Book Reviews
Review: “Steampunk!” edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
I do enjoy a good short story anthology and Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories really fits the bill. It offers 14 terrific stories all in the steampunk genre (although some of them are pretty loosely connected — I’m looking at you Garth Nix!). And the quality of the stories are uniformly good.
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: “Just a Geek” by Wil Wheaton
It’s not often I read books which both reverse and elevate my opinion of the author. Before reading Just a Geek, Wil Wheaton was the child-actor who played arguably the most hated character on Star Trek:TNG, as well as the kid with the biggest (leech-infested) one in four counties. After finishing the book, Wil has become one of my Personal Heroes.
Review: “City of Ember” by Jeanne DuPrau
Have you ever read a book that is SO good, that you can’t wait to read the next one? That’s this book. It’s the best book I have read so far! The City of Ember is far underground. Which I thought, wow this be really cool to read about.
Review: “Waking The Witch” by Kelley Armstrong
It’s difficult to keep a long running series fresh and interesting for the fans (and the author). Ms. Armstrong has achieved this in a number of ways, most obviously by changing the lead character in each book. But she also provides quality world building, well plotted mysteries and characters who grow and change in each book.
Review: “The Princes of the Golden Cage” by Nathalie Mallet
The Princes of the Golden Cage is a good little read. It’s not an uber mystery and it’s not an epic fantasy but it’s a nice amalgam of both. After the story gets moving along there are some interesting twists and turns with some not so typical resolutions. There are a nice variety of characters and the settings are gorgeous in my mind’s eye.
Review: “The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy”
I heard recently that eighty-one percent of Americans believe they have a book in them. I believe if you polled fantasy fans, that number would be in the nineties. And I’m just talking novels, I’m not including all the movie and TV screenplays we have in mind. It’s one of the best aspects of being science fiction and fantasy fans: you live a big chunk of your life in your imagination.
But, ask anyone who has ever tried to write fantasy, and he or she will tell you. It ain’t easy. How do you make a fantasy world? How do I make up a type of magic that doesn’t seem stupid? How do I make interesting characters? And on, and on, and on.
Review: “The Last Dragon” by Jane Yolen & Rebecca Guay
Wow, I really don’t know where to start with this review. Do I begin with the beautiful art of Rebecca Guay, or wax poetic on the enthralling story crafted by Jane Yolen?
