false 19 263 255 true 5628421 read 2 true 1695577 currently-reading 6 true 1695576 to-read 79 false 2395122 fantasy 75 false 2395116 science-fiction 57 false 2395215 graphic-novels 50 false 2395175 general-fiction 44 false 2395123 epic-fantasy 25 false 2395125 nonfiction 18 false 2395181 humor 11 false 2395174 horror 9 false 2395202 memoir 7 false 2533016 urban-fantasy 6 false 2395217 philosophy 5 false 2395126 tech 4 false 2395171 programming 4 false 2395152 design 4 false 2395121 hard-sf 3 false 2395179 religion 3 false 2395248 martial-arts 3 false 2395309 historical-fiction 2 false 2395163 psychology 2 false 2395118 steampunk 2 false 2395246 business 2 false 2395222 writing 1 false 2395295 mystery 1 false 7302856 abandoned 1 false 5605303 heroic-fantasy 1 false 2395158 games 1 false 8462666 essays 1 false 2395183 biography 1 false 5183042 thriller 1 false 4664343 comics 1 false 2395117 cyberpunk 0 false 2395259 marketing http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77847946 to: Shivering Sands: Seven Years of Stories, Drinking and the World (Paperback) by Warren Ellis
bookshelves: essays, nonfiction
This is a good collection of essays, twitter postings, blog entries and emails from Warren Ellis. If you are a reader of Ellis's work, you will enjoy the reading the various essays, noting their dates and seeing how the ideas he was experimenting with in these writings made their way into his other work. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75356015 to: Memories of the Future - Volume 1 (Paperback) by Wil Wheaton
bookshelves: humor, memoir, nonfiction
I really enjoyed this book. I laughed so much while reading Memories of the Future, more than I have for any other book in recent memory.

The episode recaps are the real stars of the book, and I would often stop to read a particularly hilarious passage out loud to my girlfriend. However, this isn't just a book of condensed snark; Wheaton's love of Star Trek TNG comes through on every page. His profound respect for his fellow actors, and his affection for what the show will become gives the recaps a humane quality. As a result, the snarky episode recaps, feel less like a nasty internet posting (the natural habitat of undiluted snark), and more like the playful ribbing of a friend at the dinner table, while reminiscing about that embarrassing event that everyone had to go through back in high school.

It's a great book, but I do have a tiny niggling complaint. There's a lot of references in the recaps to later episodes by their title, which I wouldn't mind if the recaps of those episodes were in the same volume, however a few of them are slated for volume two, and since I don't have the 1st season of TNG around the house to figure out what Wheaton's referring to, I felt left out of a joke that probably won't make sense to me until the second volume comes out (soon, I hope).

There were also a couple episodes where Wheaton didn't actually recall anything from behind the scenes, so for those entries the "Behind the Scenes Memory" section would be a little weak.

To sum up: I loved this book and can't wait for volume two. However, I knock off one star for the two small complaints I mention because I am a bit of a prick despite Wil Wheaton's sage advice: "Don't be a dick!" ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49974534 Daniel's review of Red Mars (Mars Trilogy, #1)
by Kim Stanley Robinson

I'm giving up on this one for a while. The amount of consideration regarding practical colonization of Mars on both a technological and social level is impressive. I just wish I didn't have to get bogged down in lengthy passages of technical details that seem primarily there to prove how well thought out it is, as opposed to adding to the story. I may come back to this one day, but I'm done for now. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75042869 to: Old Man's War (Book 1) by John Scalzi
bookshelves: science-fiction
I enjoyed this book, which actually surprised me a bit. Typically with sci-fi I tend to prefer heavier fare, but Scalzi's light touch with his prose worked for me quite well. It's central idea is spectacular story-fodder, and I'm interested in seeing what he does with it in the later books of the series.

Unfortunately, there is a little bit of a strange disconnect in the story, which might have a lot to do with the fact that the protagonist seems to excel at everything, and never seems to face a real challenges, so the central conflict of the story feels almost superficial. Also, the alien species are painted in very broad strokes, and it gave me the impression (rightly or wrongly) that the universe was not fully realized by the author beyond the limited conflicts that are depicted. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I like to feel a bit more depth to the world, and I might have been able to ignore it had the protagonist faced more challenges.

Don't ge me wrong, I enjoyed the book, and will try out the next book in the series, but the disconnection I felt means I can only give it three stars. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75040145 to: Boneshaker (Paperback) by Cherie Priest
bookshelves: science-fiction, steampunk
This was my first experience with Priest's work, and it was a pleasure. I found it to be a brilliantly imagined steampunk novel set during an extended Civil War, and in Seattle, a catastrophic event has brought the Blight upon the city, which causes the dead to walk. The story focuses on a mother seeking to save her son, whom has charged off into the city to find out about his father. Along the way she encounters air pirates, zombie rotters, and the other people who choose to brave the Blight, living beneath the ground and in sealed vaults for protection. However, its also a mystery, for the son's quest will lead them both on a journey to answer the questions raised by the Blight, and to learn once and for all the real history of the experiment that started it all.

