Category Archives: Book Reviews

In which the reader shares his thoughts on the books that possess his imagination throughout the year.

Second Foundation ~Isaac Asimov

–published 1953
–282 pages, Del Rey Books
–Hugo Award Winner for Best Series, 1965
–4.5/5 stars

It is difficult to describe the sheer joy of finally being able to read a book whose cover has fascinated me for years. It is even more significant considering that it is part of an original trilogy of books that from my childhood I have viewed as inaccessible. It has been such a pleasure to discover just how unfounded my fears were.

Before we get to Second Foundation, however, allow me to review the second book in the trilogy, Foundation and Empire:

Continue reading Second Foundation ~Isaac Asimov →

Foundation ~Isaac Asimov

–published 1951
–244 pages, Bantam Books
–(trilogy won Hugo in 1965 for best all-time series)
–5/5 stars

Foundation. Oh how this novel–this series–has haunted me over the years. The Michael Whelan cover of the fourth book in this series, Foundation’s Edge, is one of the earliest books I recall seeing as a young man and becoming lost in the image. Many a time I pulled that book off of my uncle’s bookshelf and stared at it longingly. Something about the book’s description intimidated me, and has all these many years. I read primarily space opera as a kid: action adventure stories set in a futuristic universe. Foundation always seemed like something more, something too grand of scope for me to understand. Through the years as my reading habits evolved and I took on more challenging literature, Foundation has remained a series that in the back of my mind was still intimidating.

Something happened a few years back that began to change my mind. I saw another Michael Whelan image that I liked on a book called Second Foundation (the third in the original trilogy) and just had to have it. Scouring used bookstores and places like ebay finally yielded up a copy. For a year or so I’ve been wanting to read that book just because I like the cover image. But one cannot start with the third book in a series. This year’s emphasis on science fiction and a new goal to read more award-winning science fiction has finally given me the courage to read what is arguably the most well known science fiction series of all time. And it begins with Foundation.

Continue reading Foundation ~Isaac Asimov →

Eclipse One ~edited by Jonathan Strahan

Eclipse One ~edited by Jonathan Strahan

–Published: 2007
–263 pages
–5/5 stars

There is something special about being present at the beginning of a project, especially when one is a reader and that project is a literary one. I am currently reading several ‘classic’ science fiction authors, some who began their work in my lifetime, and one of the things I think about as I read their work is that I don’t have that special connection of having jumped on the bandwagon right at the beginning. Although it doesn’t change my reading experience and may sound a bit pretentious, I cannot help imagine what it must have been like to read the first Asimov, the first Bradbury, the first Clark or Heinlein, etc. at the time their stories were published. It is a unique experience to be a part of the collective conscious of a group of readers who all discovered something together.

Jonathan Strahan, editor of several notable science fiction and fantasy anthologies has given me that opportunity, the chance to witness the beginning of something special. His goal was to create/edit his own anthology with stories that did not revolve around a central theme–an anthology that harkened back to classic science fiction anthologies, particularly Terry Carr’s Universe, which began in 1971 and continued through 17 volumes. It was out of that desire that Eclipse was born. A fantastic Michael Whelan cover promises speculative fiction worth reading, and much to my great pleasure, Eclipse One makes good on that promise.

Continue reading Eclipse One ~edited by Jonathan Strahan →

The Big Time ~Fritz Leiber

The Big Time ~Fritz Leiber

–published 1958
–130 pages
–Awards: Hugo (1958),
–3.5/5 stars

If the name Fritz Leiber looks familiar to you it may be because of the posts I have done in the past year reviewing a few of the collections of his most famous creations: Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. In addition to creating multiple short story adventures for this sword and sorcery duo, Fritz Leiber was a prolific and award-winning writer of numerous novels and short stories.

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Speaker for the Dead ~Orson Scott Card

Speaker for the Dead ~Orson Scott Card

–published 1986
–280 pgs
–Awards: Hugo (1987), Nebula (1986), Locus (1987)
–5/5 stars

The waning hours of 2007 passed with me lost in Ender’s Universe. I had to admit, as the ball dropped, that I was not going to finish this book in 2007 and thus edited my Year in Review post. Did that bother me? Not in the least. I ended the year with Orson Scott Card (A War of Gifts) and have begun the year with Orson Scott Card. And what a fantastic beginning! If I believed in omens I would have to say that on the strength of this book alone, 2008 looks to be the most satisfying year of reading in my life.

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