Martha Wells delivers another entertaining entry in the Murderbot Diaries with Artificial Condition. Much like the first story, this is only a novella as well and it rips along at warp speed, filled with action beats, laughs, and a small exploration of the worlds that Wells is building. The story picks up shortly after the…
Category: The Book Shelf
Magpie Murders (2016) – Anthony Horowitz
I’ve always enjoyed Anthony Horowitz’s writing. I dug his young spy novels, the Alex Rider series, and his foray into James Bond territory. But he is not a writer to be confined by genre, and when I came across Magpie Murders in one of the little libraries in a neighbor’s yard, I had to at…
The Trees (2021) – Percival Everett
With two books, Percival Everett has become one of my favorite authors. I loved his take on Jim from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in James. And when I read the blurb on The Trees I knew I had to take a look. I didn’t know that I would be blown away by it. Everett…
The Hunt for Red October (1984) – Tom Clancy
I haven’t read this book since the mid-80s when my schoolmate and friend, Michael Hay suggested I might like it. I dug into it, and for awhile there, birthdays or Christmases would bring me the latest Tom Clancy hardcover. I’ve been itching to kind of go back and see I still enjoy the stories, and…
The Maid’s Secret (2025) – Nita Prose
I love checking in with Molly the Maid. After two novels and one novella, I’m quite willing to see where Nita Prose takes the character. So I dug into this one without having read a thing about it. I just wanted to see how Molly, Juan, Mr. Preston, Mr. Snow, Stark, and Angela were doing….
Star Trek: Vulcan’s Heart (1999) – Susan Shwartz, and Josepha Sherman
Vulcan’s Heart is a pretty expansive story, and a good one, even if it felt a little overlong at times. Set in the 2340s, the novel ties in a number of classic episodes into one tale. There is The Enterprise Incident from The Original Series, and The Next Generation episodes Yesterday’s Enterprise and the Unification…
Battlestar Galactica: Warhawk (1998) – Richard Hatch, and Christopher Golden
Richard Hatch’s second installment in the continuation of the original Battlestar Galactica moves a little better than the first one. The characters have been introduced now, but even so, there are few things that happen that makes it feel like the stories are falling back on what has already happened as opposed to taking things…
We Used to Live Here (2024) – Marcus Kliewer
Some books not only take you in, but hint at a much bigger world behind the pages if you are willing to explore it. We Used to Live Here is one of those. It’s a spooky, unnerving tale, that is enmeshed in secrets and codes that eager readers can work to solve, and join online…
The Last Astronaut (2019) – David Wellington
Whatever 1I/2017 Oumuamua and now 3I/Atlas are, they fired my imagination. These intersolar voyagers are cloaked in mystery and possibilities. David Wellington’s novel, The Last Astronaut, takes that idea and runs with it giving us a cross of Crichton, Clarke and Lovecraft. A combination of science and wonder with unnerving horror. Sally Jansen was the…
Double or Die (2007) – Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson delivers another exciting Young James Bond story. But I have to say, his youth seemed pretty adventure-filled. So much so that you have to wonder if he was bored being 007. This one is a bit different, with more clues and intellect involved. The past two adventures saw young Bond going after baddies,…
The Mind Reels 