Oct 29, 2022Review: NOW AND ON EARTH by Jim ThompsonAn interesting book that transports the reader to an unusual and overlooked place and time: James Dillon is a young father and failed writer battling alcoholism while struggling to hold down a job at an airplane factory in San Diego (based on the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation) in the early days…3 min read3 min read
Oct 29, 2022Review: BLIND ALLEY by Adam de SouzaLovely, discursive, and more than a little disjointed, Adam De Souza’s comic strip “Blind Alley” follows the low-key adventures of a group of highly independent children (parents make a fleeting appearance in the first episode before vanishing from sight) in the fields, backlots, and treetops of their strange neighborhood. Blind…Blind Alley3 min readBlind Alley3 min read
Sep 19, 2022Review: TALLI: DAUGHTER OF THE MOON by SOURYAFirst off, I translated this book! So what follows is my honest, but clearly biased, opinion. Originally published in France, this new English-language edition is arriving in Fall 2022 from Oni Press. …Manga3 min readManga3 min read
Mar 20, 2022Review: JULIETTE by Camille JourdyJuliette— Les fantômes reviennent au printemps is a low-key family drama focusing on the intersecting stories of sisters Juliette (single, anxiety-ridden, and recently returned to her home town from Paris) and Marylou (unhappily married with kids and having an affair with a man who works at a costume shop), as…2 min read2 min read
Jan 13, 2022Review: IN REAL LIFE by Cory Doctorow and Jen WangThis has been on my to-read pile for waaay too long, finally blew through it today. Super fun, interesting, and unique book that tackles real-world economics through the lens of a fictionalized game world. The main character, a shy teenage gamer recently relocated to Arizona, becomes involved with a scheme…Book Review3 min readBook Review3 min read
Mar 23, 2021Recent Quick Reviews — Novels, Novellas, & ShortsINSIDE JOBS by Ben H. Winters Fun, quick, and entertaining tales of life (and occasional death) in the midst of a pandemic. The three stories collected are of varying levels of excellence but they all get the job done, creating an old-school crime atmosphere while embracing the peculiarities of a very specific moment. The first and…Book Review3 min readBook Review3 min read
Dec 20, 2020Review: JULIAN IN PURGATORY by Jon AllenThings start off bad and quickly get worse for the titular protagonist in Julian in Purgatory. The prodigal son of the severe former mayor of an unnamed town in Ohio, Julian is possessed of a bad attitude, a long-suffering girlfriend, and an unrelenting pill habit. When girlfriend Dana’s repeated attempts…Jon Allen3 min readJon Allen3 min read
Jul 30, 2020Review: THE YEARS OF RICE AND SALT by KIM STANLEY ROBINSONAn intriguing tale that spools out over many centuries and across continents, The Years of Rice and Salt is a vast, episodic alternate history whose starting point is that the Black Death kills 99% of the people in Europe rather than a mere third or so as in the real…Kim Stanley Robinson2 min readKim Stanley Robinson2 min read
Jul 30, 2020Review: JUNIOR CITIZENS by IAN HERRING & DANIEL MacINTYREJunior Citizens is a sometimes biting and bitter satire of the military-industrial-complex wrapped up in a brightly-drawn, retro-futurist sci-fi funny book package. Incompetent fools fail upwards into the highest echelons of the corporate hierarchy, while at the same time no good deed goes unpunished amongst those “juniors” who are trying…Book Review2 min readBook Review2 min read
Jul 25, 2020Recent Quick Reviews — GNs and ComicsThe Cursed Hermit by Kris Bertin & Alexander Forbes An exceptional, perhaps superior sequel to the already very strong The Case of the Missing Men, this book takes a deeper dive not only into the authors’ convoluted “Hobtown Mythos” but also into the psychology of the first book’s most intriguing…4 min read4 min read
