Charlie Jane Anders’ new novel is about science, magic, and the need to work together for the sake of the world. Our two main characters are the embodiment of science and magic. Laurence is a gifted geek who, in 8th grade, figured out how to make a wristwatch time machine. It could only take you 2 seconds into the future, but still…. Patricia is a magic and nature geek who occasionally can talk to animals and once spoke with a tree. In adulthood, Laurence and […]
Vonnegut’s little war book.
There are almost no characters in this story, and almost no dramatic confrontations, because most of the people in it are so sick and so much the listless playthings of enormous forces. One of the main effects of war, after all, is that people are discouraged from being characters.” So basically everyone I’ve ever talked to has read this book before me, and I’m kinda pissed off about that. Why didn’t y’all tell me I needed to read this? I know most people had to […]
Genre Mix and Match
This is one of those books that defies categorization. It’s the messed-up, weirdo love child of sci-fi, fantasy, romance, and dystopian fiction. There’s no way around it; This book is weird. But in a good way. Mostly. And you should know in advance that there’s no way I can summarize it that will do it justice. The story follows two people, Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead, from childhood to adulthood. Their lives intertwine in interesting and important ways even though they’re the yang to each […]
Honey, I shrunk the scientists and let them fight it out with insects
I have a fond recollection of reading Jurassic Park (pre-movie release) in college and being so caught up I read until dawn then hit Skyway Jacks for the Fisherman’s Special. The homefries! This will likely not enrapture you as much. It’s not bad, but much of it feels like ground covered by Rick Moranis. And Slither. (An amusing combination.) A group of ambitious graduate students from Cambridge is flown to Hawaii to be impressed and hopefully employed by Nanigen, a biotech firm with a psychotically […]
The Colt 45 of Space Comics
As previously mentioned in my Agent of the Empire reviews, I’m not much of a Star Wars guy, but I do enjoy the universe. It lends itself to telling all kinds of stories. For example, Agent of the Empire (Dark Horse) used a galaxy far, far away to tell James Bond stories well. Charles Soule’s (She-Hulk, Letter 44, Superman Wonderwoman etc. etc. etc.) Lando is another great example of how the larger Star Wars ‘verse can be used to tell smaller, genre-ish stories. This is […]
The Spice Must Flow
Dune … Arrakis … Desert Planet Dune has been one of my favourite movies for a long time, despite all its flaws, so I was intrigued to learn how it holds up against Frank Herbert’s novel. As it turns out, it does not do so well. On the surface, Dune deals with the impact of political intrigue on a noble family, the Atreides. The Duke Leto Atreides is tasked by the Galactic Emperor to take over the administration of the desert planet Arrakis, the only […]
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