(Hunh, I thought I’d posted this when I’d originally reviewed it. Apologies.) There is so much about this book to like, from the fully realized near-future setting to the compelling, scandalous murder mystery to the damaged protagonist (and victims) to the clear moral and political stance J. D. Robb has on women’s rights and crime …
Tag: Science Fiction
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/12/05/naked-in-death-in-death-1-by-j-d-robb/
Nov 08 2016
Glory In Death (In Death #2) by J. D. Robb
A solid near-future police procedural, with a fully realized setting that falls firmly on the side of feminism and social justice. It isn’t the most inspired mystery — I figured out whodunnit 56% of the way in — but the world building and the cop talk more than made up for it. The thing that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/11/08/glory-in-death-in-death-2-by-j-d-robb/
Oct 26 2016
Arena by Holly Jennings
I requested this book from NetGalley because the premise sounded hella intriguing: in 2054, the Virtual Gaming League hosts VR gladiatorial combat tournaments, with participants feeling all the pain of their avatars, despite the injuries and deaths staying virtual. The first female team captain in the history of the combats, Kali Ling, challenges the structure …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/10/26/arena-by-holly-jennings/
Oct 18 2016
The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin
I didn’t find The Dark Forest as compelling as its predecessor, The Three-Body Problem. I think a lot of it has to do with how I disagreed with Liu Cixin as to the behavior of future humanity, particularly in terms of the outlawing of Escapism, as well as the way in which the victors of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/10/18/the-dark-forest-by-liu-cixin/
Jul 31 2016
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Every time I read a good science fiction novel, a novel of actual ideas, I experience a shudder of pure, intellectual joy. But those are so few and far between that I instinctively shy away from many, even those critically acclaimed, because there’s no greater reading disappointment for me than a bad sci-fi novel (or …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/07/31/the-three-body-problem-by-liu-cixin/
Jul 25 2016
The Nightmare Stacks by Charles Stross
Charles Stross’ Laundry series began as pastiches of spy novels, with Lovecraftian beings of endless horror substituting for cat-stroking megalomaniacs as the bad guys. Running a close second in the bad guy scheme of things are the higher reaches of the spy organization, partly because the third well of inspiration for the series is The …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/07/25/the-nightmare-stacks-by-charles-stross/
Jul 23 2016
All Clear by Connie Willis
All Clear, which picks up right where Blackout left off and comprises the second part of an 1100-page story, would have been a brilliant book at about half or two-thirds of its 640-page length. The ending has emotional power; it resolves the main question running through the books and ties up the characters’ individual tales …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/07/23/all-clear-by-connie-willis/
Jul 18 2016
Blackout by Connie Willis
Reading Connie Willis is always, sentence by sentence, a delight. Her characters are sympathetic and interesting to spend time with; conflicts usually arise from misunderstandings, or from the nature of a situation. Some few people are jerks, some are hurt and acting out, but that’s just like life, isn’t it? Willis also appears to have …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/07/18/blackout-by-connie-willis/
Jun 06 2016
Mirabile by Janet Kagan
The trouble with writing about a book some considerable time after reading it is that the details and fresh impressions have inevitably started to fade, and so this essay is more about what has stayed with me about Mirabile by Janet Kagan, rather than what struck me while reading it, or what my impressions were …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/06/06/mirabile-by-janet-kagan/
Jun 03 2016
The Philosopher Kings by Jo Walton
Jo Walton, writing at the height of her powers, has solved the second-book problem, or at least this one instance of the problem. The Philosopher Kings is in fact the middle book of a trilogy, but it is so much its own thing that although it has the advantages of a sequel—less time setting up …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/06/03/the-philosopher-kings-by-jo-walton/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire