Flash of Steel Playing at the World Dyson’s Dodecahedron Quest for Fun! Bruce Heard and New Stories CRRPG Addict Fantasy Cafe Sitrep Hex and Violence Banzai!! Dungeon Fantastic Gaming Ballistic Ravens N’ Pennies Let’s GURPS The Collaborative Gamer Don’t Forget Your BootsIf you’re looking for a good historical novel, don’t look for it here. There’s a bit of history that shows up (the specific year it takes place in is specified), but that’s just some basic grounding for a story rooted[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Okay, I have some problems with the basic premises here. Technology for scanning your personality, your soul, and imprinting it on a disposable clay-like… ‘golem’ who is effectively a mental duplicate of you, is so cheap that sending it out[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Catseye features Norton’s usual broader theme of the main character finding his place in the world, but isn’t really a coming-of-age story like many of her books. In fact, Troy Horan doesn’t need to be exiled or otherwise lost to[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Another book from the ‘Dad always recommended it, and I should have gotten to it faster pile’. This generally gets classified as science fiction, though I have trouble doing that. It is a novel of ‘tomorrow’ (that tomorrow being 1959[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Warlord’s World is decidedly pulp. The Interstellar Patrol is a service in the Federation of Humanity with excellent ships and technology, and a fair amount of latitude in powers (one wonders just what the organization of the Federation is, but[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The third (and last) Beka Cooper book is another shift in characters and tone. This time two years have passed, which is enough time for her to meet someone new, get involved, for it to go sour, and for him[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Starstrike wants to be a simple book. Aliens show up on Earth, and because we’re so much more experienced with war than anyone else, recruit a team of the best soldiers we have to offer to change the balance of[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Narrett’s book takes a look at the intrigues that surrounded a portion of the Gulf coast in a period of unsettled transition. It’s far enough off the track of the usual topics of the colonial period to be nearly completely[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
The second book of the Beka Cooper series features an almost complete changeover in cast. It’s year after the first book, and Beka is having trouble with finding a permanent patrol partner. After an introductory section, most of the previous[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Overall, The Weapon Shops of Isher was enjoyable, but it has a number of problems. Some of this is structural leftovers from being a combination of three short stories, but some run deeper. The novel starts with a prologue that’s[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…