SFBook - 20+ Years of Reviews

Providing book reviews of speculative fiction since 1999. Read our story

latest
Fantasy
review

What makes a good Conan novel? It seems like a simple calculation, a brawny barbarian, a massive sword, wine, woman, and violence. Mix the lot into a pot and you have a Conan adventure to be proud of, except it is not that easy. Conan lives in a vibrant and complex world that can be stodgy to...

Article by Sam Tyler on 2nd December 2024
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latest
Science Fiction
review
The Final Orchard by  by C J Rivera
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Science Fiction
review

When the apocalypse inevitably comes do you want to know about it? Would you like the chance to peer out of the window and see the world burning, perhaps you can make a run for the high ground? Another option is to live in pure ignorance underground, competing with your fellow residents for the...

Article by Sam Tyler on 27th November 2024
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latest
General Fiction
review
Quarry's Return by  by Max Allan Collins
latest
General Fiction
review

What do you do with an aging character? Some authors choose to pretend that their characters are immortal and never age. This is great for churning out the content, but it does hamstring you into writing the same type of story as you can never move on in fear of making the protagonist too old....

Article by Sam Tyler on 22nd November 2024
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latest
Science Fiction
review

I enjoy it when the publishing community gets together and decides to proclaim there is a new subgenre. These are a collection of books that have already been written but are now herded into a common bracket. Romantasy and Cosy Fantasy are doing great, and I have read a few of these. Low stake...

Article by Sam Tyler on 15th November 2024
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Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
- Aldous Huxley
latest
Fantasy
review

As a committed reader, you start to see the signs that you are living a long life. One stark reminder is when a favourite author dies. This has happened too often already for my liking; one particularly heavy hit was Sir Terry Pratchett. In a world in which authors continue to write into their...

Article by Sam Tyler on 14th November 2024
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latest
Horror
review

Horror comes in many shapes and sizes. The horror could be on this plane of existence, a creature that stalks you and your family through generations. It could be even closer to home, the horror of the mundane, the terror of ordinary people willing to do anything to achieve their goals, even if...

Article by Sam Tyler on 11th November 2024
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latest
General Fiction
review

Christmas has many traditions from trees to strange men sneaking down the chimney in the dead of night. One tradition I like is the different genres that tackle the season. There is something spooky about the dark nights and folk traditions that make Christmas Ghost Stories so good, but it is...

Article by Sam Tyler on 6th November 2024
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latest
Science Fiction
review

I do enjoy a set of short stories. There are typically two types that you can get, a collection, or a theme. The Price of Memories and Other Stories by Sally McBride is a classic style collection of an author’s works brought together over years into a curated whole. Are there themes that...

Article by Sam Tyler on 4th November 2024
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latest
Science Fiction
review

Comics have a complex history with some storylines going back decades. Even the relatively new superheroes can have intricate lore. Moon Knight has had plenty of time to muddy the waters with almost 50 years of stories to look back on, but it is not the depth of the stories that make Moon Knight...

Article by Sam Tyler on 24th October 2024
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Science Fiction
review
The Glass Abyss by  by Steven Barnes
latest
Science Fiction
review

I have always enjoyed the Star Wars extended universe novels, be they the Legend set, or the newer relaunched series. The books allow us to explore the Skywalker saga in more depth, but for me the most fun is exploring the deeper cuts. I have read fantastic novels that have delved into the lives...

Article by Sam Tyler on 23rd October 2024
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latest
Horror
review

The creation of a new subgenre comes fraught with danger, there may be a good reason it did not arise before. I am seeing an increase in what can be called Cosy Fantasy, novels that have many of the tropes of the genre but concentrate on character interaction over the action. The threat is that...

Article by Sam Tyler on 11th October 2024
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latest
Horror
review
Benothinged by  by Alvar Theo
latest
Horror
review

You do not have to delve onto the fiction shelves to find horror, you can just watch the news. Wars breaking out, people starving. Closer to home there are murders and violence. Most of us are cocooned from these horrors, living in bubbles of our own creation, but some horrors we cannot escape;...

Article by Sam Tyler on 7th October 2024
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There is no friend as loyal as a book.
- Earnest Hemmingway
latest
Horror
review

How big does a cult have to be to become a cult? Does it have to be thousands of people? Hundreds? Tens? Could one family be a cult? If you brought your children up in a remote location without access to the internet and media, it may be possible to make them believe almost anything. Like a tale...

Article by Sam Tyler on 3rd October 2024
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latest
Science Fiction
review
Coup de Grace by  by Sofia Ajram
latest
Science Fiction
review

People read for all sorts of reasons. I read to escape and have fun, my preference is for high action and laughs, but I understand that some people like to be challenged by their reading. This could be a complex Space Opera, or a piece of literature that tackles the life of a downtrodden mother...

Article by Sam Tyler on 1st October 2024
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latest
Science Fiction
review
Teslamancer by  by Matthew Donald
latest
Science Fiction
review

Science Fiction is fun in so many ways and one of the most entertaining games to play is to think about if. What is Nickola Tesla invented a way to harness an all-powerful energy? Would such power be safe to use, not only for an individual, but for a nation? This was an era of World Wars; more...

Article by Sam Tyler on 30th September 2024
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latest
Horror
review

If you are reading this, you have some interest in books, enough to read a review about one. Bound in Blood is not just a book, this is a book about books. Well at least a collection of spooky short stories about books, authors, libraries, and all things bibliophile. For those of us in the know,...

Article by Sam Tyler on 25th September 2024
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latest
Fantasy
review

I always forget how unpleasant some of the antiheros were in Victorian era fantasy and science fiction. In my mind I think of the era being full of ladies and gentlemen, but there were plenty of loathsome people too. Looking back on the working conditions and how society treated its poor,...

Article by Sam Tyler on 23rd September 2024
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latest
Horror
review

You do not have to travel as far as Italy to get a bargain house, but I like the hills and sunshine of Sicily over a row of abandoned terrace housing in the wet UK. In the past you could pick up houses for as little as £1/€1 in both these places as the local councils encouraged...

Article by Sam Tyler on 20th September 2024
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Science fiction, fantasy & horror book reviews

SFBook.com is one of the oldest book review sites on the internet, founded back in 1999 in an age before phones became smart and when the leading figure of the free world was respected and even occasionally admired. A non profit site primarily aimed at the Science fiction, fantasy and horror genres (although we do have a growing list of general fiction). We strive to feature only the very best in Science fiction, fantasy, horror and speculative novels. We like to think we write personal, unique and constructive reviews.

We are constantly evolving and expanding the web site and strive to make the site a richer experience for the visitor. If you have any suggestions, or constructive feedback we'd love to hear from you.

We have dedicated pages for Science fiction book reviews as well as fantasy book reviews and horror book reviews but you can also browse by author, publisher, name, series or Sub Genre.

Reviews are provided by a team of regular and guest reviewers from around the world, mostly based in the USA and the UK. These include Ant - the site editor, Allen Stroud - chair of the BSFA and Sam Tyler, reviewer extraordinaire. We try our very best to prevent giving away any spoilers so that the reading experience remains as fresh as possible. Where spoilers are mentioned, we do our best to let you know in advance. We firmly believe that life is too short to struggle through a book you are not enjoying so often the reviews you see will be the books we've made it through to the end. However if you want to know about a book not listed, please feel free to get in touch.

If you are a publisher, author or authors agent who would like to see a book reviewed you can reach us on the Contact Us page. If you'd like to review books or related articles to feature on the site, get in touch with Ant.

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