The end of the summer saw me pick up a bunch of new books, including Hyperion and its sequel, The Fall of Hyperion and autumn actually gave me enough time to read one of them! As we moved into December, the movie release of Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass – and the religious controversy that … Read more
My autumn reading jag, which saw me tear through a half-dozen novels, petered out this winter as I ran into the slow, meandering text of The Difference Engine, a book that promised a steampunk revolution but got bogged down in its own minutiae. I haven’t done much better on the audio front, after a preachy … Read more
For my birthday this year I headed out to Barnes & Noble with my son Neutronlad for an afternoon of browsing books and drinking coffee. NeutronLad, being about 5 months old at the time, was enthusiastic about the outing, as only a baby can be, smiling, gurgling and generally looking forward to flirting with every woman … Read more
After a reading lull brought about by way too much painting in September, I’ve returned to my books with a vengeance. Science fiction dominates my reading list this time around as I return to Ben Bova’s “Grand Tour” of the Solar System with the hard science fiction novel Jupiter then have some fun with Vernor … Read more
One of the many pleasant surprises following the birth of my son NeutronLad on June 14 has been how much reading I’ve been able to do. This is partly because I chose some particularly good books to read, but also because I have a lot more time thanks to those early morning and late night feedings, … Read more
My resurrected reading habit picked up in April, allowing me to tear through Analog’s June issue and make another serious dent in the Hard SF Renaissance anthology, while a trip to New Hampshire to visit my sister for Easter gave me time to listen to the unabridged audio of Stephen King’s new horror novel Cell. … Read more
A round-up of what I’m reading now, including the May issue of Analog, the graphic novel V for Vendetta and scifi anthology The Hard SF Renaissance. Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May 2005 The first issue of my Analog subscription features the start of the four-part serial “A New Order of Things” by Edward M. … Read more
Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub (Amazon): The sequel to the horror duo’s 198x The Talisman is a far darker, grimmer book than the original. In it, Jack Sawyer – the 12 year old who traveled cross country through two worlds looking for a magical talisman to heal his mother – is all … Read more
Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass: My audio book selection this month returns to the past of Roland the Gunslinger, before he went west on his titanic quest to hunt down the Man in Black. It’s a tragic tale that deals with Roland’s star-crossed first love and it’s a painful read. Nonetheless, in this second … Read more
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian: Historical naval fiction set in the waning years of the 18th century, this novel follows the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his enlightened ship’s surgeon, Doctor Stephen Maturin as they wages war against foes of the British Empire. This book inspired half of last year’s movie Master & … Read more