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REVIEW: Blade Dancer by S.L. Viehl
REVIEW SUMMARY: Ender’s Game meets Payback in this standalone novel of the Stardoc universe. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The death of her mother exposes Jory as a half-human/half-alien. She is expelled from Earth, charged by her mother to find six similar creatures who were conceived through violence. Gathering the six, Jory goes to assassin school to become a “Blade Dancer” to seek revenge on the one responsible.
Tim Powers Blends Old Hollywood with the Occult in the Unique MEDUSA’S WEB
REVIEW SUMMARY: As in his novel Last Call with poker and tarot cards, and Hide Me Among The Graves with vampirism and malevolent spirits, in Medusa’s Web Tim Powers creates a unique “history”, this time around “spiders” that can transport one mentally through time, and wraps ordinary people into the discovery of and coping with the effects of that secret history.
INTERVIEW: Matthew Kressel (KING OF SHARDS) Talks Lamed Vav, the Myth of the Shattering of the Vessels, and Other World Building Influences.
Segments of Judaism speak of thirty-six righteous men, upon who shoulders the very world rests, whose role in life is to justify the purpose of humanity to God. Called “Tzadikim Nistarim“, “Lamedvavnik” (Yiddish) or simply the “Lamed Vav” (the Hebrew letters Lamed and Vav have numerical values that add up to 36),the identities of these thirty-six are unknown to their fellow man, and they themselves do not know that they are Lamed Vav.
Watch John Scalzi (THE END OF ALL THINGS) and Tad Williams (OTHERLAND) in Conversation at Keplers
TSP On This Day Published On: September 3, 2009 Free Fiction and Stuff [courtesy of super QuasarDragon]@Manybooks:Astounding Stories of Super-Science October, 1930."Death Wish" by Robert Sheckley (1956)."Life Sentence" by James V.
How We’ll Live On Mars: An Interview with Stephen Petranek
Stephen Petranek, in spite of a long and productive career in the world of journalism (senior editor at Life Magazine, editor-in-chief at This Old House magazine, editor-in-chief at Discover Magazine), is perhaps best know for a TED talk from 2002 entitled “10 Ways the World Could End” (you can find it here; it’s less than 30 minutes…we’ll wait). Over a million and a half people have viewed his TED talk.
Robert Charles Wilson Discusses THE AFFINITIES, His Next Novel and How He Got His Start
Bob was kind enough to be interviewed by email after I stole…eh…was loaned a copy of his latest book from John DeNardo. Our interview covered this latest novel, and his other works. Finding very little background information on Bob, I also asked him some basic biography questions.
THE FIFTH HEART by Dan Simmons is a Fast Paced Fantasy/Mystery That Will Thrill Sherlock Holmes Enthusiasts
REVIEW SUMMARY: Dan Simmons, once again taking literary and historical figures and putting them into a novel, weaves an excellent blend of action, existentialism, fantasy…and dinner conversation. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Sherlock Holmes, who has deduced that he is indeed a fictional character, and Henry James meet while both are contemplating suicide.
INTERVIEW: Brian Catling Digs Deep Into THE VORRH, What Inspires Him, and More
Brian Catling is a poet, sculptor, performance artist and writer. He is a Professor of Fine Art at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford. And, with the publishing of novel The Vorrh (the first in a trilogy) now a novelist whose work has been lauded by fellow Englishman Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell, V for Vendetta) with the following kind words: Nowhere, though, is Catling’s way with literary clay revealed more eloquently than within the genuinely monumental pages of The Vorrh.
Peter Orullian’s THE UNREMEMBERED is a Complex Epic Fantasy with Depth
REVIEW SUMMARY: Pushing through the cumbersome start to this first book in the Vault of Heaven trilogy rewards the reader with a deep world that the gods have abandoned, and the protection they left behind is failing. A small group tries to rally the world in the face of disbelief that stories of these gods and their protection are real.
