Book Reviews
Review: “The Dark Path” by Walter H. Hunt
Reviewing books, especially when you’re trying to write your own, makes you a bit self-conscious. When you’re asked for an opinion, you have to approach each title as a reader who is looking for a good escape. That self-conscious feeling only gets worse when I review works written by people I know. I want to give an honest opinion–but if I don’t like it, the friendship is irrevocably marred.
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: “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 Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy”
I heard recently that eighty-one percent of Americans believe they have a book in them. I believe if you polled fantasy fans, that number would be in the nineties. And I’m just talking novels, I’m not including all the movie and TV screenplays we have in mind. It’s one of the best aspects of being science fiction and fantasy fans: you live a big chunk of your life in your imagination.
But, ask anyone who has ever tried to write fantasy, and he or she will tell you. It ain’t easy. How do you make a fantasy world? How do I make up a type of magic that doesn’t seem stupid? How do I make interesting characters? And on, and on, and on.
Review: “Fire Study” by Maria V. Snyder
Oh, Yelena. You crazy, headstrong, impulsive, bleeding heart, acrobatic trickster, I have missed you. I hope Ms. Synder takes it as a compliment that I have read each of her books in no more than two days. For all the work that goes into them, part of me feels that I should somehow be savoring them more. But if I did, then I wouldn’t find out what happens next as quickly as I need to.
Review: “Far-Seer” by Robert J. Sawyer
Robert J. Sawyer’s Far-Seer tells the story of Afsan, an apprentice astrologer who takes his first pilgrimage: a long and dangerous ocean voyage to find the face of god. Hungry and thirsty for knowledge, Afsan is blessed on this voyage. The ship’s captain owns a far-seer; a new invention made of lenses and tubes that enables its user to see far off objects in great detail.
Review: “Waking The Witch” by Kelley Armstrong
It’s difficult to keep a long running series fresh and interesting for the fans (and the author). Ms. Armstrong has achieved this in a number of ways, most obviously by changing the lead character in each book. But she also provides quality world building, well plotted mysteries and characters who grow and change in each book.
Review: “Feed” by Mira Grant
“Feed” is fascinating, compelling and while it runs for close to 600 pages, the novel never feels long or drawn out. Grant expertly sets up the world within the first 100 pages and then slowly begins to examine the implications of what we’ve learned about her universe over the rest of the novel.
