I loved The Martian. It was the book that got me reading again after a years-long drought. I raved about it to my family and friends and drove them nuts with my uninvited opinions when I heard they were going to turn it into a movie. So I was very excited when I learned Andy Weir had a new book coming out and preordered it as soon as the option was available. However, I was sad to find myself disappointed by Artemis. While the science-y […]
With bonus magically enhanced crocodile
Silver and Stone is the second volume in a steampunk trilogy set in a fantasy version of Australia where certain metals can be ‘activated’ to take on magical properties – iron can confer strength, gold can attract, silver can heal, etc. I read the first volume (Heart of Brass) last year so it didn’t qualify for the Cannonball but it did give me the background for this story, which takes up pretty much where the last one left off. (This review will therefore have spoilers […]
Haunted by the ghosts of the living
I’m having a hard time writing a review for Alan Hollinghurst’s The Sparsholt Affair. It’s a book that defies easy summarization; even the cover synopsis doesn’t really describe the book I read and probably did more harm than good to my understanding. The story is told in five sections. The first takes place at Oxford during the early 1940’s, with the Blitz in full swing. Two of the characters have a brief affair, giving the book’s title its first meaning. The second section follows one […]
“To look out and see not another soul between you and the horizon could be a strange and disturbing sight.”
This was by no means a pleasant reading experience. But its one that I’ll remember for quite a long time. Aaron Falk is a federal police officer in Australia, specializing in financial crimes. He comes home to the country for the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke, who apparently brutally murdered his wife and young son, and then took his shotgun to himself. Luke’s father, who knows a secret about Aaron, convinces him to stick around town for a while to investigate. Luke’s parents […]
Enchanted and Spellbound, In the Silence They Lingered
This book had already ticked off so many boxes for me before I’d even opened it: Crumbling and isolated English manor, 1970s acid folk band, possible Wicker Man-like pagan horror. I was intrigued before I even started the book. This short novella by Elizabeth Hand slowly amps up the weirdness and dread and, though it leaves the reader with more questions than answers, it’s a deeply satisfying ending. The book follows the the story of fictional band, Windhollow Faire, a small folk band who […]
Thoughts have wings.
This one is an interesting look at the relationships of four siblings through the lens of one shared experience in childhood. After hearing that a fortune-teller in the neighborhood can tell you the exact date of your death, Daniel (11) coaxed his siblings Varya (13), Klara (9) and Simon (7) to pay her a visit. Four bored kids looking for something to pass the time in the hot city summer are each given a date that will shape the trajectory of their lives. They began […]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 85
- 86
- 87
- 88
- 89
- …
- 118
- Next Page »