INTERVIEW: Michael Moorcock (THE WHISPERING SWARM) Talks London, Austin and The Sanctuary of the White Friars
To fantasy readers, Michael Moorcock needs no introduction. A roll call of his characters and worlds can be recited by most fantasy readers: Elric, Cornelius, Corum, Hawkmoon, von Bek, the Multiverse. He has been awarded lifetime achievement awards in fantasy (2000 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement), horror (2004 Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement) and science fiction (2008 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award).
BOOK REVIEW: The Whispering Swarm by Michael Moorcock
REVIEW SUMMARY: While billed as an autobiography wrapped around fiction, I know what this is….Mr. Moorcock is finally coming clean. He learned all about The Eternal Champion and the moonbeam roads at a supernatural Sanctuary in the heart of London called Alsacia. Either that or it was LSD. Which sounds more feasible?
BOOK REVIEW: Sleeping Late on Judgement Day by Tad Williams
REVIEW SUMMARY: This third novel in Tad Williams’ version of Heaven and Hell again features Angel Advocate Bobby Dollar breaking the rules of Heaven. It expands the worldview more about how Heaven and Hell work here, and brings a bit of closure…but leaves things open for more stories in this world. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Doing a summary for the third book in a series without revelation to those who haven’t started said series is difficult.
BOOK REVIEW: Harry Harrison, Harry Harrison: A Memoir
News Ticker Home » Books » Book Review » BOOK REVIEW: Harry Harrison, Harry Harrison: A Memoir REVIEW SUMMARY: Whether you are a Harrison fanatic, a reader of one of his series or just someone who likes history, Harrison’s memoir provides not only insight into his own life, but context of the world that influenced him.
The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams and Its Place in the History of Epic Fantasy
I’ve recently finished an in-depth re-read of The Dragonbone Chair, the first book in Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy (or tetralogy because when the series was put out in paperback, the third door stopper had to be split in two).
BOOK REVIEW: Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
REVIEW SUMMARY: The world-building is not as deep as Best Served Cold and The First Law trilogy, and there is a bit of a quick twist at the end but Half a King is a fast paced enjoyable read. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Yarvi, second son of a King, born with only a partial arm, is heading for the ministry when both his father and older brother are killed. As King, he is quickly betrayed, and must survive on his wits as he plots his vengeance.
BOOK REVIEW: The Abominable by Dan Simmons
REVIEW SUMMARY: Based on the title and Simmons other works (The Terror), I was looking for the Yeti; I was looking for lots of Yetis! What I found was an excellent alternate history between the Great War and World War II on the slopes of Everest, slow to rev, but a fast and furious ending.
INTERVIEW: Andy Weir Talks About THE MARTIAN, Mars, Space Travel and Orbital Simulators
Andy Weir‘s debut novel The Martian (which is currently in the top 20 on several best seller lists as of this writing) tells the story of Mark Watney, the seventeenth astronaut on Mars and the first one stranded there…and possibly the first one to die there. Andy is a software developer by trade, currently programming on the Android operating system. He initially released The Martian, which he wrote as a hobby, for free in pieces on his blog.
BOOK REVIEW: The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell
REVIEW SUMMARY: Getting introduced to a book discovered by my now-adult son turns the tables, as he matches my enjoyment of military history, historical figures and strategy with a series that lays out all of these factors in a future 100-year war between the Alliance and the Syndics.
BOOK REVIEW: Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams (Bobby Dollar #2)
REVIEW SUMMARY: The second of the Bobby Dollar series features amazing world-building (or Hell-building) as the angel Bobby Dollar (Doloriel) visits the Underworld to save his demon girl friend. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Bobby Dollar is once again chased by demons and questioned by juries of angels. Everyone wants him to go to Hell, including himself. So he does.
