science fiction author
Although I have read Dune at least 6 times, I have only read the sequels all the way through once, and only read the first three books one additional time. In any event, it has been a long time and while I remember the big picture, a lot of the details were lost to the sands of time. (See what I did there?) Children of Dune starts 9 years after the events of Dune Messiah.…
I have decided to reread all 6 of the Dune books as my next reading adventure. I have read the first 3 several times, and the last 3 only once, but with my more advanced understanding of writing and craft, I am hoping to learn from this epic which inspired so much of my own world building over the years. This book is set 12 years after the events of Dune. It continues with political…
the Martian — Andy Weir I read this book (about the first quarter of it) when it was still serialized on his website, and then about 8 or 9 years ago I read it. I remembered the basics of the plot. I saw the movie. I decided to reread it based on the recommendation of one of my writing group members. Honestly, I don’t remember why she suggested it but I think it was to…
I first read this book in high school (approximately 1985). It was not my first attempt at reading it, but the first two times I tried I couldn’t get past the torpid first 100 pages with all the language, history, customs, new words, great houses… I just didn’t understand it. The third time I tried, I forced myself through it, and then at about page 100-150, I just couldn’t put it down and read it…
This book was recommended to me on Twitter (by Elizabeth Bear who did a month of LGBTQIA+ book recommendations for Pride Month). I have attempted to read Le Guin before but have always struggled with the relatively dense prose, but I decided to give this book a try. I won’t lie, I had to force my way through it. I know a lot of recommendations out there say to not read books you aren’t enjoying…
Well, i finally finished the series. I enjoyed it all the way through but this last book went places I didn’t fully understand. So much so that I actually read a spoiler laden interview with the authors where they talked about the ending. I won’t give spoilers but basically the ending is mystical and incomprehensible on purpose. They hinted at it though out the whole book, with the ring builders and their enemies gaining a…
After a long hiatus… I started reading again. My real life has consumed me since about February and I haven’t done any pleasure reading since January. I checked this book out from the library in January, read about the first 3-4 chapters… and then nothing. Then 4 weeks ago I checked it out again, got another 3-4 chapters in, and then it was due so I had to renew it, and finally finished it today.…
This was my third FoF and it didn’t disappoint… again. I attended panels starting Friday afternoon well into the evening and the spend 12 hours both Saturday an Sunday (at least) frantically scribbling notes, listening, and learning. Probably my 3 favorite panels were the two that talked about the short fiction markets (Neil Clarke was in both, as was Scot Noel and David Steffen) and the one about how you need to consider the infrastructure…
The crew is back, and there is a new enemy that is actually the same as always: humanity. But this time the enemy is coming from beyond the ring gates. They have closed themselves off for 30+ years, and now are coming back to rule all of the 1300 systems. I was a bit shocked to find that this book took place 30 years in the future from the last one. A lot of the…
This is the 6th book in the series and the first book of The Expanse series that I am not giving a 5 star rating too. Only 4 this time. This one felt different. It felt like the characters weren’t in control of their own destinies as much and there was a bit of a dues ex machina ending that was definitely hinted at in both this and the previous book, but still, it felt…
