Alexander Pyles's Blog, page 18

Reveiw: Dark Run

DARK RUN by Mike Brooks is an awesome book! Semi-hard science fiction cast into the future after the great human diaspora into the stars.

We find Captain Ichabod Drift with his crew looking to leave their past behind, but become wrapped up in a smuggling run that will change their lives forever. Old regrets and dark secrets will come to light and refuse to be forgotten.

I had been circling this series for awhile and finally took the dive and I’m really glad I did.  Brooks as a fun style that...

Getting Back In It

So, I realize my blog has been kinda silent for the past couple months and I want to first apologize for that. I realize most of you miss my posts/reviews (hopefully some of you actually do). Life got kind of busy there for a bit between my freelancing and work/family stuff, so the blog had to take the back burner.

I’m starting to write more again in my free time and I’m also reading more. I’m actually going to have a series of posts on the Hugo Finalists as they gear up to be awarded in June...

Review: Agents of Dreamland

Caitlin Kiernan has written a work that takes time to get into, but like an aged Scotch it needs time to sit well. How can a narrative that includes an undying, lich woman, a freelance contractor, and mysterious spores that preclude the end of the world all have in common? They are all in this book.

The book is a brisk 150ish, standard for a novella. We jump from into three different points of view, the Signalman, who is tasked with finding out what happened in a ranch house, events that haun...

Review: You Were Never Really Here

What. A. Wild. Ride.

I found out about this book via the movie of the same name, which I’m sure is driving a lot of new readers here.

If this movie is anything like the book(which I’m sure it will be based on the trailers), I know I’m going to love it as much as I did the book. I’m a sucker for these gritty noir thrillers and Jonathan Ames’ work is no exception.

Joe, a vet, and an ex-FBI agent turned hitman is hired to rescue a politicians daughter from a brothel in NYC. Things end up taking...

Sailing Back to Earthsea

People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.

Ursula K. Le Guin

I’m sure that by the time you read this you’ll have heard the news that Ursula K. Le Guin has passed at age 88 in her home. May she rest among the worlds of her making.

I didn’t want to make it a habit of commenting on current events on my blog, but such a notable death and of an author and writer who shaped my writing and view of literature from such a young age. I first picked up THE WIZARD...

Writing Life: Time Management

So, coming into this new year I have several goals and in order to reach these goals, I need to set aside time. Nothing special right? Well, for the writer **time** is a huge factor and one that some may not appreciate depending on your situation.

Okay so let me set up what the usual expectations some amateur writers or even non-writers believe: we spend hours in front of our keyboard(or whatever you use to write) lazily contemplating our story and furiously write and we do this either in a p...

Review: The Spectacle of the Void

I reviewed this book recently over at Goodreads, but I wanted to share it here. This work by David Peak, is part of my ongoing research of the horror genre and cosmic horror at large. Enjoy!
Peak’s book is an excellent overview of various themes of the “new horror” that has arisen in recent years that not only defines the genre of film and literature but the horror of existence in our post-modern culture. I am only beginning to become acquainted with the ideas that Peak touches on from Ligott...

Review: Write Smart, Write Happy

WRITE SMART, WRITE HAPPY by Cheryl St. John is a fun and informative craft book on the writing life. There are all kinds of info chunks for the starting out writer and there are even a few tidbits for the longtime professional. The obvious emphasis is that writers should attempt to maintain a positive outlook because it impacts one’s writing. This is the crux of the main argument that St. John lays out and maintains over the course of almost 300 pages.

There isn’t much here for an experienced...

Review: The Lightning Stenography Device

THE LIGHTNING STENOGRAPHY DEVICE, by M. F. Sullivan, is a book that bleeds into a rather “meta” realm of literature. One of the main protagonists is an author who dabbles with the invention of the same name as the title. For those familiar with science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction, this may not be your go-to based on how literary this work feels at times and that the beginning feels much slower and dialogue-driven than most novels contain.

The prose is readable and flows nicely ev...

2017 in Books

Looking back on 2017, I’m going to start crunching some data for some of you junkies out there. (Personally, I love stats and charts so here you go.) I read a total of 95 books!

[image error]

Please excuse my rookie Excel and screenshot skills.

Looking back at all of this, it actually surprised me that I read so many indie books last year, although that’s not surprising given that I’ve been doing a freelance/ghostwriting gig with reviewing indies.

The issue I have had with the gig though is that the qualit...