Book Review: The Commons by Matthew Hughes

I first came across Matthew Hughes in ‘Interzone’ a few years back and was immediately struck by the story’s similarity to something that might have been written by Jack Vance. Of course, I’m not the only one to have spotted that and the cover of this and his other books makes that comparison.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Everfair by Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl’s debut novel, Everfair. is a fantastically intricate portrayal of the birth of a free state in the heart of Africa and its fight for survival against the brutal regime of Belgian King Leopold. The classic steampunk tropes of Victorian Britain are transported to the burgeoning state of Everfair and the neighbouring Congo and adapted to the tropical climate and local materials and culture.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Invisible Planets by Ken Liu (Ed)

Not to be confused with Hannu Rajaniemi’s recent debut collection of the same name, this Invisible Planets is an anthology of contemporary Chinese SF in translation. Ken Liu is the editor and also the translator of all the stories, most of which have appeared in some of the top SF venues over the past few years. Coming hot on the heels of my reading Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Trilogy and then interviewing both Ken Liu and Liu Cixin, I was decidedly in the mood for some more Chinese Science Fiction.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Jacaranda by Cherie Priest

I’ve been a fan of Cherie Priest’s Clockwork Century books since I was first captivated by Boneshaker. Although Fiddlehead was announced to be the last Clockwork Century novel, we’ve been given the bonus of a novella in the form of Jacaranda to assuage the withdrawal symptoms.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

An Excellent Interview

My interview with Cixin Liu was referenced on the venerable 'File 770' where it was called 'an excellent interview.

Cixin Liu Interview

It’s a surprisingly warm October day in London and the Embankment is crowded with tourists. Outside the South Bank Centre, dozens of people are eating and drinking at tables belonging to half a dozen restaurants. It’s also busy inside the building but, fortunately, I’ve entered at the right end of the building and spot the lift straight away. It’s quieter as I step out on the wide expanse of the fifth floor and directly in front of the lift is the Chinese contingent.

Read my interview at SF Crowsnest.

Interview with Ken Liu

Ken Liu is an author and translator of speculative fiction, as well as a lawyer and programmer. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy awards, he has been published in ‘The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction’, ‘Asimov’s Magazine’, ‘Analog’, ‘Clarkesworld’, ‘Lightspeed’ and ‘Strange Horizons’, among other places.

Photo by Lisa Tang Liu



Read my interview with Ken Liu at SF Crowsnest. 

Book Review: Death's End by Cixin Liu

The grand scale of Cixin Liu’s ‘The Three-Body Trilogy’ continues in this third volume ‘Death’s End’, translated from the Chinese, as was the first volume, by Ken Liu. This 600 page book moves forward at a stately place, building solid ideas one upon another, continuing to extrapolate the future of humanity under the threat of annihilation from the Trisolarans and the earth-shattering events of the previous volumes.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Interview Experience

I've interviewed several authors and editors in the past via email, but today was my first opportunity to carry out an interview in person. The author in question was none other than Cixin Liu, acclaimed Chinese author of the Three-Body trilogy. I travelled into London to meet him at the South Bank Centre where I carried out the interview via an interpreter.


The interview will be appearing at SF Crowsnest soon.

Book Review: Daughter of Eden by Chris Beckett

In this third volume of the ‘Dark Eden’ saga, Chris Beckett continues the story of the lost colony that inhabits the orphan world of Eden, warmed and lit only by fluorescent flora powered by geothermal energy.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.