INTERVIEW: James Gunn Talks About TRANSCENDENTAL, The History of Science Fiction, and How It Can Save The World
James Gunn is a Grand Master of Science Fiction, one of its best historians and proponents, and is a gentleman and a scholar. He’s been writing science fiction for 64 years, and has been a science fiction scholar for 54 years. I only spoke with him a couple of times briefly at Worldcon, but he was gracious and very forthcoming. At 90 years of age, Jim was energetic, articulate, polite and had time for everyone. And his memory and clarity of mind rivals the sharpest.
BOOK REVIEW: The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams
News Ticker Home » Books » Book Review » BOOK REVIEW: The Dirty Streets of Heaven by Tad Williams REVIEW SUMMARY: Author Tad Williams does a lot of things differently (and exceptionally well) than in his previous series in a crime-noir take on the concepts of Heaven and Hell, and Angels and Demons.
REVIEW: The Private Eye by Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin
With the plethora of social media outlets combined with the ease of content creation brought on by mobile devices, faster networks and better cameras, it grows more difficult to keep one’s information private. Some people that I know (my college-age son included) have started a backlash by deleting their Facebook and other accounts, citing their distraction, invasion of privacy and questionable content as reasons not to invest time.
BOOK REVIEW: Doc Savage: Skull Island by Will Murray
REVIEW SUMMARY: Pulp legends collide as Doc Savage encounters King Kong shortly after World War I, augmenting the history of Doc Savage. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Called upon to take care of King Kong’s body after his fall from the Empire State Building, Doc Savage recounts to his aides the story of his first meeting with Kong, shortly after World War I when he and his father were searching the southern seas for Doc’s grandfather.
BOOK REVIEW: The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
REVIEW SUMMARY: The third book in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series joins Percy Jackson (son of Poseidon), Jason Grace (son of Jupiter) and other Greek and Roman demigods in a quest to save the world from the destructive awakening of Gaia, goddess of the Earth. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Seven teenage demigods of prophecy race to Rome to save one of their own and to thwart Gaia, one of the most powerful gods in mythology. Gaia sends giants and other mythological creatures against them.
A Look Back at the 2012 Hugo Award Nominees - The Novels
Award shows and popularity contests normally have no influence on my book buying. With a long back-list on the SF/F TBR stack demanding attention (not to mention the History book TBR stack, the Science TBR stack…), and the growing availability of all types of titles, glomming onto any “this year’s best” has seemed a small influence (especially given the low voter numbers, see results here). Plus different genres and different authors obviously appeal to different people.
REVIEW: Clockwork Angels by Kevin J. Anderson (based on a story and lyrics by Neil Peart)
REVIEW SUMMARY: A fable of Order vs. Chaos fighting for a young man’s soul set in a world of alchemy and alternate universes. And steamships! KJA’s world building plus Easter eggs for Rush fans, and a struggle that starts out simple but is complex.
BOOK REVIEW: Assassin’s Code by Jonathan Maberry
Home » Books » Book Review » BOOK REVIEW: Assassin’s Code by Jonathan Maberry REVIEW SUMMARY: With ancient conspiracies wrapping more genetic mutations and the not quite omniscient Department of Military Sciences, Assassin’s Code is the most enjoyable in this series yet.
Our Evening with Carrie Fisher
“Dad,” asked my 21-year-old son, “do you think she’ll wear the Princess Leia outfit?” That, in a nutshell, is the now 55-year-old Carrie Fisher’s blessing and curse. My friend Vern admitted he had “serious issues with Princess Leia” from age 13.
REVIEW: Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale
REVIEW SUMMARY: Utilizing the East Texas setting he knows so well, Lansdale repeats the master storytelling displayed in one of my all-time faves, The Bottoms, with this genre-bending tale of escape and hope. Lansdale integrates pieces of Homer, Mark Twain and other influences, but it is his ability to make the characters, the setting and extraordinary circumstances come to life that makes this a great read.
Who is John Carter? (A John Carter Primer)
With Disney’s trailers and announced March release of the movie John Carter, readers of the books that inspired the movie are at once hopeful and fearful: hopeful that the movie will actually capture the imagination as well as the initial reading of Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom series did; fearful that the movie will be an unfaithful adaptation, or, at worst a lemon in the tradition of pulp movie adaptations like the Doc Savage movie.
