"The Sound of Children Screaming", Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Oct 2023)
"Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times", Baoshu (Galaxy's Edge Vol.13)

Finalists for 2024 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 01:40:00 +0000

Finalists for the 59th Nebula Awards, which recognizes works published in 2023. The Nebula Awards were presented at the 2024 Nebula Conference Online at the Westin Pasadena and online on Saturday, June 8, 2024.

FINALISTS:

NOVEL
The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera, (Tordotcom)
The Water Outlaws, S. L. Huang (Tordotcom and Solaris UK)
Translation State, Ann Leckie (Orbit US and Orbit UK)
The Terraformers, Annalee Newitz (Tor and Orbit UK)
Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, Wole Talabi (DAW and Gollancz)
Witch King, Martha Wells (Tordotcom)

NOVELLA
The Crane Husband, Kelly Barnhill (Tordotcom)
“Linghun”, Ai Jiang (Linghun)
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher (Tor and Titan UK)
Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee (Tordotcom)
The Mimicking of Known Successes, Malka Older (Tordotcom)
Mammoths at the Gates, Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE
“A Short Biography of a Conscious Chair”, Renan Bernardo (Samovar Feb 2023)
I am AI, Ai Jiang, (Shortwave)
“The Year Without Sunshine”, Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Nov/Dec 2023)
“Imagine Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon”, Angela Liu (Clarkesworld Jun 2023)
“Saturday’s Song”, Wole Talabi (Lightspeed May 2023)
“Six Versions of My Brother Found Under the Bridge”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny Sep/Oct 2023)

SHORT STORY
“Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont”, P. A. Cornell (Fantasy Oct 2023)
“Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200”, R. S. A. Garcia (Uncanny Jul/Aug 2023)
“Window Boy”, Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld Aug 2023)
“The Sound of Children Screaming”, Rachael K. Jones (Nightmare Oct 2023)
“Better Living Through Algorithms”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld May 2023)
“Bad Doors”, John Wiswell (Uncanny Jan/Feb 2023)

2023 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novelette and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 22:39:00 +0000

The 2023 Hugo Awards were presented at 2023 Chengdu, The 81th World Science Fiction Convention, in Chengdu, China, on October 21, 2023

These are only a few of the many award categories, these are the written fiction categories for works published in the eligibilty year of 2022.

NOVEL
Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)

NOVELLA
Where the Drowned Girls Go, Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE
"The Space-Time Painter", Hai Ya (Galaxy's Edge Apr 2022)

SHORT STORY
"Rabbit Test", Samantha Mills (Uncanny Nov/Dec 2022)

Winners of 2023 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 16 May 2023 03:52:00 +0000

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) announced the winners of the 58th Annual Nebula Awards at the 2023 Nebula Conference. The winners were announced May 14, 2023

BEST NOVEL
Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

BEST NOVELLA
Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)

BEST NOVELETTE
“If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You”, John Chu (Uncanny 7–8/22)

BEST SHORT STORY
“Rabbit Test”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 11–12/22)

Finalists for 2023 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:03:00 +0000

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has released the finalists for the 2023 Nebula Awards, which recognizes works published in 2022. Winners will be announced at the 58th Annual Nebula Awards ceremony and online on Sunday, May 14, 2023.

NOVEL
Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Cryptid; Tor)
Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)
Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)
Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)
The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

NOVELLA
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
“Bishop’s Opening“, R.S.A Garcia (Clarkesworld 1/22)
I Never Liked You Anyway, Jordan Kurella (Vernacular)
Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tordotcom)
High Times in the Low Parliament, Kelly Robson (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE
“If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You“, John Chu (Uncanny 7-8/22)
“Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold“, S.B. Divya (Uncanny 5-6/22)
“Murder by Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness“, S.L. Huang (Clarkesworld 12/22)
“A Dream of Electric Mothers”, Wole Talabi (Africa Risen)
“The Prince of Salt and the Ocean’s Bargain“, Natalia Theodoridou (Uncanny 9/22)
“We Built This City“, Marie Vibbert (Clarkesworld 6/22)

SHORT STORY
“Destiny Delayed“, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Asimov’s 5-6/22)
“Give Me English”, Ai Jiang (F&SF 5-6/22)
“Rabbit Test”, Samantha Mills (Uncanny 11-12/22)
“Douen”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 3/22)
“Dick Pig”, Ian Muneshwar (Nightmare 1/22)
“D.I.Y”, John Wiswell (Tor.com 8/24/22)

2022 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novelette and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 05:17:00 +0000

The 2022 Hugo Awards were presented at Chicon 8, The 80th World Science Fiction Convention, in Chicago, Illinois, USA on September 4, 2022

These are only a few of the many award categories, these are the written fiction categories for works published in the eligibilty year of 2021.