The book is well written, the action is tight, and it's just a hell of a lot of fun to read. The only complaint I have is that the last chapter seemed a little flat to me, almost an unnecessary epilogue, that answers none of the questions that still remain, but without actually building any sort of wonderment or cliffhanger. This is the only reason that I'm only doing four stars. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75038606 to: The Child Thief: A Novel (Hardcover) by Brom
bookshelves: fantasy
I admit that I approached this book with trepidation. In the past, I have encountered a number of attempts to retell the Peter Pan story, most of them spectacularly bad. Add in the fact that the author only goes by a single name, and alarm bells begin to ring.

I was pleasantly surprised. What I found was a dark, tense and well written piece of fiction that successfully reinvents Peter Pan, while still holding true to the core elements of the original. Brom doesn't cheat. Peter is an unpredictable and violent figure, who is clearly borderline insane. However, Brom also demonstrates quite clearly that Peter is a pawn of greater forces, and the enemy that he is being pitted against is truly horrifying. With this in mind, you might almost forgive him for stealing the abused children of the world in order to serve as infantry in the battle, but the author rightly refuses to let Peter off that easy. You are confronted with the terror the children feel, and that is what makes this novel work.

And if that wasn't enough, it comes in a beautiful hardcover edition with artwork from the artist himself. It's definitely worth a read, so if you hear the same alarm bells I did, cover you ears. This book is worth it. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75037098 to: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? (Hardcover) by Neil Gaiman
bookshelves: graphic-novels
A fine tribute to Batman and the mythos surrounding him, written with obvious love by Neil Gaiman. It didn't blow my hair back, but its a fine "conclusion" for the Batman story. At least until he inevitably reappears. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66984225 to: Fool (Kindle Edition) by Christopher Moore
bookshelves: general-fiction, humor
I have enjoyed much of Christopher Moore's work in the past, but something felt missing in this book. It had several moments that were laugh-out-loud funny, but on the whole the humor felt much weaker than it is in his other books.

I am keeping this short because usually Moore's works are an easy three to four stars for me, but I feel compelled, without a clear understanding why, to place this somewhere between two and three stars. Perhaps it is just the time in which I read it, but it did not feel as strong as his other books. Alternatively, could it be that the issue is that Moore allowed himself to get too confined by the source material and the admittedly intimidating position of retelling Shakespeare?

Regardless, I still enjoyed the book, but I was disappointed with it in a way that I have not encountered before in his work. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/66982279 to: Warbreaker (Hardcover) by Brandon Sanderson
bookshelves: epic-fantasy, fantasy, heroic-fantasy
I enjoyed Warbreaker, but not as much as I had hoped to. Sanderson sets a high standard for his work with the Mistborn trilogy, which this novel does not quite reach.

However, the world he has built here is compelling, with a mythos and history of conflict that one cannot help but get caught up in. As one expects with Sanderson, the characters are vividly drawn and fully realized, although oddly it is Vasher, the title character of the piece, that is perhaps the least fleshed out in the prose. Then again, the mystery of Vasher is an essential element to the story, and thus a limited knowledge of his nature is most likely a necessary evil.

Also problematic is that the magical system he has created for this world feels a bit too formulaic to me. Sanderson is known for his belief that magic systems must have rules, but unlike the Allomancy in his Mistborn series, the magical system in this book feels just a little too much like character statistics, although I wouldn't go so far as to say that you can hear dice rolling in the background. This is a fully realized magical system, but at times gets a little heavy on the exposition in order to make it clear to the reader how the magic works. However, it does not occupy so much of the story that this is a huge detraction, just a bit of a disappointment after how skillfully he handled these issues in the Mistborn trilogy.

I do want to be clear that this is an enjoyable novel, and I look forward to reading the sequel. I'm also intrigued to read in some of his interviews that the worlds of the Mistborn trilogy, Elantris (which I have yet to read), Warbreaker, and The Way of Kings (forthcoming) are all part of the same metaverse that he has created, but he does not indicate if there is going to be any interaction between them beyond that, with the possible exception of a common character in two of the books.

I am looking forward to reading more of Sanderson's works, but this particular novel really only merits a 3.5 (rounded down) for the reasons described above. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/62566530 to: Ghost Ocean (Whitechapel, #2) by S.M. Peters
bookshelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy
This might be one of the best-written urban fantasy novels I've read recently. It's approach to the urban fantasy setting, and without giving away any spoilers, I found the concept of the Warden to be fascinating. Peters manages to weave in magical creatures, both mythological and original, in an effective effort of world building that doesn't feel cheap or tongue-in-cheek. The result is an urban fantasy novel that, while still having the trappings of the genre, feels new and unique.

The characters were interesting, although at times they acted in a manner that didn't make sense. For example (without spoilers), it isn't clear to me how it is possible for the protagonist to be so (supposedly) unaware of the mystical considering the descriptions of what she had to deal with growing up. That's really my only sticking part of this novel, as the whole is quite good, but it did throw me off a bit reading it which is the only reason I took off one star.

It says here that Ghost Ocean is Whitechapel #2, which was a surprise when I came to write this review. I had started on Whitechapel Gods quite a while ago, but I was very busy at the time and didn't get very far. I now feel compelled to pick up that book and give it another shot, both because Peters has impressed me with Ghost Ocean and because I am very curious what connection lies between the two stories. ]]>