Justin Bowers
It’s been a very good time for new creative slants on vampire novels, recently, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a prime example. The setup is pretty atypical for a horror read. In 2012, a diary written by a Lutheran pastor back in 1912 is discovered in the walls of Montana church. The majority...
Justin Bowers
I adore Ms. Schwab’s writing, and she has proven to surprise me again and again with her ability to shift gears, and styles, with each release. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is no different. Queer vampire stories are definitely not new, but Ms. Schwab introduces some new twists that make...
Groundblue
This 80's book of espionage story still brings attention to modern cybersecurity professionals, and remains surprisingly relevant to today’s world. The book is made up of many easy-to-read short to medium-sized chapters, and things start to get really thrilling around chapter 29. I could be biased...
Justin Bowers
It’s taken me quite a while to sit down and put my thoughts to electrons on this one. Yeah, I liked it a lot, but Big Swiss is a very very heavy book to digest. Greta, I guess we will call her the protagonist of this novel, is a quintessential fuckup living with her similarly odd friend,...
Justin Bowers
If you have been reading my reviews, you know that I absolutely love this series, and book three doesn’t disappoint. The Emily Wilde series isn’t my normal fare. Yes, it’s about the Fae, and yes, it does have some degree of mayhem and danger, but it falls dangerously close to historical...
Gary Schroeder
You've felt it. That mental itch...to pick up the smart phone, check the news feed, check your social media performance, check something. Sometimes you think you should be able to resist it, but...nah, I want to look. I can quit any time I want! You know though, that you don't have nearly as much...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** It’s the end of the year, and I’m looking for something amusing and Fantasy to pick up to get me into the first bit of 2025. I was perusing synopses, and one caught my eye: pirate goblin with a ragtag...
Justin Bowers
I’m just going to cut straight to the meat of this. I loved this book, and think it’s the best, so far, of The Empyrean series. I know there are a lot of “hot sports opinions” out there about this book, but that does nothing to diminish the collective impact this story, and this series, have had...
Justin Bowers
One of the most enjoyable things about picking up the new offering from Mr. Chapman is that you never know what you are going to get. Ghost Eaters put a lot of folks off fungi, Whisper Down the Lane brought back a whole lot of PTSD surrounding the “Satanic Panic,” and I’m not even going to go into...
Jennifer Lang
I’ve just published my annual reading list for 2024 here, as I’ve done for over a decade. Do check out the whole thing, but here are a few of my particular favourites from this year’s list, which, as always, is a bit of an eclectic mixture. How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors Behind...
Justin Bowers
Imagine eating a book, map, magazine, etc. and being able to retain the information in it? Imagine also that you are part of a not quite human society ruled by rather draconian patriarchs, and daughters are basically passed off to other bookeater families to ensure their lines continue. Oh, but...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review ** This book tackles a lot, and it starts out pretty innocuous. Myles Harper is a recent high school graduate, and he has no idea what he wants to do with his life. It’s 2036, the earth is in a climate...
Justin Bowers
Well, this was the one that broke the camel’s back. I’m done with this series taking up any more of my time, and I have no earthly idea why this series got popular. I was really hoping, by book three, that some sort of writing improvement might have started to develop. No dice. Ms. Peckham...
Justin Bowers
My god, why do I keep reading these books. I was really hoping for a bit of an improvement from the first book, but that just didn’t happen. If anything, the ridiculous extremes from the first book magnified here. The heirs are still dicks, only now they are just that much more dickish! The poor...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** Lightfall is a book about vampires, werewolves and sorcerers. In fact, it might be the most innovative novel about vampires, werewolves and sorcerers that I’ve read in decades,...
Justin Bowers
I am reading this series because a very dear friend of mine suggested I check them out. She warned me that they would probably make me angry — she was correct — but I’m going to get through this drivel if it kills me. Darcy and Tory Vega are twins who were apparently swapped with human...
AbdulFattaah Popoola
TLDR Rating: 5 out of 5. A great read with actionable advice, straightforward advice on thinking in systems, and predicting 2nd-order outcomes. Strengths Using specific examples rather than abstract concepts and generalizations....
