John at Grasping for the Wind has another meme. Given the success of the last one, I figured I’d better add to the list. The instructions are as follows: Here is how it works: Find a favorite book, movie, or videogame review (Science fiction and fantasy related) that you have written, no matter where it was posted, and add it to the following list. Make sure to repost the whole list, because in doing so, we accumulate what the reviewers […]

Kristen and I saw Coraline tonight…excellent job overall. The pacing seemed a bit off to me, a little slow to get going, a little quick at the finish, but it came through with all the wonderfully screwed-up humor and perspective I’ve come to expect from Neil Gaiman. I haven’t read the book, or any of Gaiman’s “children’s” books, actually–being a grad student and teaching four courses a semester has annexed most of the time I’d normally dedicate to such things–but […]

Childhood’s Endby Arthur C. Clarke256pp (Paperback)My Rating: 7.5/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 3.94/5Goodreads Rating: 4.01/5 Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke has become a classic of science fiction since its publication in 1953 and has been very influential in the genre. This fairly short, stand alone novel is light on characterization but heavy on ideas. For some reason I’d categorized this book in my head as “scary science fiction” that I’d probably find dry or difficult to read, but that was […]

Now that I finally got that Kushiel’s Dart review written, I’ve been working on a review of Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End. That was one of my “scary science fiction” books and I made it my challenge book for the month of January. After that, I will be reviewing: Inside Straight edited by George R. R. MartinThe Charmed Sphere by Catherine Asaro I also finished Dead Witch Walking, the first Hollows book by Kim Harrison, last night. Although I’ll be […]

Kushiel’s Dartby Jacqueline Carey901pp (Paperback)My Rating: 8.5/10Amazon Rating: 4/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.3/5Goodreads Rating: 4.48/5 Kushiel’s Dart is the first book in the Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. The series contains two related trilogies, each about different main characters with Naamah’s Kiss, the first book in a third trilogy coming out in June 2009. Kushiel’s Dart is followed by Kushiel’s Chosen and Kushiel’s Avatar, and the second trilogy consists of Kushiel’s Scion, Kushiel’s Justice, and Kushiel’s Mercy respectively. This is one […]

The Jackal of Narby John Marco768pp (Paperback)My Rating: 6/10Amazon Rating: 3.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 3.34/5Goodreads Rating: 3.9/5 The Jackal of Nar, John Marco’s debut novel, is the first book in a completed fantasy trilogy, Tyrants and Kings. It is followed by The Grand Design and concluded with The Saints of the Sword. The Jackal of Nar was unevenly paced, too long, and had a rather stupid main character, yet in spite of that I did find this character-driven novel enjoyable once it […]