Alexander Pyles's Blog, page 10
May 30, 2019
Review: Hinnom Magazine Issue #10
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So, I supported Gehenna & Hinnom Books during their kickstarter campaign last year and I subscribed to their Hinnom magazine through that. I was terribly excited to get my first issue and boy did it not disappoint. I have only read a few stories here and there from them previously, but I wasn’t totally prepared for a full fledged issue. If you love cosmic horror or just the down right weirdness, then look no further than Hinnom, this is a must read for any and all weird/cosmic horror aficion...
May 28, 2019
Writing as Work
So, I thought I had done a writing update almost three months ago, but apparently, I have not! I’m not sure that any of you truly care about these posts, but these are in a sense strictly for me to take stock, re-evaluate what’s working, and to also update any of you that do care about my process. There’s something cathartic about analyzing your work and what you’re planning on doing in the future. My writing habits have changed during this time and it has become less of a “thing that I do” a...
May 25, 2019
Review: Pimp My Airship
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Aside from a stellar title, where can one start with Maurice Broaddus’ PIMP MY AIRSHIP? Well, let’s start with a synopsis:
Enter Sleepy, who wants nothing more than to remain in his (relatively) comfy apartment, keep a low profile, smoke chiba, and spit fast rhymes at the local club. Yet, when the rascal, protester Knowledge Allah stumbles on him, they soon find themselves at odds with the law and running for their lives.
Meanwhile, Sophine Jefferson lives a peaceful life of privilege as an...
May 23, 2019
Review: Broadswords & Blasters #6
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It has been too long since I read another Broadswords & Blasters issue, so here is #6!
There’s something for everyone, from cowboys on mechanical horses to kaiju to experimental noir. Really have to hand it to editors Matthew & Cameron, they do a fantastic job!
Enjoy!
The Orge’s Secret by Robert Walton
Bogerd and his trusty right-hand man, Karl will brave Mount Ogre in search of something divinely treasured. Little do either of them realize that the gods themselves are invested in their ques...
May 21, 2019
Review: Perihelion Summer
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What would happen if a black hole entered our solar system? Even, if it didn’t damage any of the existing planets, including Earth, would there still be ill effects? Well, Greg Egan’s latest book, PERIHELION SUMMER, seeks to play out that extraordinary(and terrifying) scenario.
We follow Matt, and his friends who have created a mobile aquaculture rig, the Mandjet, which is entirely self-sufficient, who decide to wait out the event out on open water. They quickly realize that they only prepar...
May 18, 2019
Review: Blackfish City
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Here is our second Nebula award finalist!
BLACKFISH CITY by Sam J. Miller is set in the floating Qaanaaq, which lies within the Arctic circle, is a refuge amidst the fallen cities from an older age. Peoples from across the globe have come to this marvel of technology to find a new life in the wake of the climate wars. Yet, even with the old world gone, older strife still abounds between the “haves and have-nots.” When a woman enters the city, riding an orca and a polar bear by her side, the...
May 16, 2019
Review: Space Opera
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Our next Hugo novel finalist is here!
SPACE OPERA by Catherynne M. Valente is a fun little book. It is filled with absurdity of Hitchhiker’s Guide and all the glitter of a every single glampunk band from the 70s. Valente has managed to construct a overly flamboyant and somewhat humorous satire of humanity and life throughout the galaxy.
Humanity has discovered they are not alone and now have to prove their sentience in the Metagalactic Grand Prix, a mixture of gladiatorial fighting and Ameri...
May 14, 2019
Review: The Night and the Land
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Matt Spencer is back with a new edition of his debut novel, THE NIGHT AND THE LAND. It dropped yesterday on May, 13th from Back Roads Carnival Books, but I was happy to read and review the new edition.
Book one of the Deschembine trilogy, we follow Sally Wildfire, who is on the run from her heartless family. Hiding among the exiles of mainstream society, Sally falls in love with Rob, a man with memories of a long gone realm and placing them both on a road to a violent rite of passage. Meanwh...
May 11, 2019
Review: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
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This was definitely a different sort of memoir. I listened to this as an audio book, performed by Ray Porter and translated by Phillip Gabriel. This was the first thing that I have read from Haruki Murakami and I enjoyed it, even if his thoughts and reflections became tedious and more vague than anything truly concise.
This book is not your typical self reflective memoir. It’s not attempting to tell a story, sell you a theme, or give a strong message. Murakami tells you this within the first...
May 9, 2019
Review: Trial of Lightning
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First review for a novel that is on both the Hugos and Nebula lists is here!
TRAIL OF LIGHTNING by Rebecca Roanhorse is everything anyone could want from a fantastic, dystopian world. Add in the indigenous culture and characters and you have a knockout premise that revives and refreshes old tropes and makes new ones.
Maggie Hoskie is endowed with supernatural clan powers and a killer instincts to match. She is a monster hunter for hire in Dinétah, what is left of the Navajo reservation after...
