Thirteen years ago today I self-published my first (and so far only) book, a cyberpunk novella that was meant to be the first of a series of thirty. Less than five years later I’d taken it out of circulation with only a handful of copies sold.
Continue reading Relics of the Past
Book Review: Chocolat
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It’s taken me twenty years to get around to reading Chocolat by Joanne Harris, and now that I’ve finished it I’m determined not to leave it as long to read the rest of the series.
Book Review: Fleet of Knives
Fleet of Knives by Gareth L. Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yet another fantastic outing for the Trouble Dog and her crew.
Fleet of Knives is the sequel to last year’s Embers of War and follows on from roughly where the last one left off. A year has passed and following a debriefing and some repairs Trouble Dog and her crew are off on a shakedown cruise, ostensibly to make sure everything’s running smoothly but also to give the crew a chance to patch up any psychological wounds they might still be suffering, when they’re called on to rescue some merchants stuck on a derelict generation ship. Meanwhile, the former Butcher of Pelepatarn, Ona Sudak, is facing death by firing squad for her past crimes only to find herself being whisked away to act as the biological controller of the titular fleet of knives, the Marble Armada.
Book Review: The Gutter Prayer
The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an interesting novel, and I think it’s fair to say it’s certainly not your typical fantasy fare. It’s dark, gritty and surprisingly disturbing but for all that I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it, though I’m guessing it might not be to everyone’s taste.
Book Review: Never Die
Never Die by Rob J. Hayes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a fantastic book. It’s an exhilarating mix of Chinese wuxia action and Japanese folklore, all wrapped up in a tapestry of well-drawn characters and high octane fight sequences. This is what happens when you throw a bunch of carefully selected tropes and motifs into a blender and pour the results onto the page. In a word, delicious.
Book Review: The Sands of Mars
The Sands of Mars by Arthur C. Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Before I get into the meat of my review let me get one thing out of the way right now. This book is almost seventy years old, written before we had any real understanding of what Mars was like. We hadn’t even managed to get anything into orbit when this book first came out, so there’s bound to be a bit of a separation between the science and technology we know now and what this book asserts. Got that? Good.