Last year was a great year for good books, and with Britt’s example (check her favorites last year here), here are a few of my favorite non-fiction reads. I tend to prefer history over other topics, but this year’s non-fiction picks included sociology, economics, and literature…but all, still, with a link to history. In […]
Review | On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
2012-12-31 · by ·
A while back I picked up On Stranger Tides. I had heard that it would be the template for the next installment in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (#4) and because I’m such a huge fan (not, really). It was a whim, one I thought that would pass after just a few pages, as whims […]
Review | The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
2012-12-28 · by ·
The Stars My Destination is one of the more memorable books I’ve read in recent years, as well as one of my favorites. Written by Hugo winner Alfred Bester in the mid-1950s, the short novel, stays away from the technobabble and neologisms that might date it and as a result it retains potency decades after […]
Review | The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi
2012-12-24 · by ·
One of the reasons I read non-fiction and classics is that they tend to challenge me more than the books I enjoy reading the most. I’ll pick up science-fiction or fantasy because I want to escape, relax, and take a break. But too much, and I get bored. I did not have that problem when […]
Review | The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
2012-12-21 · by ·
What happens when man finally finds sentient life on another planet, but that civilization cyclically destroys itself under overpopulation pressures cyclically? When man finds the Moties, not only are the Moties more intelligent and technologically adept than us, but they are faster and the breed at rabbit-like speeds. Unfortunately, the breeding is necessary to stay […]
Review | Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia
2012-12-20 · by ·
And now for something completely different: Monster Hunter International. Though it could probably be classified as horror (ater all, it’s about werewolves, zombies, ghosts, and other monsters) pick up Monster Hunter International, and you’re going to to find something akin to fantasy (or maybe science fiction?), if it was written by a Second Amendment and gun […]
After Sandy Hook, what can we learn about good and evil from The Hobbit?
2012-12-19 · by ·
With the deaths of so many in Newtown, Connecticut, it can be easy to see the power of evil in the world. Indeed, it can be hard to see anything but evil in the deaths of so many innocent people. Youth is a time of hope and promise, and schools are intended to be a […]
Review | With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain by Michael Korda
2012-12-16 · by ·
Ranked among the greatest battles in British history, along with Waterloo, defeating the Spanish Armada, and Trafalgar, the Battle of Britain stands as a turning point during World War II when the Nazi juggernaut finally faced a foe that would not fall. Though few recognized it immediately, it was the turning of the tide in […]
Review | Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
2012-12-11 · by ·
Warbreaker is Brandon Sanderson‘s fifth novel. Warbreaker has all of the themes that have been played throughout author Brandon Sanderson’s other fantasy novels: epic fantasy, unconventional magic systems defined in almost scientific terms, an empire or nation on the edge of collapse, war and/or planetary destruction, and heroes(usually female) that are thrust into saving a […]
Review | The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
2012-11-17 · by ·
It’s hard to explain adequately how I feel about “The Hobbit.” Simply put, it’s one of my favorite books, I’ve read it more times than any other novel (though I’m not sure what that tells you about me). I remember devouring the book, over and over, reading it a good five or six times before […]
