Books

I write them and I read them.

The Destiny Engine Book Review

When the author asked me via email to provide a cover blurb for his upcoming self-published novel, I was hesitant. For any who have read my reviews before, I am a brutally honest critic. Even when I pull punches, I have a tendency to be more brusque than many people are prepared to deal with. [...]

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October 25, 2012 at 2:56 pm

Anathem by Neal Stephenson Book Review: Bloody Maths

Anathem by Neal Stephenson is the kind of brilliant book that nevertheless frustrates the reader constantly by being so utterly unapproachable. As a big fan of Stephenson’s, I gave this book a lot more chances than I might have had I not been familiar with the author’s work. It wanders from opaque to engage then back [...]

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August 7, 2012 at 9:12 pm

King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard: Book Review

King Solomon’s Mines is the only book of the Alan Quatermain stories that I’ve ever read, despite knowing of the character from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie and comic series. As a fan of the pulpy “Lost World” genre that this novel spawns, it’s amazing that I’ve waited this long in life to read [...]

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May 3, 2012 at 9:12 pm

The Ultimate Choice by Lisa Hinsley Book Review

Since I enjoyed Hinsley’s horror novel, Coombe’s Wood, I had confidence in her abilities with a science-fiction tale like The Ultimate Choice. The subject matter sounded weighty but intriguing. In a world so overpopulated that unlicensed sex is outlawed and an unsanctioned pregnancy is punishable by death, would a mother make the ultimate sacrifice on [...]

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April 10, 2012 at 4:07 pm

A Clash of Kings Book Review

I was a huge fan of the first novel in the A Song of Fire and Ice series, so I eagerly began reading this the second book in the series, A Clash of Kings, as soon as I could. What carried over from the first book to this was Martin’s crisp writing and the sweeping [...]

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March 28, 2012 at 3:38 pm

Up the Rebellion: The Windup Girl Book Review

At its heart, The Windup Girl is a book about rebellion. In subtle and some not so subtle ways, everything and everyone involved is in some way rebelling against something else. The titular character rebels against the genetic programming that compels her to be subservient to humans. The foreign calorie companies attempting to strike up [...]

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January 17, 2012 at 8:25 pm

Tales from the Bridge Chronicles Released!

It’s been a bit longer coming than I thought, but I’m happy to announce that the eBook-only short story collection, Tales from the Bridge Chronicles, Volume 1 has been released! The collection is a compilation of the short stories that I’ve released on the Tales site (found here), as well as short stories that have been published [...]

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January 2, 2012 at 6:54 pm

A Long Road: Altered Carbon Book Review

My initial thoughts on Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon were that the book would be right up my alley. A noir-inspired cyberpunk action story with a hardassed protagonist? What more could I ask for? The book is full of interesting ideas about a futuristic society where death is a temporary condition so long as your stack [...]

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December 6, 2011 at 6:13 pm

High Def Nothingness: Zero History by William Gibson Book Review

I am a huge fan of William Gibson’s work. His Sprawl and Bridge trilogies have influenced my work a great deal, as anyone who has read my novels can attest. Moving his Bigend novels back to present day, of which Zero History is the third in the series, sounds like a bigger deal than it [...]

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October 22, 2011 at 5:32 pm

Pattern Recognition Review: HD Emptiness

Of all the William Gibson books I’ve read (which is all but The Difference Engine and Zero History), this is probably my least favorite. The book takes a lot of very interesting ideas, throws them together into a mixer and spits out a blend of hi-def descriptions and low levels of narrative. The story could [...]

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September 25, 2011 at 5:16 pm