Book Reviews
Review: “Woken Furies” by Richard K. Morgan
Waiting to meet a friend for lunch the other day, I stood outside a restaurant in Manhattan’s TriBeCa with my face buried in Woken Furies, the latest book from Richard K. Morgan. The restaurant manager spotted me reading and approached me eagerly: “Is that the new Takeshi Kovacs?” The funny part is, this was the second time I’d been approached by a rabid fan while reading one of Morgan’s books.
Review: “Whitechapel Gods” by S. M. Peters
Up until now, steampunk has been, for me, an aesthetic. It makes the great heroes of my childhood even cooler. And it makes for computers that are beyond sexy. Something in the synthesis of technology and analog mechanisms strikes just the right chord with me. It’s like the most elegant Rube Goldberg imaginable, with style. And yet, I had never read anything from the genre that inspires these creative works of fabrication fancy.
Until now.
Review: “Gaudeamus” by John Barnes
When John Barnes gets a visit from his old buddy and private detective Travis Bismark, he knows two things for sure: Travis needs a ride, and he’ll get at least one new science fiction book out of it.
Review: “The Republic of Thieves” by Scott Lynch
After years of anticipation and speculation, Lynch returns to the universe of his “Gentlemen Bastards” with the long-awaited third installment, The Republic of Thieves.
Was it worth the wait?
Absolutely.
Review: “Haunted” by Kelley Armstrong
When she was alive, you didn’t fuck with Eve Levine. A half-demon witch and master of the black arts, she didn’t exactly seek opportunities to dole out pain and death, they just presented themselves on a regular basis. An unfortunate consequence of the life she chose. But she never flinched from what she had to do. Yup, in life, Eve was the biggest badass around.
In death, not so much.
Review: “The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail” by Michael Spradlin
The Youngest Templar: Keeper of the Grail is one of those books I picked off the shelf at random. I love books about knights and castles, and one about teens in that time period sounds cool to me. And wow, the first book I read this summer turned out to be one of the best all year!
Review: “Star Trek: Summon the Thunder” by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
It all began with the granddaddy of them all, Peter David’s superlative New Frontier series and has continued to expand with the continuation of the DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise sagas as well as exploring unique areas of the Star Trek universe. Add to this on-going exploration of the Trek universe, Pocket’s newest spin-off series, Star Trek: Vanguard.
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.
