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A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316224553 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | John Rebus is a traditional old school cop, the kind often admired by fans of police procedurals. He drinks too much, he's no good at relationships and even less good at following orders or respecting the chain of command, but his instincts for crime are sound and he's a relentless investigator. When he manages to rema... | 4 | John Rebus #19 | 1,393,718,400 | 03 2, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316226106 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Doughnut is a playful take on the multiverse hypothesis. If you can travel between universes, does that make you a god?Theo Bernstein is an unlikely god. Theo put a decimal point in the wrong place and the Very Very Large Hadron Collider blew up, along with some of Switzerland, so now Theo is looking for a job. That... | 4 | A playful take on the multiverse hypothesis | 1,363,046,400 | 03 12, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316226122 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | When It's a Jar pushes the multiverse theory to absurd limits ... except, when you think about it (as Tom Holt clearly has), it's impossible to do that because a popular version of the theory assumes that absurd events (indeed, every imaginable event) actually occur in some part of the multiverse. There is no limit to ... | 4 | The best of all possible worlds (4.5 stars) | 1,396,742,400 | 04 6, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031623012X | TChris | [
4,
4
] | The Bear was inspired by an actual event that occurred on Bates Island in Algonquin Park, Ontario. A bear attacked and killed two adult campers. In Claire Cameron's version of the story, the adults are camping with two children. Told from the point of view of one of the two kids, Anna Whyte, The Bear is a poignant and ... | 4 | Through the eyes of a child | 1,395,964,800 | 03 28, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316231053 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | Deenie Nash is in high school, as is her brother Eli, a handsome hockey player who is a bit of a rogue. Their father, Tom, is a teacher at the school. Their mother lives elsewhere. The Fever's drama starts when Deenie's best friend, Lise, is stricken not with a fever, but with seizures. Lise is hospitalized and in a co... | 3 | Strong characters, disappointing plot (3.5 stars) | 1,403,395,200 | 06 22, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 031624662X | TChris | [
88,
95
] | There are echoes of C.J. Cherryh, Iain Banks, and Frank Herbert in Ancillary Justice. The novel is both familiar and fresh. The writing is powerful and tense. The plot -- about which I will say little, lest I risk spoiling it -- is intelligent and surprising.The Radchaii are human but they consider themselves superio... | 5 | Powerful, intelligent, and surprising | 1,380,585,600 | 10 1, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0316281867 | TChris | [
29,
33
] | One of the characters in Iain Banks' final novel is dying of cancer, the disease that ended Banks' own life. Banks lightens a serious story about death with characteristic humor touching on a variety of subjects, including movies, religion, British politics, AA, families, and holistic medicine. Many of the laughs com... | 4 | Measuring a life | 1,372,550,400 | 06 30, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0330202642 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | Nevil Shute is one of my favorite writers. Although he's best known for two fine novels --A Town Like AliceandOn the Beach-- he produced a number of other gems during his prolific career. Most Secret is one of them.War plays a role, large or small, in many of Shute's novels. Most Secret was first published in 1945; ... | 5 | Something for every reader | 1,294,012,800 | 01 3, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0330269429 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Sidewall is a surprisingly good science fiction thriller that's more thriller than science fiction. This 1982 novel is set in 1993. Most of David Graham's predictions about life in the '90's turned out to be pretty far off the mark (although he did manage to predict the Gulf War). You have to make a mental adjustmen... | 4 | Exciting sf thriller | 1,289,606,400 | 11 13, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0330313509 | TChris | [
6,
6
] | The Moscow Club is Joseph Finder's first novel. It is the work of a writer who hasn't yet mastered his craft. Finder's writing style too often depends on clichéd expressions: a house of cards falls, a character knows something like the back of his hand, and secrecy is for the birds. Chase scenes read like de... | 4 | Finder's first novel: a worthy effort | 1,292,025,600 | 12 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345245695 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | In this 1958 novel, Dr. Lucas Martino is abducted by the Soviets (back in the days when there was still a Soviet Union). After some months, Martino is returned -- or is he? The repatriated scientist is wearing a metal mask that is bonded to his head -- the result, supposedly, of surgical intervention to save his life... | 5 | Budrys' best novel | 1,286,409,600 | 10 7, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345258053 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Iceworld is a clever story, constructed in a clever fashion. The first chapter leaves the impression that the reader is reading about human explorers in an alien solar system until Clement reveals that the explorers are in fact aliens who are observing Earth. Although that revelation comes so soon that discussing it ... | 4 | Clever, classic sf | 1,295,222,400 | 01 17, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345280253 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | All Judgment Fled (the title is taken from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar) is an entertaining first contact novel. An object following an unnatural path is detected in the vicinity of Mars. Two American ships, each with a crew of three, are sent to investigate. They find an alien ship. It doesn't respond to signals, d... | 4 | Humans vs. aliens and humans vs. humans | 1,290,988,800 | 11 29, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345289072 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | In the prologue to Inherit the Stars, two individuals (one in a red spacesuit, one in blue) are making a long journey on foot across desolate land. The one in red is exhausted. The one in blue has greater stamina; he helps the other along but finally leaves him in a cave, promising to return with help. The rest of t... | 4 | Intellectual drama almost compensates for missing human drama | 1,296,000,000 | 01 26, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345294068 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | More Than Human explores what it means to be human, a question made relevant by the evolution of an entity that Theodore Sturgeon calls Homo Gestalt, a group of individuals who reach completeness only by functioning together as a single being. The 1953 novel is written in three parts. The middle (and weakest) section f... | 5 | Deserves a modern audience | 1,347,580,800 | 09 14, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345323270 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | The Gentle Giants of Ganymede is a sequel toInherit the Stars. It isn't necessary to read the first novel to understand the second, but doing so would give the reader a fuller appreciation of the characters and setting in the second novel. The plots of the two novels, however, are only loosely connected; it would be ... | 3 | Interesting but not captivating | 1,297,555,200 | 02 13, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345324382 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Other reviewers have summarized the plot; I'll simply explain my four star rating. I enjoyed Heinlein's juveniles when I was a teenager, and again upon rereading them in adulthood. Heinlein's juveniles offer an education in science, always written in language us non-scientists can comprehend: in Farmer in the Sky, th... | 4 | A fun novel that's less exciting than some other Heinlein juveniles | 1,286,409,600 | 10 7, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345324749 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Astronomers on a Nar moon receive a transmission that has traveled thirty-seven million light years. The transmission contains the genetic code for human life as well as a repository of human knowledge and culture. Using the genetic information, the Nar brew a batch of humans -- something they probably wouldn't have ... | 4 | Floral aliens grow troublesome humans | 1,296,604,800 | 02 2, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345329325 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | An object the size of a large planet moves into the solar system at nearly the speed of light. Shortly after astronomers on the moon detect the object, however, it slows and shrinks. It seems to be entering a solar orbit when it suddenly changes course and begins to orbit Jupiter. Coincidentally, a planned scientifi... | 3 | Flawed but fun | 1,294,444,800 | 01 8, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345330137 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Robert Heinlein is one of the legends of science fiction for a simple reason: he was a masterful storyteller. There have been finer prose stylists, and a few sf writers have crafted novels of greater power than Heinlein's, but rare are the authors who have so consistently grabbed a reader and commanded rapt attention... | 4 | The obscure distinction between performance and reality | 1,353,110,400 | 11 17, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345330145 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | "Aliens take over human minds" was the plot of more than one Star Trek episode - and of nearly every episode of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea - but the concept was still fresh when Heinlein wrote The Puppet Masters. Rarely has it been employed more successfully. Heinlein was a great believer in the rugged individua... | 5 | Early Heinlein at his best | 1,286,755,200 | 10 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345340396 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Jim Marlowe lives with his sister and parents on Mars. Jim's life inside the colony and his Martian adventures beyond its borders are the subject of Robert Heinlein's Red Planet.The 1949 novel is vintage Heinlein. Characters rant about bureaucracy, regulations, and limitations on personal freedom (the unfettered right... | 4 | Vintage Heinlein | 1,284,681,600 | 09 17, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345350111 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Long before the concept of world building gained currency among science fiction fans, Alan Dean Foster built one of the most imaginative worlds in the genre. Midworld takes place on an unnamed planet covered with dense vegetation, rising from the surface (Lower Hell) to the sky (Upper Hell) in seven layers. Although ... | 5 | A near classic (4.5 stars) | 1,329,609,600 | 02 19, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345353110 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | First published in 1948, Space Cadet is one of Heinlein's earliest sf juveniles. I remember loving it when I was a teenager. Those years are long past, but when I recently reread the novel, I recaptured at least some of the sense of wonder I felt when I read it as a kid. Science fiction has become more sophisticated... | 4 | An early (and very enjoyable) Heinlein juvenile | 1,287,619,200 | 10 21, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345356837 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | A nameless police sergeant is assigned to investigate the violent death of Charlie Staniland, a 51 year old nobody. The sergeant is a dedicated cop stuck in Unexplained Deaths, a division that specializes in crimes committed against London's downtrodden and, for that reason, lacks the respect given to the divisions th... | 4 | The first Factory novel | 1,320,796,800 | 11 9, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345438353 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Set in 2049, A Case of Conscience begins with four humans on the planet Lithia. Ruiz-Sanchez is a biologist and a Jesuit priest. Cleaver is a physicist. Agronski is a geologist and Michelis is chemist. They are members of the Lithian Review Commission, tasked with deciding whether Lithia would be a suitable port of... | 5 | An alien meets the alienated | 1,356,825,600 | 12 30, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345461002 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Scott Phillips' first two novels -- quirky, darkly funny crime stories set roughly in the present -- proved that he can write. In Cottonwood, Phillips departed from the conventions of crime fiction to write a quirky, darkly funny western. Crime works its way into the story, but the crime plot is secondary to Phillips' ... | 5 | An enjoyable departure | 1,281,916,800 | 08 16, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345520734 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Putting aside the continuity problems (which, as a less-than-devout series fan, I don't much care about), readers looking for a novel that's fun to read should avoid Mass Effect: Deception for this simple reason: it is poorly written. While William C. Dietz is at least a minimally competent craftsman (as he has demonst... | 1 | Painful reading (1.5 stars) | 1,327,968,000 | 01 31, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345524497 | TChris | [
5,
6
] | China Miéville is a master of the strange tale. Fortunately, the madness that drives his stories is shaped by purpose. I could be completely wrong (and not for the first time), but I think Miéville's last novel,The City & The City, illustrates the point Ralph Ellison made more directly inInvisible Man: ... | 5 | The power of language | 1,304,812,800 | 05 8, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345524616 | TChris | [
11,
11
] | Quantum entanglement is just pixie dust with the word quantum thrown in. That, at least, is Constable Peter Grant's explanation of magic. Whether magic is caused by quantum entanglement or pixie dust, Grant is slowly learning to master it, a hobby that serves him well in his career with London's Metropolitan Police. ... | 4 | A police procedural assisted by magic | 1,343,779,200 | 08 1, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345525736 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Shortly after he offers to tell the commandant the location of Col. Kolchak, a man named Rybakov is murdered in a Siberian prison camp. Stalin, believing that he watched Kolchak die, is alarmed to learn that he might still be alive. Stalin assigns Pekkala to investigate Rybakov's death and to find Kolchak. Pekkala was ... | 5 | The Emerald Eye Returns to Siberia | 1,330,473,600 | 02 29, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345527801 | TChris | [
8,
9
] | Stop me if you've heard this before: terrorists are about to unleash a dangerous new virus on an unsuspecting world. Yes, you've heard it before. You're also familiar with the chase scenes (this book features a car and motorcycle chasing a boat and dune buggies chasing ATVs), gunfights, explosions, hot women, studly... | 4 | Familiar but fun | 1,328,745,600 | 02 9, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345530632 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | During the first quarter of Frozen Solid, I thought James Tabor was telling an unoriginal story but telling it well. After about a third of the novel, when the plot began to move in new directions, I was hooked on a clever, intelligent story that continued to be well told. Although a bit light in its character developm... | 4 | The second Hallie Leland novel | 1,364,688,000 | 03 31, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345531760 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | The Bones of Paris is set in the Paris of 1929. The setting will appeal to readers who are drawn to the literary and art scene of that place and time, but the novel's focus is on a less elevated form of entertainment: the Grand-Guignol, a puppet theater of terror. Any novel set in Paris is likely to feature romance ... | 3 | Missing persons and dropped names (3.5 stars) | 1,379,635,200 | 09 20, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345534050 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Although the other three human civilizations regard them as judgmental and aloof, the Sadiri have long been "the backbone of galactic law, diplomacy, and scientific discovery." They seem to be a lot like Vulcans: wicked bright with some telepathic ability but obsessively in control of their emotions. Their arrival on C... | 4 | Road tripping on an alien planet (3.5 stars) | 1,360,972,800 | 02 16, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345534417 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The alien members of the Refined League share a superior aesthetic sense, at least when it comes to art, architecture, fashion, interior design, and stained glass -- everything, in fact, except music, the one realm in which humans rule. Aliens who have unwittingly pirated Earth's music have discovered (as have myriad ... | 4 | Light, well-targeted comedy | 1,341,878,400 | 07 10, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345537068 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | A well trained secret agent without much personality can't recall his past. No, I'm not talking about Jason Bourne. The Shadow Protocol is about a guy named Adam who uses a machine to transfer the memories of other people into his own mind. I think the same machine showed up in an episode ofThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.about... | 3 | An assemblage of outtakes from other thrillers (3.5 stars) | 1,397,433,600 | 04 14, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345537122 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | An alien disease has laid waste to Earth. The disease killed most people, but about 10 percent of its victims survive in a devolved, subhuman state. They are not zombies in name, but they act like zombies. It seems to be an unwritten law of the decade that no science fiction novel is complete without zombies. In any ev... | 4 | First book of the Dire Earth cycle | 1,377,302,400 | 08 24, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345537149 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Camp Exodus has been overrun by a militia of immunes commanded by a less than angelic Gabriel, stranding Skyler in the wilderness where he's at risk of being attacked by subhumans. But even worse than subhumans are a new breed of ... armored subhumans? That won't make sense to you if you haven't readThe Darwin Elevato... | 4 | The second book of the Dire Earth cycle | 1,382,140,800 | 10 19, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345537165 | TChris | [
7,
7
] | As the final novel in the Dire Earth trilogy, The Plague Forge promised to solve the central mystery that animated the first two books: Why did aliens build space elevators on Earth, turn most humans into subhumans (except for those protected an aura emitted by alien gadgetry), and scatter objects around the globe that... | 3 | Disappointing (3.5 stars) | 1,385,078,400 | 11 22, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345538080 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Marcus Flynn, convicted of the serial killing of several teenage girls, escapes from prison under unlikely circumstances. How he manages the escape is one of the novel's mysteries. The killer known as Hangman soon resurrects his career, sending panic throughout Buffalo. Police Detective Abby Kearney is charged with sto... | 4 | Formula fiction done well | 1,400,284,800 | 05 17, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345539788 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Red is the lowest color on Mars, but Red is rising. Darrow is a Red. He was born to sacrifice. Working deep underground to mine the planet's helium, he believes his sacrifices will one day make Mars ready for human habitation. Obedience is noble, or so he has been taught. His wife, Eo, thinks he is a puppet of the Gold... | 4 | Rousing (despite the padding) | 1,397,779,200 | 04 18, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345540646 | TChris | [
14,
16
] | I'm a fan of the "Best of" series, but how does an editor pick the best of a writer who won eleven Hugos and seven Nebulas, among other awards? Some writers are better at drama than comedy, some are better at comedy, but rare is the writer who is equally adept at both. Connie Willis is one of the rare ones. Her rang... | 5 | A showcase of excellence in both comedy and drama | 1,374,105,600 | 07 18, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345543084 | TChris | [
17,
17
] | Marketing this novel as a thriller (or even a romantic comedy combined with a thriller) is seriously misleading. The Chase is too cute for its own good -- certainly too cute for readers who are looking for a plausible story. The Chase is so over-the-top that I was unable to buy into the plot or the characters. The chee... | 3 | Like reading a cloud | 1,394,150,400 | 03 7, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345545931 | TChris | [
10,
14
] | All great cities have a soul. At the age of eight, Jonah Kirk meets a woman who tells him she is the soul of the city made flesh. Jonah calls her Pearl. He introduces the reader to Pearl when, at 57, he starts dictating the book we are reading. Jonah attributes the appearance of new piano in the community center (and t... | 5 | Kindness, courage, and soul | 1,404,172,800 | 07 1, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345546857 | TChris | [
7,
7
] | As they demonstrated in The Expanse, the writing team known as James S.A. Corey has mastered the art of space opera. That makes them a natural choice to write a Star Wars novel.Most of Honor Among Thieves concerns a potential new weapon -- developed by a long-departed race -- that both the Empire and the Rebel Forces w... | 4 | In defense of smugglers | 1,393,891,200 | 03 4, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345803450 | TChris | [
6,
7
] | Intellectually interesting more than emotionally engaging (until, perhaps, the very last pages), Sweet Tooth tells a languid tale before taking a surprising twist that alters the reader's perspective of everything that passed before.In 1972, Serena Frome graduates Cambridge with an undistinguished third in maths. On t... | 4 | Cunning | 1,354,060,800 | 11 28, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0345807065 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Originally published in a slightly different form in 1970, the current incarnation of John Banville's first book collects nine of Banville's short stories. Banville's skillfully crafted sentences are pregnant with meaning, his language is rich and evocative, but even more can be mined from the silences between sentenc... | 4 | The silences between sentences | 1,373,068,800 | 07 6, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0373303025 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Howie Ryder's father taught him that "stock" are animals that happen to look like humans, animals that can neither speak nor reason, nothing more than a food source raised for slaughter, a gift from God after the War destroyed the unclean animals upon which men once fed. Through Darkest America is a dystopian novel mo... | 5 | A dsytopian coming-of-age western (4.5 stars) | 1,368,748,800 | 05 17, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0373303068 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Six people work at the terraforming station on Gehenna before the leisure officer exits the station without an atmosphere suit. He leaves behind a note that complains of his inability to tolerate his dreams. The Spooner Interplanetary Development Corporation sends Victor Lewin, a psychologist masquerading as a replac... | 4 | A science fiction mystery | 1,290,124,800 | 11 19, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0374108994 | TChris | [