Justin Bowers
Oh how I wanted to fall in love with this one. It had all the right elements of multi-generational weirdness and it seemed to be hitting all the right buttons. Heathers meets The Craft in a polished Stepford Wives wrapper tied together with some gentle hints of depression, anxiety, and smattering...
AbdulFattaah Popoola
TLDR Rating: 4 out of 5. Separating the wheat from the chaff – just because a customer says something is a problem doesn’t necessarily mean it is, and asking the right questions is crucial in distinguishing genuine issues from irrelevant...
AbdulFattaah Popoola
TLDR Rating: 2 out of 5. The book contains dated ideas and I glossed over the theoretical sections. The last chapters made some excellent points, but not enough to change my 2-star rating. It’s a pity since I enjoyed Tom DeMarco’s slack...
Abhinav Bhatt
I will get to the point straight. ‘The Complete Maus’ by Art Spiegelman is one of the best things I have ever read. I wonder why didn’t I read it long ago. For those who haven’t, the premise of the graphic novel is that Arthur (the author/illustrator) is talking to his father Vladek Spiegelman...
Justin Bowers
Typically I kick off my book reviews with a quick synopsis of the plot, the major characters, and a teaser into what to expect. This book, much like the others that Ms. Chambers has written, is different. As someone who reads a whole hell of a lot of hard sci-fi as well as (probably) too much...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I’m not sure what it is about Ms. Fawcett’s Emily Wilde books that just make me stop everything else and rabidly consume them, but she is two for two, so far, in getting my full attention. Emily...
Justin Bowers
Been on a bit of a mythology kick lately, and this title was recommended to me, so I took a swing. Lore Perseous is the last of her line. Her parents and sisters were brutally murdered by a rival line at the tail end of the Agon: a “tournament” of sorts that happens every seven years wherein...
Gary Schroeder
Winter is the time for reading books about Big Ideas, and certainly there's no bigger idea than very the existence of the universe. Most people, either alone in quiet contemplation or engaged in alcohol-fueled conversations with friends at a bar, have at one time or another considered the question...
Justin Bowers
A warning before I get going: this book is profound but incredibly brutal. In a world where all meat (and all animals) have become poisonous to humans thanks to a virus, humans are now bred to be the primary source of meat. “Special meat” if you will. Marcos, the primary character, has not...
Justin Bowers
One of my favorite creators has a new piece of short fiction in the “comic horror” genre (his words), and it definitely delivers. Lot Lizards starts out with a couple of cops checking out a used car lot where a call has come in from an outside party that some shenanigans have taken place. Per...
Abhinav Bhatt
Sometimes you come across some books rather late in life (relatively) and wonder why you didn’t read this earlier! This book is one of those books. ‘Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman’ is an autobiography of sorts. It has chapters from Physicist Dr. Richard Feynman’s earliest days when his...
Abhinav Bhatt
Here are all the links for your consumption (next you know the drill like, share, subscribe) YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkUh-KUiNVmW9GyGISDxZP5AonIfqLwXE (All (and only) 6 episodes are available already. Tudum!) On Audio Only Platforms, each episode will be released on...
Justin Bowers
Well, I finally caved in and read the dragon book everyone has been raving about for the past year. I fought picking it up because I find a large portion of what is pitched as “romantasy” just awful to read. This book was so hyped by my reader friends who fawn over Sarah J. Maas’ stuff, so it was...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I’ve been waiting for this book for a long while. No Gods, No Monsters took up a lot of my headspace, and I really needed Mr. Turnbull to move some of these characters along for the sake of my...
Abhinav Bhatt
There was always an ongoing joke when I was growing up that if the weather forecast says it would rain, it definitely won’t rain. If they say, the day will be sunny, high chance that it will rain cats and dogs. Fortunately, the accuracy of weather prediction has come a long way and it is indeed...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I wanted to love this book so much. The City of Dusk was an amazing read that really set the scene and executed superbly. The Midnight Kingdom, though, not so much. The world building continued to be...
Jennifer Lang
I’ve just published my annual reading list for 2023 here, as I’ve done for over a decade. Do check out the whole thing, but here are a few of my particular favourites from this year’s list, which, as always, is a bit of an eclectic mixture. Curlews on Vulture Street: Cities, Birds, People and me...