NOVEL
Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor)

NOVELLA
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE
“Bots of the Lost Ark”, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld Jun 2021)

SHORT STORY
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Mar/Apr 2021)

Winners of 2022 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Thu, 26 May 2022 01:34:00 +0000

The 2022 Nebula Awards were presented online on May 21, 2022.

BEST NOVEL
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)

BEST NOVELLA
And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)

BEST NOVELETTE
“O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21)

BEST SHORT STORY
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21)

Finalists for 2022 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novellete and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Tue, 03 May 2022 04:41:00 +0000

Finalists for the 2022 Hugo Awards were announced in April 2022 by Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention.

NOVEL
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor)
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton; Harper Voyager)
Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki (Tor; St. Martin's)
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit)
Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir (Ballantine; Del Rey)
She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (Tor; Mantle)

NOVELLA
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
Across the Green Grass Fields, Seanan McGuire (Tordotcom)
Elder Race, Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tordotcom)
Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
The Past Is Red, Catherynne M. Valente (Tordotcom)
A Spindle Splintered, Alix E. Harrow (Tordotcom)

NOVELETTE
“Bots of the Lost Ark”, Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld Jun 2021)
“Colors of the Immortal Palette”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny Mar/Apr 2021)
“L'Esprit de L'Escalier”, Catherynne M. Valente (Tor.com 25 Aug 2021)
“O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy's Edge Nov 2021)
“That Story Isn't the Story”, John Wiswell (Uncanny Nov/Dec 2021)
“Unseelie Brothers, Ltd.”, Fran Wilde (Uncanny May/Jun 2021)

SHORT STORY
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Mar/Apr 2021)
“Mr. Death”, Alix E. Harrow (Apex Feb 2021)
“Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny May/Jun 2021)
“The Sin of America”, Catherynne M. Valente (Uncanny Mar/Apr 2021
) “Tangles”, Seanan McGuire (Magicthegathering.com: Magic Story Sep 2021)
“Unknown Number”, Blue Neustifter (Twitter Jul 2021)

Finalists for 2022 Nebula Awards for novel, novella, novelette and short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 02:10:00 +0000

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA) announced the finalists for the 57th Annual Nebula Awards, which recognizes works published in 2021. The awards will be presented in a virtual ceremony on Saturday, May 21, 2022, that will stream live as part of the 2022 Nebula Conference Online.

NOVEL
The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
Plague Birds, Jason Sanford (Apex)

NOVELLA
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters, Aimee Ogden (Tordotcom)
Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
“The Giants of the Violet Sea”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9–10/21)

NOVELETTE
“O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21)
“Just Enough Rain”, PH Lee (Giganotosaurus 5/21)
“(emet)”, Lauren Ring (F&SF 7–8/21)
“That Story Isn’t the Story”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 11–12/21)
“Colors of the Immortal Palette”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny 3–4/21)

SHORT STORY
“Mr. Death”, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/21)
“Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5–6/21)
“Let All the Children Boogie”, Sam J. Miller (Tor.com 1/6/21)
“Laughter Among the Trees”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21)
“For Lack of a Bed”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 4/21)

2021 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novelette and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 02:51:00 +0000

The 2021 Hugo Awards were presented on the evening of Saturday, December 18, 2021 at a ceremony at DisCon III, the 79th World Science Fiction Convention in Washington, DC, USA.

These are only a few of the many award categories, these are the written fiction categories for works published in the eligibilty year of 2020.

BEST NOVEL
Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tor.com)

BEST NOVELLA
The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tor.com)

BEST NOVELETTE
Two Truths and a Lie, Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)

BEST SHORT STORY
“Metal Like Blood in the Dark”, T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)

Finalists for 2021 Hugo Awards for best novel, best novella, best novellete and best short story

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 19:10:00 +0000

The finalists for the 2021 Hugo Awards were announced in mid-April. The winners will be announced at DisCon III in December 2021.

