Dyson’s Dodecahedron Quest for Fun! Bruce Heard and New Stories Fantasy Cafe Sitrep Hex and Violence Desperation Morale Banzai!! Let’s GURPS The Collaborative GamerA Fire Upon the Deep is an important novel that SF fans really should read. I think, like Niven’s Ringworld, it’s a flawed book with really good ideas. Like Ringworld, it also has a much better sequel. The original book[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
David Weber is a good author with a few glaring weaknesses. Sadly, all of that is readily apparent in this novel. The basic setup is that humanity gets to the stars, runs into an alien race apparently intent on wiping[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Well, this is different… and yet familiar. The broad action and wider themes of Defense of the Fiddler are fairly familiar Military SF. However, this is done in a script format. Beyond the oddness of that choice in general, there’s[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This is yet another indication that I need to pay more attention to book review blogs. I picked this up because of an interesting post on one, and am very happy with the result. I doubt I would have come[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This is… almost a novella collection; the third story is notably shorter, but the other three reach into novella length. The four stories all deal with the ‘dreamers’ of Ty-Kry: Women who can dream and, through a device, share those[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
This old Ace collection of Andre Norton stories is not aptly named. There’s not a lot of sorcery to be had, high or otherwise, and certainly, it’s never called such. As usual for a collection, it is bookended by the[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Okay, I have some problems with the basic premises here. Technology for scanning your personality, your soul, and imprinting it on a disposable clay-like… ‘golem’ who is effectively a mental duplicate of you, is so cheap that sending it out[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Catseye features Norton’s usual broader theme of the main character finding his place in the world, but isn’t really a coming-of-age story like many of her books. In fact, Troy Horan doesn’t need to be exiled or otherwise lost to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Warlord’s World is decidedly pulp. The Interstellar Patrol is a service in the Federation of Humanity with excellent ships and technology, and a fair amount of latitude in powers (one wonders just what the organization of the Federation is, but[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Starstrike wants to be a simple book. Aliens show up on Earth, and because we’re so much more experienced with war than anyone else, recruit a team of the best soldiers we have to offer to change the balance of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…