Book Reviews
Review: “Pandemic” by Scott Sigler
Podcast novelist (and self-proclaimed future dark overlord) Scott Sigler burst onto the horror scene a couple of years ago Infected. If you’ve read (or listened to) Sigler’s original novel, I need only say two words to make you shudder involuntarily — chicken scissors.
Review: “Thomas the Rhymer” by Ellen Kushner
Apparently, the big screen is not the only medium in which remakes are popular. There are many authors that have written successful versions of children’s stories and fairy tales. Ellen Kushner brings us Thomas the Rhymer, winner of the World Fantasy Award.
Review: “Five Seasons of Angel”
You know that a pop culture staple has gone far beyond the normal range of fandom and reached saturation when serious academic studies relating to the psychology, philosophy, and morality of show and of its characters are being published.
To my knowledge, only Buffy the Vampire Slayer (with two academic conferences dedicated to it so far) and Godzilla fall into that category, but Buffy’s spinoff, Angel, should be right beside them.
Review: “Chalice” by Robin McKinley
I think Robin McKinley is one of the best fantasists writing today and if you are a writer; interested in writing meaningful, engaging and moving fantasy, then she is a writer to study. If you are a reader, then her books are a joy to read and re-read again.
Review: “Counting Heads” by David Marusek
Marusek has envisioned his world so clearly and carefully that the technical details feel like afterthoughts. References are made subtly and in passing, the way any of us would refer to a ubiquitous convenience like a cellphone or digital camera, and it takes you many pages to get a full glimpse of how this future society truly differs from our own, while remaining completely human and recognizable.
Review: “Discount Armageddon” by Seanan McGuire
The world is a fairly orderly place, talking mice, gorgons, Chupacabra… these are things of fairy tales, mythology and supermarket tabloids. Not so in Seanan McGuire’s new novel Discount Armageddon, the first book in her new “InCryptid” series.
Review: “Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town” by Cory Doctorow
This is a book that will appeal mostly to geeks, both because it’s SF and because it dwells so enthusiastically on the topic of wireless connectivity and networks and all that. But above and beyond those trappings, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is about family and society: fitting in, feeling left out, struggling for acceptance, struggling for independence.
Review: “The Prisoner” by Carlos J. Cortes
As a good thriller does, the book proceeds at a brisk pace, only slightly slowed when one of the characters begins to expound on how easily personal freedom was lost in this near future America. I might not have noticed this, except my previous reading with Suarez and Doctorow had already covered this topic pretty extensively.
