Recent Reviews

reviewed by Indrapramit Das

22 May 2013

Despite its ambition and length, and the clearly painstaking research behind it, River of Stars is never showy.

reviewed by Erin Horáková

20 May 2013

Deprivation presents itself primarily as an immersion in language and dream, rather than a journey along a narrative arc.

Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy, edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow

reviewed by Gabriel Murray

17 May 2013

The collected stories may owe more to Austen and Thackeray than to Tolkien, as the editors point out, but they also owe a great deal more to Dunsany and the Rossettis and Andrew Lang than to Jules Verne.

Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon

reviewed by Foz Meadows

15 May 2013

Zenn Scarlett is a novel that disappoints on multiple levels.

Utopia, Season 1

reviewed by Matthew Jones

13 May 2013

As the program throws together a heady cocktail of biological weapons, mad scientists, conspiracy theories, spies, torturers, attempted genocide, deserted mansions, long lost family members and assorted other improbable elements besides, Utopia becomes a dizzying and intricate balancing act which always seems one moment away from collapse.

The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

reviewed by Matt Hilliard

10 May 2013

This is a novel that wants to be a character study first, a romance second, and speculative fiction a distant third.

Necessary Ill by Deb Taber

reviewed by Maria Velazquez

08 May 2013

In Taber's construction, gender is destiny.

Adam Robots by Adam Roberts

reviewed by Andy Sawyer

06 May 2013

The title Adam Robots is a giveaway. Is this a joke? splutters the unwary reader. Well, yes.

No Return by Zachary Jernigan

reviewed by Martin Lewis

03 May 2013

Quietly, without any fuss, the New Weird has won.

The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, Part 2

reviewed by Abigail Nussbaum

01 May 2013

So, is the 2013 Clarke shortlist any good?

The 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, Part 1

reviewed by Abigail Nussbaum

29 April 2013

The judges for the 2013 Clarke award faced an extra challenge. This year, on top of all the usual tasks, it was incumbent upon them to produce a shortlist that would prove that we have not, in fact, lived and fought in vain.

Queen of Nowhere by Jaine Fenn

reviewed by Liz Bourke

26 April 2013

In Queen of Nowhere, Jaine Fenn opens a window on a fascinating and vivid science fictional world, seen through the lens of an intriguing character—a world which, ultimately, proves more vivid and coherent than our protagonist.

Two Views: The Story Until Now: A Great Big Book of Stories by Kit Reed

reviewed by Paul Kincaid and Chris Kammerud

24 April 2013

Paul Kincaid: Why is Reed's work so regularly praised, yet so rarely in receipt of the various honours given out to genre fiction? This superb retrospective collection might provide a few clues.

Chris Kammerud: Kit Reed's stories confront us again and again with the prisons of human existence—guilt, love, family, sex, gender. Her narratives turn on how her characters respond—revolution or acceptance? Delusion or daring escape?

Archived Reviews

View older reviews in our Archive, thanks to the kindness of our authors who allow us to keep their material online.

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