Author: Chris McCrudden (twitter) UK Publisher: Farrago Genre: Science Fiction, Comedy In space, no one can hear you clean… When Darren’s charge-cart gets knocked off the Earth-to-Mars highway and lost in space forever, he thinks his day can’t get any worse. When Kelly sees Darren accidentally short-circuit a talking lamppost, and its camera captures her face as it … Continue reading REVIEW: Battlestar Suburbia – Chris McCrudden
Author: Enid Blyton (website) UK Publisher: Hachette Children's Group Genre: Children's books Darrell Rivers is off to boarding school for the first time. She quickly settles down and makes new friends, including the clever and mischievous Alicia, who delights the form with her practical jokes. But the first term is not all fun and Darrell has … Continue reading REVISITED: First Term At Malory Towers – Enid Blyton
Author: Jodi Taylor (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Headline Genre: Humour, SFF 'So tell me, Dr Maxwell, if the whole of History lay before you ... where would you go? What would you like to witness?' When Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers the historians there don't just study the … Continue reading REVIEW: Just One Damned Thing After Another – Jodi Taylor
Author: Alix E. Harrow (twitter) UK Publisher: Orbit Genre: Historical fantasy EVERY STORY OPENS A DOOR In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored and utterly out … Continue reading REVIEW: The Ten Thousand Doors of January – Alix E. Harrow
Author: Soniah Kamal (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Allison & Busby Genre: Romance, satire, adaptation When Alys’s family is invited to the wedding of the century in their town, her mother, the indomitable Mrs Binat, excitedly coaches her five unmarried daughters on the art of husband hunting. Alys’s eldest sister Jena quickly catches the eye of … Continue reading REVIEW: Unmarriageable – Soniah Kamal
Author: Catherynne M. Valente (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Corsair Genre: Sci-fi, humour, EUROVISION IN SPACE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU SING A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented-something to cheer up everyone who was … Continue reading REVIEW: Space Opera – Catherynne M. Valente
Author: Cassandra Parkin (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Salt Genre: Short stories, modern fairy tales, magic realism In contemporary America, an un-named college student sets out on an obsessive journey of discovery to collect and record the life-stories of total strangers. The interviews that follow have echoes of another, far more famous literary journey, undertaken long … Continue reading REVIEW: New World Fairy Tales – Cassandra Parkin
Author: Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Allen & Unwin Genre: Humour, contemporary fiction Just before her twenty-seventh birthday, Jazzy hatches a plan. Before the year is out, she and her best girlfriends will all have spectacular weddings to rich ang moh - Western expat - husbands, with Chanel babies to follow. As Jazzy - razor-sharp … Continue reading REVIEW: Sarong Party Girls – Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Author: R.F. Kuang (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Harper Voyager Genre: Fantasy, historical fiction (ish) See Also: The Poppy War Rin is on the run… Haunted by the atrocity she committed to save her people, addicted to opium, and driven by the murderous commands of Phoenix, the vengeful god who has blessed Rin with her fearsome power. … Continue reading REVIEW: The Dragon Republic (Poppy War #2) – R.F. Kuang
Author: Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson (website / twitter) UK Publisher: Gollancz Genre: Fantasy, urban fantasy Sæmundur the Mad, addict and sorcerer, has been expelled from the magical university, Svartiskóli, and can no longer study galdur, an esoteric source of magic. Obsessed with proving his peers wrong, he will stop at nothing to gain absolute power and knowledge, especially of … Continue reading REVIEW: Shadows of the Short Days – Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson
