Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality by Gail DinesMy rating: 2 of 5 stars Dines’s book is an excursion into the destructive nature of pornography on our society. It hits some of the problem on the head, especially the violence of the gonzo olympics. However, the book is flawed in that Dines enters the […]
Pornland is Informative But Also As Boring As Porn Read More »
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A good story set against a brilliant vision of the future solar system. I love the setting so much, especially all the political interplay. The characters were a bit of a reach for me at first, especially Miller’s obsession with the dead girl. I
Leviathan Wakes (First story of The Expanse) Read More »
Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-GarciaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Moreno-Garcia dipped into the inkwell of mortality to write a modern fairy tale about love, both romantic and fraternal, featuring Gods and a plucky character shaped by the world to be a reluctant hero. The world-building is brilliant, drawing from the lush
My Favorite Story of 2019 (so far) Read More »
Funny In Farsi: A Memoir Of Growing Up Iranian In America by Firoozeh DumasMy rating: 3 of 5 stars A refreshing memoir by a talented, entertaining author who speaks in clear direct language and tells great stories, especially about her extended family. This valuable book illuminates the life of an immigrant and narrates the American
An Endearing and Instructive Immigration Story Told With Wit and Aplomb Read More »
Here is a powerpoint presentation I created depicting the writer’s market in 2019 for authors to make informed choices. PDF: PDF Version PPT: Powerpoint Version Enjoy!
Powerpoint Presentation for UCF Writing Class Read More »
(for Damon Knight) Though Riley awakens only two hours after falling asleep, her alarm will not negotiate peace. By the time the coffee’s aroma pervades the kitchen, she realizes she will never shake off this hangover in time to confront the office smilers where she interns at Life Inc., America’s premier self-help conglomerate. She sighs
Bad User on Device Read More »
I haul groceries to my fourth-floor studio one landing at a time. My bottle of discounted rum, a 5 lb. sack of potatoes, and a rocket-shaped golden squash—so irresistible at the market—anchor me down like sandbags. Around me wafts the dinners of my neighbors. Sweat drips from my face and armpits. At my door, I
Just a Little Touch of Mojo Hand Read More »
Autonomous by Annalee NewitzMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I really liked Autonomous. I thought Newitz’s vision of a future world with drug patent hoarding corporations and pirates willing to defy them scarily realistic. I also thoroughly enjoyed the embedded discussion of capitalism’s overreach of claiming human biological data, and the implicit criticism of how
Questions of Consent Read More »
Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia My rating: 5 of 5 starsSilvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Prime Meridian” is about Mars, though not the red planet nor the Roman god of war. Instead, this story features a black-and-white Mars decorated with cheap studio effects, another Mars that exists only as a bond between a young couple that cannot survive
“Prime Meridian” and Its Many Marses Read More »
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is brilliant literary science fiction. I will discuss the literary aspects of it in a moment, but first it’s important to place it squarely in the domain of science fiction. First, under Darko Suvin’s definition of sci fi, the
My review of The Handmaid’s Tale Read More »
In my opinion, this is the best shot from Season 8 of Game of Thrones. Somewhat underwhelmed by the finale, because it all felt so rushed, but I’m excited for what the novels will bring. Winds/Dream. 🙂
Game of Thrones Finale Read More »
Sharp Objects by Gillian FlynnMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Sharp Objects is a solid first novel, to which I would have given a higher rating, were it not for the summary technique in the conclusion that robs the reader of the experience of that year of discovery. Flynn does everything else right. Her characters
Devoured this scrumptious morsel in but a few hours and still left a little hungry. Read More »
I’m just posting this so I don’t lose it. — For Anonymous-George, long ago I saw one of the first, I believe, novels about a young woman who wasn’t allowed to use magic or whatever because she was a woman, and the thought occurred to me as to how it might go if men were
Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time) on Matriarchies in Finn Read More »
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism by James W. LoewenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A long horrific account of America’s deliberate segregation, its underlying current of white-onliness, born out of Loewen’s personal journey of awakening to the fact he was surrounded by Sundown Towns, those locales so hostile to blacks that the
The History of White Onliness in America Read More »
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi AdeyemiMy rating: 5 of 5 stars An important story written from a vantage point above a landscape of suffering and tears. Adeyemi does an excellent job with setting, painting a colorful mosaic rich in magical realism but grounded in pain and tragedy. I especially found compelling her use
When They Have Taken the Magic Read More »
The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane AndersMy rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s tough to review this one without spoilers and still convey the essentials, because the worldbuilding is so unique, so let me give a one-liner first and you can choose to move on if you wish: I give
If You Think Science Fiction Should Make You Ask Yourself Tough Questions… Read More »
Talking HeadsA-Space GalleryToronto ON01-27-197700:00:00 Artists Only00:04:59 The Girls Want to Be With the Girls00:08:41 The Book I Read00:13:42 I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That00:17:26 Thank You for Sending Me an Angel00:20:15 No Compassion00:24:41 fixing the drums00:25:50 Questions for Lovers00:28:45 Who Is It?00:31:33 Happy Day00:36:19 Love -> Building on Fire00:40:01 I’m Not in Love00:45:47 Pulled Up00:50:50
Talking Heads as a 3 piece band in black and white from Toronto 1977. Read More »
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillipMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved the voice of the narrator, the straightforward unapologetic fairy tale weave. I enjoyed the transformation of Sybel, how she loses her naïveté to the Eld version of the Great Game, and I mourn her loss of the magical world
All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane AndersMy rating: 5 of 5 stars All the birds… is such an enchanting story, a true modern fairy tale that still finds time to dig deep into doomsday ethics and build venn diagrams of science and magic. The characters spoke to me. I love how well
A Modern Fairytale Explores the Union of Magic and Science. Read More »