The Book Shelf – Page 16

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History (2017) – Michael Klastorin

I remember the first time I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It was 1984, it was my 13th birthday, I had read the fotonovel from the school library, was fascinated by the subject matter (I still am), and though I had seen the rubber toys in grocery stores when the film came out,…

Lords of Uncreation (2023) – Adrian Tchaikovsky

Orbit Books delivers the final book in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s The Final Architecture Trilogy, and if you dug the first two, the space opera in the third is going to let you enjoy every page as Tchaikovsky wraps things up while delivering a fast-paced, highly enjoyable tale. The Architects, strange planet-shaped beings that appear from unspace,…

How to Sell a Haunted House (2023) Grady Hendrix

I have greatly enjoyed Grady Hendrix’s books so far, there are still a couple more for me to track down, and I’m willing to say How to Sell a Haunted House is one of his best. Combining a story of loss with a puppet that seems to be the equal of the clown doll in…

Undisclosed (2017) – Steve Alten

I want to believe. I’ve said it before on this blog and in my own personal life, I’ve been fascinated by the possibilities of what and who may be out there and the idea that maybe we’ve already been in contact with. Consequently, I’m aware of Steven Greer, a former emergency room doctor who has…

The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022) – John Scalzi

John Scalzi knows how to tell a great story, and he proves it with The Kaiju Preservation Society, which is a thunderously enjoyable tale that gives us a fun and unique look at the horror/science fiction subgenre that is populated with stories of kaiju. Throwing nods to classic kaiju like Godzilla and newer ones like…

An Assassin in Utopia (2023) – Susan Wels

I occasionally find a non-fiction historical book that catches my interest, I’ll devour Erik Larson and Stephen B. Ambrose works voraciously, but when I read the blurb for Susan Wels’ An Assassin in Utopia, I had to add it to the list. Following historical events of the mid to late 19th century, Wels’ work centers…

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Encounter at Farpoint (1987) – David Gerrold

It says David Gerrold, but the wily, and brilliant sci-fi author actually allowed D.C. Fontana’s original work to take the center stage here, putting his name on it to allow it to get out. Fontana had originally been tapped to write the novelization, she wrote it, and then Gerrold was tapped to write it. He…

Star Trek: Invasion! First Strike (1996) – Diane Carey

Diane Carey launched a cross-generational story that swept through all four of the then-existing series, The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Each novel featured a standalone story that connected with the other tales, and the first featured Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise. Set a very short…

Transformation (1988) – Whitley Strieber

Communion when it came along stunned and shocked the world. It partially pulled the concept of ‘alien’ abductions into the mainstream, and Strieber did his able best to share his own experiences with these visitors. A couple years later in 1988, Strieber released a second volume, Transformation, that expanded on his continuing experiences, the reach…

Mexican Gothic (2020) – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexican Gothic is a wonderfully lush, and haunting novel, embracing all the familiar tropes of the Gothic genre, romance, the old dark house, family secrets, and the hints of something preter- or supernatural all juxtaposed into Mexico of the 1950s. We’re introduced to Noemi, a vivacious, smart, stubborn, flirtatious young woman who is still looking…