- 5 days ago
- 3 min
Book Review: Ring Shout, by P. Djèlí Clark
Hate made flesh. That’s what Klansmen are under their hoods in P. Djèlí Clark’s 2020 novella Ring Shout—not just men committing monstrous...
20 views
- Sep 2
- 3 min
Book Review: The Hidden Palace, by Helene Wecker
Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni is one of my favorite books. Set in 1899 New York City, the story serves up a unique blend of...
39 views
- Aug 6
- 2 min
Book Review: A Study in Crimson, by Robert J. Harris
A condensed version of this review appeared in the August 2021 issue of The Historical Novels Review. Sherlock Holmes is the type of...
76 views
- Jul 9
- 2 min
Book Review: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
Ever hate your job and just want to watch Netflix? Turns out Murderbots feel the same way. At least, that’s the general attitude of the...
74 views
- Jun 5
- 3 min
Book Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Letters are many things in Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This Is How You Lose the Time War. Taunts between foes. Invitations to...
100 views
- May 1
- 3 min
Book Review: The Dark Forest, by Cixin Liu
Cixin Liu’s The Dark Forest generally operates on a galactic scale. But it starts with the perspective of an ant. The diminutive point of...
294 views
- Mar 25
- 3 min
Book Review: A Perfect Spy, by John le Carré
Even without context, John le Carré’s A Perfect Spy—a tale of a British secret agent who betrayed his country because he couldn’t unlearn...
621 views
- Mar 6
- 1 min
Bonus Content: Images of the Fair
In describing Chicago's first world's fair (also known as the World's Columbian Exposition), I realized that it's easy to hear "fair" and...
46 views
- Feb 9
- 2 min
Book Review: Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow starts as a Mexican Cinderella story, except that the fairy godmother is a Mayan god of...
67 views
- Jan 5
- 3 min
Book Review: The Evening and the Morning, by Ken Follett
In The Evening and the Morning, Ken Follett shows that he’s still a master at giving the reader the same thing, but different. The book...
566 views