Book Reviews

This page contains links to reviews I've written of various books, which have previously been posted to the Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.sf.written, HTML-ized, and with some minor editing. As you might expect from that destination, they're mostly reviews of science fiction or fantasy novels, though a few of them are closer to the literary "mainstream." These aren't anything all that fancy, but they should give anyone who cares a fair idea of my tastes in literature.

For those who really want to know a great deal more about my taste in literature, for whatever reason, I've also started a book log, consisting of brief comments about most of what I read. In theory, it will be everything I read, but we'll see how well that holds up in the face of my talent for procrastination...

• Orca by Steven Brust. Spoiler-laden comments on one of the later Vlad Taltos books.
• The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton. Oversexed space pirates versus soul-sucking revenants from beyond. Seriously.
• All Tomorrow's Parties by William Gibson. Low life, high tech, and a better-than-usual ending from one of the fathers of cyberpunk.
• The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien. The conclusion of the classic trilogy, plus Appendices galore.
• The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien. The second book of the famous trilogy, and maybe the best of the three.
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. Incomparable world-building but flawed novel-writing in the first book of the great classic of fantasy.
• Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. Wonderful but incomprehensible book about an alternate New York.
• The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. Stand-alone fantasy with fascinating theology by the author of the Miles Vorkosigan series.
• The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson. Stunning novel of love, magic, and obsession in Heian Japan.
• Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement. A charming if dated Gadget Story from the king of "Hard" SF.
• Them Bones by Howard Waldrop. A time travel/ alternate universe story with great worldbuilding.
• Look to Windward by Iain M. Banks. An extended meditation on death and loss, set in the Culture universe.
• The Lecturer's Tale by James Hynes. Dark academic satire with a touch of the supernatural.
• The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. Reality is not what it seems in the first novel from the man who might be literary fantasy's answer to David Lynch.
• The Livership Traders (Series Review) by Robin Hobb. Trilogy of Whopping Huge Fantasy Novels involving semi-sentient merchant ships, pirate kings, and character torture.
• The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers. A Turkish invasion is the problem, beer is the solution. An early book from a master of odd fantasy.
• The Big U by Neal Stephenson. Over-the-top academic satire from the author of Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.
• The Dragon Never Sleeps by Glen Cook. Tightly plotted and hard to find space opera by the author of The Black Company and sequels.
• Blind Waves by Steven Gould. Fun, pulpy adventure novel in the Heinlein-juvenile tradition.
• The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod. Excessively political space opera.
• Chimera by Will Shetterly. Raymond Chandler pastiche in a future with widespread genetic engineering.

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