George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois have produced many anthologies together, and I can honestly say the arrival of ROGUES had me the most excited. While initially, I had this book on pre-order because I wanted to read the story by Patrick Rothfuss, I was continually impressed by the quality of works in this […]
Book Review – DEAD WEST: OMNIBUS by Marquitz, Martin and Soward
July 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Dead West Omnibus is the collected edition of two novels by Tim Marquitz, J.M. Martin and Kenny Soward: Those Poor, Poor Bastards, and The Ten Thousand Things, published by Ragnarok Publications. As I wrote in my review of the Those Poor, Poor Bastards, this zombie romp through the wild west is unique, fast paced and […]
Book Review: LOVE MINUS EIGHTY by Will McIntosh
July 18, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Based off the Hugo Award Winning Best Short Story, “Bridesicle,” Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh has been on my expect-to-be-wowed list for the last year. I let a friend borrow my copy and his quick review was, good, but definitely a love story. I would say, great and it’s a love story. I am […]
Book Review: THE QUANTUM THIEF and THE FRACTAL PRINCE by Hannu Rajaniemi
July 16, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The John Le Flambeur series, or at least the two books released so far, are stories for those who love stories. Linguaphiles in particular will be delighted by The Quantum Thief and The Fractal Prince from Hannu Rajaniemi, whose last name takes some practice to say if you’re not a native Finnish speaker. The third, […]
Book Review: HALF A KING by Joe Abercrombie
July 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy came at the cusp of when fantasy was going through a change. The eighties and nineties fantasy market was dominated with Tolkienesque fantasy. Authors like Terry Brooks, David Eddings, and Robert Jordan brought us hefty series of unlikely heroes saving the world against seemingly unstoppable evils with a clear delineation between good and evil. […]
Book Review: WHISPERS FROM THE ABYSS – Lovecraft-inspired anthology edited by 01 Publishing
July 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Anthologies like WHISPERS FROM THE ABYSS don’t come around as often as they should. Edited by 01 Publishing’s Kat Rocha, this collection of “Lovecraft-inspired short fiction” is very atypical, for a few reasons. This collection comes at around 282 pages, not in itself unusual. But consider that this anthology sports a whopping 33 stories. Headlining these is […]
Book Review: AUTHORITY by Jeff Vandermeer
June 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Jeff Vandermeer is back with book 2 of the Southern Reach Trilogy, Authority. In Annihilation (review here), Vandermeer introduces us to a team of nameless scientists who investigate an inhabited Gulf coast region called Area X. What follows is a psychological thriller as the scientists begin to lose their grips on reality. The key to understanding the […]
Book Review: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey
June 26, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey Book Description: The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two […]
Book Review: KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY by Kieran Shea
June 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Kieran Shea’s first novel, Koko Takes a Holiday (Titan Books), is an extremely fast-paced chunk of science fiction space operetta with attitude. In common with its pulp fiction antecedents, it’s unapologetically fast, furious, big on action, thin on story, and low key on characterization. But, in truth, none the worse for that – the book […]
Book Review: The Irreal Reader: Fiction and Essays from The Cafe Irreal
June 20, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Cafe Irreal is a literary website that’s been online since 1988. The website was an effort to bring together examples of non-realist fiction from all over the world. After going strong online for 15 years, a sort of “greatest hits” was released in collaboration with Guide Dog Books. Keeping in line with the short […]
