It has been a case study in character development for me to read The Raven's Mark series, by Ed McDonald. Here we are at Crowfall, the final book in the trilogy, and we finally have a protagonist I can get behind. If you haven’t read any of my reviews on the first two books, Blackwing…
Month: June 2019
Queenslayer – Captivating But Showing Wear
I am running out of inventive and original ways to say I really like almost anything that Sebastien de Castell puts out. This is something like the eighth book of his that I have reviewed and the worst thing I have had to say about any of his works is that you should go read…
Continue reading ➞ Queenslayer – Captivating But Showing Wear
The Story Of The Stone – Fool Me Once
The Story of the Stone is the second book in the much-underappreciated Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox series by Barry Hughart. I read (and reviewed here) the first of the series, Bridge of Birds, as part of a book club last year and was very impressed with the novel. Bridge of Birds…
Titanshade – Familiar Yet Fantastical
Alright, I am back from my wedding and honeymoon where I read nine books on the beach - so I have a ton of new stuff to talk about and am excited to get back into it. Let's see if I still remember how to write a review. The first book I want to talk…
2001: An Odd Space Essay
Nearly two years ago, I sat in Chicago’s beautifully ornate Music Box theatre at the peak of the venue’s 70MM film festival eagerly waiting for the lights to dim and for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey to begin. Next to me sat Ian Simmons, a friend, a coworker, and a movie critic/superhero capable of…
Broken Stars – Wholeheartedly Good
I recently decided to treat myself by purchasing Broken Stars, a collection of contemporary Chinese speculative fiction curated and translated by Ken Liu. The collection had been showing up a lot on my Amazon queue, and while I was out at the store I decided “why not?” I had never really read a collection of…
The Digital Plunge: My Three-Month Dive into Kindle-Only Reading
On March 1, 2019, I metaphorically set aside my library of 300+ physical books to prepare for a deep dive into the world of digital-only reading. Spurred by genuine curiosity, I read strictly on my Kindle for a full quarter of a year, ending on June 1. As a former paper-only apologist, my 90-day excursion…
Continue reading ➞ The Digital Plunge: My Three-Month Dive into Kindle-Only Reading
Luna: New Moon – It’s No Twilight
Hot off the heels of Gunpowder Moon, I just couldn’t help myself when it came to reading another book about the moon. There is something so fascinating about that big, grey, dusty rock as it hangs in the sky. It captures me whenever I see it, so I will always look for a book to…