I will admit, I thought I might be out-smarting these books, with the formula all figured out, but this one, the third in the “Temeraire” series, totally took me on a ride. Delightful, surprising, and exciting. Well played, Novik. Black Powder War bothers with barely any passage of time after Throne of Jade. The company is still in China, preparing for travel back to England, when natural disaster and politics coincide and intervene, causing Laurence and Temeraire to take their scrappy crew of aviators overland […]
Temeraire Meets the Far East
Just in case there was any doubt, dragons are still my JAM. I should clarify that it’s specifically the dragons in Naomi Novik’s world that I am adoring. I’ve never encountered such interesting characters inhabiting and giving personality to such mythic bodies. Sure, lots of great stories have dragons, or dinosaurs, or talking frogs, or whatever. But these dragons are the heart and soul of this corner of the multiverse and I am ON BOARD. Throne of Jade picks up just a few weeks after […]
Starring Kojak, formerly known as Big Steve, a Very Good Dog
My blossoming love affair with Stephen King continues, with yet another behemoth of awesomeness: The Stand. This particular edition was released in 1990, twelve years after the first release. It was updated and expanded, and I have no reference to the first edition but, according to “Publisher’s Weekly,” at least as quoted on amazon.com, “The same excellent tale of the walking dude, the chemical warfare weapon called superflu and the confrontation between its survivors has been updated to 1990, so references to Teenage Mutant Ninja […]
I’m not crying on the subway; you’re crying on the subway.
I want a dragon. I want a dragon. I want a dragon. No, but seriously, I want a dragon. His Majesty’s Dragon is a really unique and exciting first book in a series with which I’ll definitely continue. I walked into it with no background, other than a friend’s recommendation, and it actually took me by surprise, with quite a bit of delight. So, some background here: Will Laurence is a seasoned captain for the British Navy during the Napoleanic Wars. His crew captures a […]
I’m so late to this great party, I almost want to punch something.
Let the making fun of me begin: I am newly and totally obsessed with Stephen King. Brief backstory: when I was 7 or 8 years old, I started reading “Cujo.” It gave me nightmares: long, scary, repeated nightmares. I never finished it, because No More Stephen King For Me, said my parents. And then, somehow, in my mind, the idea of Stephen King’s writing… well, I guess it morphed from “OMG, that guy is scary” to “Meh, airport reading. Basically the James Patterson of horror.” […]
In which Fat Charlie answers the door and Spider encounters flamingos.
This was a superfun experiment in re-reading a book and its sequel in the correct order for the first time. As I mentioned in my “American Gods” re-read review, the first time around, I read “Anansi Boys” first, and it was nevertheless a totally delicious ride untainted by any sort of tyrannical adherence to an orderly timeline. I think Gaiman would approve. This time around, I read them in order, although I’m keeping with this personal tradition by learning too late that there’s a short […]