bookreview

posts about #bookreview more →
Magical Dogs and Detectives Explore Supernatural San Francisco in "Unleashed"
Strange Visitors And Broken Hearts Will Restore Your Faith In Short Fiction
Vegan Rebels of the Bio-apocalypse in “Year of the Flood”
Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
Our Geeky Hearts Are Bigger On The Inside Than On The Outside
Can a Plush Bunny Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? You Decide
"Finch" Is Interdimensional, Extraterrestrial Biosteam Noir
The Secret History of Science Fiction
The Master Of Weird Stories Crafts A Dark, Terrible Odyssey
Turns Out There's Something Darker Than The Dark Side

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LittleDragon
03:03 PM

In reply to Magical Dogs and Detectives Explore Supernatural San Francisco in "Unleashed"
I like Dresden :P but yeah his books are candy books. I have been meaning to check this guy out for a while but he will have to wait a while longer.
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LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred

crashedpc - Haifisch
01:29 PM

In reply to Magical Dogs and Detectives Explore Supernatural San Francisco in "Unleashed"
Hmm. First book on sale for a buck. I think I'll test these waters out.
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
11/19/09

In reply to Strange Visitors And Broken Hearts Will Restore Your Faith In Short Fiction
I've been finding short-story anthologies giving me more bang for my buck than novels the past year or two. And I don't think I read any of these Eclipses; trade paperbacks are too pricey.
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phoghat
11/19/09

In reply to Strange Visitors And Broken Hearts Will Restore Your Faith In Short Fiction
Look to find, I did.
Where to buy?
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Charlie Jane Anders
11/19/09

@phoghat: Oh duh. I added the link now. Here it is: [www.borders.com]]&searchData={productId:null,sku:null,type:0,sort:null,currPage:1,resultsPerPage:25,simpleSearch:true,navigation:0,moreValue:null,coverView:false,url:rpp%3D25%26view%3D2%26all_search%3Declipse%2Bthree%2Bstrahan%26type%3D0%26nav%3D0%26simple%3Dtrue,terms:{all_search%3Declipse+three+strahan}}&storeId=13551&sku=1597801623&ddkey=http:SearchResults
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Charlie Jane Anders
11/19/09

@phoghat: I added the link to the bottom of the post....
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Grey_Area
11/19/09

In reply to Strange Visitors And Broken Hearts Will Restore Your Faith In Short Fiction
Hooray for the Eclipse series! I hope these yearly anthologies will win over more readers and writers to find the best that is possible in speculative fiction short stories.
Another note, all these stories are seeing print for the first time but you will be seeing some of them again in award nomination lists and Year's Best anthologies.
Already looking forward to Eclipse Four!
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tetracycloide
11/19/09

In reply to Strange Visitors And Broken Hearts Will Restore Your Faith In Short Fiction
reading short fiction is laborious? what kind of a sci-fi fan are you?!??!
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limber
11/14/09

In reply to The Master Of Weird Stories Crafts A Dark, Terrible Odyssey
I read the book, and am back with a resounding "meh". Imaginative, yes. Suspenseful, yes. But there were lots of tired old cliches in here, and the overall plot felt like a retread Clancy novel. (Only this time, with Moloch!)

Really, this read like a book without much of a heart or soul. I liked the creepy characters, I liked the way they were described in appearance and in action, but never felt like I should really care about any of them. Gabriel is rootless, as are most of the people he comes across. So it's a bunch of rootless people, an evil government, and demonic forces with very little motivation other than "I'm evil, just because that's how I roll."

I know I won't reread this. If you like shadowy political suspense or demonic-style occult stuff, then this might be your thing. If you prefer more intrapersonal stories, then... maybe pick one of the other io9-reviewed books. #johnshirley
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limber was starred limber was unstarred

Fate'sBitch
11/12/09

In reply to Vegan Rebels of the Bio-apocalypse in “Year of the Flood”
Spoilers:

I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't stand how Ren was sloppily retconned into Jimmie's life. (actually, the whole character of Ren was annoying) I could see involving Glenn with the Gardeners and exploring how their their ideas (the waterless flood) would have influenced his decision to, you know, destroy humanity, but Atwood shied away from that and instead focused on Ren's inexplicable lifelong crush on Jimmie.

In the end, I finished it just to finish it. I didn't really care about any of these characters and the end was a little to "neat" for me (hey, welcome to the end of the world, how convenient that we all know each other). Which is a shame because Oryx and Crake is one of my favorite books and I'm a huge Atwood fan, Cat's Eye and The Blind Assassin are also favorites. #yearoftheflood
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englishmajorennui
11/12/09

@Fate'sBitch: I was in the same boat. I love Atwood, Oryx and Crake is my favorite of hers, but I didn't like this one as much. The relationships between the characters in general rang false, in my opinion. In Oryx and Crake, relationships like Crake and Jimmy's snippy-but-affectionate co-dependency and Jimmy's maybe-one-sided obsession with Oryx felt authentic and intense. In The Year of the Flood, I felt like the only reason these characters were connected was because they were all briefly mentioned in the last book. Ren's crush especially was dull--maybe it was supposed to mirror Jimmy's long-lived pining for Oryx, but it just felt tagged on. #yearoftheflood
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment englishmajorennui was starred

transitnap
11/12/09

@Fate'sBitch: These were pretty much my thoughts too. The Year of the Flood felt more like fanfiction than a continuation or companion piece to Oryx and Crake. I also felt there was a lot less "science" this time around. The concepts from the first book, though "fanciful," were at least interesting and well-developed. This time around, it just felt like a re-hash of what was mentioned previously.

