Review of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (1969)
Bottom line: Meh. Rating: Recommended if: you’re doing a tour of classic sci fi authors. Blurb: When the human ambassador Genly Ai is sent to Gethen, the planet known as Winter by those outsiders who have experienced its arctic climate, he thinks that his mission will be a standard one of making peace between warring […]
Book Review: Matt Archer: Monster Hunter by Kendra Highley
Bottom Line: A gritty YA fantasy definitely worth the read. Rating: Strongly Recommended Blurb: Fourteen-year-old Matt Archer spends his days studying Algebra, hanging out with his best friend and crushing on the Goddess of Greenhill High, Ella Mitchell. To be honest, he thinks his life is pretty lame until he discovers something terrifying on a […]
Review of The Martian by Andy Weir (2012)
Bottom line: Highly recommended for sci-fi fans and/or survivalists. Rating: Strongly Recommended Blurb: Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking […]
Review of Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (2007) (Kate Daniels #1)
Bottom line: Good, but gruesome Rating: Recommended Blurb: Earning a living cleaning up magical messes, mercenary Kate Daniels is drawn into a power struggle between two factions–necromancers and shapeshifters–within Atlanta’s magic circles when her guardian is murdered. Review: This is one of those books that makes me wish I were WAY more desensitized to violence. […]
Review of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (1990) (Jurassic Park Series)
Bottom line: A classic, both in paper and on the screen, that is worth the hype. Rating: Recommended Blurb: An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all […]
Review of Sorcery and Cecelia
Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot (1988) (Cecelia and Kate #1) by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer Bottom line: Delightful Rating: Strongly Recommended Blurb: In 1817 in England, two young cousins, Cecilia living in the country and Kate in London, write letters to keep each other informed of their exploits, which take […]
Review of C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy
Review: C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strengthh) is the most disjointed trilogy I have ever read. That’s not to say it isn’t worth reading, or even good, but it feels more like a very loosely related collection of books than a trilogy. What makes it feel so […]
Review of The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)
Bottom line: A movie that is 100% fun, and the book that inspired it. Rating: Strongly Recommended for the movie, Recommended for the book Blurb: William Goldman’s modern fantasy classic is a simple, exceptional story about quests—for riches, revenge, power, and, of course, true love—that’s thrilling and timeless. Anyone who lived through the 1980s may […]
Close Encounters of the Fourteenth Century Kind
Howdy! I’m on vacation in Brazil for most of September, so I turned the tables on my readers and opened up the blog for guests posts while I’m gone. Today’s post comes from John, a.k.a. Mr. Lector’s Books. I have a confession: I listen to a lot of audiobooks. Where most people listen to music, […]
Review of Illusion by Frank Peretti (2012)
Bottom line: A fascinating and intriguing story about love, time-travel, and magic. Rating: Strongly Recommended Blurb: In a world where nothing is as it seems, anything is possible. DANE AND MANDY, a popular magic act for forty years, are tragically separated by a car wreck that claims Mandy’s life—or so everyone thinks. Even as Dane […]