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 …
Tag Archives: 2011-2020
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: A Nefarious Plot by Steve Deace
Some books that address controversial issues try to appeal to a broad audience, building bridges and trying to persuade others onto their side. Others are written to a narrow audience, to galvanize the true believers and give them strength and clarity as to the rightness of their side. Neither approach is bad necessarily, but it’s …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: A Nefarious Plot by Steve Deace”
Piper Reviews: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Rhythm of War is the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive. Congratulations if you’ve made it this far! I won’t go into very much detail about plot, since this is a fourth book, but we do get point-of-view chapters from Navani, Kaladin, Adolin, Shalan, Venli, Dalinar, and some other more minor characters. My brother tells …
Continue reading “Piper Reviews: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson”
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: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
This review is going to have spoilers for the first book. If you want to read my take on the series as a whole, read my review for All Systems Red. Of all of the Murderbot books, this one is my least favorite. It’s still pretty good, but not as good as the first. Thankfully, …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells”
Joe Reviews: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Ah, the Murderbot diaries. If you haven’t heard of these books yet, you’re in for a treat, because this is one of the best ongoing series currently in science fiction. This review will mostly just be for the first book, but since my reviews of the other books will probably contain spoilers, much of what …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: All Systems Red by Martha Wells”
Piper Reviews: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
My first review! I very much enjoyed this book, which wasn’t too unexpected since I read the first book in the series and very much enjoyed that book as well. Of course, there was always a danger that I wouldn’t enjoy it since we ditch the main character from the previous book — or turn …
Continue reading “Piper Reviews: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie”
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 …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson”
Review: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
There were things that I really, really loved about this book, and things that I found extremely frustrating. Overall, though, I enjoyed it very much, and found that the story stuck with me long after finishing it. First off, the good parts. The science fiction elements are really amazing, especially the evolutionary world-building of the …
Continue reading “Review: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky”