Dune by Frank Herbert
It’s hard to know what to say in reviewing Dune since it is such a classic and a cultural monolith at this point but I’ll do my best! This was my second time reading it with the first time being somewhere during college. Instead of throwing out the book again, I’ve kept this new copy since my personal rule is any book I buy twice I should keep the second copy of rather than keep buying books infinitely. Dune is a fast read for me […]
The 9th Annual of the Year's Best SF by Judith Merril (Editor)
This is a pretty long and comprehensive collection of good SF from 1963 (384 pages, so you’re definitely getting a lot). I enjoyed most of these stories and breezed through this on the Amtrak to and from visiting home. My mom also enjoyed the chunk she read while I was home, so it’s intergenerationally approved. However, nothing in here really blew me away and it all felt pretty standard and not hugely boundary pushing or subversive. Sometimes you do just need to read some classic […]
Man Against Tomorrow by William F. Nolan (Editor)
This was honestly a pleasant surprise in my continual quest to work through the classic SF/F collections in my possession. I think this is in large part attributable to the fact it’s from 1965, so is pre-New Wave. This era clicks with me, as does contemporary sci-fi/fantasy. It’s really only the 1970s and a chunk of the 1980s where I run aground. Man Against Tomorrow is a reprint collection which I enjoyed almost every story in, a real achievement in my opinion. The one con […]
The Story of Yoru and Asa by Harada
The Story of Yoru and Asa: Encore by Harada
Happy of the End (Vol. 1) by Ogerestsu Tanaka
Happy of the End (Vol. 2) by Ogerestsu Tanaka
Kuma continues to publish challenging, thought-provoking work, and I’m glad they’re getting this material translated into the English-language market. Both of these series were a lot of fun to read and made me think about relationships, dysfunction, trauma, and various societal issues. The Song of Yoru and Asa and Yoru and Asa: Encore follows Asaichi, who is the vocalist for a rock band. Yoru joins as a bassist, even though he was a popular vocalist in his last band. Asaichi thinks he’s straight but ends […]
Brothers of the Wind by Tad Williams
Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is probably my all-time favorite fantasy series and I’ve wanted to read Tad Williams’ more recent novels returning to Osten Ard, but I’ve been a little daunted by having to read through the series again. Brothers of the Wind felt like a good first step in that direction, as it’s a stand-alone prequel set 1,000 years before the novels. I did pay full price for this at the bookstore due to finishing Dune earlier than I thought and foolishly not bringing […]
The 1976 Annual World's Best SF by Donald A. Wollheim (Editor)
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the stories chosen for this collection. As I work through the SFF paperbacks I’ve inherited from my parents, I often end up slogging through some very boring or irritating stories from this era, which was a rough one for the field in my opinion. The New Wave and I do not mix. It could be that by 1976 it was on its way out and that’s why I liked these stories better. You can actually tell what’s […]
