Favorite Authors

  • Fantasy Favorite: China Mieville
  • Fantasy Also Like: George R.R. Martin, Kelly Link
  • Science Fiction Favorite: John Scalzi
  • Science Fiction Also Like: Kameron Hurley, N.K. Jemisin, Iain Banks, Stephen Baxter, Greg Bear, Dan Simmons
  • Horror Favorite: Stephen King
  • Horror Also Like: Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft
  • Poetry Favorite: Stephen Dunn
  • Poetry Also Like: D.H. Lawrence, William Blake, T.S. Eliot
  • Modern Literature Favorite: Kazuo Ishiguro, Margaret Atwood
  • Modern Literature Also Like: Umberto Eco

Fall 2024

  • Spent the last several months digging into Dennis Taylor’s Bobiverse series. It’s a fairly light, well written sci-fi romp about a computer scientist whose consciousness is uploaded to a self-replicating spacecraft, with the goal of finding a new home for humanity. It’s the perfect blend of serious and fun to keep me engaged.

February 17, 2024

  • Justin Cronin’s “The Ferryman” was very good. While I did not find it as ‘profound’ as some have, it was a solid “what the hell is really going on?” type of book that kep me enthralled until the end.
  • I went searching for modern horror, something reminiscent of early Clive Barker’s work. I found Paula Ashe, a self described “Hellraiser obsessive”. Her collection “We Are Here to Hurt Each Other” is excellent.

June 23, 2023

  • Re-reading Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos. Some of the (anti)religious themes are still heavy-handed, but he does a great job at world-building. It holds up better than I expected.

January 5th, 2023

February 26, 2022

  • Re-reading Ted Chiang’s short stories and novellas.
  • Currently reading Monica Byrne’s “The Actual Star”. Impressive book, spanning 3 different storylines across millennia. I am riveted to see how they come together.

May 14th, 2021

  • Kameron Hurley’s “The Light Brigade” is excellent military sci-fi. I put it up there with Heinlein in using sci-fi settings to highlight the atrocities and personal costs of a perpetual war.
  • Starting to dig into Peter Watt’s “Blindsight”. It’s a hard sci-fi first alien encounter novel, supposedly one of the best ever written. I’m having a hard time getting engaged so far, but will stick with it.

February 17th, 2021

  • M.R. Carey’s series continues with “Trials of Koli”. See below for a plot summary. His worldbuilding is solid, and he sets it up for a solid conclusion later this year.
  • I read the first entry of the Murderbot series, by Martha Wells. It was fine, I guess. Not sure if I’ll come back to the rest of the series.

November 1st, 2020

  • M.R. Carey’s Rampart Trilogy gets off to a strong start with “Book of Koli.”I am a sucker for solid post-apocalyptic settings which have breadcrumbs to modern civilization. This story of an over-the-horizon future where the earth has suffered some sort of collapse(not nuclear- feels more ecological), and some technology remains. In this setting, technology is akin to magic, and those who know how to use it are the ones with power.
  • Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb Trilogy continues strongly with “Harrow The Ninth”

May 1st, 2020

  • Still working through Kameron Hurley’s catalog. She’s one of the few artists I support on Patreon. The Stars are Legion was a weird, gross, excellent read.

January 5th, 2020

  • Tamsysn Muir’s “Gideon the Ninth” was a fun, frollicking read.
  • Kameron Hurley is someone worth tracking on. She writes weird, character driven sci-fi/fantasy (mainly sci-fi). She is brutally honest about what it’s like to be a moderately successful writer, still living paycheck to paycheck. Her social media is filled with images and info on her cats, dogs, her day to day life as a writer, and other random thoughts. She’s worth a follow.

March 9th, 2019

  • John Scalzi’s Consuming Fire, the second book in his Interdependency series, was an excellent read. I’m looking forward to the series final book sometime this year.

June 12th, 2018

March 20th, 2018

  • N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy is outstanding. I am in awe of serious world-building, and Jemisin builds a compelling universe for her characters to act human, in both the best and worst possible ways.

September 19, 2017

  • I recently finished reading Liu Cixin’s Three Body Problem trilogy, culminating in the finale Death’s End. The trilogy has been labeled “China’s Star Wars”, rightly so. I highly recommend the entire series.

July 3rd, 2017

  • Just finished John Scalzi’s Collapsing Empire. Solid beginning to his new sci-fi series about an interstellar feudal system that is losing the ability to traverse the stars.
  • With the first season of the Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’ just ending, I re-read parts of the book to remind myself of certain items. The series definitely diverged from the book in a few key ways, mainly to update the setting from 2001(original publication) to today. I’m already looking forward to a second season.

May 22nd, 2017

  • Work has been busy, have not read much this year. The 4 books I have read since January;
  • The Three Body Problem and its sequel, The Dark Forest. Both are by Chinese author Liu Cixin. It is impressive big-idea Science Fiction set during the Chinese Cultural Revolution through the present and future. I’ve got the 3rd book in the trilogy coming up soon.
  • Ted Chiang’s Story of Your Life and Others was a very good short story collection. The story “Story of Your Life” was made into the excellent movie “Arrival” with Amy Adams.
  • Joe Haldeman’s Forever War, a classic that is always worth a re-read.

October 18th, 2016

  • Alas, nothing new right now. Been busy with work and being lazy to pick up a new book. I want to start reading Ted Chiang’s SF writings.

July 5th, 2016

  • Getting excited for Starz’ adaption of Neil Gaiman’s ‘American Gods’. So, I am re-reading the book for like the 8th time.

May 16th, 2016

June 3rd, 2015

Updated 11/05/2014

  • Tad Williams’ Bobby Dollar trilogy was a quick-read for Laura and I. An angel as a gumshoe detective in the SF Bay Area. Very enjoyable reads, in a pulpy-noirish kind of way.

Updated 1/9/2014

  • Neil Gaiman’s Fortunately, The Milk is making the rounds through the family. He is the best writer at being able to write a book that appeals to everyone in the family, from Bree(7 years old) up to me (some number above 7)

Updated 10/3/2013

  • I discovered John Scalzi over the summer via a Humble Bundle deal from this past year. ‘Old Man’s War’ deserved the Hugo that it received. Very strong sci-fi writer, with the right balance of the absurb, the serious, and the laugh-out-loud funny. His blog is quite entertaining, as well. I’m on his 4th book in 4 months(interrupted by Neil Gaiman, the only author whom is capable of interrupting streaks like this).

Recently Completed

slightly older