As a true lover of Dante’s Divine Comedy, I must confess that Brown’s choice of inspiration for his fourth Langdon novel hit just the right spot for me. While some readers may be bored by his lengthy descriptions of Dante’s cantos on the odyssey from Inferno and Purgatory to Paradise, I … [Read more]
A Splendid Time Travel Tale (Or, Connie Willis Deserves All of Her Awards)
Kivrin, a historian and student at Oxford in 2054, plans a trip to the Middle Ages using the well-established technology of “the net.” She must do extensive research in order to blend in with the locals. The history department’s technicians must perform complex calculations to get her to the right … [Read more]
Like The Da Vinci Code, only better
Another Nic Costa crime thriller set in Rome, which reads less like a movie script and more like a subtler and fully-fleshed version of The Da Vinci Code. Young cop Nic Costa has recently been partnered with burned-out detective Luca Rossi and is sitting outside St. Marks Square trying to … [Read more]
Lady Macbeth
Quick Synopsis: Lady Gruadh comes of age in 11th century Scotland and makes a play to become Queen of Scots Quick Review: A well-told story for anyone interested in Scottish history or the characters behind Shakespeare's famous (and fairly inaccurate) play Read the full review here … [Read more]
Elves Don’t Fornicate
Rùnach is an elf, and Aisling is — well, that would be telling. Maybe they don’t actually have TEH ICKY SECKS? Maybe their passion is consummated mind-to-mind in the aether, amidst the starlight and the music of the spheres? What do I know, anyway? Read the whole review here! … [Read more]
Pro Gloria Dei
I read half of this book at various points last year, and read the other half whilst on a 14 hour bus ride this week… so I’ll count this review for this year, especially since I wrote it on said 14 hour bus ride. This is a book about history; a book about a cathedral. It is about England and … [Read more]





