Blog Archives
sThe Sword of Kaigen, by M. L. Wang, is one of the most ambitious fantasies of the year, which in turns, becomes the novel’s main strength and weakness. Grounded heavily in the school of fantasy that depicts historical Earth cultures in new settings, clothes, and names, Sword draws upon meticulous research of feudal Japan and […]
With “Honor Flight“, P. A. Piatt reminds the world of the importance of the independent publishing movement. It’s a solid adventure story in it’s own right, and it really deserves a proper review based on it’s own merits. We’re not going to do that. We can’t. Not when there’s a big, fat elephant standing in the living room […]
You just can’t go wrong with Glen Cook. Best known for his “Black Company” series of novels which are widely considered the fathers of modern grimdark fantasy, Glen Cook also has produced a string of solid sci-fi works that get a lot less press. His “The Dragon Never Sleeps” presents a convoluted space opera full […]
A couple weeks back, I was at the main library for the county and happened to notice a weird western anthology that I knew of but had not read was on the shelves. Dead Man’s Hand is a trade paperback edited by John Joseph Adams. Published by Titan Books in May 2014. A total of […]
SF Reviews: The Grand Alliance and War of the Spheres
Sunday , 10, February 2019 Book Review Leave a commentJay Allan’s Blood on the Stars series, of which The Grand Alliance is the eleventh book, is the heir to David Weber’s epic Honor Harrington series. High praise, to be sure, and a statement that sets high expectations for readers. This feat is even more impressive as Allan is not writing Hornblower in Space, yet […]
There must be more to life than mere survival. Authors who neglect to provide a deeper meaning to the day-to-day struggle to survive in a hostile universe set themselves up to create the literary equivalent of a Michael Bey film: a lot of sound and thunder and flashing lights that signify nothing. The journey might be exciting, […]
The future is over. Civilization on Earth has collapsed. Oligarchs have established a new order in manmade space colonies at the Earth-Moon LaGrange points. A group of powerful colonies form the Systems Overterrestrial Coalition to re-civilize the earth, but grounders view the colonists as hostile meddlers. The Coalition counters the rising violence with giant manned […]
If you’ve read my review of NISIOISIN’s Bakemonogatari Part 01, you’ll know that I am not a fan of the story “Mayoi Snail.” Not only do I find it a slow story hobbled by Koyomi’s need to be clever and the long wait for Hitagi to return with the solution to Mayoi’s mystery, I have long grown […]
The action picks up right where The Lords of Creation left off. Once again John C. Wright delivers a family drama and political thriller wrapped up in a far-future where the advanced tech borders on magic and the threats around the galactic corner are far worse than the threats from within the family tree. Perhaps […]
John C. Wright’s Superluminary: The Lords of Creation, recently published by Castalia House, makes most space opera look like space community theater. In a single lifetime, the solar system flourishes from dead planets, save our precious Earth, to a multitude of worlds. Each major planet, worldlet, moon, and most of the larger satellites of the […]
The hero of Declan Finn’s “Hell Spawn”, Thomas Nolan, is kind of a goody-two shoes that has been granted supernatural powers to aid him in his day job as a detective for the NYPD. Although not officially recognized as a Living Saint by the Vatican – yet, this is book one of a series after […]
You never know what you will find at a Salvation Army store. I had a little luck a few months back when I found a hardback of Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men $.50. I had seen the 2007 movie a few years back. Javier Bardem as the homicidal psychopath Anton Chigurh owned very […]