Book Review: Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa A time traveller named Orville attempts to save earth from an invasion. #bookreview@bookstodon@sciencefiction
New review: Focusing on the oology in zoology, Infinite Life makes for a fascinating retelling of life's evolutionary history by adding eggs to the mix.
My #bookreview is brief/won't spoil, to spread good, great, & spectacular #horror#books far & wide.
💙📚 THE ONLY WAY OUT IS THROUGH by Paul Michael Anderson is a compelling collection w familiar tropes that go to dark & unexpected places. Full of cosmic horror goodness, with dashes of folk & creature horror for extra flavor, this novella & 4 short stories will keep you entertained & satiated. (Cemetery Gates)
A well balanced combination of extremely good characters, a very solid and intriguing plot, great atmosphere and some well placed social commentary into the bargain, THE QUARRY tackles quite a bit and achieves all of it with considerable flair.
“MEKONG DELTA BLUESMAN” Son Vo tells the story of his life both offstage and on. From an early childhood in Saigon to a hardscrabble life in Maine to discovering his gift for music, Vo relates some wild adventures in a voice full of warmth and hope. B PLUS
Here's my review of the Free Comic Book Day 2024 issue of Conan the Barbarian. The digital edition is free on Kindle and direct from Titan Comics if you want to check it out yourself!
I’ve just finished The Next Big Thing by Anita Brookner which was a great and sometimes difficult read. It’s about Julius who’s in his 70s and is now retired. His parents and brother have died and his wife has left him. He’s living alone in central London, his adopted city after his family fled from Nazi Germany. He’s looking for the next big thing in his life, pondering his past and feeling concern for his failing health. Sounds gloomy, right?! Well, the insightful writing just carries you along and pulls you in before you know it and you’re hooked on this story of loneliness and regret in later life. I found myself, like I often do with Anita Brookner, rereading sections due to the beautiful prose. Here’s an example to give you a flavour:
“He raised his eyes to a rooffline bristling with television aerials , lowered them again to windows still blank before the evening lights were lit. The sky was already darkening; signs of spring were absent, and yet the chilly damp held a promise of greenness, of new life only just in abeyance. it was even possible to appreciate that sky; its opaque blue reminded him of certain pictures, though no picture could compete with this strange sense of immanence. With the crust of the earth ready to break into life, the roots expanding to disclose flowers, the trees graciously putting forth leaves. The impassivity of nature never ceased to amaze him. This awakening process was surely superior to anything captured on canvas, yet art made all phenomena its province.in its unceasing war with the effort of capturing moments of time art won this unequal contest, but only just. The majestic indifference of nature was there to remind one of ones place, and no doubt to serve as a corrective to the artist’s ambition. When the canvas was finished it was already a relic, outside change. And surely change was primordial; all must obey it. To ignore the process was to ignore the evidence of one’s own evolutionary cycle.’
Haunting, introspective and with a hint of dark comedy this was so good, just maybe one to approach with caution if yu’re about to retire! This novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2002. #bookstodon#AmReading#Braille#BookReview#nature@bookstodon
A TALE OF LOVE AND MONSTERS is a heart-stopping, action-packed fantasy adventure, a unique romance, and a deep, wise parable about self-sacrifice and family stories. Beautifully crafted kaleidoscope of distinctively new and classic legends. A MINUS
New review: Alfie & Me is more than a memoir about nursing back to health a wild animal. Come for the owls, stay for Safina's philosophical reflections and piercing analysis of our environmental predicament.
Read VENOM & VOW by Anna-Marie & Elliott McLemore if you love duel perspectives, enemies-to-lovers, warring kingdoms, secret identities, So Many Knives, badass mobility aids, genderfuckery, T4T romance, magical creatures, living castles, disguises, disability representation, being seen for who you really are.
(Also Vico Ortiz narrates the audiobook & gives an AMAZING performance).
Following my review of issue 1 from earlier in the week, here’s one for The Savage Sword of Conan #2. Conan shows a different side of his personality and the Solomon Kane story gears up for the finale.
Book review #30 for 2024 is Collin Dexter's The Riddle of the Third Mile. This time Morse and Lewis face the task of identifying a severely mutilated corpse. Their journey takes them into the lives of men and women with much to hide. The plot was interesting and entertaining, but I found the end uneven, convoluted even. ☕☕☕ cup review. #books#bookreview#fiction#collindexter@bookstodon@books@bookstodon
Book review #29 for 2024 is Collin Dexter's The Dead of Jericho. Another Inspector Morse installment. The characterization of Morse in this novel showed an uncertain and anxious detective who works to solve a murder of a woman that he was wanting to have a relationship with (affair is the better word). ☕☕☕ cup review #bookstodon#books#fiction#bookreview@bookstodon@books@bookstodon
A little late to the party, but my review of Titan Comics’ The Savage Sword of Conan #1 just went up at Grimdark Magazine. The new black-and-white Conan magazine is off to a good start!
ADRIFT IN A NEARLY DESERTED VENICE in the early months of the 2020 pandemic, a writer contemplates his native Nigeria, his life in Detroit, his love of travel, but most of all his complicated family. Beautifully crafted prose, distinctive story. B PLUS