And the last of my contributions to Tor.com’s military science fiction appreciation period has gone live. Head on over to see what I make of John Ringo’s Into the Looking Glass, in which I make one of the classic blunders. No, not starting a land war in Asia or going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line, but discussing authorial politics. So feel free to join the discussion.
Over on Tor.com, I take a look back at the first in John Ringo’s popular Posleen series, A Hymn Before Battle. It’s already sparked some interesting comments, but it’s not too late to join in.
Over on Tor.com, I discuss one of my all-time favorite science fiction books. The Forever War, one of the truly great classics of military science fiction, pretty much helped to define the genre for me as a youth, and I’m pleased to share my thoughts on it. So go check out my post, and tell me what you think.
My latest YA book review has gone live over at Tor.com. Join me, where I talk about Cinder, an intriguing science fiction re-imagining of Cinderella. Feel free to leave comments, and tell me about some of your favorite fairy tale reinterpretations.
My newest review has gone live over at Tor.com. I take a look at Jason Stoddard’s Winning Mars, in which a television executive tries to take the reality show to the Red Planet. Go see what I had to say, and leave some comments.
My latest review for Tor.com has gone live. I take a lengthy look at Paula Guran’s latest reprint anthology, New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird. Go check it out.
Also, don’t forget: in celebration of my 1000th archived review, I’m running a contest. You have one more day (mostly) to enter!
I just noticed that I have posted 1000 reviews to my website.
One freaking thousand individual posts. That covers over a decade’s worth of books from Absolute Magnitude, Science Fiction Chronicle, Realms of Fantasy, Green Man Review, SF Site, and bonus reviews posted directly to the site.
That doesn’t take into account posts where I reviewed multiple books at a time, things I’ve done that haven’t been archived yet, or the work I’ve done for Publishers Weekly, which can never be revealed.
That’s a whole lot of posts. Here’s to the next thousand.
You know what? To celebrate, I’m going to give away a book. I have here a nice shiny copy of Karen Mahoney’s The Iron Witch (which I reviewed here). All you have to do to have a shot at winning this book is to comment on this post. You can do it on my website, on my Facebook, or on my Livejournal, wherever you see this. Oh, and one more catch: I’d like you to tell me about a time when a book review convinced you to buy a book you otherwise might not have gotten. Bonus points if it was one of my reviews. Feel free to browse my archive, or visit the above linked sites, or go browse Amazon or Tor or any of the other many, many, MANY fine review sites online. 🙂
This contest closes at the end of Friday, December 9th. A winner will be chosen by my cats. Additional prizes may be given at my whim or discretion. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. This contest not sponsored by any political parties, Elder Gods, or publishers. Have a nice day.
As I mentioned a while back, I’ve started contributing YA book reviews to Tor.com. Just because Realms of Fantasy has shut its doors one last time doesn’t mean I’ll stop doing what I love.
The first of my YA reviews has gone live over at Tor, and is available for your reading pleasure. Join me as I talk about Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel. It’s a zombie steampunk futuristic romantic adventure!
Alicia “Lia” Ruffino’s passion is dancing. She started with ballet, but now her talents run more to the modern style. She’s on the fast track to getting a solo at her dance studio’s next big show, but it’s random chance that really lands her in the spotlight, when a friend captures her dancing at a local concert. Next thing she knows, she’s part of an online film series, starring as the enigmatic, untouchable dancergirl, and she’s a viral phenomenon. Her fans can’t get enough of her… and neither can her stalker. Someone’s taking things way too seriously: filming her in the privacy of her own bedroom, sending her unwanted gifts, and demonstrating an uncomfortable level of knowledge about her.
As Lia desperately tries to find out who it could be, she’s drawn into a world of paranoia. Is it her mother’s ex-boyfriend? The biker hanging around the studio? The enthusiastic would-be filmmaker who helped her create the dancergirl persona? Or worst of all, is it her best friend Jacy, who’s been acting extremely weird and vanishing for significant periods of time? Who’s betrayed her trust and invaded her privacy, and how far are they willing to take things?
Playing with themes of paranoia, loneliness and obsession, dancergirl is a captivating thriller. Tanzman does an excellent job of ratcheting up Lia’s mental distress, with each new revelation and twist. As she slowly investigates and eliminates suspects, the stakes are raised, as is the general aura of creepiness and worry. Valid points are raised about the level of information we inadvertently release on the Internet, and how vulnerable we are to those willing to put forth the effort. Luckily, even though the atmosphere turns pretty grim, Lia never completely loses the inner spark which makes her an interesting character.
Oddly for something associated with the Harlequin brand, there’s almost no real sense of romance to be found her. Lia spends time with several different boys–one her best friend, the other the resident bad boy–but it’s obvious from the start that romance isn’t high on the list of priorities as the psychological elements take center stage.
Tanzman excels at describing the dance scenes with verisimilitude and complexity. You can almost see the way people move and flow across the scenery, which is important for a story focusing on the physical and visual arts.
This was a solid effort. Fast-paced, complex, and genuinely disturbing in places, dancergirl really nails the concept, blending reality and fiction successfully. I’m reminded of some of the other online web-series that have popped up now and again, where the lines between truth and narrative were blurred. I’d actually be interested to know if Tanzman had any of them in mind, like lonelygirl15.
Ultimately, I’d say this is a pretty strong offering, and worth checking out if you have a yearning for something with a psychological edge to it.
As the title says, my first review/appreciation post for Tor.com has gone live. I’m quite pleased and honored to be part of the Tor blogger family, and I hope people will drop by to check it out, comment, and share their thoughts. In this post, I cover Mike Shepherd’s Kris Longknife series, focusing upon the newest book in the series, Daring.
I’ll be over here doing a little happy dance. 🙂
