Or, How I Spent my Cabin Fever Season
Please accept my sincere apologies for the lengthy absence of reviews. (Has it really been since October?) I have no good excuse other than "LIFE" and a lot of reading. With that in mind, I've created truncated versions of my normal reviews in the following flash (short, succinct) book review format. Every one of the books listed here is an excellent read and I’ve rated them from 4 ½ stars (very good read) to 6 stars (instant classic) and they’re all worth your time. I promise!
Flash Book Review - The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Science Fiction
4 ½ Stars
It was only a matter of time: Robot love but with a very human touch. Makes me wonder about the evolution of Artificial Intelligence and the inevitable "Artificial" being that can feel emotions. How Clarke handles the subject of unrequited love makes this a masterful work.
Cassandra Rose Clarke Official Website http://www.cassandraroseclarke.com/
Flash Book Review - Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Mystery
4 ½ Stars
Very little exposition is required to lend that uncanny feeling that something very bad is going to happen in a book entitled Asylum. And indeed, we are not disappointed in this debut Young Adult novel.
Madeleine Roux Official Website http://www.madeleine-roux.com/blog/
Flash Book Review - Travels in Elysium by William Azuski
Literature/Murder Mystery
4 ½ Stars
Suspense, archaeology, and a well written mystery and the search for Plato’s lost city of Atlantis. Sprawling scenery, secretive characters, and an archaeological dig on the brink of being closed down by the Greek government make Travels in Elysium a compelling read.
Flash Book Review - The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Fiction/Murder Mystery
5 Stars
Classical Greek literature and language students in the pursuit of true Bacchanalia commit a murder, then another. But why? The Secret History is a suspense novel that reads like poetry yet contains all the best elements of a Greek tragedy.
Donna Tartt Shrine http://www.languageisavirus.com/donna_tartt/
Flash Book Review - Crusoe (Daniel Defoe, Robert Knox and the Creation of a Myth) by Katherine Frank
Biography
5 Stars
Crusoe is beautiful mix of biography, detective story, and the history of the first recorded men to be stranded on tropical islands. One of the very best biographies I’ve ever read it follows the lives of Daniel Defoe, Crusoe’s author, and Robert Knox, a real sailor stranded for 19 years on the tropical island of Ceylon.
Flash Book Review - Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
Urban Science Fiction
5 Stars
Criminals acquire animal familiars (it happens right after the crime is committed) and most acquire a unique “gift”, as well. Zinzi can track items but can she track a missing person? Does she even want to? From the slums to high society she must find the girl or live in debt the rest of her life.
Lauren Beukes Official Website http://laurenbeukes.com/
Flash Book Review - Three by Jay Posey
Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
5 Stars
Book 1 of Legends of the Duskwalker is a wild romp through a broken world full of genetically diseased monsters, cannibals, and enhanced human beings. Can Three, bounty hunter extraordinaire, return a very “special” child back to his home?
Official Jay Posey Website http://jayposey.com/
Flash Book Review - Year Zero by Rob Reid
Science Fiction/Comedy
5 Stars
Do Earth’s copyright violations count in outer space? The visiting extraterrestrials think so and the illegal downloading (since 1977) of every pop song ever by everyone in the entire universe is bound to bankrupt even the most remote galactic bank and ice farmer in the universe. Perhaps copyright lawyer Nick Carter (the other Nick Carter) can figure a way out before the aliens decide it’s just easier to destroy the earth.
Official Rob Reid Website http://readrobreid.com/
Flash Book Review - Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
Cyber Science Fiction
5 Stars
In the future, the meaning of love and the finality of death are more complicated than ever. When Rob accidently runs over a jogger and kills her he sacrifices everything he owns to visit her to ask for her forgiveness. What happens next is a romance at Minus Eighty.
Official Will McIntosh Website http://willmcintosh.net/
Flash Book Review - The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski
Fantasy
5 Stars
Yet, again remarkable wordsmith Mark Z. Danielewski creates something total unexpected and unique in the literary world. His House of Leaves is a marginalia lover’s dream-quest; Only Revolutions is a book that can only be read by flipping it over from time to time; and now comes the unique invention named The Fifty Year Sword. What do five orphans, a seamstress, poetry, textile/fabric art, an uninvited storyteller, and a black box have in common? Don’t answer that question….
Official Mark Z. Danielewski Website http://markzdanielewski.com/
Flash Book Review - The Return by Michael Gruber
Adventure
5 Stars
Despite a very unattractive cover The Return is pure adrenaline, high suspense, and is full of unexpected twists, turns, and scenes of violence and action. This one had me by the throat from page one and never let go (even though I was losing consciousness). Endorsed by Stephen King this was action packed and thrilling cover to cover.
