Category Archives: Books

Railsea

Posted on 22 May 2012 by

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of China Miéville, which is why it kills me to admit that I’m a little disappointed in his latest book, the young adult novel Railsea. Railsea is basically Moby-Dick set in a … Continue reading →

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Leviathan

Posted on 23 April 2012 by

After reading Scott Westerfeld’s young adult novel Leviathan, I finally understand steampunk, although I still don’t quite understand why everyone is going nuts over it. Or was going nuts over it, since I think the state of the alleged sub-genre … Continue reading →

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Palo Alto: Stories by James Franco

Posted on 4 April 2012 by

Disclaimer: This is not an unbiased review, because I love James Franco a lot. I loved him in all the Spider-man movies, even Spider-man 3, and I thought he did a great job trolling the Oscars last year. I mean, … Continue reading →

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Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain

Posted on 24 March 2012 by

Basically everything you need to know about A. Lee Martinez’s Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain is in the title: It’s campy, funny, and extremely entertaining.  The novel tells the story of an octopus-like alien from the planet Neptune who … Continue reading →

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The Magicians

Posted on 12 March 2012 by

It would be practically impossible to write about Lev Grossman’s The Magicians, the story of a boy wizard’s adventures at a magical school, without addressing the lightning-scarred elephant in the room. So here it is: The Magicians is not Harry … Continue reading →

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Never Let Me Go

Posted on 6 March 2012 by

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go is, frankly, a brilliant novel. I won’t spoil anything because a.) you should definitely read it, and b.) getting to the heart of what exactly is going on is a major part of what … Continue reading →

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Jennifer Government

Posted on 2 March 2012 by

One of the great things about science fiction is the freedom it gives writers to create characters and settings that seem far-fetched or alien and then use them to make a statement about the way we live now. “Fiction reveals truth … Continue reading →

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Embassytown/The Flame Alphabet

Posted on 28 February 2012 by

Embassytown by China Miéville and The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus are both concept-driven novels–as opposed to character- or plot-driven ones–dealing with how language mentally and physically affects those who speak it. If you’re interested in linguistics, language and cognition, or … Continue reading →

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The Windup Girl

Posted on 14 February 2012 by

I gotta be honest, I really, really wanted to like Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl a whole lot more than I did. I was beyond excited when I spotted the 2010 Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel sitting unobtrusively on the … Continue reading →

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REAMDE

Posted on 30 January 2012 by

Okay so I realize that Neal Stephenson isn’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea. Making it through one of his tomes requires a huge investment of time and energy, which a lot of people don’t have, and if they do have … Continue reading →

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