I’m a firm believer in the First Paragraph Test. If you’re on the fence about a book, reading the first paragraph can be a good indicator of whether or not you should actually take the time to read it. “Hey, isn’t that like judging a book by its cover?” you may ask. Well, no, since an author often has little if any control over the cover. But the first paragraph, that’s where a smart author puts his best foot forward in an attempt to suck […]
It’s really all about the cat
It’s probably not surprising to anyone that I heard about To Say Nothing of the Dog [Or How We Found the Bishop’s Bird Stump At Last] (1998) by Connie Willis from another Cannoball review. Time travel and science fiction aren’t my go-to genres but the review was more than convincing enough for me to expand my normal boundaries. This was an impressive work: a mixture of romance, mystery, and science-fiction with the clever, lighthearted feeling of a P.G. Wodehouse novel. I enjoyed this book, but […]
On Virtual Perdition, Horrible Bastards, and Millions of Warships
William Gibson didn’t invent virtual reality, but he was arguably the first to introduce the concept to a mass audience. A generation later, the Wachowskis took the concept to the next level with The Matrix. And now, roughly a generation removed from The Matrix (and if that doesn’t make you feel old, then I’m not sure what will), science fiction has become so suffused with the concept that virtual reality has taken its place alongside rayguns and spaceships and bug-eyes monsters as a venerable trope-verging-on-cliche […]
One Choice Will Define You…Or Make You Fall Asleep From Boredom
Allegiant is the last novel in the Divergent young adult trilogy. I picked up the series after a friend told me it was similar to The Hunger Games. Yes, the series are quite similar. Both trilogies are set in America’s near future, after a war of some sort. Both feature heavy handed governments and arbitrarily divided citizens. And of course, both feature a young teen heroine who is just a little bit different or “special” than everyone else. I really enjoyed the first book in Divergent series. It was […]
“Black Fire”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #21
by Sonni Cooper “His dark shape flamed through the room, causing a skipped heartbeat, as he bargained for possession of the women. Shrouded in a garment made of lightning, he took the ladies as his own, bringing delight clouded in mystery. To see his face through the veil of dark flame. To touch his hand, strong and warm. To belong to this man of fire, if only for a moment. Time too short for love complete. He is a shadow of mystery. My flaming love.” […]
“You carry despair as your gift.”
By now, most science fiction readers know that James Tiptree, Jr was not James Tiptree, Jr, but rather Alice Bradley Sheldon. Sheldon was a retired CIA officer (and scientist/artist/critic/businesswoman) who, between 1968 and her death in 1987, published some of the most acclaimed short stories in the genre, using Tiptree as her nom de plume. (She also published a few stories – mostly ignored at the time – under the name Raccoona Sheldon.) I was too young to discover her work while she was living, […]
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