Recent Reviews

A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti

reviewed by Dan Hartland

08 February 2010

To reveal my hand before delving any deeper, the recent collection within SF of which this book most reminded me was Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners.

The Beast with Nine Billion Feet by Anil Menon

reviewed by L. Timmel Duchamp

05 February 2010

Ideology, for all its apparent abstraction, tends to be personal; and differences in ideology are often woven into the very fabric of family relations, accentuating other differences.

The Day of the Triffids

reviewed by C. B. Harvey

03 February 2010

It is, of course, far easier to make a triffid walk on the page than on the screen.

Tales from the Mabinogion: The Ninth Wave by Russell Celyn Jones and White Ravens by Owen Sheers

reviewed by Paul Kincaid

01 February 2010

With the change of setting, both authors have replaced the magical, the fantastic, the outlandish and the weird with determinedly rationalist explanations.

Love Puppets and other webcomics by Jessica McLeod and Edward J. Grug III

reviewed by Michael H. Payne

29 January 2010

If I jumped right in and described the webcomics of Jessica McLeod and Edward J. Grug III as "cute," I feel certain a large percentage of readers would sigh wearily, roll their eyes, and click away to some other portion of the phantasmagorical extravaganza that is the Strange Horizons website.

The 2009 David Gemmell Legend Award Shortlist, Part Two

reviewed by Nic Clarke

27 January 2010

Even if, or perhaps especially if, some of the popular choices don't exactly track with the definition—as is certainly the case with this first shortlist—having a theme provides plenty of hooks for further discussion and food for thought.

Shortlist Review: The 2009 David Gemmell Legend Award, Part One

reviewed by Nic Clarke

25 January 2010

What do they mean by “in the spirit of David Gemmell”? According to the same webpage, what they are looking for is something that grabs the reader immediately, with pace (“you know, books that you're STILL reading at three in the morning!”), characters to root for, and convincing world-building. Stories, in other words, that take hold and won't let go until the final page—the reason we all started reading fantasy in the first place.

Quality of prose goes unmentioned, but I'm afraid it won't in this review; writing that makes me want to stab my own eyes out tends to interfere with my desire to still be reading at three in the morning. I'm fussy like that.

Wild Hunt by Margaret Ronald

reviewed by Hannah Strom-Martin

22 January 2010

Margaret Ronald's second Evie Scelan novel, Wild Hunt, continues to showcase the author's talent for combining drama, chills, and hilarity into a compulsively readable caper.

Cast a Deadly Spell

reviewed by Raz Greenberg

20 January 2010

Though one of Campbell's lesser-known works, Cast a Deadly Spell was ahead of its time in many respects, featuring stylistic and narrative elements that would become standard in many future genre productions.

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood and The Rapture by Liz Jensen

reviewed by Martin Lewis

18 January 2010

There are far more similarities between The Year Of The Flood and The Rapture than I was expecting.

Two Views: Doctor Who, "The End of Time"

reviewed by Tony Keen and Tim Phipps

15 January 2010

Tony Keen: In many ways, it is emblematic of Davies' entire five-year stint on the show—bits of it are good, and bits of it aren't.

Tim Phipps: It’s got heart, this show. It’s not always in the right place, but it is always there.

Sherlock Holmes

reviewed by Dan Hartland

13 January 2010

Holmes is, in short, the closest thing to a King Arthur or a Robin Hood that the modern age has produced. He is, despite a canonical body of accomplished literature, a creature of the popular imagination, endlessly refigured and—key, this—re-energised.

The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham

reviewed by Niall Harrison

11 January 2010

The Other Lands is a more confident, more exuberant, and more unusual epic fantasy than The War with the Mein, but loses none of its predecessor's scope or familiar pleasures.

Archived Reviews

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