-
12 January 2010 - Varley was competent but subpar with
Rolling
Thunder. Ringo and Taylor entertained royally with
Manxome Foe and
Claws that Catch.
Shepherd continued the Kris Longknife series with
Kris Longknife: Undaunted.
Huff showed her strength with
Valor's
Trial. Finally, Michaels & Brenton hit it out of the park with
Red Moon. One
of the best books I have ever read.
-
3 December 2009 - Steele's "Galaxy
Blues" was ho-hum. Heinlein's "Stranger
in a Strange Land" lived up to the hype. Ringo & Taylor's "Vorpal
Blade" was a fun romp. Finally Taylor's "The
Tau Ceti Agenda" was all action with little substance.
-
27 September 2009 - Niven & Lerner's "Juggler
of Worlds" was disappointing, Buckell's debut "Crystal
Rain" was even more disappointing. John Varley saved the day with
his collection "The
John Varley Reader".
-
05 August 2009
- Fast action from Taylor in "One
Day on Mars". The Marines are back in the "Inheritance
Trilogy" from Douglas.
-
16 July 2009
- Action from Williamson with "Better
to Beg Forgiveness"; family drama from Scalzi with "Zoë's
Tale"; military adventure from Drake with "When
the Tide Rises"
in the RCN Series.
23 June 2009
- Fantasy by McMaster Bujold in
The Curse of
Chalion
and adventure from
Stirling with
In The Courts of the Crimson Kings.
-
16 May 2009 -
E.E.
"Doc" Smith disappoints with "Triplanetary".
Whittington has a great plot and abysmal editing in "Children
of Apollo".
-
24 April 2009 - All
three books in Moscoe's "Society
of Humanity" series serve up decent military SciFi.
-
2 April 2009 - "Victory
Conditions" concludes the Vatta's War series. Jurasik & Keith write
for laughs in "Diplomatic
Act".
-
16 March 2009 -
Man-Kzin
Wars XI tells more stories of the Wunderland protagonists introduced
in Max Kzin Wars X. "Command
Decision" starts up the action in the "Vatta's War" series after a
slow middle book.
-
12 February 2009 -
Niven goes back to Known Space with "Fleet
of Worlds". Flint & Spoor serve up adventure in "Boundary".
-
25 January 2009 -
"Mucho
Caliente" may not be the kind of stuff that I usually read, but
it sure was funny.
-
17 January 2009 -
"Kris
Longknife: Intrepid" is installment #6 of the Kris Longknife series.
Murder in Hong Kong by Joe McGinnis in "Never
Enough".
-
5 January 2009 -
Scalzi's
The Last Colony concludes the Perry/Sagan books. McCarthy loses the
plot in "The
Collapsium"
-
15 December 2008 -
Scalzi made me laugh and laugh with
The Android's Dream
-
16 November 2008 -
"Diplomatic
Immunity" caps off the
Vorkosigan Saga.
-
10 November 2008 -
"Falling Free"
is one of the best books I have every read. "Confirmed
Kill" is the last of the three sniper novel from Michael Z.
Williamson.
-
4 November 2008 - "Targets
of Opportunity" is one more sniper novel from Michael Z.
Williamson.
-
31 October 2008 - "One
Jump Ahead" was rather disappointing, but I have hopes for the
sequels.
-
20 October 2008 - "Von
Neumann's War" scores high on the "Rip Roaring Fun" meter.
-
16 October 2008 -
"The
Hero" is a special forces story set in the
Legacy
of the Aldenata Universe.
-
12 October 2008 - "The
Weapon", a story concurrent with "Freehold",
makes it onto the book picks.
-
8 October 2008 -
The Gaea trilogy is completed with "Wizard"
and "Demon"
-
21 September 2008 -
The
Confederation Series takes a turn for the worse with "The
Heart of Valor".
-
4 September 2008 -
The utterly brilliant "Komarr", "A
Civil Campaign" and "Winterfair
Gifts"
continue the
Vorkosigan Saga.
-
27 August 2008 - "Memory"
continues the
Vorkosigan Saga.
-
18 August 2008 - "The
Borders of Infinity", "Brothers
in Arms" and "Mirror
Dance"
continue the
Vorkosigan Saga.
-
28 July 2008 - "Spindrift"
is a first contact novel set in the "Coyote"
universe.
-
23 July 2008 - "Cetaganda", "Ethan
of Athos" and "Labyrinth"
continue the
Vorkosigan Saga.