75,
79
] | The Barbarian Nurseries begins with the flip sides of LA: the one that Hollywood showcases, populated by prosperous, shallow, socially competitive consumers; and the one almost invisibly populated by maids, landscapers, day laborers, and the other workers who, speaking heavily accented English, struggle to sustain the... | 5 | Timely and important | 1,313,539,200 | 08 17, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0375420576 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The Tin Drum is one of my favorite novels and, I think, one of the great novels of the 20th Century. It is profound and mysterious, funny and disturbing, innovative and original. Grass created the epitome of the unreliable narrator, yet the story he tells reveals fundamental truths about human nature: about love and... | 5 | One of the Greatest Novels of the 20th Century | 1,283,126,400 | 08 30, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0375423699 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | This is a book that stayed with me long after I finished it. If you're thinking about reading it, I suggest you approach it free from preconceptions. Some Amazon reviewers apparently believed that the novel would mimic a particular movie or book they liked and were disappointed to find that it was a different story ent... | 5 | Stayed with me | 1,285,200,000 | 09 23, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 037572673X | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Everywhere Kenton goes, he seems to have the misfortune of finding a dead body with a knife protruding from its back. The police believe Kenton is responsible for at least one of the deaths, so he is on the run. His only chance to prove his innocence lies in recovering the photographs that a stranger gave him while h... | 4 | A novel in black and white | 1,327,536,000 | 01 26, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0375726799 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Arthur Simpson--petty thief, unemployed journalist, and occasional tourist guide--is one of Eric Ambler's finest creations. The son of an Egyptian mother and British father, Simpson is embittered by the unwillingness of either nation to claim him as one of its own.When caught in the act of burglarizing a hotel room in ... | 4 | A low-key, suspenseful thriller | 1,285,113,600 | 09 22, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0375757023 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Some reviewers at this site gave one or two stars to The Ox-Bow Incident because they expected to find the elements of a traditional western -- morally pure heroes defeating evil outlaws in gunfights -- and were disappointed by their absence. The Ox-Bow Incident does not follow that formula. It is a novel about good ... | 5 | Not a generic western | 1,291,680,000 | 12 7, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 038000819X | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Nabokov displays the full range of his considerable talent in Pnin. The story is quite funny, understated humor occasionally giving way to slapstick as the narrator describes the actions and thoughts of the irascible Pnin, a Russian transplant to the United States whose struggles with the mundane mechanics of existence... | 4 | Delightfully ambiguous | 1,389,398,400 | 01 11, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 038072541X | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Hit Man is the first in a series of books starring J.P. Keller, a laid-back assassin who, save for his profession, is just like the rest of us: he walks his dog, goes out on dates, wonders about the lives of strangers he passes on the street, and takes up stamp collecting to alleviate his boredom. Hit Man isn't a con... | 4 | Amusing stories from a killer's life | 1,284,854,400 | 09 19, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0380790564 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | A mechanism constructed around a black hole billions of years ago has been traveling across the universe gathering and banking digitized versions of intelligent life. As it approaches Earth, it demands that several thousand humans be sacrificed to its library of knowledge, including specific individuals (Hillary Clint... | 4 | Hard SF that puts people first | 1,285,200,000 | 09 23, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385263481 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Take the Canterbury Tales, mix with The Odyssey, sprinkle in a bit of John Le Carre, add a dash of Shakespearean tragedy, flavor with your favorite thriller writer, bake in a crust of old fashioned space opera, and you've got Hyperion -- except for the secret sauce that Dan Simmons concocted to hold the dish together. ... | 5 | Five Star Literary SF | 1,284,163,200 | 09 11, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385342764 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | A bursting blood vessel in Howard Morgan's head and his wife's fall from a ladder set the stage in Our Picnics in the Sun, Morag Joss' story of an aging couple in South West England. The action resumes three years later. Point of view shifts between Howard, who struggles with speech and mobility, and Deborah, who is ne... | 5 | Recapturing kindness | 1,385,942,400 | 12 2, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385343833 | TChris | [
915,
967
] | By the time she is thirteen, Natalia has taken so many trips with her grandfather to visit the caged tigers that she feels like a prisoner of ritual. Then a war hundreds of miles distant breaks the ritual: the zoo closes, curfews are implemented, students are disappearing, and spending time with her grandfather seems... | 5 | A novel of power and wisdom and beauty | 1,296,777,600 | 02 4, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385347340 | TChris | [
7,
8
