Book Reviews
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: “Not Your Father’s Horseman” by Valerie Griswold-Ford
When you ask author Valerie Griswold-Ford how she got her contract for Not Your Father’s Horseman, she will tell you, “Well, Tee suggested I finish the manuscript and then pitch it to Dragon Moon. What Tee didn’t tell me was he pitched it for me to Dragon Moon and got me a contract.” So, yeah, I figured a great motivator in getting your first novel done was a contract.
Review: “The Boys Are Back In Town” by Christopher Golden
Many people who read and write science fiction believe that through the last few decades science fiction has actually prepared society for future technological advances. The idea, some say, is that in science fiction all the pitfalls, moral uncertainties, and roads best not traveled can be discovered and worked out in the pages of entertaining fiction, rather than bitter experience.
So why won’t this generation learn? If science fiction has taught us one thing, it’s that if you have the ability to go into the past in order to change events and make the world a better place… don’t do it! You’re just gonna fuck it up.
Review: “Superman: The Never-Ending Battle (Justice League of America)” by Roger Stern
This is another installment in the “Justice League of America” novelizations, this one by Roger Stern. Stern is a long-time DC writer who also did the novelization of the controversial death of Superman arc back in the early 90s, The Death and Life of Superman, a book I actually read on my own out of sheer curiosity.
Review: “A Young Man Without Magic” by Lawrence Watt-Evans
A Young Man Without Magic is very easy to read. While some events seem like they were shuffled around to fit the outline instead of being part of a natural progression, everything works. Every time I found myself starting to get the slightest bit bored with what was happening, something exciting broke the page and I was hooked again.
Review: “The Strain” by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan originally conceived “The Strain” as a serialized television series for the Fox network. After Fox execs balked at the original vision, insisting the writers inject more humor into the storyline of a modern-day vampire apocolypse, del Toro and Hogan decided to take their toys and go home. Rather than create a movie version of this modern day retelling of “Dracula,” the two decided to go literary.
Review: “The Walls of the Universe” by Paul Melko
I really, really liked Paul Melko’s “The Walls of the Universe.” The problem is I wanted to love 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.
