I am late to the party, I admit it. This book has been out for a long time, won many awards, and even been turned into a film (which I plan on watching this weekend). Yet I had not read it until very recently. That is my loss, because this novel is fabulous. Usually, one can categorize a book pretty clearly, but not in this case. Yes, Death is the narrator here and there are descriptions of souls but does that make it fantasy? Nah. […]
A Disappointing Story but one with interesting ideas
Unsouled by Will Wight
I hate writing reviews on books I did not like, but it is necessary. I go to a lot of websites and on one of them, cannot remember which one, this series was suggested as a different take on fantasy. And it is. Unfortunately, it also does not apply a consistent set of rules to the world that is described and has a main character that is unlikable. The story is a basic Campbell-esque hero saga one where a young man, who has a difficulty […]
New treasures from Octavia Butler
Unexpected Stories by Octavia Butler
Some days, the gods just smile on you. I was walking into Dreamhaven Bookstore in Minneapolis (and if you are in the area, check it out, one of the best places for Neil Gaiman/anime/science fiction stuff in the upper Midwest) when I saw an entire shelf devoted to the works of Ms. Butler. I had read Lillith’s Brood many years before and loved it but loaned out my copy and it was never returned. So I purchased a number of works and started with Unexpected […]
Station Eleven-a surprisingly optimistic apocalyptic story
Station Eleven by Emily Saint John Mandel
I admit, when I saw this come up as a featured book for Cannonball Read, I was a bit wary. Not because I was not a fan of the book, I was. However, reading a book about society rebuilding after a devastating plague seemed a bit masochistic during these days of isolation due to COVID-19. But I am glad I did. This books speaks to the resiliency of our species, both from a physical, as well as a cultural standpoint. One of the keys to […]
An excellent adaptation of a classic novel
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Some stories hit you harder than others. Reading this graphic novel, shortly after watching the film Harriet, struck like a thunderbolt. Some people, mostly belonging to a certain political party, have attempted to make slavery seem not so bad. Which is why works like Kindred are so important. In Kindred, Dana, a young black woman, married to a white man in 1976, finds herself transported back the mid 1800s to save a white ancestor of hers. She bounces back and forth between the time periods […]