Recent ReviewsGod of Clocks by Alan Campbell 03 July 2009 Before I get on to talking about what an exuberant, bloody and brilliant novel this is I need to first point out that God of Clocks is the final volume of the Deepgate Codex, concluding the trilogy that began with Scar Night and was continued by Iron Angel. And yet, I like it. Legend of the Seeker, Season One 01 July 2009 Here's a frightening confession: I almost liked Legend of the Seeker. Beyond Balram: Stories by Vandana Singh and Ian McDonald 29 June 2009 McDonald's concerns are avowedly science fictional, at first sight quite at odds with Singh's more mystical, at times barely more than metaphorical, approach. Yet each author in their own way allows science fiction to inform our imaginings of one of the planet's most important and exciting nations. Ages of Wonder, edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Rob St. Martin 26 June 2009 The old complaint goes that fantasy writing is rooted in a handful of concepts and milieus. Contemporary "urban fantasy" aside, Medieval Europe (and a simplistic, stereotyped version of it at that) is far and away the predominant one—as those hostile to the genre (prone to seeing it as all consisting of J.R.R. Tolkien knock-offs) often charge. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan 24 June 2009 You know that painful feeling of being seriously out-of-step with the rest of the world? Not being satisfied with what makes almost everyone else content or even deeply happy? That's the experience Mary, the narrator of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth, suffers through most of the book. It was also mine on reading some of the many glowing reviews the book has received since its US publication earlier this year. 22 June 2009 I suspect most readers of this review are employed in ways enviably less difficult than one Martin Kindred, the protagonist of Alexander Irvine's highly enjoyable and gut-smart new novel. Fast Ships, Black Sails, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer 19 June 2009 While there are plenty of risks taken and is plenty of originality to be found in the book, this is ultimately a no-frills collection of pirate stories. 17 June 2009 This amalgamation of Platonic dialogue, Stapledonian fictional history and accessible SF prose yields rich rewards for Beckett right up until the book's climax where an undignified scramble for a conventionally satisfying ending comes dangerously close to undermining the entire work. 15 June 2009 It's not a new thing for Pixar to make stealth movies for adults in the guise of children's stories, but there is something particularly daring about Up's opening minutes Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding 12 June 2009 Retribution Falls doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking or startlingly original, but it is great good fun. Steal Across the Sky by Nancy Kress 10 June 2009 The mirror of the mind that produces life, indeed. This Is Not a Game by Walter Jon Williams 08 June 2009 Long known as a genre-stretching writer, This Is Not a Game sees Walter Jon Williams stepping into the increasingly SF-adjacent demesne of the technothriller. Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton 04 June 2009 Mark Charan Newton is clearly a writer who is still finding his voice. This is a fairly mealy-mouthed criticism but Nights Of Villjamur is a fairly mush-mouthed novel. View older reviews in our Archive, thanks to the kindness of our authors who allow us to keep their material online. |