Official Michael Gruber Website http://michaelgruberbooks.com/
Flash Book Review – Nox by Anne Carson
Poetry
5 Stars
Nox is a peculiar work of art in both form and content. Created as an homage to the author’s brother it is a tribute to a family member lost much too early. Nox is a facsimile of a handmade, accordion-style journal Carson created after the death of her brother. More than poetry, it is a physical artifact of love and one of the most poignant reading experiences I’ve ever encountered. Collage, letters, photographs, and poetry create a unique glimpse into the life, and death of someone truly loved.
Flash Book Review – Glass, Irony and God by Anne Carson
Poetry
5 Stars
Throughout the reading of The Glass Essay, the first narrative poem in this book I couldn’t help but think what a truly gifted poet Carson is. Even more compelling is the fact that the entire narrative centers on lost love and the complex emotions felt in the midst of that experience. Every word in this much too short work is impactful and moving and I felt every word of it. I now have a new favorite poet!
Flash Book Review – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Literature/Adventure
6 Stars
The Goldfinch is one of the finest and most engaging stories I’ve read in the past ten years. Full of adventure and emotion The Goldfinch is a coming of age story like no other. Loss, drug and alcohol addiction, ambiguous morality, and urgency drive this story into unexpected places. Donna Tartt’s voice is both unique and poetic and has been added to my “Author’s you must buy” list. What might a lost masterpiece broker on the black market? And how many hands will it touch before someone dies?
Donna Tartt Shrine http://www.languageisavirus.com/donna_tartt/
Flash Book Review – The Monster Hunters (Omnibus) by Larry Correia
Science Fiction/Monster Hunting
6 Stars
Got an infestation of monsters, vampires, goblins, shape shifters, shades, succubus, or werewolves? No worries, Monster Incorporated’s professionally trained monster exterminators will take care of those unwanted beasties. With the bounty on monsters hundreds of times that of bail skippers who wouldn’t strap on an RGP and head out to the nearest vampire nest? But not monsters are created equal and Owen Pitt is soon to find out that Heroes aren’t either!
Official Larry Correia Website http://monsterhunternation.com/
Flash Book Review – The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
6 Stars
Surviving a pandemic is one thing but holding off the looters, cannibals, and crazies is another. When Hig hears a random transmission on the radio of his Cessna he takes it upon himself to see if paradise is really out there. What he finds is much more than he bargained for and better than he could have ever hoped. But in a world gone mad sacrifices must be made…
Official Peter Heller Website http://www.peterheller.net/the-dog-stars/
Flash Book Review –The World of the End by Ofir Touche Gafla
Science Fiction/Fantasy
6 Stars
Every once in a while a book comes around that just floors me. (i.e. Dhalgren, More Than Human, Gateway, Perdido Street Station, Cloud Atlas) and I know that it'll be one of those books I will read over and over again. The World of he End is just such a book. It's a strange story of love, death, death again, life after death, cheating death, staying dead, and our perceptions of others. Did I mention death?
Flash Book Review – The Wasteland Saga (Omnibus) by Nick Cole
Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
6 Stars
For readers who thought Cormac McCarthy’s The Road was the last word on the post-apocalyptic world – you’d be wrong. The Old Man and the Wasteland, the first story in the collection, is poignant, poetic, beautifully written, and full of emotion. It is hands-down the very best Post-Apocalyptic story I’ve ever read (and trust me, I’ve read them all.) The gloom, depression, and emotional heartbreak of losing everything are found embedded in every poetic line written here. Nick Cole, in my opinion, has created a modern masterpiece. Everyone should be reading him…
Official Nick Cole Website http://nickcolebooks.com/
Flash Book Review – Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Science Fiction
6 Stars
Roadside Picnic, while written in 1971, feels like it somehow belongs to the Golden Age AND the Modern Age of Science Fiction. Based on the after effects of an alien visitation Roadside Picnic feels like it could have been written in the 1930’s. However, the language and the way the strange occurrences are handled are definitely modern. This is some of the wittiest, humorous, and downright scariest Science Fiction to come around in a long time. (Psssst, it’s scary as hell because it reads real…)
Flash Book Review – Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Science Fiction
6 Stars
If you’re read this blog for any length of time you’d notice that I enjoy and review a lot of Science Fiction, history, adventure, poetry, and fantasy. Imagine my surprise when I found all of them scattered throughout one book. Besides hitting on all my favorite subjects Cloud Atlas does even more. It is a Gordian knot of a puzzle that bends traditional Science Fiction/Literature and makes us wonder if we are bound by fate to certain individuals regardless of time, gender, or position. Creative, inventive, and poetic Cloud Atlas has moved into my top ten greatest books.
Official David Mitchell Website http://www.thousandautumns.com/
Flash Book Review – Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Poetry
6 Stars
Autobiography of Red is the very best in narrative prose and retells the story of Geryon and Herakles told in modern vernacular. What a wonderfully full voice Anne Carson possesses. She manages to fill a classical story with poetry, prose, narration, fable, emotion, love, desire, loss, and every one of the myriad of human emotions into a single touching account. This is one story that will stick with you forever…