REVIEW: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
REVIEW SUMMARY: A fast-paced story in a bleak future, where escape into virtual worlds is driven by a contest based on 1980s trivia and culture and the winner gets billions. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Wade Watts hides from the nasty real world of the mid-21st century inside the virtual world/MMORPG called OASIS. Like many, he searches for the clues that will grant the solver the fortune left by the will of the founder of OASIS.
REVIEW: A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin
REVIEW SUMMARY: An extremely well-written, well-paced book, with excellent characterizations where, like many “bridge books”, not much forward movement on the plot is achieved…well-worth the the read.
REVIEW: The Astounding, The Amazing and The Unknown by Paul Malmont
REVIEW SUMMARY: Continuing from the guilty pleasure of the voyeuristic look at the pulp author heroes of my childhood in The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, Malmont follows Heinlein, Asimov and other science fiction giants as fact meets fiction again in a race to create super-weapons and super defenses against the Axis in World War II. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: John Campbell assembles a team of science fiction writers to work with the Government during World War II.
REVIEW: Doc Savage: The Desert Demons by Lester Dent and Will Murray (writing as Kenneth Robeson)
REVIEW SUMMARY: The first new Doc Savage novel in eighteen years, written by Will Murray based on notes from Lester Dent, is true to the originals and a great read. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Doc Savage and his team descend upon California, to investigate mysterious red dust demons from the sky that are killing Hollywood types; Pat Savage, Doc’s cousin, is missing and may be one of the victims.
REVIEW: The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
REVIEW SUMMARY: Bringing to life pulp authors Lester Dent (Doc Savage) and Walter Gibson (The Shadow), Malmont strings together a pulp yarn involving the death of H.P. Lovecraft and revolution in China, pulling in other pulp authors as he goes. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: The authors of Doc Savage and The Shadow become adventurers as they try to find the ending to a pulp-like mystery in Chinatown and track down H.P. Lovecraft’s murderer.
REVIEW: The King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry
REVIEW SUMMARY: Employing frighteningly realistic conspiracy theory scenarios and some creative misdirection, Maberry has Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences team battling secret organizations and old enemies, protecting the world again. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Reeling from the tragedy at the end of Ledger #2 (small spoilers below), Joe is pulled back into the DMS after the Royal London Hospital is destroyed in a terrorist attack.
AUDIO REVIEW: The Adventures of Doc Savage
REVIEW SUMMARY: Radio theater meets the Man of Bronze in this remastered edition of NPR’s 1985 broadcast of two classic Doc Savage Stories. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Variety Arts Radio Theater perform Fear Cay and The Thousand Headed Man, two Doc Savage stories by Lester Dent, adapted for radio by Will Murray and Roger Rittner. MY REVIEW: PROS:Two great stories; dead-on voices (that matched the voices in my head) for Monk, Renny and Johnny; enjoyable behind-the-scenes CD.
Who is Doc Savage? (A Doc Savage Primer)
When SF Signal asked if I was interested in reviewing the recently released re-mastered audio version of two Doc Savage radio adventures, I quickly agreed. Since reading the Bantam books during my youth and going on a re-reading rampage lately, I’ve always been a big Doc fan.
REVIEW: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
REVIEW SUMMARY: Revenge is a dish best served rare and bloody, with side dishes of complex characters that might be good, or bad, or actually flawed like real people. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: General Monza Mercatto, leader of the mercenary Thousand Swords, is mutilated and left for dead by the Duke she was working for, her beloved brother slain. She survives, and plots revenge on Duke Orso (who wants to be King of Styria) and the six others who participated in her brother’s murder.
