Archive for the ‘Reviews of books’ Category
Heretics of Dune
{4.5/5} “Bureaucracy destroys initiative. There is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routines. Improvements always make those at the top of the heap look inept.” Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert, published in 1984 Fifteen hundred years after Leto II, the Tyrant, there are two […]
Planet of the Apes: The Utopians
{4.5/5} Planet of the Apes: The Long War by Daryl Gregory & Carlos Magno, published in 2011 Planet of the Apes: The Devil’s Pawn by Daryl Gregory & Carlos Magno, published in 2012 Planet of the Apes: Children of Fire by Daryl Gregory & Carlos Magno, published in 2012 Planet of the Apes: The Half […]
God Emperor of Dune
{4.5/5} “I am a collection of the obsolete, a relic of the damned, of the lost and strayed. I am the waylaid pieces of history which sank out of sight in all of our pasts. Such an accumulation of riffraff has never before been imagined.” God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert, published in 1981 […]
Children of Dune
{5/5} “If you focus your awareness only upon your own rightness, then you invite the forces of opposition to overwhelm you.” Children of Dune by Frank Herbert, published in 1976 Alia, Paul Maud’dib’s sister, is Regent while her niece and nephew are growing up. She no longer sees the future, but she continues to try. […]
Dune Messiah
{4.5/5} “If you need something to worship, then worship life — all life, every last crawling bit of it! We’re all in this beauty together!” Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, published in 1969 Paul Maud’dib has been Emperor for 12 years. Many are happy with his reign, and a few are conspiring against him. Some think […]
Dune
{4.5/5} “Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.” Dune by Frank Herbert, published in 1965 Paul moves with his family to a new planet, Arrakis. The Emperor has decided that Paul’s father Duke Leto Atreides should […]
The Queen of the Damned
{5/5} “It’s an awful truth that suffering can deepen us, give a greater lustre to our colours, a richer resonance to our words. That is, if it doesn’t destroy us, if it doesn’t burn away the optimism and the spirit, the capacity for visions, and the respect for simple yet indispensable things.” The Queen of […]
The Vampire Lestat
{5/5} “Very few beings really seek knowledge in this world. Mortal or immortal, few really ask. On the contrary, they try to wring from the unknown the answers they have already shaped in their own minds — justifications, confirmations, forms of consolation without which they can’t go on. To really ask is to open the […]
Star Trek: The Fall — Peaceable Kingdoms
{4.5/5} Star Trek: The Fall — Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward, published in 2013 Captain Picard and the Enterprise are stuck at Ferenginar due to President pro tem Ishan’s orders. But Dr. Crusher sneaks away after getting a secret message from her old Cardassian friend Ilona Daret. Meanwhile Admirals Riker and Akaar at Starfleet Command […]
A War of Gifts
{4.5/5} “In the face of a threat to the survival of the species, all these planetside trivialities are put aside until the crisis passes.” A War of Gifts by Orson Scott Card, published in 2007 This is a story that takes place when Ender is at Battle School in the novel Ender’s Game. The focus […]