08/20/2018
This underdeveloped first novel from the daughter of the late Anne McCaffrey disappointingly drags out the latter’s legacy with a halfhearted return to one of the first stories set on the world of Pern, where humans and dragons form telepathic bonds. The near-nonexistent story gets away from the teenage main character, Piemur, forcing him to be passive and reactive as important events from the original series swirl about him, almost as if the author is afraid to do more than peer at established canon; she neither develops it in a new direction nor tells new stories in the classic setting. The clunky dialogue, heavy exposition, and generally novice writing make the lack of substantive plot uncomfortably apparent, and the lazy characterizations mostly involve noble dragonriders looking beautiful and graceful while antagonists are ugly and uncouth. (One character’s only notable feature is a speech impediment, which is put on display in a cartoonish, discomfiting way.) Sadly, this volume comes across as an attempt to trade on the McCaffrey name rather than an effort to nurture and extend the much-beloved franchise. Agent: Diana Tyler, MBA Literary. (Oct.)
At the end of each month, we share lists of B&N’s current bestsellers in the genre, from new hardbacks, to trade paperbacks, to mass markets and media tie-ins, to graphic novels and manga. These are the books everyone is talking about—and buying. Hardcovers What books did you buy in November?
At the end of each month, we share lists of B&N’s current bestsellers in the genre, from new hardbacks, to trade paperbacks, to mass markets and media tie-ins, to graphic novels and manga. These are the books everyone is talking about—and buying. Hardcovers What books did you buy in October?
For two decades, Jim Killen has served as the science fiction and fantasy book buyer for Barnes & Noble. Every month on Tor.com and the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Jim shares his curated list of the month’s best science fiction & fantasy books. What sci-fi or fantasy books are on your “must-buy” list for October?