-
13 July 2008 - Review
roundup from vacation. Books three and four of the
RCN series:
"The
Way to Glory" and "Some
Golden Harbor"; "Titan"
by John Varley kicks off the
Gaea Trilogy; "The
Warrior's Apprentice", "The
Mountains of Mourning" and "The
Vor Game" start off the
Vorkosigan Saga proper.
-
15 June 2008 - "Lt.
Leary: Commanding" and "The
Far Side of the Stars" continue the
RCN series.
-
3 May 2008 -
"Kris
Longknife -
Audacious"
continues the saga without too many surprises..
-
25 April 2008 -
Hornblower books 10 and 11 from
Forester complete the series. Also "Kris
Longknife - Resolute".
-
11 April 2008 - Hornblower book 9 from Forester: "Commodore
Hornblower".
-
7 April 2008 - Age of sail inspired adventure from David Drake in "With
the Lightnings".
-
2 April 2008 - Non-fiction about Japanese culture in Alex Kerr's "Lost
Japan". Humorous military SciFi in Tanya Huff's "A
Confederation of Valor" omnibus.
-
17 March 2008 - Kris Longknife fights on in Mike Shepherd's "Kris
Longknife -Defiant"
-
12 March 2008 - Mike Shepherd continues the Kris Longknife series
with "Kris
Longknife - Deserter"
-
4 March 2008 - Elizabeth Moon slows down Vatta's War with "Engaging
the Enemy".
-
28
February 2008 - Travis S. Taylor delivers with "The
Quantum Connection". Elizabeth Moon continues Vatta's War
with "Marque
and Reprisal".
-
11 February 2008 - John Ringo phones in
book four of the Council Wars and
William Gibson dissapoints with the beatifully written "Spook
Country".
-
29 January 2008 - Jack Campbell loses the plot with "The
Lost Fleet - Courageous".
-
24 January 2008 - Added scores to book reviews, and a page grouping
reviews by score. The scale is from five (best) to a half (worst).
Scores page.
-
22 January 2008 - "Counting
Heads"
by David Marusek is a fascinating example of world building. Shame about
the lack of plot.
-
15 January 2008 - "Cordelia's
Honor"
by McMaster Bujold is simply great. Engaging and insightful and just
plain fun.
-
6 January 2008 - "The
Dead Heart"
is mainstream fiction about a weird adventure in Australia.
-
3 January 2008 - "Trading
in Danger"
starts off the "Vatta's War" series nicely.
-
30
December 2007 - "Grantville
Gazette II" continues Eric Flint's "open
universe" experiment.
-
27 December 2007 - "Kris
Longknife: Mutineer" is an auspicious start to a naval space
opera.
-
20 December 2007 - "Star Marines" concludes the "Legacy
Trilogy" with a bang.
-
17 December 2007 - "Star Corps" and "Battlespace" are the first two books
in the action packed "Legacy
Trilogy" from Ian Douglas.
-
8 December 2007 - After "Warp
Speed" I
am hoping for more good things from Travis S. Taylor.
-
6 December 2007 - "The
Scope of Justice" was competent at best. "The Dance of
Time" tied up all the loose ends of the
Belisarius series, but could have been
better.
-
26
November 2007 - Finished off the "Paladin
of Shadows" books. Hoping for a few more. Very entertaining.
-
12
November 2007 -
The Big Picture, mainstream fiction
from Douglas Kennedy.
-
8
November 2007 -
The Ghost Brigades was nowhere near as good as
its predecessor
Old Man's War but still enjoyable.
-
5
November 2007 - Stirling is in good form with
The Sky People.
-
31 October 2007 - I continued with the
Hornblower Series. "Ship of the Line"
and "Flying Colours" are probably the best so far.
-
18 October 2007 - Due to our move to Hong Kong, there have been no
updates for a while. But I have kept reading. So here are a bunch of
reviews:
Sun
of Suns, which I didn't finish;
Red
Lightning was excellent and now in the books picks;
Old Man's War was thoroughly enjoyable;
A Meeting at Corvallis concludes the
wonderful
Dies the Fire series;
Resurrection was forgettable at best;
Princess of Wands was entertaining but
flawed;
The Prometheus Project was a great idea
that fell flat.
-
6 September 2007 - Continuing the
Hornblower Series with "Hornblower and
the 'Hotspur'", "Hornblower During the Crisis", "Hornblower and the
'Atropos'" and "Beat to Quarters".
-
20
August 2007 - Continuing the
Hornblower Series with "Mr. Midshipman
Hornblower". Also various graphic novels by
Warren Ellis.
-
12 August 2007 -
I have started on the
Hornblower Series with "Lieutenant
Hornblower".
