Alex C. Telander's Blog, page 50
January 16, 2014
The Reviews Are Coming
Now that it’s 2014 and my newborn is working through his fifth month of life, my own life has settled a little and has more structure and control to it. I also have a backlog of reviews developing, with my two-post a week schedule.
Therefore, starting next week, I’ll be going back to the three-post a week schedule: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Book Report will be appearing on Wednesdays now. This should clear out my backlog a bit and get more reviews to you faithful readers.
Bookbanter Blog 2013 in Review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Click here to see the complete report.
“Burning Paradise” by Robert Charles Wilson (Tor, 2013)
From the Hugo award winner of Spin and author of Julian Comstock comes his thrilling new novel, Burning Paradise. The year is 2015 and Cassie Klyne lives in a United States that is not ours, in a time different from our own. The world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918, there was no World War II or Great Depression, and it seems like Earth is a pretty decent place.
But Cassie is the daughter of parents who were part of a special group that has been studying the facts and asking questions for decades and now knows the truth: that an alien entity has encompassed the earth in the form of a parasitic layer and is able to control and manipulate radio communication. In this way it has controlled events in the world since the dawn of radio communication. And then it launched an attack against this special group, targeting many of the people – like Cassie’s parents – and killing them with its special creations that appear to be human, but are stronger and bleed a smelly green goo.
Now Cassie is on the run once again from these alien beings, looking to find out what they really are, but also to see what can be done to stop this alien entity that now controls the planet. Joining with other members of the group, the mission will take them deep into South America with a special device intended to stop the alien intruder and free humanity once again.
Wilson has created a compelling alternate world with details and characters that make it feel like our own. Blending some interesting science with some great storytelling, Burning Paradise is a great example of good science fiction.
Originally written on November 29, 2013 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of Burning Paradise from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
You might also like . . .
January 14, 2014
Book Report: The Best Books That Don’t Exist, Ten Top 100 Lists, Snobs, Literary Cocktails & More!
Shit Book Snobs Say
We’ve all met them and we know what they’re thinking when they say stuff like this.
Guess These Authors
A fun quiz to test your knowledge of guessing authors with New York Times based descriptions.
Bestselling Books of 2013
Publishers Weekly presents the bestselling books of last year.
January 7, 2014
Books Read in 2013
We come once again to the beginning of a new year, and the end of an old one. So it is time, once again, to do a roundup of what I got read from cover to cover in 2013. Previous years’ lists can be found here.
The most notable difference with 2013 is the number of ebooks read, due to my having an ereader and tablet, and also ebooks being more readily available for the book reviewer.
Who knows what 2014 will hold?
NUMBER
TITLE
AUTHOR
GENRE
EDITION
1
A Casual Vacancy
J. K. Rowling
Fiction
2
Cold Days
Jim Butcher
Fantasy
3
Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
Fiction
Ebook
4
Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares
Joyce Carol Oates
Horror
5
Ash
James Herbert
Horror
6
Fables: Cubs in Toyland
Bill Willingham
Graphic Novel
7
The Colony
A. J. Colucci
Horror
8
Seconds
David Ely
Science Fiction
9
Frozen Sky
Jeff Carlson
Science Fiction
Ebook
10
Tuf Voyaging
George R R Martin
Science Fiction
11
Gold Rush in the Jungle
Dan Drollette Jr.
Biology
Ebook
12
Midnight Blue-Light Special
Seanan McGuire
Fantasy
13
King Arthur’s Battle for Britain
Eric Walmsley
History
14
Homeland
Cory Doctorow
Young Adult
15
Penny Arcade 9: Passion’s Howl
Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik
Comic Strip
16
Gulp
Mary Roach
Science
17
14
Peter Clines
Horror
Ebook
18
Worlds of Arthur
Guy Halsall
History
19
Red Planet Blues
Robert J. Sawyer
Science Fiction
20
The World Until Yesterday
Jared Diamond
Anthropology
21
Farside
Ben Bova
Science Fiction
22
NOS4A2
Joe Hill
Horror
23
The Rithmatist
Brandon Sanderson
YA
24
Saga: Volume 1
Brian K. Vaughan
Graphic Novel
25
Walking Dead Vol. 17: Something to Fear
Robert Kirkman
Graphic Novel
26
Joyland
Stephen King
Horror
27
Way of Kings
Brandon Sanderson
Fantasy
Audiobook
28
Chimes at Midnight
Seanan McGuire
Fantasy
29
River of Stars
Guy Gavriel Kay
Fantasy
30
Happiest Baby on the Block
Harvey Karp
Parenting
31
The Shining
Stephen King
Horror
Ebook
32
Husband-Coached Childbirth
Robert A. Bradley
Parenting
33
No Way Out
Alan Jacobson
Mystery
34
Cuckoo’s Calling
Robert Galbraith
Mystery
Ebook
35
Cat’s Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut
Fiction
Ebook
36
The New Earth
Ben Bova
Science Fiction
37
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut
Fiction
Ebook
38
UR
Stephen King
Horror
Ebook
39
Breakfast of Champions
Kurt Vonnegut
Fiction
Ebook
40
Big Egos
S. G. Browne
Fiction
41
