Category — Books

Folks, this is AWESOME.
Okay, basically Walton’s set this alternative history in a world where Britain and Germany work things out, and WWII never happens. Germany’s building concentration camps ALL over the continent, and things suck for Eastern European Jews. Britain’s got its own issues with rising fascism, but, interestingly, Walton examines this rise in the upper classes. So, [...]

Man, I was really excited to see HarperCollins Reading Warriors program, an online resource offering a bunch of downloadable tools for kiddies looking to read over the summer and teachers looking to guide that reading. It’s available here: http://www.readingwarriors.com/rwshell.html.
HOWEVER, a quick skim through the titles recommended for further reading suggests that HC didn’t do the [...]

The Thirteenth House is the sequel to Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn.  Both books, along with the third, Dark Moon Defender, are fantasy-romances set in the mythical kingdom of Gillengaria, and are, unfortunately, fraught with the saccharine tendencies of romance novels of every other genre.  Sharon Shinn, although a fascinating world-builder, is prone to [...]

This was a great read til the last five minutes. Basically, what’s going on is that our narrator, Ariella, is realizing that her dad’s a vampire. Also, she’s realizing that SHE might be a vampire as well. Little things like her (human) mother’s disappearance, the fact that her dad won’t let her leave the house, [...]

Barnes’ alternate history explores the evolution of slavery and racial formations in a world where the West never rose to prominence. The New World is in the process of being conquered by various African empires, and both women and enslaved whites are starting to buck up for independence. This is a very cool context — [...]

The standard going around now is that America needs to be deeply afraid. China and other countries are on the rise, the terrorists are waiting to get us, and the world is, basically, about the end. This is a scary, scary poison, whose effects can be felt throughout the political world.
The Next American Century: How [...]

This week’s flashback book is Daughter of the Bright Moon, featuring Rifkind, a warrior-healer whose character inspired Xena, the warrior princess herself!
This was such a fun book. Rifkind’s one of the few lady sword-slingers coming out of this sword and sorcery genre who doesn’t have sexual assault as a part of her origin story. She’s [...]

I am floored by how good this was. Yates’ delicate treatment of brotherhood, fatherhood, and the nature of love is at times surprisingly sensuous and always brutally honest. Yates’ touching story of desire set in the heart of a coastal New England wrenches at the heart.
 On to the plot! Nathan Bishop is a slightly closeted [...]

Basically, Sex Detox is a guided meditation on the role past relationship experiences have on your present day relationship life. While its primary focus is on the bedroom, its goal is that the program it details will help improve every aspect of your monogamous long term relationship OR help you get centered enough to work [...]

Barnes’ promising first effort introduces the reader to a wild reimagining of turn of the century London. It’s very “The world has moved on” a la Stephen King — technology is on the rise, magic/mystery in the form of our main guy Edward Moon, and the disappearance of the titular character, who exits stage left at the [...]