The Earth Lords by Gordon R. Dickson (1989, 311 pages) – When I first started reading this “fantasy” novel (I was fooled by the cover), I was surprised to find myself reading a western set in the late 1800s.  However, the writing was so good and the hero so interesting, I immediately became involved in his adventures.  He’s a half-blood with a Cree mother and a white father, an interesting and well-educated background, and a powerful physique.  I was sucked in even more when his […]

Captain Flandry, Defender of the Terran Empire by Poul Anderson, compiled by Hank Davis (2011, 591 pages) – This compilation of Flandry stories is an enthusiastic effort by Hank Davis to gather the Dominc Flandry stories into a comprehensive collection. This is the second of four Flandry collections, but, oddly enough, its first two stories (one a lengthy novella) don’t feature our well-dressed hero at all. The stories are, however, set in the same universe, and the novella does mention Dom as it deals with […]

The Forever Watch by David Ramirez (2014, 326 pages) – This book has several things going against it for me. First, the entire novel is present tense. I feel like I’m falling forward when I read present tense. Secondly, there are very few speaking verbs (said, asked, exclaimed). This is my pet peeve because most authors who avoid such verbs are forced to stick in artificial narrative so we know who is speaking (e.g., She nodded. “I’m going to town.”) I can only take so […]

Not of Woman Born, Edited by Constance Ash (1999, 272 pages) – A themed anthology of unusual births and even more unusual birthrights. A nice mix of some intriguing short stories, most of which I really liked. Hunting Mother by Sage Walker – I’m always intrigued by what order an anthologist puts the stories in and how they decide. I would not have picked this as my “grabber” story simply because it doesn’t have a lot of story to it. It’s got enough atmosphere for […]

The Robots of Dawn by Isaac Asimov (1994, 435 pages) – How do I know there’s no life after death?  Because Isaac Asimov would claw his way out of the ground and strangle me if he knew about this negative review.   I’m usually a big fan, and I’ve never understood people who consider Asimov to be dry and pedantic.  I love and reread the original Foundation Trilogy every couple of years, and his short stories are always clever and wicked funny on occasion. However, having struggled […]