Also,
Cally's War takes a rather different
approach to the
Legacy of the Aldenata series.
-
20 July 2007 -
Allen Steele returns to Coyote one final time
(?) with "Coyote
Frontier".
-
29 June 2007 -
Michael Crichton muddles through "State
of Fear" while Ringo and Kratman give us a controversial
perspective on the
Posleen in "Watch
on the Rhine".
-
13 June 2007 -
John Ringo's
Ghost Series is back with "Kildar".
More mayhem, but a very different direction,
-
29 May 2007 -
Jack Campbell continues The Lost Fleet series with
The Lost Fleet - Fearless.
-
24 April 2007 -
Weber treads water in "The
Apocalypse Troll"
-
20 April 2007 -
John G. Hemry ends the JAG in Space Series with "Burden
of Proof" and "Against
All Enemies"
-
17 April 2007 -
Ringo does action and quantum physics in "Into
the Looking Glass"
-
14 April 2007 -
Flint and Wentworth's "The
Course of Empire" unexpectedly vaults into the Book Picks,
while John G. Hemry continues "JAG in Space" with "Burden
of Proof".
-
10 March 2007 -
John G. Hemry entertains with "A
Just Determination", the first book in his "JAG in Space"
series.
-
8 March
2007
-
Eric Flint rewrites the War of 1812 in "1812
- The Rivers of War"
-
15 February
2007
-
I gave up on "A
Talent for War". Booooring.
-
28 January 2007
-
It's been a while since the last update. To compensate for that, here
are three reviews. The solid "The
Protector's War", the lightweight "End
in Fire" and the splendid "Mammoth".
-
8 December
2006 -
Special forces action and erotica in Ghost. Reviewed
here.
-
29 November 2006 -
Varley outdoes himself in Steel Beach. Wonderfully insightful.
Reviewed
here.
-
14 October 2006 -
We Few, the fourth (and last?) book in the March Upcountry series is
reviewed
here.
-
1 October 2006 -
The Lost Fleet - Dauntless is a fun and
light military SciFi story.
-
11 September 2006 - Penny Arcade book 2,
Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings.
-
3 September 2006 - A very short biography of the prophet Muhammad is
reviewed
here. The first Penny Arcade collection
here.
-
25 August 2006 - Polished off book 3 of Ringo's "The Council Wars: "Against
the Tide".
-
8 August 2006 - Finally finished Hamilton's "The
Commonwealth Saga". One of the best stories ever!
-
30 June 2006 -
Not so much a review as one more listing in the
Man-Xzin Wars series.
-
17 May 2006 -
McDevitt's
"The Engines of God" was frustratingly
close to greatness,
-
1 May
2006 - Crichton's "The
Andromeda Strain" has aged very badly, but was still midly
enjoyable.
-
27 April
2006 - Varley's "The
Persistence of Vision",
a short story collection.
-
23 March 2006 -
Varley's "Millennium"
was a neat and fun novel about time travel, temporal paradoxes and
extinction.
-
15 March 2006 -
Slogged through "In
Conquest Born", which despite the effort involved was
actually worth it.
-
24 February 2006 -
Finally finished the magnificent "V
for Vendetta", a different, magnificent and thought provoking
graphic novel.
-
29 January 2006 -
John Ringo continues the Council Wars with "Emerald
Sea".
-
20 January 2006 -
Richard Morgan wraps up the adventures of Takeshi
Kovacs in his usual violent fashion with "Woken
Furies".
-
5 December 2005
- Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper blew my mind with "Building
Harlequin's Moon". A masterpiece.
-
15 November 2005
- David Weber is finally back in good for with "At
All Costs" (HH XI)
-
7 October 2005
- S.M. Stirling starts off a new trilogy in great style with "Dies
the Fire".
- 27 September
- So it is a classic, but I still found Burroughs' "A
Princess of Mars" somewhat underwhelming.
- 23 September
- Tom Kratman writes about a second American Revolution in "A
State of Disobedience". Even if you don't agree with the
politics, it makes for good military SciFi.
-
20 September
- Jerry Oltion tells a story about the invention of an
ultra-cheap hyperdrive in "The
Getaway Special".
-
16 September -
I raced through "Time's
Eye" by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.
Great reading.
-
13 September -
"Coyote
Rising" by Allen Steele is the sequel to the episodic "Coyote".
Short stories cobbled into a novel, but eminently readable for all
that.
-
7 September - "Train
to Pakistan"
is a snapshot of life during the division of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Very different from what I usually read.
-
5 September - "Calculating
God"
raised many interesting questions.
