I have never read Tom Holt’s books before and I’m not sure I had heard of him either. His books are usually humorous fantasy, many of them based on various myths or stories. But I saw his latest book, Doughnut, on the shelf and it looked interesting. Reading the book, the humor seems mainly based on putting people in a ridiculous situation and it doesn’t always seem to work. I enjoyed reading the book, but near the end, the ridiculousness collapsed on itself and made it hard to read and even harder to figure out what was going on. Let’s check it out.
Category Archives: science fiction
Sharp by Alex Hughes
In the first novel of the series, Clean (my review), we met Adam, the level 8 telepath who was kicked out of the Guild and now makes his living as an interrogator for the police. The Guild doesn’t trust him outside the Guild since they worry about him telling Guild secrets and the police worry that he’s secretly siding with the Guild. In the sequel, Sharp, Adam must confront the people he hurt directly on his way out of the Guild. Alex Hughes has created an interesting, flawed character that presents a lot of wonderful story telling opportunities. Let’s see what happened.
Netflix Rewind: Battlestar Galactica Season 1
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve started using Netflix to go back and watch some shows that I didn’t watch when they originally aired. This time, I’ve watched the first season of Battlestar Galactica. I’m not talking about the original Battlestar Galactica (although I did watch it when it originally aired), but the grim and gritty reboot by Ron Moore. For whatever reason, I just never started watching the series when it first aired in 2005. I’d heard both good and bad things about the show along the way, but decided that I should check it out. Let’s see what happens with season one.
Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
Will McIntosh is one of the more interesting writers around. His last book, Hitchers (my review), was a fun romp through a ghostly experience that was a lot of fun. This time around, McIntosh tackles death from a different angle in his new novel Love Minus Eighty. This book is not a romance novel as in Fabio cover and awkward phrases for body parts, but it is a story about romance in the future where it’s possible to come back from death. This story is more of a romantic comedy style of romance where you know what is coming, but the journey is so joyful that you’re happy for it to come. Let’s see what happens.
Neptune’s Brood by Charles Stross
I’m not a huge fan of Charles Stross. I only like some of his books and I’ve given up on a few of his series. However, I did enjoy Saturn’s Children, so I decided to read his followup Neptune’s Brood. It’s not a sequel, since we don’t follow the same characters. But it’s set in the same universe with a lot of the same technology and ideas. The book is basically an accounting primer in far future accounting with the trappings of a science fiction story. Let’s check it out.
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
I’ve heard a lot about Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga series of books. It was referred to me as a fun, intelligent space opera that isn’t just about ships fighting. So, I decided to start at the beginning (the first one in the series, not the first one in the book’s chonology), Shards of Honor. The book more closely resembles a romance set within a space opera. But, for those readers who aren’t into romance, it’s not like a Romance novel. It’s about the relationship between two should-be enemies who are a lot more alike than they would originally believe. Let’s check it out.
Miracle Mile movie review
Miracle Mile is one of those movies that never hit it big when it came out in 1988 and never quite caught on in the cable circuit. It might have fared better in the Internet age, where people who love this little movie could get together to talk about and promote it. But, every now and then, you might be able to catch it late night on a cable station, between the other movies of the same name. The movie plays off a single plot point and spirals out of control. It never completely achieves what it sets out to do, but it’s a hell of a ride along the way. Let’s check it out.
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Lauren Beukes is one of the more interesting new writers. I loved her previous novel Zoo City (my review) but was so-so on her debut novel Moxyland(my review). So, I was excited to read her new novel, The Shining Girls, which has debuted to stellar reviews and has the most interesting idea I’ve seen in a while (time traveling serial killer). Beukes has grown as a writer and each book is leaps and bounds better than the previous one. So let’s go meet the Shining Girls.
R.I.P.D. movie review
The movie R.I.P.D is based on the comic of the same name. Not having read the book, I thought the premise was interesting and the movie might do a decent job of conveying it. Boy was I wrong. It wasn’t a bad movie, but it was extremely bland. There were a few moments of humor and some decent special effects, but overall it was a thoroughly predictable action movie that left me wanting to leave. Let’s check out what went wrong (spoilers inside).
Red Planet Blues by Robert J Sawyer
Let’s get the obvious out-of-the-way first, Red Planet Blues is a fantastic title (and Sawyer has discussed where it came from). The book is in my favorite mashup of genres, science fiction mystery. The book has a very Heinlein feel with the setting and cast of characters, but it is definitely a Sawyer book. I enjoyed it until the ending, which dragged on longer than it should have, but still liked it overall. Let’s check it out.