Have you ever wanted to turn to a colleague and exclaim “wow, you’re a coward,” and have legitimate grounds to stand on? What if that colleague was a good friend who told you to read a book, and you stonewalled them forever because “you had better books to read than ones they already read?” Well,…
When I first read the synopsis for Ray Nayler’s debut novel, The Mountain In the Sea, I felt threatened. The description of the book felt pointedly aimed at me and my parasocial relationship with Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children books. I didn’t exactly pass right over it, but I didn’t really engage with the possibility of reading…
Continue reading ➞ The Mountain In The Sea – Peak Performance
Last year, I was humbled before Gautam Bhatia’s The Wall. It refused to conform to my hopes, remaining a solid and unforgettable presence through the year. So of course, it was not long until Gautam teased me with the fact that there was a sequel. I can’t tell you how excited I was at the…
Happy October 32nd everyone! With October still chugging along I am excited to bring you another great horror pick. What did you say? It’s not October anymore? Get back in your cage you silly dissenter! Everyone knows October is forever. I don’t have time to argue with you, a person who is clearly wrong about…
Revelation Space is a big series. Sure, it’s a trilogy, but it also has two related novels and a treasure trove of short stories. I’ve only scratched the surface on the shorter fiction by Alastair Reynolds, but the little I have read has been just as exciting as the sprawling epics. Now I’m writing this…
Continue reading ➞ Chasm City – Not Splitting Hairs On This One
Catching up on the year’s previous releases is a double edged sword. It feels good to read something that so many people have already weighed in on, but said novel carries the baggage of having to live up to expectations. While I didn’t read any reviews of this next book until after I had finished…
Continue reading ➞ How High We Go In The Dark – Treading Water in a Cave
I have been spending the better part of this summer catching up on Alastair Reynolds’ intimidating library. I have nearly finished the Revelation Space series (Looking at you, Inhibitor Phase) and have been having an absolute blast. Lo’ and behold Andrew shows up at my door with an ARC of Eversion, I couldn’t have been…
Record heat waves are starting to rear their ugly heads. Food shortages, through a combination of war, finance and climate change are featured news on the daily. It’s easy to retreat from a world on the brink and cozy up with a book…about climate change. But rarely does our climate science fiction feel more than…
Continue reading ➞ A Half-Built Garden – Forget The Pesticides
In “normal” conditions, it would be hard to avoid a title as striking as Ion Curtain. It is profoundly simple, yet it carries decades of baggage. Such a mild change carries the possibility of re-negotiating the phrase for a new crop of science fiction readers and writers. Whether or not this was what the author…
It’s not often that Appalachia becomes the focus of a science fiction story, despite the unending talk of turning coal miners into coders. So when I first noticed the ominous cover of These Prisoning Hills and learned that it takes place within that fabled range, I had to get my hands on the novella. Christopher…
