Alexander Pyles's Blog, page 17

Review: Saga (So Far)

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So, I’m more or less all caught up on the graphic novel series SAGA, written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Fiona Staples. I just want to say that it’s for sure one of my favorites, even if all the content isn’t exactly something I look for in a story. It’s for sure adult material as well between the nudity, graphic violence, and other adult themes, but at its core, this story is about family and what happens to them.

Vaughan has created some compelling characters in Marko and Alana,...

Review: The Night Masquerade (Binti #3)

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This review has been waiting for a long time, but it has been so long since I have read such a satisfying trilogy of stories.

Binti rushes home when her village is attacked by Koush soldiers and it will be up to her to broker a peace between them and the Meduse. Her efforts may help her Himba people survive or they will become lost in the crossfire. 

And its finally done. Its hard saying goodbye to Binti and the world that Nnedi Okorafor has created, but at the same time…this little series o...

Marvel’s Franchise Failure (Infinity War Blows it)

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I’m going to go a different route with this post today and talk about something that has been simmering for years, and (surprise) it has to deal with the Marvel movies. And with this, it’s going to be a conversation about the franchise itself, although full disclosure, I don’t have a stake in Marvel(superheroes aren’t my thing.) I believe the franchise craze that has swept Hollywood needs to evaluated and critiqued. This is where we begin:

My wife and I took a date night and went to go see t...

Hugo Nominations 2018: Best Novellas

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These Novella finalists were even harder to judge, but I enjoyed them all! Sorry it took so long to get through them.

Great reads to be had here and they are really showing me the breadth of current fantasy and science fiction. The field of genre is wide and varied! I’ve linked these back to their Goodreads pages (except for Pinsker’s since you can find it online.)

Enjoy!

All Systems Red – Martha Wells

4 out of 5 stars

This was a seriously fun read. We follow an android, or “murderbot” as it...

Review: Mis(h)adra

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I’ve been getting into graphic novels of late(my review of Brian K. Vaughan’s SAGA is forthcoming), but I came across this one by chance. I wasn’t entirely sure of the premise, but I dove in and finished it in just about one sitting. Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata, was an unexpectedly intimate story of an Arab-American college student, Isaac, who struggles with managing his epilepsy, classes, and social life. He doesn’t seem like he is able to make any headway and is about to virtually give u...

Review: Ready Player One

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Man, do I have some mixed feelings about this book. There’s a lot to unpack here, but at the same time(with no disrespect to Earnest Cline) I don’t believe the work is meant to be all that deep.

Ready Player One is a love letter to geek culture and all the franchises birthed in the 80s and since. In the beginning, I felt like someone had written a strange fan fiction under the guise of virtual reality, but as the plot progressed Cline got more of a rhythm down.

What I mean when I saw that th...

Review: Iron Gold

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What a great start to another trilogy! I’ve been a huge fan of Red Rising since I read the first book back in 2014 and after Morning Star I did not think Peirce Brown could top himself, but I think he might with this newest set of books.

While it may just be a continuation of the original trilogy, it feels like a maturing, a growing up in some sense. Iron Gold feels more broken if that makes sense, but let me quickly explain. Most books like Morning Star end with the hero who then gets to li...

Hugo Finalists 2018: Best Novelette

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I managed to chew through the Novelette finalists over the past two weeks and this category was much harder to pick from. There are some great pieces and I believe I liked these better than the short fiction entries, so far, but overall great pieces of writing and it’s so awesome to get a feel for where science fiction has been going over the past year.

Anyway, just like my last post, I have short reviews to accompany every story and if you want to read them yourself, they are linked for you...

Review: Annihilation

I realize I’m late to the bandwagon with this book, but I began Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer back in Febuary and read roughly 40 pages and didn’t come back to it until this past month. I picked it up again and I could not put it down! There is something so subversive beneath the surface and Vandermeer’s concise, but mysterious prose often leaves the reader wanting to know more, but only ends up becoming more confusing and unbelievable.

We follow a group of women who go out into what we com...

Hugo Finalists 2018: Best Short Fiction

Okay, so as promised I have each of the finalists for the Short Fiction category blow. I’ve assigned them ratings (based off a five-star scale) and with short summaries and reviews from yours truly. I’ve also linked them so that you can read them for yourselves at your leisure.

“Carnival Nine” by Caroline M. Yoachim 5 out of 5 stars

An excellent fable-like story with awesome symbolism and theme with tight prose. Yoachim has written a fun story that ends up sticking in your mind much longer af...