Posted on by Alexander Case

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.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

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.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

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.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

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.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

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).

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Posted on by Alexander Case

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.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

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.

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Book Review: Sailor on the Seas of Fate

When I reviewed Fortress of the Pearl, I was partway through the next book in the first of the more recent Elric omnibus collections, and I came to the realization that book was written less with the thought of “How do I fit this story within the larger Elric saga?” and more “I have an Idea for an Elric story – where do I put it?” By contrast, Sailor on the Seas of Fate, which was published soon after Elric of Melnibone, feels like Moorcock continuing with the concepts he had with that first story – setting up the chain of events that lead to where the first published Elric story – “The Dreaming City” – picks up, and in the process further building up the concept of the Eternal Champion Mythos, based on the other incarnations that had been published at this point.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

The Jasmine Throne: Book Review

With The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri, I’m finally getting back to being caught up with the Sword & Laser Book Club picks – more or less (November’s pick is Six Wakes, which I read a while back, so I’m using this month to catch up on some other books). While I liked the novel, my thoughts on The Jasmine Throne are complicated in ways that somewhat intersect with my views on She Who Became The Sun, and in ways that don’t.

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