BEST NOVEL
Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse (Gallery / Saga Press / Solaris)
The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit)
Harrow The Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com)
Network Effect, Martha Wells (Tor.com)
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books / Solaris)

BEST NOVELLA
Come Tumbling Down, Seanan McGuire (Tor.com)
The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Tor.com)
Finna, Nino Cipri (Tor.com)
Ring Shout, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com)
Riot Baby, Tochi Onyebuchi (Tor.com)
Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey (Tor.com)

BEST NOVELETTE
“Burn, or the Episodic Life of Sam Wells as a Super”, A.T. Greenblatt (Uncanny Magazine, May/June 2020)
“Helicopter Story”, Isabel Fall (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
“The Inaccessibility of Heaven”, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny Magazine, July/August 2020)
“Monster”, Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld, January 2020)
“The Pill”, Meg Elison (from Big Girl, (PM Press))
Two Truths and a Lie, Sarah Pinsker (Tor.com)

BEST SHORT STORY
“Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse”, Rae Carson (Uncanny Magazine, January/February 2020)
“A Guide for Working Breeds”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Made to Order: Robots and Revolution, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris))
Little Free Library, Naomi Kritzer (Tor.com)
“The Mermaid Astronaut”, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies, February 2020)
“Metal Like Blood in the Dark”, T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine, September/October 2020)
“Open House on Haunted Hill”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots – 2020, ed. David Steffen)

Phantom Effect by Michael Aronovitz vs. Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams :: Battle of the 2016 Books, Bracket One, Second Round, Battle 1 of 4

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 06:18:00 +0000

We begin the second round of Bracket One of the Battle of the 2016 Books with Phantom Effect by Michael Aronovitz going against Asteroid Made of Dragons by G. Derek Adams. The winner will be the book I (Aaron) most want to continue reading after 50 pages.

Phantom Effect: Night Shade, February 2016, 285 pages, cover design by Diana Kolsky. The antihero of Phantom Effect is Johnny Deseranto, who murders women who remind him of his mother. In the opening 25 pages, Johnny had a blowout on the way to dispose of his latest victim's body. When a policeman stopped to investigate, Deseranto also killed him, but then crashed his car fleeing the scene. When he got out of the car, his female victim in the trunk got out too, even though she had been dismembered. Johnny fled into a nearby half-dismantled Motel 6, as one would.

In the next 25 pages, inside the derelict motel, Johnny begins to encounter visions from the past. He sees himself as a child, with a tarantula on his head. We soon learn that Johnny's punishment as a boy for stealing a jar of his mother's homemade marmalade was to be thrown in a hamper with a live tarantula. This helps explain the fellow's mommy issues. His next flashback takes him to when his family was renting the upper floor of a house, and Johnny snuck downstairs to spy on the landlord fooling around with a lady friend. Just as he realized the lady friend was his own mother, he was caught literally with his pants down.

Asteroid Made of Dragons: Sword & Laser, 275 pages, April 2016, cover design by David Drummond. Asteroid Made of Dragons is humorous fantasy in the mode of Terry Pratchett. In the first 25 pages, we met a lady mage, Rime, and her assistant/bodyguard Jonas. Jonas rescued Rime after a robbery gone wrong -- an easily forgivable crime, since she was stealing back her own money. Rime decided to travel to Gilead, and Jonas insisted on accompanying her, even though he was exiled from Gilead for killing his last master.

In the next 25 pages, we learn that Rime is being hunted by an old knight resurrected from the dead, who takes a very dim view of magic and those who use it. Meanwhile, Rime and Jonas are on the ship to Gilead. Jonas confides in Rime about his exile from Gilead, which it turns out resulted because he killed the famous knight for whom he squired (one with a different name, but who knows?), at the exhausted knight's own request.

The Battle: This one is a case study in what it takes to advance through the Battle of the Books. To win your first battle, you need to hook me with a strong opening. Both of these books did that, Phantom Effect with an edge-of-your seat scene where Johnny is pursued by a woman he is sure he already killed, Asteroid Made of Dragons with a fun action scene featuring good humor and solid characterization.

To win your second battle, you need to add a strong new story element, or otherwise find a way to ratchet things up a notch. After 50 pages, I'm still enjoying both of these books, but only one of them met this challenge.