Justin Bowers
Our favorite mercenary orc is back! In this prequel to Legends & Lattes we find Viv fighting for Rackam’s Ravens and hunting a powerful necromancer. When she is injured, Rackam leaves Viv in Murk to recuperate. Naturally, Viv gets bored, and finds a good diversion in the form of a local...
Justin Bowers
Holy crap, it’s a new book in the A Darker Shade of Magic universe! To say that I had great expectations for this novel is an understatement. There was definitely the expectation that we would encounter Lila, Kell, Rhy, and Alucard; but what new shenanigans would be introduced to keep us...
Gary Schroeder
The Philosopher of Palo Alto is a strange little book that covers the life of Mark Weiser, a man who the author seems to believe occupies a pivotal role in the history of personal computing. Whether the author’s belief is warranted—or if indeed the entire book is warranted—is something I couldn’t...
Justin Bowers
It’s very rare that I read a book that I know absolutely nothing about and turns out to be so incredibly life changing. This is one of those books. I cannot say enough about the worldbuilding that Ms. Chambers spins into this incredibly wholesome tale. Dex is a monk unhappy with their role in...
Justin Bowers
Howler #1 (Mr. Brown) is a sadistic psychopath, an emotional puppet master, and a genius storyteller. Once again we have been thrown into the tumultuous world of the Society and, boy oh boy, this is one hell of a ride. If you haven’t read the previous five books, don’t even think about starting...
Gary Schroeder
This is a review of the book X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction by Thomas Moynihan. I was expecting this book to be an exploration of how human beings seem to be continually drawn to creating the mechanisms of our own destruction. Whether it be be nuclear weaponry, machines which...
Aguas' Points
“Everything that takes place on the screen — a Mutant attack, a powerpack munch, an asteroid cluster, plus noises, colour, maneuvering — is simply the machine’s response to information”. – Amis, Invasion of the Space Invaders, pg. 112 In 1982 director Steven Spielberg diagnosed enfant...
Gary Schroeder
Elon Musk “long ago decided that for humanity to have a future, it must expand to other worlds”…a premise which is kind of nuts if one thinks about it for more than a few seconds but there seems to be no doubt that Musk believes it. This belief was his prime motivation for founding a company that...
Justin Bowers
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again right here: folks don’t read enough short fiction. There is something so fulfilling about being able to knock out a great little tidbit in less than a half an hour that has me coming back for more and more. Enhanced: A Hollywood Murder Mystery is just...
Justin Bowers
For those who have read my reviews previously, it’s no secret that I am a big fan of Mr. Chapman’s work. There is a certain way he approaches a story that evolves the absolute normal aspects of everyday life into a spiral of fascinating terror, and What Kind of Mother does exactly this. Deeply...
Justin Bowers
Here’s the setup: in the far future of Earth, two factions battle each other for supreme control of the world, the timeline, and, well, everything. Two factions — Commandment and Garden — have their elite agents working clandestine operations throughout the various time threads. Our two...
Justin Bowers
Since it came on the scene, I have been an unapologetic shoegaze fan. When I discovered Lush in 1990, I knew I had a band that could very easily soundtrack my life. Through the years, I watched the band thrive, break up, deal with crisis, and then excel at other projects. At the core of all of...
Justin Bowers
Ahhh carefree and fun books just for the sake of having something original to read. Minimum Wage Magic has some heavy themes, but, at the end of the day, it’s just a very fun romp through an awesome world of magic and vice. The basic gist is the that the Detroit Free Zone is a lawless city...
Justin Bowers
Erin is haunted, and it is by choice. If that seems rather innocuous to you, then you have yet to dive into Clay McLeod Chapman’s latest gem: Ghost Eaters. Stripping the romanticism and fantastical glamour out of the concept of interactions with the supernatural, and, instead, diving right...
Justin Bowers
After three books and much experimentation, I believe I have figured out the secret to full comprehension of The Locked Tomb series: just let it flow over you. Enjoy the ride and do be sure to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. OK, here we go with the story of Nona....
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I feel like I have to preface this review by saying that I really really really liked this book, and cannot wait for it to get into other peoples’ hands. I’m worried this review might sound more...