This novella from one of the proponents of “cozy” sci-fi was impressive in both scope and fullness. We follow the perspective of Ariadne, an engineer/scientist who’s part of a 4-person crew of explorers being sent by Earth to reach and study distant planets. As we get to know the four scientists waking up from the…
Category: (4 out of 5)
Murder at Spindle Manor (Lamplight Murder Mysteries, Book 1) by Morgan Stang — Book Review
Lately I’ve been reading a number of books fitting into the category of magical murder mystery, or fantasy detective story, and I’m really enjoying them. That’s not surprising, since I love fantasy fiction, and ever since watching BBC’s Sherlock, I’ve been a fan of Victorian detective stories. Starting last year, I read The Tainted Cup…
The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty, Book 1) by Ken Liu — Book Review
I picked up The Grace of Kings because everyone raves about this series, and I was interested in exploring more Asian fantasy novels (especially during Asian Heritage Month). The first time around, I found the plot difficult to follow (it’s the epic history of an empire being torn down by a rebellion) and the many…
The Daughters’ War (Blacktongue, Book 0) by Christopher Buehlman — Book Review
Having just finished reading The Blacktongue Thief, I was excited to read The Daughters’ War. This prequel novel is the good kind of prequel, one that doesn’t spend all its energy backtracking the original story and telling us how everything got set up, how everyone became the characters that we knew, how they all just…
Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar – Book Review
Canadian poet and author Amal El-Mohtar is probably best known for writing two novellas: This is How You Lose the Time War and The River Has Roots and I had very opposite experiences reading them. The River Has Roots was probably my favourite thing I read last year, but I didn’t enjoy This is How…
Knife of Dreams (The Wheel of Time, Book 11) by Robert Jordan – Book Review
It’s kind of tricky to review the 11th book in an epic fantasy series. I can’t discuss much of the story, since it would spoil what comes before for anyone who has not caught up, but anyone who has not started the series probably won’t care about any references I make to characters, storylines, etc….
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury – Book Review
This classic autumn tale of a spooky carnival that torments a small American town was written a lot more beautifully and lyrically than I had expected. When two young boys, Will and Jim, stumble upon a mysterious carnival setting up outside their town in the middle of the night, things don’t seem quite right, but…
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Movie Review
Whoever gave this movie its title definitely believes in “truth in advertising”. After five seasons and two prior films, this one is predictably destined to bring the series truly to a close. The only word that might be a bit mischosen would be “grand” because most of the movie is actually relatively reserved and quiet….
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – Book Review
Piranesi is a story set in a fantastical House, one that is more like a world; that has multitudes of grand rooms full of distinctive and enigmatic statutes of both creatures and people. The upper floors contain the clouds and sky, the lower floors contain the tides and seas. This story is told from the…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 