As Nicola Griffith, author of Menewood, second in her Hild series, said in a recent interview, she expects to be writing about this seventh century British saint (the abbess of Whitby in her later years) for the rest of her life. The character of Hild she has created through 20 years of research is unforgettably […]
Ethera Grave by Essa Hansen (Part 3 of The Graven Trilogy)
Essa Hansen’s Ethera Grave may be the conclusion of her Graven trilogy (following Nophek Gloss and Azura Ghost), but it does far more than bring to an exciting and powerful conclusion a complex story. The novel expands its multiverse in dazzling ways and probes numerous questions of moral choice, diversity, transformation, time, the power of […]
Neuromancer by William Gibson – A Review for #SciFiMonth
Like any great novel that does something really new, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, can be hard to get into. And it still feels new, at least to me, almost forty years after its publication, despite the fact that cyberpunk has become so common a sub-genre. Neuromancer is so uniquely itself that it’s hard to make the […]
Hidden Solace by Karl Drinkwater: A #SciFiMonth Review
Karl Drinkwater’s Hidden Solace is the third volume of the projected five-novel space opera Lost Solace series. Like its predecessors, Hidden Solace, transforms a familiar scifi trope (here, the prisoner trying to escape from an impossibly isolated and well-defended structure) into something exciting and new. The writing is riveting and intense and kept me going […]
Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky for #SciFiMonth
By now, I just accept the fact that Adrian Tchaikovsky can write about anything in SFF and do it brilliantly. Children of Memory, which follows the award-winning Children of Time and Children of Ruin, continues this great saga of human evolution and species uplift in multiple star systems. There is a moving and exciting story […]
Embertide (Book 3 of The Fallow Sisters) by Liz Williams
Liz Williams’ Embertide is the third outing with the Fallow Sisters (following on from Comet Weather and Blackthorn Winter), and it’s another time-slipping and spirit-battling adventure with Bee, Serena, Stella, Luna, and their reality jumping Mom, Alys. Spirits, both good and evil, frequently interrupt their lives in present-day England. Assisting them are a troupe of […]