-
28 August 2005 - "1634:
The Galileo Affair"
is an entertaining continuation to the
1632 Series.
-
23 August 2005 - "Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
was just as enjoyable as the previous four in the series.
-
24 July
2005 - "Xenocide",
the second sequel to "Ender's
Game", sneaks into the
Book
Picks.
-
15 July
2005 - "Ringworld's
Children", the latest Ringworld Novel, was an enjoyable
little idea piece, but not much more.
-
24 June
2005 - Finally tried Steakley's "Armor".
Yawn...
-
10 June
2005 - Orson Scott Card's "Speaker
for the Dead" brings back Ender Wiggin from "Ender's
Game". He is older and wiser, but equally fascinating.
So is
the story. One for the Books PIcks.
-
20
May 2005 - Williamson's "Freehold"
is sure to shock in some ways, with it's violence, sex and radical
political ideas. It's interesting social commentary but
most of all a fast paced and very engaging adventure novel.
-
14
May 2005 - Weber and Flint could have done a better job of
"Crown
of Slaves", set in the
Honorverse.
-
22 April
2005 - Light Military SciFi in "Alternate
Generals"
-
16 April
2005 - Flint shows signs of his future greatness in "Mother
of Demons" and Clarke bores me in "The
Songs of Distant Earth".
-
2 April
2005 - The classic "Ender's
Game" by Orson Scott Card jumps straight into the Book Picks.
Amazingly good. "The
Golden Globe" by John Varley was an well-written and
interesting romp through the Solar system.
-
19 March 2005 - "Singularity
Sky" by Charles Stross showcases many fascinating ideas while
not losing sight of the human dimension. Great stuff.
-
2 March 2005 -
Hard SciFi with a strong psychological/existential trait,
"Star
Dragon" is a tightly knit first
novel from Mike Brotherton.
-
17 February 2005 -
Thought provoking seventies SciFi in Varley's "The
Ophiuchi Hotline".
-
9 February 2005 -
I enjoyed John Varley's "Red
Thunder" and laughed at the in jokes in the Eric Flint edited
"The
Grantville Gazette".
-
29 January
2005 -
Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Kube McDowell talk gun control in "The
Trigger". A great read.
-
31
December 2004 -
Ringo is back with "There
will be Dragons", a fun take on a fallen utopia.
-
22
December 2004 -
"Marooned
in Realtime" continues the story of the bobbles from "The
Peace War" and brings it into a far future where man has all but
dissapeared. This marvelous book details the struggle of mankind's
remnants as they struggle with the meaning of existence.
-
16
December 2004 -
I struggled through Turtledove's "In
the Presence of Mine Enemies" and was dissapointed to find out the
action never actually starts.
-
11
December 2004 -
"The Peace War", an excellent early novel by Vernor Vinge, is reviewed
here.
-
5 December 2004 -
Vacation is great for finishing books. Clarke's "The
Fountains of Paradise" was great, while Donaldson's "The
Real Story" was, errr, not so great, but at least mercifully
short.
-
21 November 2004 -
"The
Shadow of Saganami" is the first book in the "Saganami Island"
series, a new Honorverse offering. Great for
Honor
fans, less great for anyone else.
-
21 November 2004 -
"Quicksilver"
by Neal Stephenson. I started this book over a year ago, (slowly) read
241 pages, then gave up. It's a great shame that Stephenson, one of my
favorite authors, has become so deathly dull.
-
1 November 2004 -
"The
Digital Dead" was a rather boring book that made a hash of some
very cool ideas.
-
10 October 2004 -
"Jennifer Government", an entertaining satire on
globalization, is reviewed
here.
-
24 September
2004 -
"The Terminal Man", an early Michael Crichton, is reviewed
here.
-
16 September
2004 -
"Hell's Faire" by John Ringo concludes
the "The
Legacy of the Aldenata" series.
-
13 September
2004 -
"When the Devil Dances" by John Ringo propels
"The
Legacy of the Aldenata" series back into the Book Picks.
-
10 September
2004 -
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, sequel to
"Angels and Demons" also made it to the Book Picks
here.
-
5 September
2004 -
"Air Disasters Volume 2", non-fiction by Macarthur Job, is reviewed
here.
-
27 August
2004 -
"Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown, a
great thriller, is reviewed
here.
-
23 August
2004 -
"Scatterbrain", a new Larry Niven
Anthology/scrapbook, is reviewed
here.
-
17 August
2004 -
"The Articulate Executive", and
extremely good text on public speaking which I recommend to all those
who work in a corporate environment, is reviewed
here.
-
10 August
2004 -
"March to the Stars", part three in the "March
Upcountry" series, is reviewed
here.
