Archive for the ‘Reviews of books’ Category
Nova
{3/5} “Whenever I’ve experienced a re-run, they’ve cut out the actual death. But five billion-odd were subjected to all the emotions of a man, about to be sworn in as Secretary of the Pleiades, suddenly attacked by a madman and killed.” Nova by Samuel R. Delany, published in 1968 Lorq von Ray hires a crew […]
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
{5/5} “This is the best life I could ever have possibly chosen, Captain. This is what I joined Starfleet for — to see the galaxy, to go where no one’s gone before. I’ve tasted the fruits of planets I couldn’t have even dreamed of, seen places and people no human may ever see again.” (from […]
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
{5/5} “I hate to pull the my-past-is-a-sad-story card, but listen: I am the end product of a few very stupid, well-intentioned people who thought it would be a great idea to redefine Humanity. It didn’t start with much. A tweak here, a splice there. But things escalated, as they always do, until it became something […]
The Light of Other Days
{4.5/5} “It was telling that these images, which would have been shockingly revealing just a few months ago, now blared multicolored in the middle of the afternoon from stands in the main street of this Mormon community, unregarded by almost everyone, young and old, children and churchgoers alike.” The Light of Other Days by Arthur […]
The Humans
{5/5} “Humans, as a rule, don’t like mad people unless they are good at painting, and only then once they are dead. But the definition of mad, on Earth, seems to be very unclear and inconsistent. What is perfectly sane in one era turns out to be insane in another.” The Humans by Matt Haig, […]
Vigilant
{4.5/5} “Before legislators voted on a bill, the proctor scrutinizing that vote could set a test to determine whether the politicians understood what the bill actually meant. Those who failed the test could only sit and grind their teeth in public humiliation while those who passed made an informed decision.” Vigilant by James Alan Gardner, […]
Star Trek: TNG — Q are Cordially Uninvited…
{4.5/5} “It’s not easy having relationships with people when you’re intrinsically so much more interesting than everyone else.” — Q Q are Cordially Uninvited… by Rudy Josephs, published in 2014 Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher are finally getting married. Q shows up and sends Picard and Vash to Myndra to search for the fabled Treasure […]
The Far Side Gallery
{5/5} “After 23 uneventful years at the zoo’s snakehouse, curator Ernie Schwartz has a cumulative attack of the willies.” The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson, published in 1984 They build the Great Wall of China to keep a dog out. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man meet joggers on the Yellow Brick Road. […]
Six Wakes
{4.5/5} “On the way out, Maria paused to check on her own body, which she hadn’t really examined before. It seemed too gruesome to look into your own dead face. The body was strapped to a seat at one of the terminals, drifting gently against the tether. A large bubble of blood drifted from the […]
Cavalcade
{4.5/5} “I’m beginning to wonder if there’s isn’t some sort of programmer running which — like it or not — we have to learn how to interact with to have any chance of controlling our environment, never mind fixing it if anything goes wrong.” Cavalcade by Alison Sinclair, published in 1998 Aliens came to Earth […]