Tag Archives: book review

The Mortal Word is the fifth book in Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series. I’ll cheerfully admit I’m hooked on them. The stories are overwrought and a bit cheesy, but they’re good fun. I waited eagerly for The Mortal Word, and … Continue reading →

There’s an important place in fantasy literature for places and events that are just flat-out amazing — colorful, fresh, spectacular, and beautifully fleshed out by the author. But is an amazing spectacle all that’s needed to propel a novel, or … Continue reading →

I never read comic books when I was a kid. I read Mad Magazine, but that wasn’t a comic, it was freewheeling satire suitable for the warping of impressionable young minds. Last week, at the local used book store, I … Continue reading →

I read a lot of genre fiction, but I’ve never quite had the patience to read literature. Read half of The Great Gatsby, lost interest. Read maybe a third of Tristram Shandy, lost interest. Tried Ulysses, didn’t get far. Liked … Continue reading →

Large fantasy novels sometimes get off to a slow start. When tackling a new one, I try to give it 125 pages before I decide whether to go on or bail out. By that point, if not before, a writer … Continue reading →

If you’re looking for a fine and somewhat unusual epic fantasy series, may I recommend Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Sharing Knife? It may be a little low-key for some readers’ tastes, but in the end it packs quite a wallop. … Continue reading →

Is it because we all see what we’re expecting to see? Or is it numbness of the soul? That’s the puzzle. In my collection I have a dozen novels by Kurt Vonnegut. Probably all of them except Player Piano, which … Continue reading →