Dave Higgins's Blog, page 85

Samaritans by Jonathan Lynn

Mixing Vegas flash with US anti-socialised health care, Lynn provides an amusing juxtaposition that reveals itself to be neither as laughable not as big a juxtaposition as the reader hoped; but remains darkly entertaining. Max Green is the best manager in the almost best of Las Vegas casino-hotels. But being that great means recognising Vegas … Continue reading Samaritans by Jonathan Lynn

Why Oppose When You Can Embrace?

Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody. – Franklin Pierce Adams I understand the desire to prevent someone from gaining power, to seek the path of least danger, but if the system isn’t producing candidates you can vote for then you need the system … Continue reading Why Oppose When You Can Embrace?

Destined to Fail

You hear the jokes about spam email every day. Double-glaze your manhood. Gain longer Nigerian Prince. And the worst are about psychic readings. Writes itself really. I’ll let you into a secret. Psychics invented spam. Think about it: it’s illegal in the UK and many other countries to sell genuine mediumship or other magical powers … Continue reading Destined to Fail

Sand Runner by Vera Brook

Weaving the certainties and urgencies of young adult dystopia with the plausible nuances of adulthood, Brook creates science-fiction that speaks both to those seeking fast-paced teenage heroism and those seeking a more complex struggle. In the near future, ubiquitous 3D printing has all but destroyed traditional industry, leaving many communities surviving on only their printing … Continue reading Sand Runner by Vera Brook

Prior Unreasoning

There’s a famous aphorism “Do what I say, not what I do” which is often trotted out either to show one person or everyone is a hypocrite when it comes to morals. And, whichever interpretation you favour, it’s hard to deny that it’s often much easier to suggest a moral choice from the comfort of … Continue reading Prior Unreasoning

Feud

Una the Deep Miaowing sat upon the highest of high spots in Ut-Garden. Fugl Bloody-Shirt’s raids became more common by the day. She must prepare herself. Legs drawn up, she wrapped herself in her tail. She had lain in wait. She had left and then returned hoping to catch him glutted with spoils. Yet each … Continue reading Feud

Fear Of Broken Glass by Mark David

Merging ancient pagan magic with gritty realism, David creates a novel that lies in the liminal zone between occult thriller and bleak mystery. This book is a prologue to The Elements series. When the body of Thomas Denisen, an art dealer, is found dead in Tiveden National Park, Sweden, the case is assigned to Hasse … Continue reading Fear Of Broken Glass by Mark David

The Miracle of the Mundane

On Saturday, I played another rather excellent session of 7th Seas LARP. During the course of that, my character ended up in an interesting conversation with a priest over whether miracles were inexplicable and obvious events, or tiny changes deliberately hidden behind rationale explanation to not compromise our free will. The priest remained adamant that … Continue reading The Miracle of the Mundane

Oranges to Applications

What was it like during the Transition? When the Sorn told us we belonged to their Empire, we fought back. Throw that orange at the wall as hard as you can. Imagine the wall’s a Sorn Integrator and the orange is our best weapon. Now imagine the wall sucks up that mess and spits out … Continue reading Oranges to Applications

The Infinity Mainframe by Robert Scott-Norton

Scott-Norton mixes the ordered manner of police thrillers with telepathy and close-future dystopia to create a story that feels like cyberpunk from the side of the law. This novel is the third volume of the Tombs Legacy series. Transfer of enjoyment-reducing insight of previous volumes might occur beyond this point. Ruby works for the Department, … Continue reading The Infinity Mainframe by Robert Scott-Norton