Travis West
I tend to love SF that is smaller, more personal.... and set here on Earth. You'd almost never know this was written in the 70s, aside from some references to stenographers. But the problems that usually mar books from that time (bad technological predictions, rampant sexism, white savior tropes, and Cold War propaganda) are largely absent. Instead we get to know the hustlers who are just trying to get by in the wake of an alien visitation.
Fun book, but just a bit too long. Could have had 100 pages trimmed. The dual plots reminded me of David Mitchell. I rarely read cozy mysteries, but I did appreciate how the author subverted many of the tropes of the genre.
I'm not sure why the author gets compared to Murakami. Still, this book was a lightweight slice-of-life.
Steampunky robots from the past! Fun diversion for a sick day, but it's likely not a book I'll ponder upon.
Wow. For a book about an industry and lifestyle that I've given almost no thought to, Finn Murphy delivered.
The audiobook narrator, Jeff Gurner, really made this book for me. It was a perfect geeky sci-fi companion for a long solo drive to Oklahoma and back.
4.5 stars! The best vampire book I've read since... maybe ever? Travis is a monster well before he is turned, created by a world of abuse and war. His only glimpse of humanity comes after he is inhuman.
If Cormac McCarthy wrote a vampire novel, I'd expect something like this book.
This book could be used to explain exponential growth. It begins as a normal domestic drama, but each chapter is 9.6% weirder than the previous one. After 103 chapters, the craziness is beyond category.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman himself. Besides being one of my favorite authors, he has a very good voice. I hope that retelling the old myths was just a fun diversion for him, and he'll have a new original novel soon.
Reads more like a YA book, except for the 80s nostalgia porn designed to appeal to Gen Xers. It's a light, fun coming of age story, that didn't feel like it had to name drop every song, movie, and video game from the time period like Ready Player One did.
Celine is a great character. I hope the author comes back to her someday.
Not as lyrical as The Dog Stars but more tightly plotted.
Looking forward to meeting the author at Magic City Books this weekend.
Managing to be both slim and meandering, this volume concerns itself with many topics, the least of which is the album Dusty in Memphis.
Interesting combination of case studies describing interactions between various fandoms–almost none of those I subscribe to–and their IP owners and of the way the owners should manage their fan groups. I would have preferred examples from the most self-entitled groups, the nerds, because that's where I live. How can you have a book about fans and fan object owners without referring to Shatner's “get a life” skit on SNL?
Basically, a collection of essays about books that influenced the author. Any avid reader could–and probably should–write something similar. Quick read on a flight from Tucson. I'll look into some of the recommended books.
For a book that's 125 years old, it raises questions about scientific ethics, religion, colonialism, and civilization that are salient in the present. I was expecting an old-time mad scientist adventure tale, so I was pleasantly surprised. Wells' writing style hasn't aged well, so at times it was a slog.
The author knows that this material has been sensationalized in other retellings. I think he might have overcorrected and made his history too dry.
It's funny to me that the Wild West that so many idealize lasted only from 1865 to 1882.
Bat Masterson was the most interesting to me, and I'd like to read more about his latter years as a sportswriter in New York City.
No huge revelations, but several interesting examples of “real things” supplanting their digital counterparts.
Lester Ballard may be the most reprehensible human I've encountered in literature, but I couldn't turn away.