The Demolished Man ~Alfred Bester

–published 1952
–250 pages, Shasta Publishers
–Winner of first ever Hugo award, 1953
–4.5/5 stars

In the endless universe there is nothing new, nothing different. What may appear exceptional to the minute mind of man may be inevitable to the infinite Eye of God. This strange second in a life, that unusual event, those remarkable coincidences of environment, opportunity, and encounter… all may be reproduced over and over on the planet of a sun whose galaxy revolves once in two hundred million years and has revolved nine times already.

There are and have been worlds and cultures without end, each nursing the proud illusion that it is unique in space and time. There have been men without number suffering from the same megalomania; men who imagined themselves unique, irreplaceable, irreproducible. There will be more… more plus infinity. This is the story of such a time and such a man… The Demolished Man.

Continue reading The Demolished Man ~Alfred Bester →

We ~Yevgeny Zamyatin

–published 1921
–203 pages, Modern Library
–4/5 stars

I was asked by Chelle, who co-runs a reader’s advisory blog for the public library she works at, the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, to do a guest book review for their site. I was certainly honored to do so and chose this unique classic to review. I finished the book a few weeks ago and posted my review to them yesterday. It is now up for your perusal. I am turning off the comments here and would ask that you please do me the honor of leaving comments over there. I will be reading them and answering them as if they were right here on my site.

It may just be my internet connection, but the site is a little slow to load. Please be patient if that is the case with you as well. It is a review worth reading, if I say so myself. 🙂

Continue reading We ~Yevgeny Zamyatin →

–published 2007
–278 pages, Ace Books
–Pre-nominations list for Nebula Award
–4.75/5 stars

Tripping around the internet I have seen a variety of reviews for Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Joe Haldeman’s latest offering, The Accidental Time Machine. They range from effusive praise to damning criticism and everything in between. What many of them do, without fail, is admit that Joe Haldeman is a singular author with stellar works of science fiction to his credit. I myself have limited experience with the works of Joe Haldeman, and unless this book wins an award this year, I have not read any of his award-winning fiction. What I can unequivocally say is that both of the Joe Haldeman books I have read, Old Twentieth and The Accidental Time Machine, have been a delight.

Continue reading The Accidental Time Machine ~Joe Haldeman →

–published 2008
–303 pages, Eos Books
–4.5/5 stars

Hunter’s Run, a collaboration by multiple-award-winning authors George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois, and relative newcomer Daniel Abraham, is a novel whose journey to existence is every bit as ardous as the journey undertaken by the novel’s protagonist.

The story began life 30 years ago as an idea of Gardner Dozios that he and George RR Martin eventually worked into the novella Shadow Twin for Subterranean Press, knowing full well that there was a novel in there somewhere. The presence of writer Daniel Abraham provided a set of fresh eyes to the project and together they built what eventually became Hunter’s Run.

Continue reading Hunter’s Run ~Martin, Dozois, Abraham →