Book Reviews
Review: “Hydrogen Steel” by K. A. Bedford
Hydrogen Steel could have been (cue the cheesy SciFi Echo) “Detectives In Space” but, thankfully, it’s not. The story meanders between a mystery and an espionage tale, nimbly dances on the edge of hard Science Fiction and throws in a heavy philosophical element for good measure.
Review: “Black Blade Blues” by J. A. Pitts
The thing I love about urban fantasy is that it doesn’t take place in some pretend land where everyone can shoot lightning from their eyeballs – it’s here, where we live. There’s always the little extra bit of excitement that it could happen when the story is set in a town you’ve been to, maybe even lived in.
Review: “Light” by M. John Harrison
What makes Light so special, and so very much worth your attention, is that no matter how “far out” Harrison takes things—very far out indeed, if you’re wondering—he remains primarily concerned with human stories, human dilemmas. There are three main characters in this book who (almost) never interact in the course of the story, though their lives are all intertwined and eventually come together.
Review: “Eon: Dragoneye Reborn” by Alison Goodman
“Dragoneye” is the first of a two-part story set in Goodman’s universe. Thankfully, Goodman is able to resolve enough of the storylines to keep readers satisfied and make this a complete novel, while creating a cliffhanger and situation that will leave you wanting to pick up the next installment as soon as possible and find out what happens next.
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: “S.” by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst
The novel S. is less of a conventional story written using words than it is an experience using the book as an object that mystifies the reader into a multi-layered tale of intrigue, young romance, and mystery. S. is told through the imaginary novel, Ship of Theseus, written by a Kafkaesque V.M. Straka whose real identity is unknown.
Review: “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
Before I get started with my review of READY, PLAYER ONE, let me state my admiration for the publicity campaign surrounding it. This campaign has generated rapturous reviews all over the blogosphere and multiple author interviews on numerous podcasts. It’s a little intimidating to review a book that has been so widely (and positively) reviewed. For authors, I think it would be useful to study this campaign and see what has made it so successful.
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.
