Visionary conservatism vs. reactionary conservatism: Another Kingdom by Andrew Klavan

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18, KJV In my last post, about C.S. Forester’s Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, I mentioned how most conservative fiction these days—or indeed, most conservatism generally—is more reactionary than visionary, really only seeking to conserve all the things that …

Joe Reviews: Wool by Hugh Howey

This is a pretty good book. It’s got a lot of interesting twists, and the post-apocalyptic world is both terrifying and fascinating. Also, it’s very well written. So why am I DNFing it? Mostly because I don’t have the stomach for this kind of story right now. It’s very depressing. The post-apocalyptic world of the …

Joe Reviews: Archangel Down by C. Gockel

I really need to get a handle on the rapidly growing backlog of books to review, so I’m going to focus on books that I’ve read this year and catch up with the older ones as I go. This book showed a lot of promise, and to be fair, it held my interest through to …

Joe Reviews: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is known for his massive, door-stopping tomes, but after reading The Emperor’s Soul, I think might like his short fiction better. Of course, “short” for Brandon is still a decent-sized novella. The world is rich and full of magic and history—but Brandon doesn’t explain all of it, just the parts that are relevant …

Review: Anti Life by Allen Kuzara

I got to about the halfway mark of this one before I gave up on it. When I skipped to the end, though, it looked like the action picks up in the second half, so if none of my issues are problems for you, it may be worth checking out. First, I felt like there …