Thoughts on Black Gate 14

So late last year, mostly on a whim, I decided that I wanted to subscribe to Black Gate magazine.  For those that don’t know Black Gate magazine, founded back in 2000, is a fantasy fiction magazine that focuses on “adventure fantasy.”  Character driven stories with brisk pacing, often strange landscapes, and more often than not [...]

Dragon Age II Demo: Sorry Guts, your sword is small.

So, last night I finally had a chance to sit down and play the PC demo of Dragon Age II.   Here are my thoughts on some of the changes in practice (as opposed to in theory): Users can still pause combat and switch characters but can’t stack commands. This is precisely as annoying as I [...]

Review: Courageous (the Lost Fleet book 3)

Courageous (Lost Fleet 3) Jack Campbell, read by Christian Rummel Audible Frontiers, 2008 I’m keeping this short.  Mostly because listening to the audio versions of these books in such quick session has made it increasingly difficult to keep separate what happened when but also because the novels follow a similar structure with the relative strengths [...]

Review: Fearless (Lost Fleet Book 2) by Jack Campbell

Fearless Jack Campbell, read by Christian Rummel Audible Frontiers, 2008 Fearless picks up more or less exactly where Dauntless left off.  Geary is still struggling with the presence of his legendary alter ego “Black Jack” trying to reconcile who he is now not only with who he used be but with who and what others [...]

Review: Dreadnought by Cherie Priest

Dreadnought Cherie Priest (twitter) Tor, 2010 Dreadnought by Cherie Priest is a breakneck action filled steampunk title that grabs hold and never lets go. Vinita “Mercy” Lynch is a nurse at the Confederate hospital in Robertson, Virginia. When news of her husband’s death (a Union soldier) arrives it is followed quickly by news of her [...]

Review: Clementine by Cherie Priest

Clementine Cherie Priest Audible Frontiers, 2011 I missed out on Clementine’s initial release via Subterranean Press but discovered last week that Audible released an audio version via their Audible Frontiers SFF imprint.  Clementine is a novella set in the Clockwork Century universe and centers on two main characters: Captain Croggon Beauregard Heaney (first met in [...]

Review: Bloodshot by Cherie Priest

Bloodshot Cherie Priest (twitter) Spectra, 2011 Bloodshot by Cherie Priest marks what I would consider a significant departure from her earlier work particularly in terms on setting. While some of her work in the past has touched upon urban fantasy tropes, in so much that Boneshaker, despite its nineteenth century setting takes place in an [...]

Unofficial, Impromptu, Unintentded: Welcome to Cherie Priest Week

So the fact that I finished Bloodshot last week, and listened through the audio version of Clementine means I’ve decided to give over this week to Cherie Priest titles.  I’ve snagged Dreadnought as well and will hopefully be finishing that novel soon (especially since I decided to make this all “official” and what not)!   [...]

Review: Among Others by Jo Walton

Among Others Jo Walton (bio) Tor, 2011 Among Others by Jo Walton is a fascinating book full of languid prose.  Wistful, thought provoking, and able to touch upon my nostalgia as a fanatical reader of science fiction and fantasy it touched upon the aspects of the fantastic I love so much in a way, that [...]

January Summary

I swear I frickin’ clicked publish!!!!!!  Argh!  This should have been up Wednesday.  Here it is now. Read and reviewed in January: The Fall by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan Dauntless by Jack Campbell Stonewielder by Ian Cameron Esslemont Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson Cowboy Angels by [...]