The Guardian of Gildain, Book 1: The Snow Dragon by M. L. Miller (2016) – Too often, adult writers who deal with YA (Young Adult) for teenagers forget what being a teenager was really like. During that time, everything is life or death drama from the length of your pants to the botched homework assignment. Match that with raging hormones and an undeveloped frontal lobe, it’s no wonder we adults filter the trauma of being a teenager. Ms. Miller somehow has kept that teen angst […]
One to Bind Them All
Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (1988) – There are several books on my shelves that I must reread every couple years because I miss them. The Lord of the Rings is one of them (along with Dune, Harry Potter, and the Modesty Blaise books). I guess I originally read it in the seventies and have reread it consistently through the years. Although I’ll try not to compare the book with the movie, after you’ve seen Viggo and Elijah as Aragorn and Frodo, it’s […]
An Earworm of an Anthology
When You’re Strange edited by Sarah Vestal and Danne Boyd (2017) – I’m not sure what’s going on with the cover, but the stories in this themed anthology dramatically bring out the differences and similarities in all of us. Whether you’re an Alice tasked with tracking escapees in the real world, a young collector of souls who foolishly believes wars will be over soon, a young water witch marrying a fire warlock, or a trio of friends trapped in a video game, this collection of […]
Where Do I Keep My Wallet?
Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (1912) – Before there was science fiction (the term wasn’t coined until the twenties), there were the amazing worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He’s known for the swashbuckling John Carter of Mars and the incredible Tarzan books. I thought I’d return to my childhood and read more about John Carter and his adventures on the red planet. John is a very southern gentleman who survives the Civil War and sets off across Arizona to search for gold. Instead, […]
Pick Your Poison!
Pick Your Poison – A Short Story Anthology edited by Emma Nelson and Hannah Smith (2017) – Just in time for Halloween comes a short story collection with a clever theme: toxins. Whether venomous snakes, raw almonds, quiet magic, or death by any of the other twenty-five poisonous tales in this collection, there’s a fitting demise for everyone. As with most anthologies I review, I’ll pick out several of the sterling tales that caught my squeamish attention. But all the stories are clever, well-written, and […]
Just Made That Way
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2013) – Well, I see what all the fuss is about now. I read a lot of space opera. It’s my favorite genre. But, I have to admit that sometimes it gets a little formulaic. There’s a hero, some political situation, big space ships, possibly aliens, and blasters. Ancillary Justice is anything but predictable. In fact, when it started out, I wasn’t sure who the narrator was. Is he or she the ship? The servants assisting the people in power? […]
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