BaSlaughterhouse-Five has been described as the best anti-war novel surpassing both The Red Badge of Courage and Catch-22. When it was initially published in 1969, its timing was pitch-perfect with IRL anti-war protests over Vietnam hitting their stride. The novel is about a bumbling Chaplin named Billy caught by theContinue Reading
On Earth, scientists have discovered an infinite number of parallel worlds. When they discover a way to cross The Space Between Worlds, they send volunteers to Earths that are the most similar to our Earth—now named Earth 0. Those volunteers come back broken and soon die. Eventually, they discover thatContinue Reading
My Review of ROAD SEVEN by Keith Rosson “It was a help wanted ad from a monster hunter.” Who doesn’t sometimes dream of dropping their real life on its head and scooting off to parts unknown? Brian, the perpetual and soon-to-be ex-Ph.D. candidate who lives with vicious headaches and writer’sContinue Reading
An island in Estonia is being ruled by children who kill everyone over 40 because “You are Obsolete.” The children’s leader, Martina, has asked Livia to tell their story to the world. Livia is horrified. Just because you call out the source material you are copying (Twilight Zone and Logan’sContinue Reading
Kate’s brother, Frank, has separated from his spouse, Gary, and needs a house sitter. His house is in the eco-exclusive town of Greenloop in Washington state. Kate is an over-scheduled LA CPA who is married to the consistently unemployed Dan. She believes house sitting will be a way to relaxContinue Reading
Something evil lurks inside a Long Beach warehouse in A Walk Through Hell. Two FBI agents, Goss and Hunzikker, walk into a warehouse never to return. An eight-person SWAT team is sent in to find the missing agents. Thirty seconds later, they come out talking of dread and someone comingContinue Reading
The Last Day is about what happens to the world when a rogue star causes the earth to stop spinning. No more sunrises or sunsets. Freezing cold and darkness in one area. Burning heat and abandoned cities in another. There is one thin sliver of temperate climate. How do youContinue Reading
Shorefall is the sequel to Foundryside, which I loved. Now, the gang is back and off righting wrongs while personally profiting, of course. If you haven’t read Foundryside, please take a few days to read that book first. It will greatly increase your delight in this book if you knowContinue Reading
In the not too distant future, Korea has been overtaken by greedy companies. The populace forgets its poverty and hopelessness by playing a massively multiplayer online game, VOIDWAR. People are so obsessed with buying virtual goods for VOIDWAR that now they buy them with real money on credit. If theyContinue Reading
Welcome to the dream world that is Vagabonds! The translation creates a prose poem that lasts through hundreds of pages. In the beginning, the Earth colonized Mars. Next, came the civil wars breaking the two worlds into separate societies. Finally, came peace activities including delegations from each world visiting theContinue Reading
What happens when you mix Great Expectations with a bit of early Stephen King and a handful of Robin Cook? She has a Broken Thing Where her Heart Should Be, of course. A totally effective mashing of all my favorite 1980s books with the 1861 Dickens tale. I guarantee youContinue Reading
In Providence, Mankind is fighting an alien race that acts nothing like mankind. The derogatory label of Salamanders is applied to this exoskeletal species. They appear to live in hives the size of planets out in the far, far universe. When we first run into them, they kill the majorityContinue Reading
I’ve been a Trekker from way back. I also adored anything written by Robert Heinlein. Trigor is another optimistic space opera. It has a multitude of love, adventure, and world-building within it. Pilot X had destroyed three civilizations, including his own in the self-named previous book in the series. SoContinue Reading
It’s 2072 and most people have Augmented Reality lenses in their eyes allowing them to watch televised shows in their head. One network gets the brilliant idea of making a reality show where the winner is decided by a public vote. What is the criteria to be a contestant? JustContinue Reading
In Parable of the Sower, Lauren is a preacher’s daughter living in the broken world of the Los Angeles’ suburbs in 2024. Climate change has left the world short of water. The class battle has been fought—and won by the rich. Hope for the future is non-existent. But Lauren hasContinue Reading
Set on a foreign planet, Vanished Birds begins by telling the tale of Kaeda. Kaeda falls in love with Nia at age 7. There is only one problem. She is an alien from an alternate timeline where Earth lays dead. Unfortunately, she visits Kaeda’s planet only once every fifteen yearsContinue Reading