Alexander Pyles's Blog, page 16

Review: Ninefox Gambit

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This is another book I’m reading to get to the Hugo-nominated one, but I was not ready for this one.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, is centered on Cheris of the Kel faction, a disgraced captain, who is pretty good at mathematics. She is entirely unprepared to be matched with an undead, genocidal general, who is paired with her to put down the latest hearsay to rise up against the hexarchate. Little does she realize the larger web she is being drawn into…

This book was insane. A true space op...

Reveiw: Iraq+100

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All and all these stories were both strange and wonderful. Being that I’m an American, who while I didn’t support the Iraq war, I still feel a strong burden of regret and sorrow to have invaded and virtually destroyed a nation that has such a rich culture.

I feel that I know Iraq a little bit better through these stories, written by Iraqi natives and ex-pats. Each had a strong flavor of their own while embodying the storytelling mode that I’ve often found in writers from the Middle-East. The...

Review: Authority

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This was…interesting. Starting out with a strong beginning, a little bit of a wandering middle, and a compelling ending, Jeff VanderMeer charges ahead with his Southern Reach trilogy.

We follow John “Control” Rodregiz as he picks up the pieces from ANNIHILATION and deals with the fallout of losing the director to Area X. Little does he know that he will have to deal with secrets upon more secrets and try and make sense of the incomprehensible.

The book starts strong as we are introduced to C...

Review: Now That We’re Alone

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I’ll be honest this is not my normal fair, BUT I think Mr. Day may have converted me.

Bizzaro/horror is something that most casual readers don’t come across too terribly often and I’m always the sucker for an anthology of shorts. Each story in Now That We’re Alone is accompanied by a small illustration that was inspired by it, which was done by the artist, Luke Spooner.

The eleven stories of varying (horror)sub-genres embody a similar gruesome, but haunting vibe to them that most enthusiasts...

Review: Artemis

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Going, to be honest guys, after THE MARTIAN my expectations were kinda high, not incredibly but enough. This was okay. Nothing special and not written terribly, but just okay.

Andy Weir is back with what I would call his sophomore slump. ARTEMIS follows Jazz(Jasmine) the sole smuggler of the new(and only) moon city named Artemis. Always looking for a quick and relatively easy way to make a quick buck, Jazz finds herself swept up in a conspiracy that goes right to the top and leaves a body co...

Review: The Stone Sky

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So, in case you aren’t up to speed with this triology you can refer back to the reviews I did on The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate. This is also my first review concerning any of the Hugo novel finalists. I just found out yesterday that The Stone Sky won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and boy does it deserve it!

What. A. Trip.

I’m still processing, but that was one of the more satisfying conclusions to a trilogy that I have read in a long time. Everything that N. K. Jemisin has b...

Music For Your Writing

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I’ve been wanting to share with you all something that I’ve been working on for awhile, which is my very own curated sci-fi playlist!

It’s nowhere near complete, but I’ve started it and it contains a lot of my favorite soundtracks and soundscapes to listen to while I write. I’m gearing up for a renewed effort in writing and working on other projects and this is what’s going to get me through! I have a tough time writing in silence unless it’s an absolute intense scene, so having music filter...

Review: Taste of Marrow

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Gailey finishes her duology with a splash! Taste of Marrow raises the stakes and moves away from a revenge story, to a tale of rescuing loved ones. Characters like, Archie, Hero, and Houndstooth are more fleshed out and they clearly have a past that has left them scared and broken. They all wear a version of themselves on the outside, but there are glimpses past this for the reader to sympathize with.

The problems I had with River of Teeth were more or less fixed and even if the characters s...

Writing Workshop: Writing the Other

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So, like I promised, here are some notes that I want to share with you all from my workshop on “writing diversity in fiction. It’s collection of tips/tricks and some helpful resources that I was able to find(and given to me by friends who helped me out.)

And obviously a big shout out to In Print for hosting me on Saturday! It was a lovely time to meet writers and talk about writing for an afternoon.

 

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Tips & Tricks

Interview someone that’s not like you in order to understand them better....

Review: The Obelisk Gate

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I reviewed The Fifth Season a while ago, and I told myself I would return to this series eventually and boy was I in for a treat when I finally did! Obviously, I had to read this before I could get to The Stone Sky, for the Hugos, but I also just wanted to see if N.K. Jemisin could follow through with what she started. I feel like a punk for doubting her, because she more than delivered with The Obelisk Gate.

Again, we are dropped into the world of the Stillness, which is really anything but...