Book Review: Hokas Pokas! by Poul Anderson & Gordon R. Dickson The Hoka of the planet Toka are the galaxy’s best live-action roleplayers. Given a story they find interesting, the teddy-bear-looking aliens will take on the characters as their own personalities. And they especially love Earth stories. Thus it is that they have entire subcultures… Continue reading Book Review: Hokas Pokas!
Tag: England
Book Review: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder
Book Review: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson Four men come to the house on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea when the man who owns the house, Thomas Carnacki, summons them for dinner. They ask no questions, as they know Carnacki will wait until his own good time to tell them… Continue reading Book Review: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder
Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image
Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image by John Brunner and Bruce Duncan, respectively. Belmont Books was a minor publisher of paperback books with a specialty in speculative fiction, which lasted from 1960 to 1971. Apparently in an effort to mimic the success of Ace Doubles, they produced a series of “Belmont Doubles” that… Continue reading Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image
Book Review: Riot Most Uncouth
Book Review: Riot Most Uncouth by Daniel Friedman Disclaimer: I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. When George Gordon, Lord Byron, was a lad, his father Mad Jack often told him tales of the vrykolakas, immortal beings who fed on the blood… Continue reading Book Review: Riot Most Uncouth
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years. Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante
Book Review: Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante by Susan Elia MacNeal It is late December, 1941. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor, and America is now at war with the Axis powers. The United States’ alliance with Great Britain is now an active one, and to cement that alliance, Prime Minister Winston Churchill has crossed the ocean… Continue reading Book Review: Mrs. Roosevelt’s Confidante
Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate
Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate edited by John Gaterud Yes, this is yet another literary magazine; I picked up a bunch inexpensively at the book fair. This one seems to take its title from Jack Kerouac’s writing; this first issue was published in 2007. The index is unusual for this kind of… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Blueroad Reader: Stardust and Fate
Book Review: The Curious Case of the Jeweled Alicorn
Book Review: The Curious Case of the Jeweled Alicorn by Michael Merriam. We open in media res, as Arkady Bloom’s assignation with Countess Moretti takes a dangerous turn. It seems that in addition to being a minor court poet, Bloom is also an agent of the Crown’s Supernatural Intervention Agency, and the Countess has stolen the… Continue reading Book Review: The Curious Case of the Jeweled Alicorn
Book Review: Galaxy of Ghouls
Book Review: Galaxy of Ghouls edited by Judith Merril October is scary stuff season, so let’s look at a book of creepy tales. This collection of 16 “science-fantasy” stories is themed around various monsters, from the classic to the out-there. We open with “Wolves Don’t Cry” by Bruce Elliott, turning the traditional werewolf story upside… Continue reading Book Review: Galaxy of Ghouls
Book Review: The Cavaliers of Death
Book Review: The Cavaliers of Death by Rosita Forbes Lois Gilmour is a pretty nineteen-year-old and ready to be a bit independent, so she is less than thrilled when her father Charles, a wealthy importer, has arranged her marriage to middle-aged Philip Wingate, a man with a sinister reputation. It’s especially irksome, as the… Continue reading Book Review: The Cavaliers of Death