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Books / Articles, Reviews
Review: The Magicians, one of the best Fantasy novels to come out of 2009
08.07.10 | Permalink | Comment?

“BURN THIS” wrote Lev Grossman on the inside cover of my book. Lev was surprised to see a copy of his first novel ‘WARP’ showing up a book reading for ‘The Magicians’. He stated that most of the remaining copies are being used to hold up his broken couch at home. A humorous idea and I wonder how many new authors end up with excess copies of their first printings lying about.

Unfortunately, I think I threw him off his game a bit, and feeling bad, I did not stick around to ask him any questions. Instead, I will ask them psychically, or maybe via email :)

‘The Magicians’ will not end up holding a couch off the hardwood floor of his living room. It was a phenomenal book.

In Magicians, magic exists. Schools for magic exist. Students go to these schools and learn a very large amount of… Read the rest
Books / Articles, Reviews
Review: The Changes: A Trilogy, Peter Dickinson
06.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?

not sci-fi, more like anti-sci-fi sci- fi? wait.. sci-fantasy? kinda, but still standard sci-fi, but with every day objects?

i really do not know what category this would fall into. it is definitely a young adult trilogy. it was also very good.

Peter Dickinson’s ‘The Changes’ trilogy follows the the experiences of three groups in the UK over a period of about a decade. This is basically a post apocalyptic tale with out the apocalypse.

one afternoon everybody just goes a little bit crazy and it sticks. They fear all things technological. Engines drive them mad and they fly into a fury of destruction. electricity is like witch craft, guns are completely out of the question. even simple machines like a bicycle could cause a mob scene.

in a matter of minutes, even seeing a unmoving vehicle or a telephone sitting idle makes people uncomfortable to the point of… Read the rest
Books / Articles, Reviews
Book Review: S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire
01.16.10 | Permalink | Comment?

S.M. Stirling – Dies the Fire

* Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
* Publisher: Roc (September 6, 2005)
* ISBN-10: 0451460413
* ISBN-13: 978-0451460417

i recently finished reading S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire. i don’t want to come right out and state that it was a bad book because it was not. i actually enjoyed it to a large degree. to be honest though, i am glad someone loaned it to me instead of being an out right buy.

in Dies the Fire, a flash of light crosses the globe, killing all electronics. its similar to an electromagnetic pulse, but unlike an EMP, more is affected than just electronics. in a standard EMP (assume non-nuclear), the fluctuations in a magnetic field cause a wave reaction. interactions with that wave actually induce/generate electricity which shorts things out, often permanently. in the “books of the change”, this pulse seems… Read the rest
Books / Articles, Reviews
Review: Mathematicians in Love, Rudy Rucker
01.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?

A decade ago, i knew a man who went by the moniker “The Professor” (Fess). we all called him that because he was our leather clad, pc geek, rivet head savant. Dustin, as his parents called him, was a real gem of a human.

fond memories of fess prior to his demise include drunken ramblings regarding “abstract mathematics”. the professor did not hold the same view on abstraction as core mathematicians. core math removes the ties to physical objects thus breaking out into pure theory and crossing standard mathematical boundaries. Fess firmly believed that standard abstraction was wrong and the ties to physicality are ultimately more important.

in the professors perspective:

couch + toilet paper (wristwatch/french fries) = lower half of a broken gi joe.

likewise

(pressed flower/4th of july fireworks) * (glow worms/butter knife) / baton rouge area code = mink coat

Mathematicians in Love was like… Read the rest
Books / Articles, Reviews
Review: The Genesis of Shannara – Terry Brooks
12.27.09 | Permalink | Comment?

I have long been told that Terry Brooks was a writer i would enjoy, but i really had no strong desire to start reading his mammoth Shannara series. 19 books is quite a commitment to a single author, as such, i just never got around to reading any of them.

About six months ago, i ran across a copy of Armageddon’s Children on the cheap. I read the inside cover and it was pretty clear that this was a standalone book, and a nice introduction into Brooks, with out having to commit myself to a mass reading project. i picked up the book and read it, enjoying the whole plot. Unfortunately, the book ended up not being a standalone. Instead, it was the first book in a standalone TRILOGY. the prequels to the Shannara series… damn you publishing house.. damn you. The other two books are “The… Read the rest
Books / Articles, Reviews
AudioBook Review: Lightning, Dean Koontz
11.14.09 | Permalink | 4 Comments

still sick.. bear with me if my grammar and such sucks today…

on a recent trip to california for a wedding, jenn and i decided to spend the whole trip not talking to each other. no no no, it wasnt because of bad stuff, it was because audiobook goodness was going to make the long car drive easier.

12+ hours of audio, the unabridged audiobook of Dean Koontz “Lightning”.

Lightning is the story of a woman, Shane, who’s destiny is altered repeatedly by a stranger. at key points of her life a pale stranger, Stefan, arrives and aids her. his only goal is to make sure she lives. through muggings, abuse, and accidents, he assists her. what he doesnt know is that his help will bring men with machine guns her way.

- Lightning details how each… Read the rest
Books / Articles, Old Subject Matter, Reviews
Book Review: The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
11.11.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe | Prince Caspian | The Voyage of the DawnTreader | The Silver Chair | The Horse and his Boy | The Magicians Nephew | The Last Battle

Narnia, sweet Narnia.

When I was young, your tales made my imagination swirl. You were the sweet little brother to Lord of the Rings. As a kid brother, we enjoyed hanging out at first. Your silly antics and off kilter view of reality made me smile. LOTR and I thought you were fancy in your way.

Before long, we had out grown you. Your psuedo-serious outlook on the world no longer caught our attention. While LOTR and I grew up, you stayed the same. You lacked depth and fell back on religion like a crutch. Though getting older, you continued to prey on the young; like a creepy guy who searches out and only dates high… Read the rest