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 readingTag Archives: 1980s in books
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?”
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The Fortress of the Pearl: Book Review
The Fortress of the Pearl is Michael Moorcock, in 1989, writing a book set between Elric of Melnibone (1972) and Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976). The current Elric omnibus collections put this in that space in the chronology in their reading order, while my previous video on the Elric reading order recommended reading it significantly later. Re-reading the book now, in its place at the timeline – I think my assessment is accurate, but not necessarily for the reasons that I thought originally.
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Book Review: Brightness Falls from the Air
Of the past few Sword & Laser picks, Brightness Falls from the Air, by James Tiptree Jr./Alice Sheldon ended up being a bit more of a controversial pick – and I definitely get why, as it gets into some squicky subject matter, and not necessarily in an elegant way.
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Consider Phlebas: Book Video Review
Today I’m reviewing the actual first installment in The Culture Series, by chronological order of publication, which I read in this past year for the Sword & Laser Book Club.
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Consider Phlebas: Book Review
Consider Phlebas was a Sword & Laser book pick I got a late start on. Now, while this isn’t my first Culture novel (that would be Matter) it was the first Culture novel, so I was interested in reading it and seeing where the series started.
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