] | "A person can learn a lot from misery," says one of the characters in Save Yourself. If so, Kelly Braffet's characters are well-educated. The miseries of high school, of dysfunctional families, and of small town life are all vividly illustrated in Braffet's novel.Patrick Cusimano's father, while driving drunk, killed... | 4 | The lessons learned from misery | 1,375,833,600 | 08 7, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385349580 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | An Officer and a Spy is a fictionalized account of the Dreyfus affair. Since the unjust conviction of Alfred Dreyfus is a matter of record, the novel holds few surprises. It nevertheless tells a compelling story and serves as a reminder that claims of national security and the need for secret trials too often mask the ... | 5 | When losing is a victory | 1,394,841,600 | 03 15, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385362307 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | The good (if not particularly surprising) news for Easy Rawlins fans is that Easy isn't dead -- he just thinks he is. A few paragraphs into the opening chapter, his revival from a coma gives birth to a new Easy Rawlins adventure. Even before he is back on his feet he has a mission: to find a missing boy named Evande... | 4 | The twelfth Easy Rawlins novel | 1,368,662,400 | 05 16, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385491336 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | This novel is nicely done--deserving of more credit than many reviewers here have given it. It is in part a love story, in part an exploration of sexual repression and religious intolerance of science, in part a comic look at how men have historically been mystified by the female body (and, for that matter, by women).... | 4 | A skillful tale of love, sex, science and religion in the 16th Century | 1,283,990,400 | 09 9, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385510640 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Comedy, like so many things, is a matter of taste: some people laugh at slapstick, some at dry wit, some at cross-dressing British comedians. As a few of the other reviews at this site have demonstrated, not everyone will find The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady funny. My sense of humor must mirror Elizabeth Stuckey... | 5 | Laughter and life lessons | 1,298,160,000 | 02 20, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385523823 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | This marvelous story collection isWinesburg, Ohiofor those who live at the fringes of civilized society. It showcases the residents of Knockemstiff, Ohio, some of whom appear in more than one story. If you like stories about gritty people whose actions are motivated by raw emotion rather than rational thought, people... | 5 | Characters as real as dirt | 1,290,556,800 | 11 24, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385528736 | TChris | [
17,
20
] | The Profession is simultaneously a science fiction novel (to the extent that it's set in the near future), a military novel (although most of the fighting is done by private armies), and a political thriller. The novel works best as a cautionary tale; as a representative of any (or all) of those genres, it's lacking.In... | 3 | Works well as a cautionary tale, not so well as a thriller | 1,303,084,800 | 04 18, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385532989 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Dogfight, A Love Story was a love story for me in this sense: I loved reading it. The novel is fresh, very funny, occasionally morbid, and always energetic. It is the product of a very talented writer. In its setting and characters it reminded me ofClockers(a book I greatly enjoyed) minus the cops and with added hu... | 5 | Strong characters and a funny, powerful story | 1,296,432,000 | 01 31, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385533039 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Is it possible to base an entire novel on potty humor? Not many serious writers would have the audacity to try, and few of those would pull it off as capably as Chuck Palahniuk. Doomed, the sequel toDamned, is a send-up of religion, Hollywood parenting, and hypocrisy in all its guises. Humor of this nature is difficult... | 4 | A different kind of apocalypse | 1,381,622,400 | 10 13, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385533780 | TChris | [
4,
5
] | Moondogs has the feel of a movie with an ensemble cast. Monique Thomas works at the American Embassy in Manila. Her marriage to her "trailing spouse," Joseph, is troubled, and Monique's secretive extramarital activities aren't helping. Benicio Bridgewater has a difficult relationship with his father, Howard, but is ... | 4 | An offbeat, lighthearted thriller | 1,295,740,800 | 01 23, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 038553440X | TChris | [
14,
15
] | Jamrach's Menagerie begins in a seedy nineteenth century London that is reminiscent of Dickens. Charles Jamrach is a dealer in wild animals. When one of his tigers escapes, ten-year-old Jaffy Brown pats it on its nose and winds up in the tiger's mouth. Fortunately for Jaffy, the tiger has recently eaten and is sated... | 5 | Thrilling adventure and difficult moral choices | 1,308,096,000 | 06 15, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385534426 | TChris | [
4,
5
] | David Abbott blends light comedy with tragic drama in a first novel that reads like the work of a seasoned writer. The Upright Piano Player begins in 2004 at the funeral of Henry Cage's beloved grandson Hal, a death for which Henry blames himself. The story then begins anew, this time in 1999. Forced into retirement... | 5 | A self-centered life | 1,307,404,800 | 06 7, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385534736 | TChris | [
17,
21
] | In the Sea There Are Crocodiles is a fictionalized account of Enaiatollah Akbari's journey from Afghanistan to Italy, as he related it to Fabio Geda. Akbari left Afghanistan when he was ten years old, shortly after his mother disappeared. After spending time in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Greece -- sometimes working,... | 3 | An overly detached account of a displaced boy's journey to Italy | 1,313,020,800 | 08 11, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 038553504X | TChris | [
