Angela and I were talking last week about what a great year this is shaping up to be for adult books with teen appeal–we have a backlog of great books that we still want to review, and another list of books that we had to give up on getting to because too much time has [...]
‘Superman: Unbound’ and Why There’s No Such Thing as the ‘Superhero Genre’
By on May 7, 2013
Superman, with a 75-year canon to draw upon, should be included in any curriculum that covers science fiction.
Review: The Fifth Wave
By on May 2, 2013
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. Book website. First in a trilogy. The Plot: It is months after the aliens first came, the Others, and sixteen year old Cassie Sullivan is huddled in a tent, alone with just her baby [...]
Weekly Reviews: High Adrenaline
By on April 8, 2013
In The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction (ALA, 2009), Joyce Saricks divides genre fiction into four categories: Adrenaline Genres, Emotion Genres, Intellect Genres, and Landscape Genres (h/t to Jonathan Hunt for pointing me to this wonderful resource–and click through that link to read some fascinating commentary on the categories). I find this categorization much more [...]
Review: When We Wake
By on March 20, 2013
When We Wake by Karen Healey. Little, Brown. 2013. Reviewed from ARC from publisher. The Plot: “My name is Tegan Oglietti, and on the last day of my first lifetime, I was so, so happy.” And Tegan, sixteen, was happy. No, her life wasn’t perfect or flawless. Her father, a soldier, had died when she [...]
Review of the Day: The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore
By on March 19, 2013
The Water Castle By Megan Frazer Blakemore Illustrated by Jim Kay Walker Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Bloomsbury) $16.99 ISBN: 978-0-8027-2839-5 Ages 9-12 On shelves now Where does fantasy stop and science fiction begin? Is it possible to ever draw a distinct line in the sand between the two? A book with a [...]
Book Giveaway: ‘Doctor Who FAQ’
By on March 12, 2013
Weekly Reviews: Sequels
By on March 12, 2013
Weekly Reviews: Speculative Fiction
By on February 25, 2013
Today we review three thrillingly original works of speculative fiction. Let’s start with a post-apocalyptic, dystopian debut novel. The Office of Mercy is being marketed as a Hunger Games readalike. (I’ve also seen comparisons to recent Alex Award winner, Pure). However, debut author Djanikian is more concerned with ethical questions than fast-paced action. The Alphas had good intentions [...]
‘Doctor Who’: The Ultimate Revenge of the Nerds
By on November 14, 2012
Blu-ray Giveaway: Doctor Who Series 7 (Part One)
By on November 13, 2012
Blu-ray Giveaway: Doctor Who Series 7 (Part One)
By on November 13, 2012
A Confusion of Princes (or, Khemri’s Clearly Excellent Adventure)
By on October 25, 2012
A Confusion of Princes, Garth Nix
Harper, May 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Let’s go back in time for a moment, to the heady golden days of science fiction as the place where sweeping stories examine the nature of humanity and also contain explosions and cool tech.
Are you with me?
Because A Confusion of Princes is a throwback in the [...]
A Confusion of Princes (or, Khemri’s Clearly Excellent Adventure)
By on October 25, 2012
A Confusion of Princes, Garth Nix
Harper, May 2012
Reviewed from ARC
Let’s go back in time for a moment, to the heady golden days of science fiction as the place where sweeping stories examine the nature of humanity and also contain explosions and cool tech.
Are you with me?
Because A Confusion of Princes is a throwback in the [...]
Review: Yesterday
By on October 25, 2012
Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin. Random House. 2012. Reviewed from ARC from publisher.
The Plot: 2063. Freya Kallas is sixteen, locked in her room, while something terrible happens with her brother. She struggles as she is forcibly evacuated, crying out for her brother, hating her father, wishing for her mother to do something. The Toxo is [...]
Caliban’s War
By on October 5, 2012
Caliban’s War is the second Expanse novel, following last year’s much-lauded Leviathan Wakes. In my post on Leviathan Wakes, I mentioned that James S.A. Corey is actually two people, a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. They also share a blog called Lizard Brain, which is where I learned that there is also an Expanse [...]
Review: Adaptation
By on September 25, 2012
Adaptation by Malinda Lo. Little, Brown. 2012. Reviewed from ARC from publisher.
The Plot: Reese and David are returning home from nationals for debate (they lost, don’t ask) when the world seems to go crazy. They are at the airport when birds begin attacking planes; a series of crashes forces the shut down of all air [...]
Review: For Darkness Shows the Stars
By on September 4, 2012
For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund. Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins. 2012. Review copy from publisher.
The Plot: Elliot North, 18, has spent the last four years trying to keep her family’s estate running. It means not just making sure there is enough for herself, her father, Baron North, and her sister; [...]
Children’s Sci-fi/Fantasy Writer Josepha Sherman Dies at 65
By on August 27, 2012 Leave a Comment
Science fiction and fantasy writer Josepha Sherman died on August 23 in New Haven, CT, after a long illness, in which she battled dementia. She was 65. Sherman’s works include Gleaming Bright (Walker, 1994), a story of a resourceful young princess who goes in search of a magic box to avoid marrying a cruel king, and an adult fantasy, The Shining Falcon (Avon, 1989), a tale of love, hate, and magic that’s filled with Slavic mythology.
