Book Reviews
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.
Review: “The Enterprise of Death” by Jesse Bullington
The Enterprise of Death really broke my normal reading rules. You see, normally if I stop reading a book that’s it — Game Over. I just don’t pick books back up and continue them. I did put The Enterprise of Death down several times, because it was just too intense for me. And, at one point I stopped reading it for a couple of weeks while I went on to other books
But I kept coming back to The Enterprise of Death, because I just had to find out what happened to the characters.
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: “Swimming Without a Net” by MaryJanice Davidson
My initial attraction to this book was simply this: human male and mermaid female? How is that going to work? From a biological perspective, you see. Not just the scales, but, you know. How?
Review: “Black Magic Woman” by Justin Gustainis
Black Magic Woman is the first in a new series by author Justin Gustainis, “The Quincey Morris Supernatural Investigations”. It’s a wonderful read, and wonderful introduction to a world that’s all too familiar to long-time readers of fantasy and dark fantasy like myself.
Review: “Running from the Deity” by Alan Dean Foster
Newbies to the “Pip & Flinx” universe will need a few chapters to catch up because Running from the Deity begins mid-crisis: Flinx, a former thief and singularly talented telepath, is on his way (via his trusty sentient starship) to locate an ancient, planet-sized weapons platform that is wandering Flying Dutchman-style through the universe.
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: “Calculating God” by Robert J. Sawyer
If you read science fiction, you have to read Robert J. Sawyer. That’s all there is to it.
Calculating God explores such mundane questions as “Was the universe designed by an intelligent creator?” “Is there a God?” “Does he influence the affairs of man?” “Why is there life in the universe?” Sawyer’s answers are the most imaginative you will ever read.