REVIEW: The Kensei by Jon F. Merz
REVIEW SUMMARY: The world needs balance, grasshopper, and when I need balance from the onslaught of the vampires of Twilight I will enjoy the martial arts, sword wielding vampire that is Lawson. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Lawson heads to Japan to unwind after some nasty work as the Vampire Council’s Fixer. But the intersection of the Yakuza, organ stealing, a rouge vampire out to create hybrids and his old human girlfriend (ex-KGB, of course) give no rest for weary sword wielding vampires.
Donating Books for a Library in Kabul
This post is not about science fiction. Or is it? How out of this world is a 47 country NATO force in Afghanistan, situated at Northern Kabul Airport, working to bring about not only security, but assisting with education, governance and overall development? Throw in a couple of nanotech induced zombies, and it could be a scene right out of Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry. But it is real. And I’m here to pimp for books.
REVIEW: The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry
REVIEW SUMMARY: Joe Ledger is back, he’s mad, and ready to take on genetically enhanced humans, animals and anything in between. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: In this follow up to the Bram Stoker nominated Patient Zero, Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences team fight two sets of related genetic mad scientists, one group out for profit and another aiming for race extinction. The crooks try to outwit each other while Joe Ledger and the DMS teams try to track them down.
REVIEW: World’s End (Age of Misrule #1) by Mark Chadbourn
REVIEW SUMMARY: Celtic gods and creatures, Arthurian legends emerge as the technology of the current world fails. A well paced, character and setting rich “old world dies, new world begins” fantasy novel (first of a trilogy) MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Our current age of technology is ending, as creatures of myth awaken. Five seemingly ordinary people in England are thrust into fighting for humanity against the gods of old.
Technology: Looking Forward, Looking Back
SF Signal welcomes back Larry Ketchersid, whose new novel, Software by the Kilo, is now available. Purchasers of the book are also eligible to win cool freebies for a limited time. Details here. Like many, I am obsessed with both science fiction and history books. Obviously, history shows us what has already occurred, and science fiction’s promise is to show us futures that might be. And sometimes those two trajectories, the past and the future, cross, and even run parallel.
INTERVIEW: Michael Hanlon, Author of Eternity, Our Next Billion Years
Michael Hanlon is the science editor at the Daily Mail in the UK. His recent book, Eternity, Our Next Billion Years, bucks the recent doomsday wave of apocalyptic writing, and postulates that, yes, we humans will be hanging around for a very long time. The books is divided into three time frames (the next few centuries, millennium from now, a billion years from now) and is told in part with scientific speculation with added speculative fiction vignettes.
REVIEW: Enemies & Allies by Kevin J. Anderson
Like most families, mine has a long history with both the DC and Marvel characters and universes. We’ve seen the movies, and, in addition, my now 18 year old son and I have waded through the entire Justice League of America graphic novel collection, and battle as the heroes themselves while playing Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and other video games (though my son never lets me win).
REVIEW: The Host by Stephenie Meyer
REVIEW SUMMARY: More a romance fantasy than science fiction, the bestselling author of the young adult Twilight vampire/werewolf series puts a slightly original romantic angle on the highly unoriginal sci-fi vehicle of a parasite taking over human hosts. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A kinder, gentler version of a Stargate Goa’uld, (millions of them) take over Earth forcing human survivors into hiding.
REVIEW: Sands of Oblivion
[NOTE: This is a guest review by blogger, author and ‘winner’ of our Sands of Oblivion contest, Larry Ketchersid. All opinions expresses herein are those of Larry and not necessarily those of the management, staff, families or pets of SF Signal. Although they might be. We may even tell if you ask nicely. Due to various technical issues (read- I’m lazy) this review was not posted under Larry’s name but under JP’s.
REVIEW: 2012: The War for Souls by Whitley Strieber
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a guest review by Larry Ketchersid, CEO of a security software and services company and the author of the novel Dusk Before the Dawn. He plays rugby, does martial arts, writes tech articles for The Global Intelligencer, reads a lot, and has degrees in Math, Physics and Computer Science. In other words, he still hasn’t decided what he wants to do and is in no hurry to do so.
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