9,
10
] | It is rare and wonderful to find a writer who combines the literary sensibility of character-driven fiction with the storytelling ability that shapes the best plot-driven fiction. Donald Ray Pollock is such a writer. I was enthused about the stories collected in his first book,Knockemstiff, and looked forward to read... | 5 | A skillful blend of character-driven and plot-driven fiction | 1,310,860,800 | 07 17, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385535066 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | A conspiracy is afoot and the only (good) people who know about it are the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. Until they die. Just before their car explodes on the White House lawn, the head of the NYSE texts the word Palantir to his estranged son... | 4 | A financial thriller with ... a warrior monk? | 1,387,065,600 | 12 15, 2013 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385535155 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Amped is a variation on a science fiction theme with a rich tradition: an exploration of the rights to which artificially intelligent beings are entitled. Although the theme has most often involved machines that take on the characteristics of humans, Daniel Wilson applies it to humans who have been physically and cogni... | 4 | Serious themes buried in an action-adventure story | 1,338,940,800 | 06 6, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385535481 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | The Paris Directive starts out as a French police procedural involving a hit man, four dead Americans, and a disgruntled police inspector. When, approaching the midway point, the CIA station chief in Paris becomes involved, The Paris Directive takes on the added flavor of a spy novel, although one involving industrial ... | 4 | "Homicide is my life" | 1,340,150,400 | 06 20, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385535651 | TChris | [
134,
145
] | [Apparently the robotic censors that patrol the reviews will not allow a review to post that actually uses the title of this book. This review will therefore use A-holes to represent the book's title, and a-hole to refer to the singular form of that word.]Aaron James took a break from the philosopher's customary searc... | 4 | Naming names: a philosopher's view of [censored] | 1,351,555,200 | 10 30, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385536577 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | I did not know that more than half of employed Americans work in a cubicle (or even that more than half work in offices), but since they tend to be hidden from the public, I suppose I'm just not aware of their pervasive existence. I have no trouble believing that 93 percent of those workers dislike their cubes. The cub... | 4 | Informative and interesting but doesn't quite meet its stated goal | 1,399,766,400 | 05 11, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385537433 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | I enjoyed reading Bread and Butter, in part because I enjoy a good meal as much as I enjoy a good book. There's also something romantic about the restaurant business. Like many people, I love the idea of owning/managing a restaurant even though I know nothing about food preparation. I do know that most restaurants fail... | 4 | A satisfying meal | 1,396,483,200 | 04 3, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0385538618 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | The Hanway brothers, born on the same day in three consecutive years, grow up in a London neighborhood. Their mother absents herself from the home when the oldest, Harry, is ten. Their father, a failed writer working as a nightwatchman, allows the boys to fend for themselves. Harry is athletic and adventurous; Daniel i... | 4 | A paler version of Kingsley Amis | 1,399,161,600 | 05 4, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0393062325 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | This is a very funny novel. At times the humor is subtle; at other times it borders on farce or slapstick. Lee touches on themes of individuality, racial identity, the nature and meaning of art, and whether the value of art (sculpture in the case of one character, film in the case of his brother) is determined by the... | 4 | A funny, quirky novel that deserves a wider audience | 1,283,558,400 | 09 4, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0394411919 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | It's a shame that Joe Gores' novels about the Dan Kearney Agency -- known collectively as the "DKA Files" -- are no longer in print. Gores packed more story and characterization into his two hundred page novels than most writers can manage with a five hundred page blockbuster. It's also a shame that Gores died this y... | 4 | The third DKA novel | 1,317,859,200 | 10 6, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0394448588 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | In the future that Ira Levin envisions, the world has been unified, lasting peace has been achieved, and poverty has been erased. Guns and prisons exist only as museum exhibits. Of course, this comes with a cost. "Members" of this worldwide family wear bracelets that are connected to UniComp, the computer that contr... | 5 | A dystopian classic | 1,338,163,200 | 05 28, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0394487060 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Reading a DKA novel is like spending a few days shadowing a repo man to learn the ropes of the repossession business, except that it's more fun (and less dangerous). In a DKA novel, you know that you'll meet interesting characters, encounter plenty of action, and exercise your brain as you try to solve whatever puzzle... | 4 | The second DKA novel | 1,291,161,600 | 12 1, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0394551788 | TChris | [
3,