I also agree about not really connecting with the characters. I didn't find them all that engaging and I wasn't invested in what would happen to them. #yearoftheflood
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Annalee Newitz promoted this comment transitnap was starred transitnap was unstarred

Annalee Newitz
11/12/09

@Fate'sBitch: I hated Ren. #yearoftheflood
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Pope John Peeps II
11/12/09

In reply to Vegan Rebels of the Bio-apocalypse in “Year of the Flood”
Just a small quibble: they're always called Gardeners, but the actual name is God's Gardeners.

And to call the science in a work of science-fiction "fanciful at best" seems weirdly derogatory? Unless there is some definite template on what exactly a lion/lamb hybrid would look like? I mean, what other option is there but to imagine the science of the future? #yearoftheflood
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Pope John Peeps II was starred

englishmajorennui
11/12/09

@Pope John Peeps II: I'm no scientist, but to me, the science in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood didn't seem that implausible (well...maaaaybe the neon herpes in Oryx and Crake, but who knows?). It seemed to be in the general vein of what current scientists and corporations are looking into. I also wonder if that's why Atwood has called her work "speculative fiction" instead of "science fiction." Maybe she feels that science fiction features only purely fictional science? #yearoftheflood
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Pope John Peeps II promoted this comment englishmajorennui was starred

Pope John Peeps II
11/12/09

@englishmajorennui: Well, she's given a bunch of interviews on that subject, so I don't think anynoe has to repeat any of what she has said. Just go Bing it! hahah. microsoft. nice try. #yearoftheflood
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Pope John Peeps II was starred

englishmajorennui
11/12/09

@Pope John Peeps II: They should have launched it in the 90s so people could say, "Chandler it!" #yearoftheflood
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englishmajorennui was starred

grant.goodine
11/12/09

@englishmajorennui: Nah, she's just always had a derogetory view of science fiction. Robert J. Sawyer's commented on it once or twice. And just so I don't get pegged as a bandwagon jumper, I've been reading Sawyer for 11-12 years now.
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Pope John Peeps II approved this comment grant.goodine was starred grant.goodine was unstarred

Wookie1972
11/12/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Again, as I said before, it wouldn't matter if Atwood hadn't said stuff like "my book isn't science fiction because it's about things that could actually happen." #yearoftheflood
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DraconisXC
11/12/09

@Wookie1972: Once an author tries to present their work as some sort of prophecy of an inevitable dystopia my interest begins to wane. There's a reason there isn't a section in the bookstore called "Fiction...FOR NOW!!1!" #yearoftheflood
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Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment DraconisXC was starred DraconisXC was unstarred

Vulcan Has No Moon
11/12/09

@Pope John Peeps II: I'm thinking a lion/lamb hybrid would be sort of like this... #yearoftheflood
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Vulcan Has No Moon was starred

Annalee Newitz
11/12/09

@Pope John Peeps II: The science in both books is appallingly bad. There is a good reason why Atwood refuses to be called a science fiction writer. She doesn't give a crap about science, or scientific realism. All of the science in this novel and in Oryx and Crake were purely intended as symbolism.
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Edited by Annalee Newitz at 11/12/09 9:28 PM Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred

Bill-Lee
11/08/09

In reply to Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
Astronaut Fall is a knockoff of a Ray Bradbury story. Bradbury's ending was a child wishing on a falling star. #theperrybiblefellowship
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Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred

Lassus
11/06/09

In reply to Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
The Perry Bible Fellowship deserves every last good thing that's said about it, and much more.

HOF material, and 175% awesome. #theperrybiblefellowship
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Lassus was starred Lassus was unstarred

B
11/06/09

In reply to Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
Wow, the Postman would have been a way better movie if what he delivered was a Publisher's Clearing house mailing. #theperrybiblefellowship
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B was starred B was unstarred

Rumblytums
11/06/09

In reply to Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
We ran his comics for a while in the alt-weekly I work on, but ran out of "family friendly" comics pretty quickly. heh. #theperrybiblefellowship
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Rumblytums was starred Rumblytums was unstarred

spocko
11/06/09

@Rumblytums: I can imagine. Very dark but also some really funny ones. It's a rare comic strip that I remember so vividly. One of my favorites is this one. #theperrybiblefellowship
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TheLostVikings R.O.A.C.H. promoted this comment spocko was starred spocko was unstarred

crashedpc - Haifisch
11/06/09

In reply to Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
"No one's buying lemonade..."
"How 'bout now??"

"HELP ME JENKINS"

It's just too bad he doesn't update anymore. #theperrybiblefellowship
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FrankenPC
11/06/09

In reply to Enter The Multiple Demented Worlds Of The Perry Bible Fellowship
WOW! Never heard of this guy. Stellar jokes and nice coloring. #theperrybiblefellowship
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