The Ministry Of Time, by Kaliane Bradley is, of the recent Sword & Laser picks, the most recent one I’ve finished as of this writing. It was an interesting read, but tonally it’s all over the place.
Continue readingCategory Archives: Books
Some Quick Thoughts on the Radio Play adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring
Earlier this month, I decided to give a listen to the radio play adaptation of the Fellowship of the Ring from the BBC in the 1980s. Having finished the first installment, I have a few thoughts.
Continue reading
Book Review: Carl Sagan’s Cosmos
Reviewing something like Carl Sagan’s Cosmos is a tricky proposition. On the one hand, it’s a book by an acclaimed scientist – and more significantly one of the eminent science writers and presenters of the 20th Century. It’s also a companion volume to one of what is considered to be one of the best science television series of all time. Hard stop. On the other hand, it’s hard for me to say that any particular author or work is above criticism or discussion – and I’ll admit we don’t talk about the book the way we talk about the TV show – so I’m going to give it a shot anyway.
Continue readingIt’s time for a book vlog for the month – this time a urban fantasy YA novel from a Nigerian-American author, Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Book Review: Emmanuelle II
A while back, I reviewed the first Emmanuelle novel, a book which, through its film adaptation, kicked off what was, for a time, a mainstreaming of erotica. I’ve now finished reading the sequel, titled Emmanuelle II, and it almost addresses some of the problems that I had with the first book, but ends up re-introducing them late in the book, and introducing some new ones.
Content Warning: As with the first novel, I will get into some frank discussion of sex, sexuality, and some of the sex acts that are depicted in this novel.
Continue reading
Book Review: Akata Witch
I’m finally getting somewhat caught up on some of the more recent Sword & Laser book club picks – this time one of the first YA novels (that aren’t light novels) that I’ve read in a while – Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.
Continue reading
Book Review: Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground
If you know anything about me at all, I have a passion for the history of tabletop roleplaying. One of the books that helped stoke my interest was the book Heroic Worlds, which I read when I was in middle school. That book was a high level overview of the roleplaying game books that were on the market at the time – like the tabletop RPG equivalent of all those Leonard Maltin books giving an overview, one-to-two sentence of a film’s plot, and a one-to-two sentence review combined with a score. Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground provides a more close in view, covering a selection of RPG books from each decade of RPG history to date, with more involved looks at the various games.
Continue readingTime to get a review of another Sword & Laser Book Club pick – this time an epic fantasy novel with a very distinct storytelling style.
This week I’ve got a book review of one of the more recent Sword and Laser Book Club picks.
Book Review: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett puts a bit of weirdness into the urban fantasy genre. It’s not urban – not even close – it’s a very pastoral story. It’s not contemporary, being set in the 1800s. However, it’s definitely not heroic fantasy or horror, and certainly fits more into some elements of urban fantasy than it does to the other subgenres I’m familiar with. It’s also very enjoyable.
Continue reading
Book Review: Barrayar
A little bit back I reviewed Shards of Honor, the start of the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold – which was a Swords & Laser book club pick. Well, that’s not exactly correct – it’s half of a Sword & Laser book club pick – it was instead selected as Cordelia’s Honor – a book that combines it with the novel Barrayar, which follows up right after it (and was originally intended to be the same book) – but got a few more passes for a later publication after the Bujold decided to split the two parts up, and which were later recombined. So, now it’s time for the rest of the story.
Continue reading
Book Review: Shards of Honor
Shards of Honor is the book that kicks off the long-running Vorkosigan series, though this book serves more of a “How I Met Your Mother” story – only in a case where the fact that our two leads will get together is a foregone conclusion strictly because I’m reading this now after there have been a slew of sequels based around their son, Miles. So the question then becomes, “How does this book hold up when you know that there’s only one destination it can arrive at?”
Continue reading
Book Review: Iron Widow
When Iron Widow came up on the list of the list of rejected Hugo Award nominees in the controversy over the Chengdu Worldcon, I figured that I should bump the book further up my reading list (it was already there, it was just further in). Then it became a Sword & Laser book club pick, and I made sure to get ahold of a copy from the library – and I was not disappointed by this book at all, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the sequel.
Continue readingTime to get caught up with book reviews again, with my thoughts on the novel Shining Girls.
Book Review: Emmanuelle
After I finished reading Emmanuelle, I was very hesitant to discuss the book on my blog, because normally I don’t get into 18+ material here. However, that said, when it comes to the topic of literary erotica, Emmanuelle is the 500 lb gorilla. 50 Shades of Grey couldn’t dream of provoking a multi-million dollar film franchise lasting decades, complete with a big-budget high profile reboot in production with (at least previously) a major actress attached in the title role. Only D. H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover even remotely comes close to the level of impact. But in the year 2024, approaching 60 years since its initial publication, does it hold up?
Content Warning: There will be some descriptions of explicit content in this review – described less explicitly than the source material, but still explicit enough that you couldn’t say it on the radio.
Continue readingSome technical difficulties on my end meant that I had to do another vlog style video, so it’s time to stay semi-topical and talk about the recent 2023 Hugo Award backlash.
Book Review: Shining Girls
January’s book pick for the Sword & Laser Book Club, Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, is almost something that would have worked better as an October book pick. It’s a story that features a serial killer as an antagonist who can move independently of the rest of us in the time stream – only this one can go back and forth, as opposed to only moving forward, never aging, like the killer in NOS4A2. It’s an interesting story though, though I don’t quite know if it’s my cup of tea (though not for reasons I think the author intended).
Continue readingI’ve fallen a little behind on my next Nintendo Power Retrospectives episode, so let’s talk about the new Murderbot novel!
Book Review: What Abigail Did That Summer
The second of the Rivers of London novellas I’m reviewing at the moment is one from significantly earlier than Winter’s Gift, and set at basically the opposite time of the year. What Abigail Did That Summer goes back in the timeline to Foxglove Summer, and checks in with what was going on in London, with Peter’s cousin Abigail getting to know the Foxes, and going on some adventures of her own.
Continue reading
Book Review: Winter’s Gifts
While I’m caught up on the Rivers of London novels, I’ve fallen behind on a couple of the novellas – at the end of 2023, I decided to get caught up on those novellas. The first I decided to get caught up on was Winter’s Gifts. The novel focuses on Special Agent Kimberley Reynolds (first appearing in Whispers Underground), and introduces the demimonde of the United States to the series, the same way that The October Man introduced the demimonde of Germany.
Continue reading
Book Review: Kings of the Wyld
December’s Sword & Laser Book Club pick was a Dungeon Fantasy novel, Kings of the Wyld, one that takes a different spin on the “Adventuring Band” concept – treating the “Band” idea like a rock band.
Continue reading
Book Review: Designers & Dragons (Vol. 1-4)
It’s time to kick off the new year with a look at a series of nonfiction books that I finished reading last year.
This week I’ve got a review of a book about film history, covering the history of Japanese Animation.