Book Review
2025 was a great reading year for me. I read over sixty books (though that number is inflated by ten or more comic book trade paperback collections, which take about two hours to read end-to-end). A great deal of them were good, more than I can list here coherently. I
Book Review
The Only Qualification for Being a Science Fiction Writer Is Being Insane A few years ago I went to Pittsburgh and at a used bookstore I bought a copy of Charles Platt’s Dream Makers which had at one point been deaccessioned from the Fort Worth public library. A few
Book Review
Architectonically Sublime, or What? After many years of manifesting it into the used bookstore shelves before me, I finally located and acquired John Crowley’s Little, Big, in a lovely, aged first paperback edition. You might ask, “Why didn’t you just buy the book online or something, if you
Book Review
Of late, friends and advisors have provided me with leads on books about fantasy versions of Italy, to provide touchstone references for a manuscript I’m preparing which also involves a type of made-up Italy. Of these, I have recently completed The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch, the third
Book Review
Yes, I Read War & Peace! Look, it’s not classy, but I gotta take my victory lap. I read War & Peace, all one-thousand two-hundred and twenty-four pages of the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. The project did require two months and I did return the book to the library
Book Review
I encountered the work of Peter S. Beagle for the first time recently. Yes, I’ve never even read The Last Unicorn. Am I a Fake Fantasy Fan? Indubitably. I have seen the animated film, which is weird and yet touching and yet baffling. I know that Peter S. Beagle
Book Review
At last, at last, at long last: I have concluded my read of the 2025 Hugo Best Novel nominees. It got…a little bit easier here at the end. There were some weird mushrooms and freaky beasts. But there were also unexpected challenges. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Book Review
I Have Been Obliterated By 1 Million Words of Power In September I set off on an epic journey which I only barely survived. This journey was a walk from beginning to end through the three (sometimes four) volumes of Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn series. I chose to
Book Review
Dutifully I have continued reading 2025 Hugo nominees, but I did not enjoy them. This won’t stop me from telling you about them! Far from it… The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley In the interest of total honesty, the “Good Morning America Book Club Pick” sticker on the
Book Review
One thing long-time readers of the blog will know about me is that I’m incapable of starting a book series at the beginning. Another thing about me is that I am really good at avoiding touchstone pieces of media. The films of Martin Scorsese? Never seen’em. Super Mario?
Book Review
There are a lot of valid critiques of Western gender norms and the ideologies which venerate binarism and “traditional” sex roles. Many have taken to science fiction to air these critiques in various formats and frames. What Benjamin Rosenbaum asks with his book The Unraveling, is what if you had
Book Review
Because there are many SFF novellas at the library. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells Par for the course for me, I pulled down a random Murderbot book from the library shelf and started reading the series there. My goal was to prepare myself for the upcoming AppleTV+ series. You might