by NRB | 25 Feb 2020 | Fiction, SFF |
The author of the Sevenwaters series returns to the magic of ancient Ireland and the mysterious Otherworld in her latest novel. The Harp of Kings is the first in the new Warrior Bards series from Juliet Marillier. It is loosely connected to her Blackthorn and...
by NRB | 20 Feb 2020 | Fiction, SFF |
The world has literally stopped turning in Andrew Hunter Murray’s dystopian thriller. Andrew Hunter Murray’s debut novel The Last Day is one of an interesting new strain of post-apocalyptic dystopian thrillers. Unlike standard cli-fi apocalypses that project...
by NRB | 13 Feb 2020 | Fiction, SFF |
An outback mining town is the setting for the apocalypse in Lili Wilkinson’s novel. In a parallel universe, a version of me gets to have a normal life, where ‘being prepared’ means bringing a cardigan… Pru’s father is a doomsday prepper. She and her twin sisters...
by NRB | 16 Jan 2020 | Fiction, SFF |
Marc-Uwe Kling’s satirical dystopia QualityLand is set in a world uncomfortably close to our own, where algorithms rule. Welcome to QualityLand by Marc-Uwe Kling (translated from the German by Jamie Lee Searle), the newest book in the over-the-top,...
by NRB | 15 Oct 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
This adult novel from the bestselling YA author delivers fantasy on the dark side, inspired by real places. There are so many magical-academy-style books that they could probably form their own sub-genre. The Harry Potter series is probably the most popular and...
by NRB | 10 Oct 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
The award-winning author of Terra Nullius returns with an ambitious new novel melding speculative fiction, war and history. The Old Lie is probably the most satisfying novel I will enjoy this year. The title is from Wilfred Owen’s World War I poem ‘Dulce et Decorum...
by NRB | 5 Sep 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
What makes a hero? Lavie Tidhar’s novel explores another history behind the one we know, one peopled by those with superpowers. Superheroes are pretty much everywhere you turn these days, whether it is the bright colours of the Marvel cinematic universe, the...
by NRB | 22 Aug 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
In this debut novel Kate Mascarenhas creates a world where time travel is not only possible, it could be linked to a murder … In 1967, four female scientists invent time travel, but only three of them become household names for the right reason. The fourth,...
by NRB | 20 Aug 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
Rob Hart’s dystopian novel about an online fulfilment warehouse describes a world that feels disturbingly familiar. Consumerism and the American Dream are in the firing line in Rob Hart’s debut novel The Warehouse. David Eggers mashed Google, Microsoft and Apple...
by NRB | 9 Jul 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
Matt Ruff’s fiction explores the reality of writer HP Lovecraft’s world, where the real demons might be your neighbours rather than supernatural forces. The fantasy and science fiction world has a bit of a love-hate relationship with the works of HP...
by NRB | 27 Jun 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
Becky Chambers assembles an intriguing cast of species in a spacecraft on a mission into deep space. Compared in its publicity to cult TV sci-fi show Firefly, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is both more and less than that cowboy western in space. The...
by NRB | 4 Jun 2019 | Fiction, SFF |
Tim Clare’s second novel follows in the footsteps of other modern British fantasists like China Miéville and Jeff Vandermeer. In 2015 Tim Clare released his debut fantasy The Honours. That book felt like a reinvigoration of classic British fantasy. Set in the...