A look at The Town That Forgot How to Breathe

This post is a something a little out of the norm when compared to my other book reviews.  It will, at some point soon, be a full-fledged review.  For now, it’s a bit of a preview of sorts.  I have read most of the book, but haven’t had a chance to finish it before today’s post.  As I didn’t really have anything else to cover, I decided to be a little unorthodox with my post.

First, let me get this out of the way.  It seems like the fates conspired against me getting to actually finish this book in a reasonable amount of time.  I started reading it a couple weeks ago, just before my brother came to town for the family reunion.  I figured I’d still have time to read while he was here–I really didn’t.  So, when he left the reading started to pick up a bit.  When this week arrived, though, I was thrown off by the arrival of the school semester.

Now I have really gotten into it, and have begun to enjoy and appreciate it a bit more.  I am almost done, but I can pretty much surmise my feeling about the book as a whole.  If something comes up, namely with the ending, that makes me think less of the book, then I will be sure to update this piece with that information.

… Continue Reading

In case you missed it…

So the new Paperspaceships site design is live (hooray!), and although it’s not completely finished yet, I must say it’s looking super crispy – thanks Rufus.

I am currently charging through a copy of Robert V.S. Redick’s The Red Wolf Conspiracy, a book I purchased based on good reviews… and so far, so good. I think we may have a winner here. A review will be up… oh yeah.

So I’m taking a little vacation (I really really need it) starting Sunday night, meaning I will probably be incommunicado for a week, but I will be coming back reloaded – hopefully. Look for reviews of Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, as well as The Desert Spear, Peter V. Brett’s sequel to the awesome debut The Warded Man.

Last but not least, I am really trying to get myself back into writing short stories again. I’ve been drafting up a novel I’ve had tumbling around in my head lately (part of the reason for my absence) and I need some polish and practice to get the wheels moving on it. I plan on posting one (broken into parts) in the very near future. Until then, adios astronauts, see you very soon.

Mainspring Review

Definitely a strange one, but by no means unappealing.

Let me just lay down an two immediate facts for you: Jay Lake is a weird ass dude… got that? Good. The other fact? He has an imagination that leaves me bordered between amazement and sheer envy. When not blogging about his battle with colon cancer (which is somehow not depressing), he’s racking up an absurd amount of short stories – over 250 strong according to his site – and still managing to publish some damn good work, like Mainspring.

The premise is brilliant in its simplicity: The Earth is (quite literally) a clock winding down, and a young clockmaker’s apprentice named Hethor must travel to its core to rewind the mainspring and save all that lives. … Continue Reading

Crocodile on the Sandbank, A Review

When I finished my last book, I was ready for some light, amusing reading.  Not wanting to read my last new Christopher Moore just yet, I decided to pick up  Crocodile on the Sandbank, an Amelia Peabody mystery by Elizabeth Peters.  My friend has been reading this series fora while now.  She is always looking for Peter’s latest book when we go to the used book stores.  This is not something I would normally remember, but while visiting my eldest sister in Seattle last summer, she had just started reading this series, and had to share her ethusiasm for it with me. So with a hole in my reading list and a particular book bug in my brain, I set out to read the first book in the Amelia Peabody mystery series. … Continue Reading

Pygmy, a review

When I find an author I like, I read as many of his or her books as I can.  I am sure everyone does the same thing.  My last trip to the library netted me books that were written by authors I know and love.

I have yet to be displeased by anything written by Chuck Palahniuk, though my current read came close.  When I first started reading it, anyway.  Pygmy is a good book, don’t think for a minute that I didn’t enjoy it, I just had to get past, what I thought was, a bit of a problem.

… Continue Reading

Fanatic Infects Others at Bookstore

I love the authors you find by accident, or that you feel you have “discovered”.  It makes them somehow more personal.  You feel a sense of ownership and prides in these authors.  You actively try to get others to share the joy of your discovery, through lending books out, or, (in the case of how I was introduced to Dave Duncan), you accost complete strangers in the bookstore. … Continue Reading

The Gates, a review

This is slightly different from the cover of the book I had. I think this is the British cover.

I already covered one of John Connolly’s works, The Book of Lost Things.  I really enjoyed it, and was really happy to find another by him, in a similar vein that is, called The Gates.  I will be honest, the cover of The Gates was really similar to that of The Book of Lost Things in design, and that excited me.

Both novels share one similarity, the main character being a young man.  The tone of the novels really couldn’t be any different.  Lost Things was pretty sad at the start.  The Gates, however, was dark and comedic.

… Continue Reading

The Second North American Discworld Convention is announced!

Hello out there all you Terry Pratchett fans!  Already I can hear some of you thinking…”Terry Who?” I know he is not a very well known author here in the states, but he is a terrific fantasy/satire writer.  He has written over 36 books in the discworld series, all of which satirize a few different themes found here on planet earth (rock and roll, religion, crime procedurals, the banking system, the postal system, etc). 

Yes, this is basically a convention for one author.  It takes up a whole convention space, and is filled with crazy people like myself that love Terry Pratchett and all the wonderful books he has brought into this world.  We watch movies, have masquarades, banquets, and seminars on that range in topics from Terry’s works to how to write your own book and get it published.  There is drinking and singing and dancing and board games and free food and great people from all over the world (I met a guy from Switzerland at the first convention). Again, all gathered in one place to celebrate one author.  But really, how many authors can claim to have written a truly funny and educational/thoughtful book about the banking system?  I mean it sounds like an oxymoron.  Or to be the most shoplifted author in 1996? (I have no current stats).  How about over 55 million copies sold in over 36 languages?  Also, Terry Pratchett has been knighted for his work in literature.

Knighted for work in fantasy literature! 

Too cool.    How did we not know about this guy in the states? … Continue Reading

The Warded Man Review

Badassery, coming soon to a theater near you.

I can remember the times as a kid when I first started to get really, really passionate about reading. It was more or less as if nothing else existed, save for whatever new story was in my hands at the moment. Suffice to say, I spent quite a few evenings up late, not willing to wait for the following day to find out what happens next. Now as an adult (with an exhausting job and a lot more friends), I can’t really say I have the leeway to do that anymore, but damn – Peter Brett’s The Warded Man got me really, really close to it again. And all this from a man who wrote most of this (60%) on his Blackberry. … Continue Reading

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, a review

Last week’s blog was about an uncommon well…misfire; I guess is a good word.  I couldn’t get into the book I was reading, and I tried a couple times.  This week, I decided to start with a rather short read.  It was like getting back on my feet (reading feet?) so-to-speak.

As I perused the library on my last visit, I happened upon this tiny book.  I thought that the book was an oddity; a lot of the others in my library are quite large in comparison.  I pulled it off the shelf to look at its cover.  Its title, The Pirates!  In an Adventure with Scientists and crazy cover (featuring a monkey, sea monsters, and a scantily clad woman) drew me in.

Another thing that caught my attention was a blurb on the cover.  Written by none other than former member of the comedy troupe, Monty Python, Eric Idle!  He said it was, “destined to become a classic of pirate comic fiction”.  I’d never read any other pirate comic fiction, so this absurd blurb sealed it for me.  I picked it up, and was eager to start reading.

Wow!  That sure was a lot to say about book discovery.

… Continue Reading