For Human Use, by Sarah G. Pierce, very nearly became a DNF for me. It had that perfect heady concoction of having an intriguing concept that is poorly introduced but examined through a lens that beckoned me like a fresh pie in an open window. Unfortunately, I should have stuck with my overall gut feeling…
Along with my more focused efforts on climate fiction, I’ve also wanted to dissect the role of science and engineering within the science fiction fantasy genre. Player Piano sort of spurred on my more recent fervor, but I feel that my general critique of science fiction plays with these ideas. Hence, when we were sent…
Kate Elliot has dazzled me in the past with her Alexander the Great-inspired space opera – The Sun Chronicles, and her fantasy novellas. I’ve always had too much on my plate to dive into her Crown of Stars series, but I may be changing my mind about that. The Witch Roads duology, by Kate Elliott,…
Adam Roberts is quickly becoming one of my favorite science fiction writers working today. I know I’ve only reviewed one of his novels, Purgatory Mount, but I’ve read two others, and as your about to find out, three of his novellas. I’m trying something a little different as I try to talk about three thematically…
Continue reading ➞ Adam Roberts – Stealing My Heart, One Novella at a Time
Recently, I have expressed a lot of frustration with some novels set in the midst of climate change, if not fully tackling the subject head-on. I am not surprised by these feelings, though it concerns me that at this late hour, it still feels like we are floundering on cohesive narratives that extend beyond “humans…
Continue reading ➞ The Forest On The Edge of Time – Mud Into Gods
I’ve been on a bit of a journey lately with my own reading schedule, trying to develop different reading projects to make sense of “the genre,” along with the world that the “genre” exists within. That’s a very vague way of saying “god I need something to read that I can talk about positively.” And…
Continue reading ➞ Sister Svangerd and The Not Quite Dead – Pray Like Hell
The only Kurt Vonnegut I ever got introduced to at school was Harrison Bergeron, a short story about physically enforced equality. My grandparents furthered my reading of his with his short story collection Armageddon In Retrospect. And over the years I’ve slowly picked up his novels in the most insane ordering I can think of.…
The Automaton, by Ian Young, is an indie darling that has been teasing me from the aether for a while now. Its striking and bold cover with an old school automaton, staring at the reader, was a sniper shot trained on me. Throw in some concerns about the difference between a digital human being and…
There was one last book on my schedule for the end of 2025 that made its way onto store shelves in late December. Its cover features a delightfully large white salamander looking coy and suspect as it crawls all over the page surrounded by a vibrant and lush forest. The Great Work, by Sheldon Costa,…
Terrestrial History, by Joe Mungo Reed, caught my eye with its heavy title and stark cover art. Its premise was just as intriguing, promising time travel and four generations within the same family as they dealt with climate change and the colonization of Mars. And while there are some really exciting ideas at play within…
Continue reading ➞ Terrestrial History – Best Left to the Nerds
