Tag: book of the week

Book of the Week: Destroyer of Worlds.

I was originally going to go with Going Rogue: An American Life, solely on the basis that I actually bought it (I typically ignore partisan political books); except that I’ve already slapped it up there on the sidebar and a nontrivial percentage of my readership doesn’t really give a damn.

So… Larry Niven’s Destroyer of Worlds, which replaces Lovecraft Unbound.

Moe Lane

Book of the Week: Lovecraft Unbound.

I’m in the middle of it now: Lovecraft Unbound is interesting mostly because it’s a Lovecraft-themed collection of short stories, with very little if any Mythos content. It’s always interesting to see who’s gotten ensnared by the writer, often in spite of themselves*: the prejudices and assumptions of HPL are ones that frankly grate on modern sensibilities, and yet… if you have any fondness for the horror genre, you can’t escape Lovecraft. Love him or hate him, you can’t ignore him.

And so, it being Sunday, we replace Torch of Freedom (Honorverse).

Moe Lane

*Michael Chabon and Joyce Carol Oates are the most well-known ones in this anthology.

Book of the Week: And Another Thing…

Well, you knew this was coming. I almost picked it up yesterday, but I can get it for roughly a quarter off if I’m willing to wait a few days for it. I did look through enough of it to assuage my main fears; the author took his assignment seriously.

So we say good-bye to Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season, and hello to And Another Thing…. Please, God: don’t let it suck.

Moe Lane

Book of the Week: Liberating Atlantis.

As it is Sunday, we shall now switch out On Stranger Tides for Harry Turtledove’s Liberating Atlantis. It’s the third book of an alternate history series where the eastern half of the North American continent (named Atlantis by the inhabitants) had apparently been detached millions of years previously and more or less parked in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The previous two books highlighted the alternate’s version of the Age of Discovery and the American Revolution; this one looks to address Atlantis’ version of the American Civil War.

Or you could just buy it because it’s by Harry Turtledove. I find that to be a remarkably successful book-buying strategy.

Moe Lane

Book of the Week: A Wizard of Mars.

It’s not available until April, but what the heck: I’ve always been fond of Diane Duane’s work, particularly her YA So You Want To be a Wizard series. And besides, if I excluded people who more-or-less vaguely hate people like me from these sorts of lists I’d have a very short list with which to work with. As long as I can’t guess at, or be reminded of, the politics from the first fifty pages everything’s golden*.

So, we replace with The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun with A Wizard of Mars, and go on with this lovely Sunday night.

*The besettling sin of the Still Life With Fascists series, alas. The idea is to discuss Why You Think It Would Have Sucked To Have Hitler Have A Peace Treaty With England, not Why The Bush Administration Made So Angry, You Wanted To Strangle A Manatee In The Nude**.

**Bloom County reference.

Book of the Week: The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun

A day late, but what are you going to do? – backhoe, remember?

Anyway, we say good-bye to A Song for Arbonne and hello to The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, which may not have been the best choice for light weekend reading. On the other hand, as Anglo-Saxon goes it’s prime stuff.