Parasite
Mira Grant
Horror
Ebook
42
Overlay
Blaine C. Readler
Science Fiction
43
Brilliance
Marcus Sakey
Science Fiction
Ebook
44
Summer of Night
Dan Simmons
Horror
Ebook
45
The Plant
Stephen King
Horror
Ebook
46
Phantoms
Dean Koontz
Horror
Ebook
47
Desperation
Stephen King
Horror
Ebook
48
Boy’s Life
Robert McCammon
Horror
Ebook
49
Boxers
Gene Luen Yang
Graphic Novel
50
Saints
Gene Luen Yang
Graphic Novel
51
Long Walk
Stephen King
Horror
Ebook
52
It
Stephen King
Horror
Audiobook
53
Doctor Sleep
Stephen King
Horror
54
Interrupt
Jeff Carlson
Science Fiction
Ebook
55
Snoopy: Cowabunga
Charles Schultz
Comic Strip
56
The Heavens Rise
Christopher Rice
Horror
57
The Wreck of the Zephyr
Chris Van Allsburg
Picture Book
58
Old Bear
Jane Hissey
Picture Book
59
Queen of the Falls
Chris Van Allsburg
Picture Book
60
Insomnia
Stephen King
Audiobook
61
The Abominable
Dan Simmons
Horror
62
The Walking Dead 18 What Comes After
Robert Kirkman
Graphic Novel
63
Burning Paradise
Robert Charles Wilson
Science Fiction
64
Codex Born
Jim C Hines
Fantasy
Audiobook
65
Fairest in All the Land
Bill Willingham
Graphic Novel
66
No-Cry Sleep Solution
Elizabeth Pantley
Parenting
67
Spillover
David Quammen
Science
68
Steelheart
Brandon Sanderson
Young Adult
Audiobook
69
Let the Old Dreams Die
John Ajvide Lindqvist
Horror
70
Blood Brothers
James Rollins
Thriller
Ebook
71
Midnight Riot
Ben Aaronovich
Fantasy
Audiobook
72
Chiliad: A Meditation
Clive Barker
Horror
73
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Fiction
74
Moon Over Soho
Ben Aaronovich
Fantasy
Audiobook
75
Walking Dead 19: March to War
Robert Kirkman
Graphic Novel
January 2, 2014
And the Winner is . . .
The Bookbanter Holiday Giveaway is now over and the winner is . . .
Malik Bennett!
Congratulations to Malik and thank you to everyone who participated. Malik, please email me your address to alex@bookbanter.net.
December 31, 2013
Book Report: Stephen King Plots 2014, Trilogy Talk, Sherlock Holmes Goes Public & More!
Sherlock Holmes Ruling
Time to start working on that Holmes novel, as a judged has ruled the characters to be in the public domain.
Stephen King New Year
A look at what Stephen King has on the book burner for 2014.
One Sentence Lessons
What these books of classic literature were basically trying to say.
Welcome to Night Vale the Book
Harper has done a deal with the creators of the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale with plans to release a novel in 2015.
[READ MORE . . .]
December 26, 2013
“Interrupt” by Jeff Carlson (47North, 2013)
Jeff Carlson, author of the Plague Year trilogy and The Frozen Sky, is back with his next science fiction thriller, employing some of the things that made his previous novels so addicting and riveting, as well as presenting a story that is both shocking and gripping.
A catastrophic global event related to excessive solar flares and reactions with the sun is triggered, blighting the planet. Before anyone knows what’s going on, they find themselves not themselves, but regressing to some primitive form, behaving like Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. A Navy pilot deep in the Pacific, a computational biologist and an autistic boy are all pulled together in a strange way in this changed world. Many have died already; more will lose their lives, but those willing to survive will have to do what it takes.
Carlson has taken a couple of seemingly disparate and interesting what if ideas and brought them together. With plenty of action scenes, Interrupt covers some familiar ground from his previous books with a dominating military presence and how people act when put under extreme stress situations. Interrupt is classic Carlson.
Originally written on November 14, 2013 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of Interrupt from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
You might also like . . .
December 24, 2013
Book Report: Sasquatch Porn, New Lisbeth Salander, Gaiman Goes Scrooge & More!
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Sequel
The Swedish publisher of the late Steig Larsson has announced a sequel to the trilogy will be written by a ghost writer.
The Conversation We Never Have
A fascinating and important article on writers with privilege.
Remembering Ned Vizzini
On the passing of the young adult author.
Bigfoot Sex
How Amazon isn’t a fan of all erotica, especially any involving bigfoot.
December 19, 2013
Bookbanter Holiday Giveaway
Tis the season, and here’s a very special Bookbanter holiday giveaway, brought to you by the wonderful, fabulous people at Tor books.
This is a giveaway for a copy of Tor’s three science fiction and fantasy anthologies published in 2013: Dangerous Women edited by Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin (which is fantastic!), The Year’s Best SF 18 edited by David G. Hartwell, and Twenty-First Century Science Fiction edited by David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden. And here are the beautiful covers:
So how does the giveaway work, you might ask? You simply have to leave a comment to this post with what your favorite book of 2013 is. The giveaway will run through January 1st, 2014.
Entries will be accepted until 11:59 PST on January 1st. Anyone within the US and Canada is eligible to enter.
On January 2nd, 2014 the winner will be randomly chosen and the books will be mailed directly to them.
Happy holidays!
