Tag Archives: book review

Review of Pavane by Keith Roberts

Pavane by Keith Roberts 285 pages Originally published in 1968 How to describe Pavane? Two things are simple to say: first, it’s a fix-up novel, or a mosaic. A collection of stories set in the same universe that are brought … Continue reading

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Apollo 8 by Jeffrey Kluger

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger A lot of things didn’t go well in 1968. Senior Time Magazine writer Jeffrey Kluger (author of Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13) … Continue reading

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Incognita, Inc. by Harlan Ellison

After watching King Kong for the 455th time, Harlan Ellison wondered about the maps. After wondering, he wrote “Incognita, Inc.” In hundreds of adventure movies, there’s always a map of some strange, lost land. In Muslim mythology it’s Kaf, the … Continue reading

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“A Walk in the Sun” by Geoffrey A. Landis, from Infinivox

Written long before Andy Weir’s The Martian, “A Walk in the Sun” by Geoffrey A. Landis gives us a science fiction survival story a bit closer to home. Trish Mulligan is the last one alive on the moon after crash … Continue reading

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“‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison

One of my most treasured books is my The Top of the Volcano hardcover, a complete (at the time of publication, 2014) collection of Harlan Ellison’s award-winning stories published by Subterranean Press. It’s a beautiful book and the content… well … Continue reading

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The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu

I re-read “The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu yesterday.  Find it here, at Clarkesworld. What a wonderful story that is. It brings “Animal Farm” by George Orwell to mind for obvious reasons – anthropomorphic animals … Continue reading

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From Decision Points by George W. Bush

I re-read some of this book (published in 2010) this weekend, and am reminded of the perspective of President Bush during the time following 9/11. He describes being given the badge of someone who died when the towers fell, and … Continue reading

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Happy Catholic by Julie Davis, An Appreciation

This is not so much a review of my friend Julie’s book, but an appreciation, for her book is exactly my kind of thing, and appreciate it I do. As I re-embraced Catholicism years ago, there were stumbling blocks. One … Continue reading

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Charles van Doren and Science Fiction

Julie and I talked about the movie Quiz Show in our last Good Story podcast, and I brought up how Charles van Doren was connected to Thomas Merton and Mortimer Adler. What I did not know was that Charles van … Continue reading

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Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

I learned a couple of important things from Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. First, I’m a lightweight when it comes to sports fanaticism. And second, I need to suffer a lot more before I’m allowed to complain about Liverpool. The first … Continue reading

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