The events in this second book in the super-popular Dungeon Crawler Carl series continue immediately after the first one, where hapless and resourceful Carl survived the decimation of Earth to end up running and fighting for his own life in the dungeon (like the kind one finds in RPG video games) that the world has…
Tag: book-reviews
Midnight Riot (Rivers of London, Book 1) by Ben Aaronovitch – Book review
cover photo by shadesofword.com An urban fantasy story set in contemporary London UK seems right up my alley (Sorry, I couldn’t find a river-based expression). I love London, having visited the city a few times on vacation, and I’ve watched many British TV shows set there. I have also enjoyed urban fantasy: stories set against…
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher – Book Review
I had read another T. Kingfisher story late last year called Thornhedge that was, like Nettle & Bone, revisiting of a classic fairytale. While I really enjoyed Thornhedge, I came to Nettle & Bone prepared for more of the same. Nevertheless, in this story, T. Kingfisher was not only able to tell a story with…
Things from the Flood by Simon Stålenhag – Book Review
I recently read The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag and was very interested in more of his work, so when I found out about Things From the Flood, I was very excited to read it. I first discovered Stålenhag as the author of the book that was the basis for the Prime Video TV series…
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – Book Review
The Poppy War is a fantastical tale inspired by Chinese historical events (of which I am woefully under-educated) involving conflicts with Japan. The novel follows a young orphan named Rin, a foster child of opium dealers in a village in Nikan (a fictionalized China). In her efforts to leave an unhappy life of mistreatment, she…
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Book Review
I had high expectations for Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s acclaimed novel, but was pretty let down. Given the book’s title, yes, there was everything classically gothic, but very little Mexican, aside from the geographic setting (and the occasional Spanish word). This tale of a rich city girl going out to a country mansion to rescue…
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, Book 1) by Martha Wells – Book Review
The Murderbot Diaries seems tailor-made for adaptation. Now as an Apple TV+ show is coming, I am getting excited and rereading the first novella in the series, All Systems Red. I’ve actually read three books in the series, and it feels very episodic as we follow the adventures of a security robot (maybe you could…
Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, Book 1) by Christopher Ruocchio – Book Review
We start with a story that the main character (and sole point of view), Hadrian Marlowe, is recounting: his life story after he has achieved the notoriety of being named “Sun Eater”, due to his having destroyed a sun, killing millions of enemy aliens. But that story is not part of this book (presumably we…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 