The Darkness and the Light By Olaf Stapledon Published 1942 Score: 8 I’ll be reading the Retro Hugos this year. Or at least, all the ones I can find. Let’s start with The Darkness and the Light, an examination of two futures for humanity: one a utopia that has enough issues to remain interesting, …
Tag: Review
Review – Nova
Nova By Samuel R. Delany Published January 1968 (Doubleday) Score: 9.5/10 Wow, I knew this book would be a fun read, but I didn’t realise I would be coming across a hidden gem. If I had done some research I would have known what I was reading. Algis Budrys once said: “Samuel R. Delany, …
The Left Hand of Darkness + The Wind’s Twelve Quarters Vol. 2
The Left Hand of Darkness By Ursula K. Le Guin Published 1969 Score: 9/10 Alright, now I understand why Ursula K Le Guin was such a giant in the field. The Left Hand of Darkness isn’t the first thing I’ve read by her, but this is the novel that made me go ‘ahh, I …
Continue reading The Left Hand of Darkness + The Wind’s Twelve Quarters Vol. 2
Review – Phasma
Phasma By Delilah S. Dawson Published August 2017 (Del Rey) Score: 7/10 I haven’t read a lot of tie-in novels, and I probably wouldn’t have picked up this one normally. I got Phasma because I was looking for an audiobook my partner and I could listen to in the car during the long Christmas holiday …
Review – The Winter Tide
The Winter Tide By Ruthanna Emrys Published April 2017 (Tor.com) Score: 7.5/10 There have been a lot of Lovecraft-related stories recently. The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle were both finalists for this years Hugo Award for best Novella. 2016 also saw the release …
Review – The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales
The Fox’s Tower and Other Tales By Yoon Ha Lee Published June 2015 Score: 9.5/10 I purchased this collection after I first read Ninefox Gambit and then forgot about it. The Fox’s Tower is a collection of Yoon Ha Lee’s fairytale-inspired flash fiction, which is not my usual thing, but I love Yoon Ha …
Review – Provenance
Provenance By Ann Leckie Published September 2017 (Orbit) Score: 9.5/10 I love the Imperial Radch trilogy. I love it so much, that when I heard that Ann Leckie was writing a new book set in the same universe I added it to my Goodreads shelf before I learnt anything else. Then back in June …
Review – Cycle of Fire
Cycle of Fire By Hal Clement Published 1957 Score: 7/10 I have in the past labelled some science fiction stories as ‘hard’, without fully explaining what that means. To quote Wikipedia; “Hard Science Fiction is a category of science fiction categorised by an emphasis on scientific accuracy.” Originally terms like ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ differentiated …
Double Review – The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden and Frost by M. P. Kozlowsky. Also, I Love Audiobooks.
No real reason to review these two stories together to be honest. I’ve just been falling behind with my reviews, as my followers may have noticed. I enjoyed both novels, but don’t feel like they were anything super special. I did listen to both these books on Audible, making them my first non-Ada Palmer audiobooks. …
Hugo Award Novelette Finalists 2017
This was a really fun group of novelettes. Three fantasy stories, and three science fiction stories. Well, kinda three science fiction stories. Touring With the Alien and You'll Surely Drown Here if you Stay were both on my ballot, and I feel they've come up against worthy competition for the most part. I think it's interesting …
Jayde Holmes 