Reviews
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Review of Small Town Problems by Chris Ritchey
Small Town Problems, from the title, might elicit expectations of a sitcom drama. In a sense, you would not be entirely wrong. But at its heart, it is a fun, popcorn novel about people running into and responding to trouble, where their innate curiosity plays as big a part as…
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Review of Something New Under the Sun by Alexandra Kleeman
Wow. A stunning book. An immaculately, intricately, eccentrically written, idiosyncratic soft-s-f, near-future, light-dystopian, quirky pseudo-mystery novel describing the ennui, outrage, absurdity, and maturity of an old-before-her-time child star, with all the camp of kid detective sitcoms and an oceanic undercurrent of eco-unrest. Elegant simplicity. Word-by-word delight. Sentence-by-sentence wonder, awe, and…
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Review of Hettie and the Ghost by Becca De La Rosa
In this richly descriptive and atmospheric novel, I was pleased to find intricate sentence structure and mature characters. Many of its descriptions have an old-fashioned elegance. It is a nuanced ghost story with an intriguing premise, tackling central concepts of spiritualism, the afterlife, and growth. The language is always surprising…
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Review of Michaelmas – Alex (Oxford girls, #1) by P.D. Kuch
Oxford Girls is so far: a strange blend of genres and tones, and quick-paced action-packed plot-boiler with a quirky protagonist and an unusual premise. With its unpredictable chapter-by-chapter revelations, it straddles B-movie and sophisticated stylization, king of like Kill Bill.The author utilizes a close first person perspective with a distinctive…
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Review of Shadebringer by Grayson W. Hooper
Shadebringer begins with an inscrutable world map and intriguing chapter quotes. The title led me to believe it would be a traditional fantasy work in the vein of Brandon Sanderson. That is not the case. Brent Weeks and other authors have a tendency to use titles like this to ease…
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Review of Intimations: Stories by Alexandra Kleeman
In this modest first collection, the author is often incredibly specific in her descriptions, stretching them to absurd lengths, and melding the boundaries of literary and speculative fiction. Not all of the stories are brilliant in my opinion, but they are all different and eerie. 1. Fairy Tale 2/52. Lobster…
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Review of The Nomad: Book One by Debra J. Tillar
I am a fan of space-journey science fiction. Also a fan of strong female protagonists and wry humor. This novel checks all the boxes. 1 time-travel narratives explore the mystery surrounding a large event, while fewer of them explore the mystery of characters’ pasts. In this novel, the hardships of slavery…
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Review of The Necrophiliac by Gabrielle Wittkop
An enchanting and disturbing novella. Not as haunting as Story of the Eye but nearly as daring. The title says it all. We are afforded the detailed and poetic perspective of a dastardly protagonist with a taboo kink. What elevates this unique premise are the rich and profound meditations on death, mingling…
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Review of The Exiles (Rift Walkers Book 1) by Rae Lewis
In Exiles, the first in a series, the reader is introduced to an orphan protagonist who might remind us in some ways of Ender Wiggins, or any really capable kid in fiction or film. In her futuristic, but still relatable setting, the author incorporates rich world-building, but in the background, opening…
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Review of Vox by Nicholson Baker
A single conversation, about 170 pages long. Baker’s exceptionally readable style renders the most mundane moments vivid. While the subject matter is titillating in some respects, the implicit aura of companionship, intimacy, and aesthetic appreciation shines light on humanity’s capacity to intricately fantasize. This platonic grokking between two in-synch individuals…
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Review of The Idiot by Elif Batuman
Ramblings of a college student. Talk of books we’ve all read. Mostly harmless opinions. Prickling sensations seeming to indicate a love so ill-defined yet ever-present. Swimming, drinking, taking classes, taxi rides. Typical privileged college-age money mismanagement. A narrator who claims to be a writer but rarely, if ever, writes anything.…
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Review of Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
The first Maupassant novel I’ve read. Having enjoyed his stories immensely, I was not surprised I enjoyed this longer work. The easiest comparison is Chekhov. But this tale is a romantic one, about the amassing of wealth, the ambitions of a greedy set of upper-crust mustache-grooming gentlemen and perfume-spritzing ladies.…
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Review of The Complete Multiple Warheads by Brandon Graham
It’s a shame that such magnificent artwork is undermined by amateurish writing. The layouts and designs are reminiscent of Moebius, while the dialogue and plot are barely readable pulp, pun-infested nonsense. Plenty of good ideas, creatures, gadgets, and character potential beneath the immaturity, but it’s well-lathered with cringe-worthy speech bubbles.…
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Review of Awakening (The Commune’s Curse Book 1) by Lucy A. McLaren
In this new debut fantasy novel, promising a series to follow, adaptable child protagonists deal with past hardships in a refreshing way. The conflict stems from a menacing society within the context of an intriguing fantasy world. Children play a key role in the world building of this novel at the center…
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Review of Njal’s Saga by Unknown
This took me way too long to read. The Goodreads police put a warrant out for me for the number of in-progress books on my Currently Reading shelf. I flew through the beginning and hit an oil slick somewhere in the middle and slid into the rough. This book is…
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Review of Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
A stirring first-hand account by one of the most daring authors out there. I often suffer from Ballard fatigue, which is a syndrome wherein I suddenly hate Ballard after reading two or three of his books in a row. This illness has recurred at least four times. But this fictionalized…
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Review of Puttering About in a Small Land by Philip K. Dick
Puttering About is minor PKD. One of his sidelined realist novels. A quiet, marital struggle in a normal American suburb. It oozes nostalgia for a lost time and place, like an old sitcom, where ‘traffic jam’ refers to fifteen cars on the expressway and people still do things like get…
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Review of Innocents Aboard: New Fantasy Stories by Gene Wolfe
Innocents Aboard is the first short story collection by Wolfe I’ve read. It is a diverse helping of mind-altering tales. Ranging from Melville satire to Egyptian myth and Chinese folktale, a plethora of ghost stories and atypical Arthurian fantasy, with a few Biblical allegories thrown in. Story after story, I…
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The Pyramid by Ismail Kadare
The Pyramid Dreams. Kadare takes some liberties with history, of course, often speculating wildly for dramatic and symbolic effect, but there is enough verisimilitude here to cast the pall of history over the pages. It has a very similar aura to the writings of Kafka, borrowing much of the atmosphere…
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Review of House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
A dense mosaic of mesmerizing notions injected with a jumbo-sized hypo of s-f crack, rich with subtle corollaries of theory and conjecture. Huge, labyrinthine, wild. My first Reynolds. Now I have that combination of elation and despair, knowing that I’m in it for the long haul. I have to read…
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Review of The Acephalic Imperial by Damian Murphy
Let there be no doubt that D. M. is the master of occult, shadowy fiction, draped in velvet, drenched in smoky moonlight, whose refulgent landscapes are colonized by sinister, eldritch characters, each enacting esoteric motives in a sibilant daze. He is paramour of ravished beauties, languorous mansions, and impending nightmares.…
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Review of Kramberger with Monkey by Rick Harsch
A rollicking satirical, experimental novel about assassination, serialized in the online publication The Collidescope, featuring taboo-trouncing, grimly ravenous characters, a melange of lyrical and journalistic styles. Superbly literary, lasciviously hilarious, Rabelaisian, and a gravitas-inducing addition to Rick Harsch’s vastly underappreciated body of work. Read all of his novels. Voice and…
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Review of The Eyelid by S.D. Chrostowska
While slow-paced, this book offers much food for thought. In its dream-centric pseudo dystopian world, a hazy view of political and philosophical implications can be gleaned around the jewel-like edges. Yet, I hoped for more startling imagery. There are a few striking moments, but not enough intense focus on the…
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Review of North Station by Bae Suah
Bae Suah in experimental mode. The 7 stories in North Station display many aspects of this author’s formidable powers. Unlike the novels of hers I’ve read, this collection depicts similar characters in a greater variety of situations, while not relying on dramatic plotting. They are very slow, and will not…
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Review of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
“The Jungle book” is a fun collection of timeless stories worthy of their fame. The movie brethren of this tale resemble the source material in only superficial ways. Mowgli only features in less than half of the book’s stories for one thing. However every story is interesting and connected in…