Asteroid Made of Dragons continued with the witty writing. For example, this is how Jonas begins the story of his exile from Gilead:

"My father was a baker. We baked bread mostly—loaves for the common folk—though every so often we'd do special things for feast days. Cupcakes, cookies, cakes, all the . . ."

"NO." Rime nearly exploded. "You cannot start the story this way. Are you going to tell me the entire story of your life? Can't you just skip to the part that matters?"

This made me smile and it tells us something about the characters. Having said that, though, this section doesn't add a great deal to the story. The new story element—someone hunting Rime—is no real surprise, and the one big revelation is a bit of a let-down: turns out Jonas doesn't really have anything to feel guilty about at all. Also, no new hints at all about that asteroid in the title of the book.

Meanwhile, I very much expected the second section of Phantom Effect to be a prolonged chase scene through the corridors of this Motel 6. Instead, Aronovitz takes the story to a different level. We learn that Johnny's victim was a psychic, and she is taking her revenge on him through his mind. She begins a trip through his past that is unpleasant (for him) and sheds some light on how he became the monster he is as an adult. And this section ends with little Johnny being discovered by his adulterous mother with little-little Johnny in hand. If she stuck him with a tarantula for stealing marmalade, what will she do for this? I kind of don't want to know, except I really really do.

In this second section, Aronovitz figured out a way to broaden his story and pull me further into the tale, making me want to keep reading.

THE WINNER: Phantom Effect by Michael Aronovitz

Phantom Effect advances to the semifinals to face either Company Town by Madeline Ashby or Borderline by Mishell Baker.

To see the whole bracket, click here.

100 Ghost Soup by Robert Chansky vs. Merchant of Alyss by Thomas Locke :: Battle of the 2016 Books, Bracket One, First Round, Battle 8 of 8

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Wed, 10 Oct 2018 18:25:00 +0000

The eighth and final first round match in Bracket One of the Battle of the 2016 Books features 100 Ghost Soup by Robert Chansky taking on Merchant of Alyss by Thomas Locke. The winner will be the book I (Aaron) most want to continue reading after 25 pages.

100 Ghost Soup: Curiosity Quills trade paperback, 268 pages, September 2016, cover art by Eugene Teplitsky. Seventeen-year-old Bei Jimo has lived his whole life in a Beijing orphanage. He only recently discovered that he was never adopted because of a clerical error in his paperwork that falsely informed prospective parents that he was born without hands. Now, inexplicably, just a month shy of his majority, someone far to the north, nearly to Mongolia, has offered to adopt him. He takes the train to the ghost town of Dongxi, a modern city that was abandoned during construction, where he is greeted by a peculiar man calling himself Mr. Vulpin.

100 Ghost Soup is the first novel by Robert Chansky, whose work I will try to judge as impartially as I can even though he is a member of my writing group. (Protests may be filed with the Fantastic Reviews home office in Buenos Aires.)

Merchant of Alyss: Revell trade paperback, 354 pages, January 2016, cover design by Kirk DouPonce. Merchant of Alyss (pronounced ah-LISS) is the second volume in the Legends of the Realm series. The story begins with an enigmatic wizard appearing and casting spells toward a house, but he is defeated by the house's automatic magical defenses. Later we join our protagonist Hyam and his wife Joelle, whose house it apparently was, as they inspect a shipment of scrolls obtained through mysterious sources. It seems that Hyam has lost his magical powers because his "orb" was shattered at the end of the last book (Emissary). But these scrolls contain writings that only Hyam can see, which allow him to cast a powerful spell without any orb.

Thomas Locke writes epic fantasy and techno-thrillers, as well as historical and contemporary fiction (often with religious elements) under the name Davis Bunn.

The Battle: Through 25-pages, Merchant of Alyss is very standard, run-of-the-mill epic fantasy. Let me emphasize that I do not mean that to sound derogatory. I have 5,000 books in my home. Some are brilliant masterpieces, but sure as hell not all 5,000. I have shelves full of old pulp novels and space operas and swords-and-sorcery adventures, and many is the time I pick up one of those books and open it because I'm in the mood to read something that is just what I'm expecting. It seems to me that's what Locke is going for here: fairly light-hearted adventure with swordfights and wizards tossing about balls of light, and the reader knows just what to expect.

