Category Archives: review

“The Gift” of Choice… Unless You’re a Borg

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Josh Roseman

So, in the end, Janeway’s actions — which today I see at the very least as being misguided and at worst reprehensible — turn out to be “right”. “The Gift” of Choice… Unless You’re a Borg : Escape Pod

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Book Review: “Snuff” by Terry Pratchett

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Josh Roseman

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 →

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Book Review: “The Colorado Kid” by Stephen King

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Josh Roseman

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 →

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Book Review: “H.I.V.E.: Higher Institute of Villainous Education” by Mark Walden

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Josh Roseman

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 →

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Book Review: “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Josh Roseman

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 →

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Book Review: Fade to Black by Josh Pryor

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Josh Roseman

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 →

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Book Review: “Spectyr” by Philippa Ballantine

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Josh Roseman

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 →

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Book Review: “Osama” by Lavie Tidhar

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Josh Roseman

It’s been about ten years since Al Qaeda operatives flew jets into three U.S. buildings (and were thwarted before they could hit a fourth). In that time we’ve all suffered the effects, which is to say: a couple of wars, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Pirates” by Nobilis Reed

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Nobilis Reed is a good writer — he really gets into his characters’ heads, which is all the more difficult when the story is told via first-person-limited perspective. I just felt that the first 50-60 percent of the book didn’t … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Geist” by Philippa Ballantine

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Geist combines the best of what I like in 1990s fantasy fiction with the scope of a doorstop novel… and then pares out all the extraneous crap that makes a fantasy novel into a doorstop. What’s left is 300 pages … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Hit List” by Laurell K. Hamilton

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Josh Roseman

I don’t think Hit List is a really good book, especially when held up to others in the Anita Blake series. While the writing is definitely better and tighter than the past couple of Anita Blake novels, this one doesn’t … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Embassytown” by China Mieville

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Unlike Kraken, Embassytown doesn’t force the reader to perform mental gymnastics to keep up with Mieville’s use of language. However, the book did take me quite a while to get through. There’s a lot to absorb, and a lot of … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms” by N.K. Jemisin

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Josh Roseman

To go back to my comment on storytelling style — the best way to explain it is that I felt like I was reading Anita Blake: God Hunter. The same problems I have with Laurell K. Hamilton’s storytelling, I had … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Scouts” by Nobilis Reed

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Warp drive. Hyperspeed. Folding space. Immersion. The Infinite Improbability Drive. Read five different pieces of science fiction and you’re guaranteed to find five different propulsion methods with five different names. But one thing I can guarantee is that you’ve never … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Blind Man’s Bluff” by Peter David

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Josh Roseman

For fourteen years, David has been sharing with us the adventures of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun of the U.S.S. Excalibur — his unorthodox style, his unorthodox crew, his unorthodox worldview. In fact, if New Frontier had a single word to describe … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Ship Breaker” by Paolo Bacigalupi

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Ever since the success of Bacigalupi’s Windup Girl, I’ve been meaning to read both it and Ship Breaker. It turns out I finished the latter almost a year to the day since it was released. I’m not sure how it … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Nascence” by Tobias S. Buckell

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Book Review: “Nascence” by Tobias S. Buckell

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Book Review: “Seize the Fire” by Michael A. Martin

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Book Review: “Seize the Fire” by Michael A. Martin

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Book Review: “Soft Apocalypse” by Will McIntosh

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Apocalypse fiction has been around for many years, usually in the form of a cataclysmic event — asteroid impact, nuclear bomb, giant space squid — that destroys a good chunk of the entire planet and leaves the survivors to fend … Continue reading →

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Book Review: “Dancing with Bears” by Michael Swanwick

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Josh Roseman

Book Review: “Dancing with Bears” by Michael Swanwick

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