Book Reviews
Guest Review: “Hell’s Aquarium” by Steve Alten
OK a few weeks ago, there was a review of Steve Alten’s Hell’s Aquarium. I thought it wasn’t a very good review, so I decided to send in my own, since I read Hell’s Aquarium and liked it a lot.
Review: “Darwin’s Paradox” by Nina Munteanu
Nina Munteanu weaves a good story that has some large concepts peppered through it. The story does have warts but they are easy enough to gloss over and dig into the main story. There are some nice twists and turns and rabbit holes to follow the tale down. I hope that future books have more about the world, the citizens who inhabit it, and the politics of city states.
Review: “The First Rule” by Robert Crais
I made a careless mistake, sitting on my sofa at around 1:30am… I picked The First Rule off the daunting TBR stack in my living room and began reading, fully intending to read just the first couple chapters, then get in bed.
Somewhere around 6:30am, with the morning sky already bright, and my eyes burning from lack of sleep, I forced myself to stay awake and finish the book. I absolutely refused to put the book down with so few pages left, and pushed my way through to the end.
Review: “Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana”
The idea of reading a book written by two people who had never even met was too cool to pass up. And I also felt like I should be supporting Bookcrazy and The Dragonpage by actually buying their authors’ books. So I sent Amazon.com my $23.95 (dear Lord, for a PAPERBACK! BTW, it is now available for $19.95). About six weeks later, Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana was sitting in my doorstep, wrapped in a plain brown package.
It was worth every fucking cent.
This is a good book. Not a good “first novel”. A good novel. Tee, Lisa, you should be very proud of yourselves.
Review: “Letters From the Flesh” by Marcos Donnelly
Robert J. Sawyer is one of the Dragon Page’s best friends. Besides the fact that he writes ridiculously good science fiction, he has been generous with his time and has given us several great interviews and plugs. Which is why I’m trying to rehydrate my parched lips as I type. I’m giving the first title from his new line of books a thumbs down.
Review: “Small Favor” by Jim Butcher
Small Favor is a great read and I think that the Dresden Files books are a great introduction to fantasy/sci-fi for someone who doesn’t normally read such genres. It’s a P.I. mystery with magic with strong characters, an over arching plots as well as smaller story arcs that finish up in single book… mostly.
Review: “Love in the Time of Fridges” by Tim Scott
When I reviewed Outrageous Fortune earlier in the year, I referred to it as absurd . . . in a good way. Absurdist science fiction. Because it wasn’t laugh out loud comedy, it wasn’t The Hitchhiker’s Guide, but it sure wasn’t taking itself too seriously either.
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.