Perhaps I am misperceiving where Merchant of Alyss is headed. For example, early on we see that Hyam greatly misses the ability to do magic, before he stumbles across a library of spells that he can still use. Perhaps the intent here is to show Hyam's descent into darkness because the magic he is doing has addictive properties. But I don't think so. I think Locke just wants the reader to share Hyam's excitement at being able to do magic again. And that's cool. In fact, that kind of predictable adventure story is sometimes preferable to a book where the author is going for brilliant and failing.

Unfortunately for Locke, in 100 Ghost Soup, Robert Chansky is aiming for something strange and different and enchanting, and through 25 pages, he is not failing at anything. Bei Jimo is a sympathetic character whom life has dealt a crappy hand. But when someone finally is willing to adopt him at the eleventh hour, he breaks the rules to jump on the opportunity. When his journey into the far north takes him to a deserted city, the train conductor insists that the train will not stop there but, ominously and much to the conductor's surprise, it does.

The train station is utterly deserted, but for a cart busily boiling water for tea. But when Bei Jimo tries to brew tea, a hidden wire in the cart pricks him and a few drops of blood fall into the cup. At that point, Mr. Vulpin appears. He seems disappointed that Bei Jimo actually has hands, but still insists on drinking the tea as is and promptly signing the adoption papers, at which point everything instantly changes:

The sable man's smile acquires a similar warmth that I cannot pin down to tea, or to him, or—

Or this place. For now, the station is transformed.

Men and women stand around us. A crowd of fifty or more. Above their heads are red paper banners, streamers, all wishing luck, long life, happy birthday.

Some are as solid as the sable man and I; some I can see through, and some at the edges are little more than smoke. The children of smoke hold the hands of parents. All look at us. I leap to my feet, hoping to run from this scene. Sixty years of official disdain for superstition has failed to stamp out a healthy thousand-year-old fear of ghosts. For that is what they are.

"Welcome to the family," says Mr. Vulpin, with a grin as wide as his teeth.

For me, this is a compelling opening, and 100 Ghost Soup is impossible to put down after the first 25 pages.

THE WINNER: 100 Ghost Soup by Robert Chansky

100 Ghost Soup advances to the second round to face A Shadow All of Light by Fred Chappell.

To see the whole bracket, click here.

Twin Planets by Philip E. High :: Amy's bookshelf

noreply@blogger.com (Fantastic Reviews) — Mon, 01 Oct 2018 00:38:00 +0000

Title: Twin Planets
Author: Philip E. High
Publisher: Paperback Library (52-392)
Copyright: 1967
Pages: 159
Cover Price: 50¢
Genre: science fiction

Description from the first page of book:
DENNING AND LISTON, SUPER-GENETIC DOUBLES, MUST DISLODGE THEIR WORLDS FROM A TIME-TRACK TO DESTRUCTION!

Earth and Firma were twin planets - mirror worlds on a single time-track. Now Firma was halted in its rotation around the sun by the Aliens. Unless Denning and Liston, twin humans, could destroy the Aliens and get Firma moving again, Earth would some day repeat Firma's tragedy and be burned to a cinder.
The Aliens had an incredible array of weapons at their disposal. Denning and Liston had only their courage and their brains.

THE BATTLE WAS ON! EITHER DENNING AND LISTON WON - OR ALL MANKIND WAS LOST!

Philip E. High (1914 – 2006) was an English science fiction author. His full name was Philip Empson High. He became an avid reader of science fiction as a teenager. His early efforts at writing fiction were rejected. High's first short story was published in a 1955 magazine. He published 14 novels between 1964 and 1979. He also wrote numerous short stories, including a number published after 1997. For many years, from 1950 until his until his retirement in 1979, High worked as a bus driver.

This is another book from my stack of vintage books. I decided to feature Twin Planets because it has, in my opinion, an interesting science fiction cover. The cover shows a domed vehicle, oddly clothed futuristic people, and a cityscape with a tower that wouldn't look out of place in an episode of The Jetsons. From the blurb and the several reviews I read, which were generally favorable, I gather this book involves speculative dangers more common in science fiction of the 1960s than today. My copy of this book is in good condition, although the spine of the book is a bit off square. The cover graphic shown was found on the Internet. As in previous 1960s books I've featured, the pages have yellowed and the print font is small. I haven't read this science fiction book, so I can't say more. Perhaps something from my bookshelf to add to my to-be-read list?