Book Reviews
Review: “The Luck of Madonna 13” by E. T. Ellison
Usually, as I’m reading a novel, I get an idea of how I’m going to start off the review. Usually a theme coalesces and is fully formed by the time I reach “The End.” But with The Luck of Madonna 13, by E. T. Ellison, I honestly have no idea where to begin, other than to say that this is easily the weirdest book I have ever read. Which must be a good thing, as I whole-heartedly believe that was one of the author’s intentions.
Review: “Freedom (TM)” by Daniel Suarez
Last year, Daniel Suarez’s “Daemon” left us on one heck of a cliffhanger. Now, “Freedom (TM)” picks up that cliffhanger, resolves it and delves even further into a scary but all too possible near future in which a computer bot can seemingly take over the world. In terms of story and characters, “Freedom (TM)” picks up right where “Daemon” left off. The bot is still lurking, exerting its power and group of humanity is trying…
Review: “A Companion to Wolves” by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
Now this was a surprise. Here is one of those rare books not produced as a precursor to a series.
This is not to say that the land Monette and Bear have created couldn’t support multiple visits. It is merely to say that they have constructed a tale that is complete and unconcerned with possibilities and marketing strategies beyond its own ken.
Review: “Team of Darkness” by Tony Ruggiero
In the twenty-first century, amidst six billion people and surveillance equipment able to tell a gnat’s sex from outer space, four monsters hid together in caves just outside the city of Kacianik, Kosovo, for nearly a century, until they attacked a captain of the US Army and left witnesses.
General Stone could barely contain himself. Vampires. Real life, blood sucking, coffin dwelling, God damned vampires. What if they could be captured? Studied? What if they could be kept under control and compelled to follow orders?
Review: “SOMETIMES THE MAGIC WORKS: Lessons from a Writing Life” by Terry Brooks
Take a sneak peek into the imagination of an amazing writer…and a good guy to boot. Sometimes The Magic Works is a book for everyone who either loves to write, loves to read, or loves to dream.
Review: “Ysabel” by Guy Gavriel Kay
Ysabel is my first Guy Gavriel Kay book. He’s one of those authors that I’ve always heard about. Maybe it’s the memorable name, I don’t know. But he was always just kind of out there as one of those authors that I knew I was supposed to read and simply hadn’t.
In case I was wondering, I guess, if he was worth the hype, Kay opens Ysabel with a 3-page prologue that was, simply, stunning.
Review: The Plot to Save Socrates by Paul Levinson
Levinson, author of The Silk Code and The Consciousness Plague, among others novels, brings us one of the more peculiar time travel books I’ve read. In it, a group of time travellers brought together by forces unknown—and you never really find out whom—conspire to rescue Socrates from hemlock poisioning at the hands of the Athenian democracy, bringing him to the future for the benefit of all mankind.
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: “Debris” by Jo Anderton
Jo Anderton’s debut novel is a compelling tale which pulls you in right from the start. Debris is told from the point of view of the protagonist Tanyana, and as the story progresses she searches for the truth behind her change of circumstances and meets a number of interesting characters along the way.
Review: “Enclave” by Ann Aguirre
I was given a promotional copy of Enclave. It is the first book in a proposed series. Enclave deals with the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in a world where those people who are trying to maintain civilization are all very young with a life expectancy of only their early twenties.
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: “Horizons” by Mary Rosenblum
This story, at its roots, is about change. Politics, humankind’s place in space and how people who inhabit space are changing. The orbitals want autonomy, the government of Earth wants to maintain control and some want the destruction of both. I recommend picking this book up and enjoying the story contained.