When I was a kid, stories were short. We read short stories in class. Novels were short. Series were rare, and those tended to deposit the main characters back to ground zero, exactly as television did. Since there was no … Continue reading
Bright, Burning Stars, by A.K. Small Algonquin Young Readers There are a lot of us who danced while young, and loved doing it. Many continued as adults to dance in some form … Continue reading
Two new space operas have appeared in the last couple of days. I inhaled them both: one a novel by Elizabeth Bear, and the second is a four-author serial, a form that is becoming increasingly popular As I pointed out … Continue reading
Francesca Forrest’s The Inconvenient God is technically a novella (maybe even a novelette by some counts) but has been published as a slim book by Annorlunda Books, which specializes in shorter works. It’s an elegant book featuring a gorgeous cover by … Continue reading
Last summer after yet another wave of bad news, I found myself longing for escapist feel-good wish-fulfilment, and what is more indicative of escapist wish fulfilment than a ballroom filled with grand costumes, beguiling music, intrigue and romance? I … Continue reading
Tired of generic medievaloid historical novels? How about reading one written by someone who has studied the period, and knows the real deets—with a plot you can’t predict? Gillian Polack’s Langue[dot]doc 1305 newly out from Book View Café, is about a … Continue reading
I first began teaching at a small private school that got its furniture and texts from public school discards. The history textbook I was given was a massive, excruciatingly dull text listing kings, Prime Ministers, and battles, interlarded by great … Continue reading
When Wilkie Collins—close friend of Charles Dickens—published his fifth book, The Woman in White, (found here in a collection of all his work, for a buck ) in spite of outrage on the part of critics, it was a runaway … Continue reading
After any extreme event, ever since the advent of print (I’m sure before as well, but it’s more difficult to find the evidence) people have penned their memoirs. For the longest time the ones considered significant were those written by … Continue reading
For a while some twenty years ago, there was this meme going around that maintained you might not be as boring as you think you are. I’d like to believe that, but I don’t. About as far as I can … Continue reading
