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Adventure

Penny Dreadfuls

So despite what I just said, I am going to look to something G. K. Chesterton wrote almost 120 years ago, because it is still true. And while I appreciate JD Cowan’s analysis of what went wrong in popular culture in the last twenty years, in another sense very

A Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn

A Coming of Age by Timothy Zahn [Amazon link] is exactly the kind of thing Tim Zahn is good at writing: a whodunit with a science fiction milieu and a heavy dose of intrigue. Is is also further evidence that Zahn is the most consistent sci fi writer in the

Emperor Norton Ponders Thick and Thin Descriptions

Earlier this month, Emperor Norton wrote an absolutely fascinating blog post on the limits of description in fantastic literature. Norton promised a follow-up on creating dense descriptions, but in the interim, Norton has written a further exploration of the limits of description that contains an assertion that clicked with me:

Janissaries: Clan and Crown by Jerry Pournelle and Roland Green Book Review

Janissaries: Clan and Crown [Amazon link] is the second installment in Jerry Pournelle’s long-running Janissaries series. Jerry was solo author on the first one, but this volume was co-authored with Roland Green, who somehow didn’t rate a mention on the cover in 1982. Jerry made sure he was

Wintersteel by Will Wight Book Review

Just when I thought I knew what to expect from a Cradle book, that Will Wight couldn’t surprise me or ramp up the stakes anymore, Wintersteel [Amazon link] comes along to delight and astound me. And given how well sales have been, I’m clearly not the only one.

Alternate Routes by Tim Powers Book Review

Alternate Routes [Amazon link] is a combination of the myth of Daedalus and the horror with which long-time residents of Los Angeles regard their infamous freeway system. I’m not an Angeleno, but I don’t find a supernatural conjunction between the LA freeways and the Minotaur’s Labyrinth at

Dinner at Deviant's Palace by Tim Powers Book Review

Dinner at Deviant’s Palace [Amazon link] is a bit unusual for a Tim Powers’ book, a post-apocalyptic adventure rather than a secret history. In my own mind, it has been overshadowed a bit by The Anubis Gates [Amazon link], possibly Powers’ most famous novel, released two years earlier. Yet,