Category Archives: book
Book Review: “Cat’s Claw” by Amber Benson
Following her enjoyable adventure through Hell with Calliope Reaper-Jones, Death’s middle daughter, I think it was pretty much understood that actress and author Amber Benson would return to her Death’s Daughter universe. She did so in 2010 with Cat’s Claw, … Continue reading
Book Review: “The Tyrant Strategy: Revenant Man” by Jonathan C. Gillespie
I’m not a huge fan of military SF. But I am a fan of post-apocalyptic SF. I’m not a huge fan of augmented-humanity SF. But I am a fan of humans-aren’t-the-most-powerful-people-in-the-universe SF. So when author Jonathan C. Gillespie put out … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, sci-fi, writing
Tagged augmented humanity, fractured america, jonathan c gillespie, military sf, nartuni, partana, post-apocalyptic, revenant man, review, serpican, tak akita, tea, the tyrant strategy
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Book Review: “Wrayth” by Philippa Ballantine
I also think this book suffers in some ways from being the series’s Empire Strikes Back. Geist was more a stand-alone novel, and Spectyr set up what’s going on in Wrayth. But Wrayth is clearly a ramp-up to the showdown … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged books of the order, closure, doorstop, geist, philippa ballantine, review, spectyr, tetralogy, trilogy, wrayth
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Book Review: “Ink” by Sabrina Vourvoulias
I do think that Ink and stories like it — such as the film A Day Without A Mexican — do need to be told. Without getting political, I feel confident in saying that the US is getting more and … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, sci-fi, writing
Tagged a modest proposal, amnesty, digg, gangs, government, hastings, immigration, ink, inkatorium, jonathan swift, journalism, newton's cradle, sabrina vourvoulias, smithville, twitterfall
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Book Review: “Death’s Daughter” by Amber Benson
I have a thing about Death stories. My favorite is, of course, the Death of the Discworld (black cloak, scythe, TALKS LIKE THIS), followed by Neil Gaiman’s perky goth-girl Death of the Endless. Somewhere on the continuum is Piers Anthony’s … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, supernatural, writing
Tagged amber benson, calliope reaper-jones, chick lit, death, deaths daughter, deus ex machina, indra, kali, neil gaiman, piers anthony, review, susan sto helit
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Book Review: “Kiss the Dead” by Laurell K. Hamilton
Hmm… okay, so, we start with police procedural, and our hero shows up on the scene. She’s got a crap-ton of weapons and abilities, and she uses them to be a monster and save the day, sort of, except that … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, supernatural, urban, writing
Tagged anita blake, kiss the dead, laurell k. hamilton, polyamory, urban fantasy, vampire, werewolf
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Book Review: “Hunter and Fox” by Philippa Ballantine
My review of Philippa Ballantine’s Hunter and Fox is now up. TLDR version: it was a good book, but it wasn’t really up my alley. Book Review: Hunter and Fox by Philippa Ballantine
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, urban, writing
Tagged cliffhanger, doorstop, geist, hunter and fox, philippa ballantine, review, spectyr
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Book Review: “Railsea” by China Mieville
When I first downloaded the book, I thought there was something wrong with my copy, so I went over to Amazon & checked the first chapter. Nope, it was that way on purpose. In fact, one of the shorter chapters … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing, ya
Tagged ampersand, china mieville, moby-dick, mocker-jack, rails, railsea, review, trains
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Book Review: “Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion”, edited by Mary Alice Money
My review of Joss Whedon: the Complete Companion, a compendium of articles and essays on all of Whedon’s creations (and I mean all), is now on Escape Pod. Read it here. Book Review: “Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion”
Book Review: “Out of Oz” by Gregory Maguire
I think my biggest problem with the book was its time-scale. I realize that makes me somewhat of a hypocrite, given that my favorite book takes place over about the same scale (ten or so years) and its sequels occur … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged a lion among men, elphaba, gregory maguire, l frank baum, oz, review, son of a witch, the wiz, tin man, wicked, wicked years
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Book Review: “Bigfoot: I Not Dead” by Graham Roumieu
In beginning, Josh think it funny to write review of book Bigfoot: I Not Dead using Bigfoot style of writing. However, realize will get annoying fast and not want annoy readers. So will stop. Book Review: “Bigfoot: I Not Dead” … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged bigfoot, graham roumieu, i not dead, illustrated, review
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Book Review: “11/22/63” by Stephen King
Book Review: “11/22/63” by Stephen King
Posted in alternate history, book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, sci-fi, writing
Tagged 11/22/63, alternate history, fantasy, historical fiction, jfk, lee harvey oswald, review, star trek, stephen king, the sun dog, time travel
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Book Review: “Snuff” by Terry Pratchett
Pratchett’s customary humor and wit are present throughout, and the writing remains as wonderful as ever. My inner 12-year-old appreciated all the poo references, and if we’ve already done the goblin thing back when Vimes visited the Low King, at … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged alzheimer's, batman, city watch, discworld, goblins, poo, review, snuff, terry pratchett, vimes, willikins
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Book Review: “The Colorado Kid” by Stephen King
The concept of “based upon Book X by Author Y” is stretched pretty far these days. Sure, sometimes you get a Harry Potter or a Twilight, but other times you get a movie or TV show that is so loosely-based … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, mystery, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged haven, mystery, review, stephen king, syfy channel, the colorado kid
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Book Review: “H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education” by Mark Walden
So far, I’ve given H.I.V.E. a lot of grief over its use of genre conventions, but I hope I’ve done it good-naturedly enough to keep you from being put off the book. I mean, it’s YA; it’s sort of YA’s … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, nonfiction, review, superhero, writing, ya
Tagged h.i.v.e., harry potter, higher institute of villainous education, mark walden, percy jackson, review, starfleet academy, super-villain, the magicians, trope, ya
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Book Review: “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman
I enjoyed reading the book, and there were a lot of clever and funny things to keep me interested until I got to the next plot point. And, unlike the first book, The Magician King clearly sets up another sequel. … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged lev grossman, review, the magician king, the magicians, trope
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Book Review: Fade to Black by Josh Pryor
I imagine that it can be difficult to sell big-idea hard-science-fiction books. How do you elevator-pitch a story about the virus that may have been the catalyst to turn humanity from people living in caves to the society we know … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, horror, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged antarctica, fade to black, josh pryor, review
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Book Review: “Spectyr” by Philippa Ballantine
As I said in my review of Geist, Philippa Ballantine’s writing is well-paced, not overly laden with exposition (a major flaw in several fantasy novels I’ve read), and tends to leave tropes for readers to trip over. Book Review: “Spectyr” … Continue reading
Posted in book, escape pod, fantasy, nonfiction, review, writing
Tagged fantasy, geist, philippa ballantine, review, spectyr, trope
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Josh Roseman: Writer, Voice Guy, Dad, Human 