The Sparrowby Mary Doria Russell448pp (Paperback)My Rating: 6/10Amazon Rating: 4/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.28/5Good Reads Rating: 4.29/5 Mary Doria Russell’s first novel, The Sparrow, failed to live up to my (rather high) expectations. I had heard that it had well-developed characters, an interesting first contact story, thought-provoking commentary on religious themes, and a haunting ending that stayed with you long after reaching the final page of the book. It sounded exactly like the kind of book I love, but it just did […]

Primary Inversionby Catherine Asaro384pp (Paperback)My Rating: 8.5/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 3.63/5Good Reads Rating: 3.94/5 Primary Inversion, a novel in the Skolian Saga, is the debut novel of Nebula Award winner Catherine Asaro. Although it is not chronologically the first novel in the series, it is supposed to be a good place to start. The series mostly focuses on the story of different members of one family and a few of the books are closely linked (for instance, The Radiant Seas […]

Breath and Boneby Carol Berg464pp (Paperback)My Rating: 9/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.61/5Good Reads Rating: 4.33/5 Breath and Bone is the second half of Carol Berg’s latest set of books, The Lighthouse Duology. It picks up where its predecessor leaves off, so it is necessary to read the first part Flesh and Spirit before attempting to read this book. This means that this review may contain some spoilers for Flesh and Spirit since it would be rather difficult to discuss even […]

Neuromancerby William Gibson288pp (Paperback)My Rating: 2/10Amazon Rating: 4/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.06/5Good Reads Rating: 4.06/5 William Gibson’s Neuromancer, the first book in the Sprawl trilogy, is the novel that began the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. When it was published in 1984, it was a very revolutionary work, and it was certainly influential in modern day terminology since it made the term “cyberspace” popular (it was originally coined in one of Gibson’s earlier works, the short story “Burning Chrome”). The frequent comparison […]

Neverwhereby Neil Gaiman400pp (Paperback)My Rating: 8/10Amazon Rating: 4.5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.18/5Good Reads Rating: 4.08/5 The first novel Neil Gaiman wrote after gaining his reputation as a comic book writer was Neverwhere, a stand alone story based on the BBC mini series Gaiman worked on. (Having seen the mini series before, I was amazed at just how similar the book and mini series were.) As is to be expected from anything by Gaiman, Neverwhere is an enchanting tale, strange and a little […]

Mistborn: The Final Empireby Brandon Sanderson672pp (Paperback)My Rating: 7.5/10Amazon Rating: 5/5LibraryThing Rating: 4.48/5Good Reads Rating: 4.5/5 Mistborn: The Final Empire is the first book in the Mistborn series and the second novel written by Brandon Sanderson, the author selected to complete the final novel in the Wheel of Time series. The second book in the series, The Well of Ascension, is currently out in hardcover and the final book, The Hero of Ages, has a scheduled release date of October […]