If you’re ever on the Cape Verdian island of Fogo during the fall, you will find every tree branch and every power line is an anchor point for the web of an Argiope spider. Sometimes dozens of spiders will connect their webs to the webs of other spiders, creating a wall of spider webs. Unlike […]
Book Review |Tarkin by James Luceno
2016-03-27 · by ·
I’ve always thought of Grand Moff Tarkin was one of the under-appreciated villains of the Star Wars saga. He was a powerful commander close to the Emperor, called Darth Vader an “old friend,” and did not hesitate to destroy the planet Alderaan. And yet, for all his power, he survives no further in the original […]
Book Review | Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
2016-01-26 · by ·
The further I got into the Seveneves thought experiment, the more I wanted to like it. It’s an epic disaster novel (or is it an epic disaster of a novel? More on that later) that pits the human race against nature as the moon explodes and its meteoric remains begin to fall to Earth, setting the […]
Book Review | Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson
2015-12-15 · by ·
In Hidden Empire, man has reached the stars, spreading out and colonizing them, but not without help. The Ildirans have given man the stardrive, an inexpensive way to cross the vast distances of space in a fraction of the time that it takes light to travel. Other than the Klikiss, an extinct race whose archaeological […]
Book Review | Superman – Action Comics, Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel (Action Comics Vol. II #1) by Grant Morrison
2015-12-10 · by ·
I’m not typically a reader of comic books. But Grant Morrison could almost persuade me to become one. I came home from knee surgery to find myself bored, drugged, and distracted. Somehow, I ended up with a copy of Morrison’s treatment of Superman in this renumbering of the Action Comics line (as a comics novice, […]
Book Review | Trespassers by Todd Wynn and Tim Wynn
2015-12-04 · by ·
There’s much to like about Trespassers. There’s intrigue, mystery, interesting characters, growth, romance, and a little bit of sci-fi, of the “handwaivium” sort. Todd Wynn and Tim Wynn have a story with potential in Trespassers. The plot of Trespassers revolves around three–or four?–groups: the secret government agency tasked with keeping humanity in the dark about […]
Brief Book Review | Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
2015-09-02 · by ·
Tonight is the Manly Book Club, a neighborhood book club I started for an excuse to hangout and talk ideas with the guys in my neck of the woods. We’re talking about Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. While it’s not the most interesting book we’ve read, reading it has certainly been an […]
Book Review | The Fold by Peter Clines
2015-08-25 · by ·
A high school English teacher on the last day of school before summer break, Mike Erikson is looking forward to a quiet summer in his Maine town, where he knows everyone and everyone knows him, and life is pleasantly boring. That is, until an old friend shows up, reminding Erickson of abilities he’s repressed for […]
Brief Book Review | Perfect State by Brandon Sanderson
2015-08-11 · by ·
Emperor Kairominas is nearly a god, the master of his realm, nearly unchallenged and…his masters are demanding that he procreate. To do so, he’ll have to condescend to leave his realm to find an equal, but that equal may be far more than he expects. I much enjoy Sanderson’s tomes, er, novels, but I’ve come […]
2015 Hugo Nominee: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
2015-08-04 · by ·
China’s Cultural Revolution is in full swing. Intellectuals and scientists are denounced by their students for teachings contrary to the communist orthodoxy. The country is in turmoil. No one can be trusted as friends turn on each other, children on their parents, mentors on their students… Against this backdrop, Ye Wenjie, a young refugee from […]