Turns out this isn't the last book in the series, but that's just as
well. I want more!
-
30 July
2004 -
"Wild Blue", a non-fiction book about bomber crews over Europe in WWII,
is reviewed
here.
-
23 July
2004 -
Finished "The Tyrant", Book 8 of "The
General" series. This one was written by Flint, so more humor but
still the same great concept. Actually I found it superior to "The
Reformer" but you really have to start at the beginning anyway.
-
8 July
2004 -
Entertaining alternate history from Stirling in "Conquistador".
I also finally gave up on Greg Bear's "Darwin's
Radio". Just too boring.
-
17 June
2004 -
Flynn is back with the majestic "The Wreck of The River of Stars",
a ponderous but fascinating and deeply moving treatment of the crew of a
doomed vessel. Goes in the Book Picks here
here.
-
2 May
2004 -
Strap yourselves in. Richard Morgan is back with a vengeance. "Market
Forces" races straight into the Book Picks
here.
-
22 April 2004 -
Peter F. Hamilton's "Pandora's Star", the first in a two book series, is
an epic space opera. Well worth the read. Hamilton is as usual one of
the best. Review
here.
-
13 March 2004 -
Allen Steele's "Coyote", a novel of interstellar exploration. A
decent
read but could have been much better. Review
here.
-
06 March 2004 -
Tom Wolfe's Classic "The Bonfire of the Vanities". I enjoyed this novel
immensely and it deservedly takes it's place in the Book Picks
here.
-
18 February 2004 -
Crichton's "Prey"
here.
-
10 February 2004 -
Finished "Fast Food Nation", fascinating reading
here.
-
28 January 2004 -
I reread Stephen Baxter's "Voyage". I had forgotten just how magnificent
that novel is, and have moved it to the Book Picks
here.
-
7 January 2004 -
"March to the Sea" by David Weber and John Ringo. Plain good old military
SciFi. Reviewed
here.
-
17 December 2003 -
Finished the Belisarius series, good military Historical/SciFi novels in good Baen Books tradition.
Reviewed
here.
-
12 December - I am done with reviewing almost all my books. I have not quite
plowed through all of the Niven's yet, but since I intend to keep all of
them there is no big hurry there. I have now reviewed more than three
hundred books
here - A
-
2 December 2003 - "The Oblique Approach", an alternate history
military SciFi novel in good Baen Books tradition, is
reviewed
here.
-
19 November 2003 - The fantastic "Neverwhere", by Neil Gaiman, is
reviewed
here.
-
18 September
2003 - "Disclosure", a Michael Crichton that surprised me
with its quality
here.
-
8 September
2003 - "Broken Angels", the new and very cool Richard Morgan
here.
-
15
September 2003 - I finished the very interesting "High Fidelity".
If there ever was a book that explained how men think, this one is it.
Find the review
here - A
-
5
September 2003 - "Interface"
here - A
-
26
August 2003 - "The Teeth of The Tiger"
here - A
-
14
August 2003 - "The Rock Rats"
here
and "The Stand"
here.
Well, they don't really qualify as reviews since I didn't even finish the
novels. I just got soo bored with both of them - A
-
12
August 2003 - "1633" (yes, really)
here - A
-
11
August 2003 - "1632"
here
- A
-
30
July 2003 - "Janissaries", an old SF classic
here
- A
-
20
July 2003 - "Stupid White Men", a very funny but rather disturbing
book about the United States of America,
here - A
-
18
July 2003 -
"Pattern Recognition"
here.
A truly magnificent novel -
A
-
12
July 2004
- "Altered Carbon" (here)
and "Gridlinked"
(here).
Loved "Altered Carbon"! - A
-
12
June 2003 - "The Service of The Sword"
here
- A
-
31
May 2003 - "March Upcountry"
here
- A
-
29
May 2003 -
"In The Country of The Blind"
here
- A
-
28
April 2003 -
Added the
review for "The Peshawar Lancers"
here
- A
-
05 Mar 2003 - The review of
"Congo"
here
- A
-
26
Feb 2003 - Master of Orion 3 - I decided
to take this much anticipaded strategy game out for a spin. Big mistake... It
was just plain boring. I'm not against micromanagement, long games or even
high complexity. It's just that I feel no empathy for my subjects and no
particular connection between my actions and the empire's development - A
-
22 Feb 2002 - The new Alastair Reynolds
is short. Just 220 pages, consisting of two novellas. Despite it still being
excellent Reynolds doom and gloom, a bit more of it would have been nice. Read more
here
- A