Book Reviews
Elric
Think we should review comics? Hate the idea? Let us know… Michael Moorcock’s Elric returns to comics with the legendary Walt Simonson delivering the artwork. What more could you want? Before Elric became the legendary figure fantasy fans know and love, he was a young man still trying to find his identity and carve his place in the world. Elric had to set forth on a set of four dream quests that lead him to…
Guest Review: “Dead Reckoning” by Charlaine Harris
I get a bit exhausted for Sookie. There are always someone or some things “out to get her.” Throughout Book 11, there are constant threats from different sources, and Sookie is on high alert most of the novel. Sookie still struggles with being a good person, for her world is continually violent and evil visits her seemingly day in and day out. In Dead Reckoning, you don’t see her grow much as a character, as she doesn’t have time to do much of anything except try to stay alive.
Review: “Night Train to Rigel” by Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn’s a prolific writer with many succesful books both in his own and in other people’s universes.
What’s more, his name makes him eminently suited to be a bad guy in a Star Wars movie himself.
Darth Zahn’s latest book, Night Train to Rigel, delivers why-didn’t-I-think-of-that clever ideas and a zippy plotline that kept me flipping paper to the end.
Review: “Counting Heads” by David Marusek
Marusek has envisioned his world so clearly and carefully that the technical details feel like afterthoughts. References are made subtly and in passing, the way any of us would refer to a ubiquitous convenience like a cellphone or digital camera, and it takes you many pages to get a full glimpse of how this future society truly differs from our own, while remaining completely human and recognizable.
Review: “Star Trek: Inception”
In many ways, the concept behind “Inception” is an interesting one, but as I read the novel I kept thinking it might have worked better as a short story.
Review: “Platinum Pohl: The Collected Best Stories”
I’d never read Pohl before dipping into Platinum Pohl, but now I find myself eager to expand my Pohl-ian horizons. This is Grand Master science fiction at its finest. Each one of the stories in here is a gem, a well-crafted little machine.
Review: “The Awakened Mage” by Karen Miller
Okay, okay, so Asher really is the Innocent Mage. No devastating, unexpected twists, despite the possibility. But just because Asher is the mage of prophecy, the Olken who can wield his own magic as well as Doranen magic, does not mean he has to like it. And it does not mean that he has to answer the call that prophecy has made.
Review: “Coronets and Steel” by Sherwood Smith
The setup for Coronets and Steel reminds me irresistibly of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Glenraven. Tho’ to be honest. I think this is a better book with more realistic characters. And that is saying a lot when the plot involves identical cousins, magic, kidnappings, royalty, mysterious middle European countries and much daring do and plot twists.
