Dave Higgins's Blog, page 28

Brazen Summer by Jordan Elizabeth

Elizabeth creates a mystery that evokes the innocence of the young adult worldview without obscuring the complexities that mature readers might expect. This is the second book in Elizabeth’s Hayview Manor series. Potential spoilers ahead. With the gossip over her part in catching a killer a year in the past and graduating from high school, … Continue reading Brazen Summer by Jordan Elizabeth

The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans by Wumen Huikai and Yamada Koun

Yamada provides a series of explanations and comparisons that help place the ancient Chinese text in a modern context. This book interleaves Koun Yamada’s translation of Wumen’s Mumonkan, a classic Zen text, with Yamada’s own lectures on each of Wumen’s koan and supporting comments. The book is divided into forty eight chapters, each covering one … Continue reading The Gateless Gate: The Classic Book of Zen Koans by Wumen Huikai and Yamada Koun

Once There Was

Art is strange. Wonderful. Tragic. Beautiful. But strange. Much like this performance of Nina McNeely’s contemporary dance piece “Once There Was III”. The seven-minute piece is… well, what is it? Babylonian myth reset in the modern age? Cyberpunk? McNeely gives a few minutes of explanation after but is that what the piece is? Certainly McNeely … Continue reading Once There Was

Ghosts and More Tales of the Supernatural (ed. Kristine Lowe-Martin)

Blending classic supernatural tropes, humour, chills, and a variety of characters in different proportions, these tales are likely to provide fans of spooky stories with a pleasing evening or three. This anthology contains 15 ghost stories and other short tales of the paranormal in a variety of styles, each written by a members of the … Continue reading Ghosts and More Tales of the Supernatural (ed. Kristine Lowe-Martin)

Different But the Same

I am currently helping to design a Vampire LARP set in the early medieval period; part of this is obviously considering how to handle issues of race. Which set me to thinking that the classical perception of race that lingered into the medieval period is in some ways better than the way the United Kingdom … Continue reading Different But the Same

The Threat Unseen by Matthew S. Cox

Cox continues to blend realistic dangers of a shattered world with the strong human capability for decency and society, creating another instalment of post-apocalyptic survival that provides all the action without becoming bleak or cheesy. This is the seventh book in Cox’s Evergreen series. Probable spoilers for past volumes ahead. In the two years since … Continue reading The Threat Unseen by Matthew S. Cox

Happy International Una Cat Day

A joyful International Una Cat day to you all. In celebration of this wondrous annual event, Una requests that you don’t travel here to pay your respects. In line with paragraph 7 of the Fickleness Accords, other cats may also celebrate this as an international holiday dedicated to them providing everyone maintains a strict policy … Continue reading Happy International Una Cat Day

Capitol Punishment by K.D. McQuain

Following the life of a young gay man, this novel provides an engaging, if sometimes bleak, perspective on being homosexual in the US from the post-civil rights hope of the 1970’s to the new puritanism of the 1980’s. Fired from his job and cast out of his parent’s home for finally responding to years of … Continue reading Capitol Punishment by K.D. McQuain

Not Excused

Opinions differ on what influences people to a particular course (and whether free will even exists in a real sense). I incline strongly toward theories of it being a series of events and experiences—some unnoticed or apparently unconnected—that combine to create critical momentum. However, sometimes I look back and think that if I wanted to … Continue reading Not Excused

Joe Coffin Returns, Part One by Ken Preston

Preston continues his fusion of modern British underworld thriller and vampire tale, showing the aftermath of a human victory without either losing tension or parachuting in a new threat. This is the seventh book in Preston’s Joe Coffin series. Your opportunity to be surprised by previous volumes might be drained beyond this point. Vampires still … Continue reading Joe Coffin Returns, Part One by Ken Preston