3
] | This is the first novel of a trilogy that follows theGame, Set, and Matchtrilogy (in which British agent Bernard Samson's wife Fiona defects). Spy Hook begins with the beleaguered Samson asking former agent Jim Pettyman, now working for an American corporation, to return to England to answer questions in the investigat... | 4 | The first installment of an excellent trilogy | 1,286,928,000 | 10 13, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0394551796 | TChris | [
2,
2
] | Spy Line -- the middle installment in the Hook, Line, and Sinker trilogy -- picks up whereSpy Hookleft off. Samson's loyalty is questioned, he isn't getting answers to his own questions about his wife's defection, people are dying, and people who seemed to die in the past aren't staying dead. More I cannot say withou... | 5 | The best of the trilogy | 1,286,928,000 | 10 13, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0394743253 | TChris | [
5,
5
] | At some point in The Sportswriter, the title character talks about feeling "a hundred things at once, all competing to take the moment and make it their own, reduce undramatic life to a gritty, knowable kernel." That, I think, is what Richard Ford's novel tries to do. The Sportswriter is a snapshot of a man's undrama... | 5 | Snapshot of an undramatic life | 1,288,396,800 | 10 30, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 039474442X | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Two men enter Rosie McKechnie's home, bind her, and make a precise three inch cut on her back. They mention the name Barbara, which means nothing to Rosie but has significance to her husband Brian, who has good reason to keep Barbara's existence a secret from Rosie. Brian is soon being blackmailed and when the police p... | 4 | The first Nick Duffy novel | 1,391,904,000 | 02 9, 2014 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0395182808 | TChris | [
6,
6
] | Robert Littell has made a career of writing excellent espionage novels. Sweet Reason, his second novel (afterThe Defection of A.J. Lewinter), is a departure from that niche. This 1974 novel is a war story, or more accurately a war comedy: not as outrageously funny (and not nearly as profound) asCatch-22, but in the ... | 4 | An amusing war comedy, but it's no Catch-22 | 1,288,569,600 | 11 1, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0395215021 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Although Robert Littell is known as a spy novelist, The October Circle isn't a conventional spy novel. In fact, it isn't a spy novel at all. Nor is it an action novel. Through much of the story, nothing of consequence happens. The October Circle is instead a novel of characters and ideas. Taken for what it is, The... | 4 | Idealism and betrayal | 1,354,406,400 | 12 2, 2012 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0399106383 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Genetically engineered soldiers, born in a bio-womb, are bred to fight an interstellar war against the Voles. As the novel opens, a warship is on its way to liberate a planet that the Voles occupy. Tomas, the ship's artist, and Jon, a smallish engineer whose job is to clean the ship's drive tube, are the only two sur... | 3 | A mediocre sf war story | 1,289,606,400 | 11 13, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0399116532 | TChris | [
1,
1
] | Michaelmas is a journalist who secretly runs the world with the help of his supercomputer. Although science fiction requires the willing suspension of disbelief, that premise is a bit hard to swallow. Moreover, as you might expect from someone who feels it's his right to run the world, Michaelmas is a bit pompous and... | 4 | Michaelmas runs the world | 1,286,409,600 | 10 7, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0399137599 | TChris | [
0,
0
] | Varley can be a compelling writer (I'm a big fan ofMillenniumandThe Ophiuchi Hotline) but this novel needed a good edit. The basic plot, involving a schizophrenic computer that controls nearly every aspect of life on the moon, is ingenious, and Varley tosses off enough interesting ideas (routine sex changes, ultimate ... | 3 | Interesting but tedious | 1,282,003,200 | 08 17, 2010 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 039915700X | TChris | [
3,
3
] | Whenever I read a novel written by a Scandinavian, I feel the need to button up my parka and don a fur-lined ushanka. James Thompson (American by birth, resident of Finland by choice) writes so convincingly about cold Finnish nights that the novel left me shivering. Of course, the plot -- involving a gruesome murder an... | 4 | Murder and war crimes in Finland | 1,300,320,000 | 03 17, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 039915728X | TChris | [
6,
7
] | It's tricky to write a novel that weaves together the separate stories of an ensemble cast. Done well, the different viewpoints cohere into a meaningful whole. (I thought Colum McCann did it masterfully inLet the Great World Spin, using a tightrope walk as the focal point to intertwine stories of disparate lives.) D... | 4 | Fragmented stories loosely connected by a funeral train | 1,315,526,400 | 09 9, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0399157352 | TChris | [
5,
6
] | Cold Wind gets off to a promising start as Joe Pickett discovers the body of his mother-in-law's most recent husband chained to the spinning blade of a wind-powered turbine. The plot begins to deteriorate when his mother-in-law, Missy, is arrested for the crime, the murder weapon having been found in the back of her ca... | 3 | Characters in search of common sense | 1,300,752,000 | 03 22, 2011 |
A1DLVUJFANNU1Q | 0399157492 | TChris | [
6,
6
] | Very Bad Men tells a very good story, an absorbing mystery with enough twists that you may need to take notes to keep track of the plot. Someone is trying to kill the participants in a bank robbery that occurred seventeen years earlier. We are well into the novel before the police discover the killer's identity, but ... | 4 | The second David Loogan novel | 1,311,206,400 | 07 21, 2011 |
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