Realized after I posted my last review that I hadn’t posted this one of a book I’d read earlier. Apologies. I briefly consider each book in the compendium below: Animal Farm — It’s weird to think that I’ve lived this long, as voracious a reader as I am, and still have never read this slender …
Tag: Science Fiction
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/24/the-penguin-complete-novels-of-george-orwell-by-george-orwell/
Jul 04 2015
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
Given my recent run of disappointment with books I’ve been rereading, this was quite the refreshing change! As muscular as I remembered, and convincing, it was yet better written and more complex than I’d given it credit for in my rememberings. And that ending! Once, I’d believed it incurably optimistic: now, I’m still convinced of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/04/the-day-of-the-triffids-by-john-wyndham/
Jul 04 2015
Pavane by Keith Roberts
So that was weird. I first encountered this book in college where, haunting the oddly stocked shelves of the library, I stumbled across the Gollancz version: no blurb, no explanation, just a bright yellow dust jacket with the title, author and the symbol of the Crab people in brick red on the cover. Desperate for …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/04/pavane-by-keith-roberts/
Jun 28 2015
Lock In by John Scalzi
A long time ago, John Grisham came to the bookstore where I was working to sign copies of his second book from a major publisher, The Pelican Brief. His first, The Firm, had been an enormous hit, and there was every indication that the second would sell in mass quantities as well. No movies had …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/06/28/lock-in-by-john-scalzi-2/
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Jun 07 2015
Nebula Award winners 2015
The Science Fiction Writers of America announced the winners of this year’s Nebula Awards. Novel Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer [Laura reviewed Annihilation as part of its trilogy, and didn’t like it as much as the SFWA did.] Novella Yesterday’s Kin, Nancy Kress Novelette “A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i,” Alaya Dawn Johnson (F&SF 7-8/14) Short …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/06/07/nebula-award-winners-2015/
May 24 2015
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
The moon blew up with no warning and with no apparent reason. That’s how Seveneves begins, and it pulled me right in. I stayed up until 3am last night to finish this 867-page hard science fiction novel, to the point that my eyes were watering and my cat was giving me the stinkeye for keeping …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/05/24/seveneves-by-neal-stephenson/
May 05 2015
On Basilisk Station by David Weber
Introduction The Honor Harrington series (the name of our heroine and main character in the series), also known as the Honorverse, is a Military Science Fiction series by author David Weber. On Basilisk Station, published in 1992, is the first book in the series, which already spans thirteen books and a few spin offs. Setting …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/05/05/on-basilisk-station-by-david-weber/
Apr 27 2015
The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate by Ted Chiang
This novelette won the Hugo in 2007. I picked it up as a standalone e-book that was part of the Humble Bundle mentioned here, and it’s the first work I’ve read by Ted Chiang. It won’t be the last! The story as a whole is broken into several parts, which nest and braid together in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/04/27/the-merchant-and-the-alchemists-gate-by-ted-chiang/
Apr 24 2015
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Martian starts with a soon-to-be-classic opening line: “I’m pretty much fucked.” One of humanity’s first manned missions to Mars has encountered a dust storm stronger than their base and their return vehicle can withstand. During the hasty evacuation, a freak accident incapacitates one of the crew of six; even more freakishly, it does not …
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