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. […]
Best tie-in novels by year
Here’s a list of the best novels that tie in with a TV show. The TV shows that make the grade are Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, and the Star Trek shows. The big winner is Peter David, with 5 books in the winner column. Legend: B5 Babylon 5 BSG Battlestar Galactica DS9 Star Trek: Deep […]
Best fantasy novels by year
Here’s my list of best fantasy novels, updated for ones I read in 2014. Winner Runner Ups Year Author Title Author Title 2012 Will McIntosh Hitchers Joanne Bertin Bard’s Oath 2011 Carrie Vaughn After the Golden Age 2010 2009 2008 2007 Sarah Zettel Sword of the Deceiver 2006 Daniel Quinn After Dachau 2005 Elizabeth Kostova […]
Best science fiction novels by year
Here’s my list of best SF novels, updated for ones I read in 2014. Winner Runner Ups Year Author Title Author Title 2012 Kim Stanley Robinson 2312 hN Orson Scott Card Shadows in Flight Robert J. Sawyer Triggers John Scalzi Redshirts H 2011 Will McIntosh Soft Apocalpyse Robert J. Sawyer Wonder Joan Slonczewski The Highest […]
Author discovery of the year
I read a fair number of books by authors I’d read before in 2014, but I managed to squeeze in a few new ones. The winner of the big prize is Douglas Preston, for his wonderful book Blasphemy. Runner ups are Peter F. Hamilton for The Reality Dysfunction, Carrie Vaughn for After the Golden Age, […]
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 […]