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Recent Reviews30 July 2014 It is genuinely thrilling to discover a book that defies the clichés of the horror genre and charts an original course into new territory. To discover a writer who, instead of wheeling out the same tired leitmotifs, dares to imagine situations, worlds, textures that relate neither to the Victorian ghost story nor to the 80s horror boom but to the cultural and political landscape of our present reality. In Other Words, edited by Saira Ali and Julia Rios 28 July 2014 In Other words is a chapbook of poetry and flash fiction brought together by editors Saira Ali and Julia Rios to raise funds for Con or Bust. 25 July 2014 Alexandra Duncan's debut, Salvage, stands out from the crowd in that it does not concede to most typical YA genre formulations. Her heroine, Parastrata Ava, is not a particularly kick-ass girl, and though well-rendered, she is mostly notable in her pliant nature and passivity. Acting more as a lens for Duncan's striking future Earth and off-planet environs, Ava, in some ways, resembles more a typical literary heroine than YA hero. The Moon King by Neil Williamson 23 July 2014 Although The Moon King is accurately described by its publisher as a fantasy, it borrows tropes from many genres. The Revolutions by Felix Gilman 21 July 2014 The Revolutions is simultaneously a Sherlock Holmes-ish mystery thriller complete with secret societies of nefarious purpose, a surprising love letter to the golden age of science fiction, and a fantastical vision of England in the 1890s. No Harm Can Come to a Good Man by James Smythe 18 July 2014 The title of James Smythe's latest novel is taken from Socrates's Apology. It is clearly ironic, suggesting that disaster will indeed befall the novel’s supposed good guy protagonist, Laurence Walker. Motherless Child by Glen Hirshberg 16 July 2014 Motherless Child is a vampire novel that isn't much interested in vampires. Transformers: Age of Extinction 14 July 2014 Quite apart from anything else: the film is staggeringly monotonous and unengaging. It commits the worst sin of an action blockbuster. It's boring. Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge 11 July 2014 Cuckoo's Song is a changeling story told from the viewpoint of the changeling. 09 July 2014 There are better translations of Beowulf out there for pretty much any metric of "better" one prefers. We're entitled to ask: who is this book for? Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi 07 July 2014 If there is a villain in Oyeyemi's clever, bold retelling of Snow White, it's not the stepmother; it's the mirror. 04 July 2014 Even if In Your Eyes's script has problems coming together, its individual scenes show Whedon's talent for writing captivating characters and memorable dialogue. 02 July 2014 Above all, Lagoon is a love letter to Lagos, even if Okorafor's idiosyncratic method of expressing her love involves unleashing the destructive chaos of an alien invasion on the city. Short Fiction Snapshot #9: "A Dweller in Amenty" by Genevieve Valentine 30 June 2014 Genevieve Valentine's "A Dweller in Amenty" is two things: it is food, and it is parentheses. View older reviews in our Archive, thanks to the kindness of our authors who allow us to keep their material online. |
