I was getting really worried for this series. I did not like the last 2 volumes I read; I kinda hated book 5 which I read just before book 3 which wasn’t much better. The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats, Book 6, went back to what this series does right: Burton and Swinburne together with pals taking on weirdness, and the final conclusion is pretty satisfying, even though it end up feeling a little like the whole series was designed around the question of why […]
Even H.G. Wells Can’t Save a Timey Wimey Mess
I read Expeditions to the Mountains of the Moon fifth even though it’s chronologically the third in the series. I’m not really sure it matters though since much of the time even the characters don’t know what’s going on, or remember what happened to them prior to the start of the particular book. This book basically takes Algy out of the picture for a lot of the story by having Burton hallucinate/travel back and forth between 1863 and 1914. Neither is a good time/place to […]
A Hain, a Doe, and a Willa Cather novel walk in a bar Part 1
I got this book as part of my free trial with Audible….it’s 34 hours long….it’s 13 novellas. Deals! Novella 1: Vaster than Empires and More Slow 1975 – 4/5 stars I haven’t read any of the Hainish novels. And in fact, I haven’t read much of Ursula K Le Guin at all. So I will have to reverse engineer any of the novels that come across in this collection that refer back to any series or worldview. I THINK it will be ok, because […]
“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.”
After an unintentional series of memoirs, I began The Handmaid’s Tale on International Women’s Day- it seemed appropriate- and couldn’t put it down. Atwood tells a “speculative fiction” story set in the not too distant future where fertility has dwindled and religious fanatics control the government. After they overthrew the government the Sons of Jacob established a theological dictatorship called Gilead. In this new world fertile women, handmaids, are sent to powerful men’s homes if their wives have not been able to produce a child. Offred, literally […]
Don’t Judge an Author by One Book (Especially Not This One)
There was a guy named Pete in my high school humanities class. Pete loved renaissance festivals and Dune. He said Frank Herbert’s Dune was a great example of what sci-fi can be at its best – a teaching tool. It’s hard (and boring) for us to read someone’s thoughts on what humanity should be like. Put the story in space, though, and we’re more susceptible to new ideas. Dune has plenty to say about power, war, economics, and religion, Pete told me. The book sounded cool […]
Super fast, enjoyable, YA alternate present… READ IT!
I read (a lot) of books in this genre: YA teen in an alternate present/near future often dystopian… usually there’s a boy involved (I prefer when that is not the primary story line) and the girl is a “chosen one” or “special” or something. Anyways, I do not know how I had not seen this series until now. If you’re into this genre, you should read this one. It was a super quick read and I’m ready for the second tonight! (It is also free […]
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