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Review of I Wonder What Human Flesh Tastes Like by Justin Isis, Quentin S. Crisp
The struggle of young people to understand their place in the world, within society’s context, or outside of its proscribed categories, considered from a multitude of perspectives, at differing stages of fatalistic contempt, solipsism, wanderlust, and obsession. The Japanese setting, conjured with sublime authenticity, was absolutely convincing. Equal parts startling…
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Review of Aberration of Starlight by Gilbert Sorrentino
Flashes of brilliance. A highly unpleasant reading experience, but nonetheless rewarding. My first step into Sorrentino’s version of the world. It interested me enough that I know I will have to read his other novels. Aside from Mulligan Stew, they are relatively short, therefore his ceaseless experimentation is digestible. The…
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Review of The Devil in a Forest by Gene Wolfe
I enjoy a good fantastical forest novel as much as the next guy. Gene Wolfe’s dependably polished writing delivers thrills and chills in this relatively early work. Set alongside Fifth Head of Cerberus, and Peace, The Devil in a Forest reads almost like children’s literature. That is not to say…
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Review of The Bridegroom Was a Dog by Yōko Tawada
Only valuable as a distraction from dry Realism or for those interested in surreal imagery. If you are looking for an easy read, there are worse choices than Tawada. This small edition is curiously random, which is one of the trademarks of her style, but unlike her other books, it…
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Review of Seduction of the Golden Pheasant by Damian Murphy
I suspect the author has spent some time abroad. Such were my impressions while reading this novella, steeped as it is in the aura of its locales. Seduction of the Golden Pheasant provides us a brief glimpse at Damian Murphy’s implementation of oodles of subtext. Several of his stories function…
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Review of The Opposing Shore by Julien Gracq
While the descriptive passages are gorgeous, I tired of the narrative and the narrator about 2/3 of the way through. My reading was hindered by some inconsistencies in the prose, which tended to ebb and flow, ranging from excellent evocation of dense imageries, conjured with immaculate confidence, to forced, teetering,…
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Review of 2020 on Goodreads by Various
My reading status and accompanying thoughts at the end of 2020 are as follows: Some mixed reading experiences this year. In the pursuit of a better reading year in 2021 I am not going to follow trends as much, or read as many reviews. My backlog of TBR grows as…
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Review of Mimi by Lucy Ellmann
Mimi is not Lucy Ellmann’s best work, but this book was still intelligent and more entertaining than 99% of inanimate objects on this planet. Ellmann’s acerbic brand of feminism doesn’t really work with the goofy male narrator, as other reviewers have pointed out. You most certainly won’t like this plastic…
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Review of The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada
This book is a prime example of the commercial bent of recent Japanese translations. It is a case study in how to underestimate your readers. It is a case study in how to underestimate your readers. It was well-marketed to adults by a very reputable publisher. Of course it is…
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Review of Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon
Listened to this whole audiobook on an all-day bike ride. I loved sinking in to the uber-omniscient narration so much that I repeated the experience with his similar book, Starmaker, on a similarly exhausting fifty-mile ride. This novel is a survey of 1930s European society extrapolated and speculated upon until…
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Review of Sleepwalker in a Fog by Tatyana Tolstaya
This second collection by Tolstaya is a brief, inconsequential, but enchanting volume, reminiscent of Cat Valente’s Deathless, or similar quirky, literary, bold tales, congealed together by the old fashioned setting and the unfixed narration. On the whole, it was not focussed enough to move me, but entertained me all the…
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Review of Justine (The Alexandria Quartet #1) by Lawrence Durrell
The start, I hope, of a long-term interest in this author. Highly impressed on every level, I am. At first his style seems forced, but it winds, riverine, recapitulating itself, strengthening as it goes along, so that it is clear, having read much of Henry Miller, that their friendship bled…
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Review of It Takes Death to Reach a Star by Stu Jones
I received an advanced review copy of the book without knowing anything about the authors beforehand. Immediately, I was not sure about the title. “It Takes Death to Reach a Star” brings to mind a corny line from a sci-fi movie, something a character says right as they press the…
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Review of Reflections of Destiny by Benzon Ray Barbin
One of the first things you’ll notice about this debut novel is the striking imagery. While not always fantastical, it does not shy away from surprising and otherworldly moments.The setting has a baroque atmospheric quality, with many points of reference on which the short scenes tend to hang. It deals…
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Review of The Outlands (The Outlands Saga #1) by Tyler Edwards
I was pleasantly surprised by The Outlands. The book has movement, action, and fast pacing. The writing rarely slows down, offering a new layer or concept page by page. A labyrinthine world unfolds, depicting the ins and outs of thievery. As orphans in Dios, our main characters are subservient to…
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Review of Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon
Dan Chaon honed his catchy thriller-esque atmosphere into a tense road novel reminiscent of Philip K. Dick’s off-kilter weirdness and soft-dystopian Straw Dogs-style manhunts. An addictive read with dark undertones establishing the prescient consequences of social media, drugs, cloning, the morals of biological and artificial relations and other deep and…
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Review of Waiting for Gaudiya & Other Stories by Erik Martiny
Despite the reference to Beckett in the title of the collection and some passing moments within, this collection of short stories borrows little and invents much. As the opening quote intimates, Martiny invests in a continual creation of reality in real-time, through uncanny conjuring of the absurd, straddling the reader’s…
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Review of The Cutest Girl in Class by Quentin S. Crisp
I have already come to expect greatness from the publisher Snuggly Books. This did not let me down. It is an intriguing descent into a particularly uncanny-valley subculture. It left me wondering where the name Sooki comes from. Urban Dictionary offers a number of possibilities. Turns out it is not…
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Review of Eight Dogs, or “hakkenden”: An Ill-Considered Jest, Being the First 14 Chapters of Nansao Satomi Hakkenden by Bakin Takizawa
“The Hakkenden” is the nickname for the longer titles by which this monumental novel has been known since it appeared in Japan in serial form. Bakin was one of the most prolific authors of all time, and wrote historical novels in a variety of styles. His work might be superficially…
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Review of Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fiction and Illusions by Neil Gaiman
Started out strong but ended up inconsistent. Whereas the much-touted Gene Wolfe produced unpredictable story collections of genre-bending, unconventional tales of varied length culled from a wide selection of magazines over decades, IMO any of Wolfe’s collections are better than the totality of Gaiman’s output. It is not just that…
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Review of Third Winter’s War (Seventh Realm, #3) by M.L. Little
This third book continues in the Seventh Realm to bring us more of what every reader is likely to adore from the first two including a large cast of colorful characters and an intriguing plot with expert world building. It begins where the last book left off and shapes into…
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Review of Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Lawrence’s elegiac style is marred by obnoxious repetitions, which act as “sort of” nervous tics, that “sort of” “quite” extend his characters’ ranting and raving to “quite” lengthy caricatures, with insinuating speech patterns and rambling social commentary. A lot of uncensored, “softly” lit bad behavior, “softly” heaving against cultural etiquette,…
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Review of The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
Why Updike?This book was more libidinous than a high school boy’s locker room. But that’s unfair. I’m sure not all locker rooms are this bad.Hyperdetailed. Meandering. The man could write description. But, in so many cases he dwells on images we can do without. Plot and characters go out the…
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Review of Cryovacked (The Galactic Culinary Society, #3) by D.R. Schoel
In the tradition of Golden Age Science fiction, D. R. Schoel provides another episode from The Galactic Culinary Society. At times I think of Red Dwarf, Dr. Who and other light entertainments while reading this author’s stories, though they definitely have smarts. At bottom, this is another easily digestible smorgasbord…
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Review of A Phantom’s Vengeance by Marco Mizzi
Starting off, you will notice impressive world maps. I always spend way too much time reading and gazing at fantasy world maps at the beginnings of books with other-world settings. Then, throughout my reading I am constantly waiting for specific locations on the maps to be mentioned in the text.…
L. S. Popovich 