SF SiteThe new issue of the SF Site is now online.Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik- October 16, 2007 Laurence and his dragon team are returning to England after a spot of hot fighting. They have been away a long time, and expect (and deserve) a hero's welcome, but instead they hardly are noticed. People are inexplicably tense, and the dragon fields seem empty and untended. The truth soon comes out, despite efforts to hide it for obvious military reasons: a devastating illness is killing off the dragons one by one.http://www.sfsite.com/10b/ei258.htm Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch- October 16, 2007 Locke Lamora and his friend Jean Tannen have apparently suffered a disastrous setback leading to the deaths of all their compatriots, and a serious injury for Locke. On the bright side, they did defeat an evil Karthain Bondsmage. Eventually they land in the city of Tal Verrar, and they hatch a plot to steal from the Sinspire, an exclusive gambling den.http://www.sfsite.com/10b/rs258.htm Swans Over the Moon by Forrest Aguirre- October 16, 2007 The author employs two main tools: an exotic vocabulary and exuberant imagery, and both require incredible discipline to work properly. A reader needs to be absolutely confident that the unfamiliar word which sends her searching the dictionary is precisely chosen to do a job that no other word would do. Similarly the reader must recognise that the strange images built upon layer after layer of adjectives actually make sense, they must describe something that works visually outside the words.http://www.sfsite.com/10b/sw258.htm Babylon 5.1: TV reviews by Rick Norwood- October 16, 2007 From time to time, a science fiction classic is given the direct to video treatment. The results are usually pitiful. But the only good direct to video adaptation of a SF classic for Rick is the 1992 movie Grand Tour: Disaster in Time, written by David Twohy, based on the story "Vintage Season," by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick258.htm The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror: by Author -- compiled by Rodger Turner- October 16, 2007 In 1988, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling collected together what they thought was the best short fantasy and horror from the previous year. They went through as many of the magazines, collections and anthologies published in 1987 that they could find and chose those stories which they decided best represented the fantasy and horror field. Jim Frenkel arranged for its publication by St. Martins's Press and it has been produced every year since then. In 2003, Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant took...http://www.sfsite.com/lists/yb-fh-author01.htm The Dog Said Bow-Wow by Michael Swanwick- October 16, 2007 This wonderful collection gives us many of the author's most recent stories, dating from 2001-2007. It includes 3 Hugo winners: "The Dog Said Bow-Wow" (short story, 2002, also a Nebula nominee), "Slow Life" (novelette, 2003), "Legions in Time" (novelette, 2004); 2 Hugo nominees, " 'Hello,' Said the Stick" (short story, 2003), "The Little Cat Laughed to See Such Sport" (short story, 2003); and one original story "The Skysailor's Tale."http://www.sfsite.com/10b/bw258.htm The Wild Girls by Pat Murphy- October 16, 2007 In 1972, Joan is 12, her family has just moved to California from Connecticut and the strains are showing. The first person she meets is Sarah, who prefers to be called Fox and who is still mourning the loss of her mother who walked out some years before. Sarah has mythologised this event as her mother transforming into a fox, hence her chosen name. Since the separation, Fox's father has become a successful science fiction writer, and he pretty well leaves Fox to get on with her life the way...http://www.sfsite.com/10b/wg258.htm Fantastic Companions edited Julie E. Czerneda- October 16, 2007 This is a collection of stories which deal with the oftentimes symbiotic relationships between heroes in fantasy fiction and their non-human compatriots. The anthology of nineteen stories run the gamut from the familiar companions, like dogs and cats, to the more exotic like salmon and griffins, to the downright strange of constellations and kites.http://www.sfsite.com/10b/fc258.htm Overlooked or Over-hyped -- a column by Neil Walsh- October 16, 2007 Usually Neil chooses two books to compare. This time out he's stretching his muscles and looking at two trilogies. One is Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials made up of The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights in the original UK edition), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. The other is Martha Wells' series, The Fall of Ile-Rien which .is composed of The Wizard Hunters, The Ship of Air and The Gate of Gods.http://www.sfsite.com/columns/over258.htm New Arrivals compiled by Neil Walsh- October 16, 2007 New Arrivals at the SF Site include the latest from Stephen Baxter, Mary Gentle, David Farland, Whitley Streiber, and L.E. Modesitt, Jr., as well as forthcoming titles from Charlie Huston, Kevin J. Anderson, David & Stella Gemmell, Anne & Todd McCaffrey, Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter, plus much more.http://www.sfsite.com/books/new258.htm |