Category Archives: reviews

Hugo Award: Related Work

Letters from Gardner by Lou Antonelli Letters from Antonelli’s editor interspersed with writing advice, anecdotes from Antonelli’s life, and short stories. Self-absorbed and self-congratulatory. “All the feedback was positive; people said they enjoyed the story, and that I wrote dialogue especially well. … Continue reading

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Hugo Awards: Fanzine

I thought a fanzine was a self-published magazine written by fans with narrow subject focus but, like a magazine, containing a wide variety of articles. The Hugo definition is “[…] anything that is neither professional nor semi-professional and that does not … Continue reading

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Hugo Awards: Short Fiction

I’m not a huge short-fiction reader. It is hard to do short fiction right — when it works it is magic and the rest of the time, not so much This year’s nominees range from couldn’t-get-through to decent. “The Parliament … Continue reading

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The Goblin Emperor

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison My rating: 4 of 5 stars TL;DR The Goblin Emperor is a fascinating and ambitious work. While I didn’t love it, the premise was interesting enough and the writing strong enough to merit 4 … Continue reading

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The Dark Between the Stars

The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson My rating: 2 of 5 stars I would like to thank this book — my kitchen is clean and the laundry is folded because every time I picked up this book, … Continue reading

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I am voting for the HUGO awards this year (and you should, too)

I enjoy cultural voyeurism. I find a corner of the internet and, for months, read the seminal blogs and websites of that culture. Looking at the world through a new lens fascinates me — it is probably why I love … Continue reading

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Soft rains

Gearbox needs to read a non-fiction book this summer. Being a huge Sheinkin fan, he picked Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon. It arrived in the mail today and I immediately stole it and read it … Continue reading

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The Winter Tree: Poetry Friday

When my boys were younger, I bought a lot of poetry books for them. One of our favorites is A Snowflake Fell: Poems About Winter by Laura Whipple. The book, unfortunately, is out of print. That’s a shame because the … Continue reading

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Goodnight, fish

First frost is just days away now and my pond is going to sleep for the winter. The cattails are turning yellow, the frogs are silent, and the water hyacinths are dying from the cold. My three fish no longer … Continue reading

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Silhouette of a Sparrow: Review

A coming of age story set in the 20′s, Silhouette of a Sparrow by Molly Beth Griffin is a little bit Member of the Wedding (evocative of a time and place) and a little bit Fried Green Tomatoes (a budding … Continue reading

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