Friday Faceoff – The 60s isn’t over until the fat lady gets high… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceoffscifi60scovers #SciFiMonth2019

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is currently being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring SCI FI 60s COVERS. I’ve selected Chocky by John Wyndham. I’m linking this post with Sci Fi Month 2019.

 

This Turkish edition was produced by Delidolu Yayınları in April 2018 – I love this one. The quirky 60s vibe with the restrained colour palette and the funky font is delightful and really eye-catching. This one is my favourite.

 

Published in August 2015 by NYRB Classics, this is another cover that goes back to the 60s sci fi psychedelic vibe for its influence. I love the vibrant orange colouring – also a 60s favourite and the patterns. Unfortunately that dreadful textbox is also a 60s feature, slapped across that lovely artwork and complete with a boringly forgettable font that disappears in thumbnail. Otherwise this cover would certainly have been a contender.

 

This Bulgarian edition, published by Георги Бакалов in 1979, is far more about the 1970s than the 60s. That is definitely a 70s haircut, and while I understand what they are trying to achieve, I think this effect manages to make poor Matthew look more like an alien. Frankly, I hate this one.

 

This edition, produced by Penguin Classics in March 2010, has really grown on me. I love the outline drawings and trying to make out exactly what is going on. The clean, uncluttered effect is complemented by that iconic 60s font, which really pops. This is clever and original – and runs a very close second to that first cover as my favourite.

 

This edition, published in 1987 by Penguin is the successful version of what that Bulgarian edition is attempting. The red colouring really pops against that fabulous title font, while that fractured stare of the young boy is both eye-catching and creepy. My trouble with this offering is that the genre it projects isn’t quirky sci fi featuring a young schoolboy and a curious alien who became his pretend friend – it looks more like a horror tale… Which is your favourite?

3 Bells – breathing space (S.J. Higbee) Book 3 – It’s Sci-Fi Month!

The Cap’s review on the final book on my Sunblinded Trilogy, BREATHING SPACE…

Captain's Quarters

Ahoy me mateys!  Grab your grog!  Here be book 3 of the eighth installment of the 3 Bells trilogy showcase featuring the crew’s very own Matey Sarah.  While I try to post no spoilers, ye have been forewarned and continue at yer own peril . . .

breathing space (S.J. Higbee)

Well, all ye scalawags should be familiar with Matey Sarah’s blog and wonderful book reviews.  But some of ye may not be aware that she also be a writer.  (What be wrong with ye wretches?)  When the first book was published years ago in 2017, I bought me a copy.  And then bought the next two in the trilogy as each was released.  But shame on me, I didn’t read them right away.  So with this Sci-Fi Month celebration, I thought I would finally give Matey’s Sarah’s work the time it deserves in return for all those sparkly treasures…

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Review of LIBRARY book Sparrow Falling – Book 2 of the Gears of Empire series by Gaie Sebold #Brainfluffbookreview #LoveYourLibrarychallenge #SciFiMonth2019

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series Shanghai Sparrow – see my review here – so when I spotted this one on the shelves, it was a no-brainer that I’d scoop it up. I am linking this review to SciFiMonth2019.

BLURB: Eveline Sparrow hopes to put her past experiences as a thief and con-artist to more legitimate use; which is why some of the girls at her Sparrow School receive private lessons in burglary, fakery, and other such underhand practices. But it’s hard to get honest work when few businesses will employ young ladies in the security professions. The duns are at the doorstep, her friend Liu the half-fox-spirit is in some sort of trouble, and the rivalries of the Folk are in danger of overspilling into the mundane world and forcing the Empire into a bloody and horrifying war. Can Eveline pull things out of the mire this time, or will the Sparrow’s wings be clipped once and for all?

Once I got into this entertaining steam punk adventure, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Evvie is a sympathetic protagonist, although I didn’t immediately reconnect with her as there didn’t seem to be a major bonding moment in the early stages of the novel. A strength of this series is the quality and depth of the supporting characters who are also depicted alongside Evvie Sparrow. One of my favourites is Ma Pether, the Fagin -like character who had scooped up Evvie off the streets and trained her to be a pickpocket and thief.

The other major character who I have more than a soft spot for is Liu, the half-Fae trickster who travels between the Fae courts and the human world in an attempt to impress his father. And save his own life… The two parallel narratives running alongside one another that power the narrative arc are equally engrossing, so I was never tempted to skim one in order to get back to the other. While it took some time for the book to hit its stride, once both storylines got going this was difficult to put down, and I thoroughly enjoyed the manner in which the resolution came about.

It is always a treat to think you know where a story is going, only to find it shoots off in another direction. I am hoping that Sebold is busy writing an addition to this entertaining series – surely Evvie’s talent for finding trouble has not yet been exhausted and I want more of Ma and Liu as well.

Recommended for fans of well-written steam punk.
8/10