H.P. Lovecraft gets a fantastic spin in this novella by Victor LaValle. Lovecraft is hard to admit you like, because his stories of cosmic horror and old ones are so good, and have become such a cornerstone of horror fiction, but he was just so racist and that permeated all of his writing. The Ballad…
Category: The Book Shelf
Star Trek: Ice Trap (1992) – L.A. Graf
There are times. Not often, but every now and then, that despite my love for the subject matter, I can’t get into a book. This is what happened with my latest foray in to the Star Trek novels. I loved the sound of it, I’m enjoying my time with Kirk and company as I go…
The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) – Ian Fleming
The tenth James Bond book, and the ninth novel, is this week’s 007 Book Shelf entry, and it’s a bit of a unique creation. It’s a small, almost non-event in the life of secret agent James Bond, and is told from the first person perspective of the heroine of the tale, French-Canadian Vivienne Michel. Recently…
Mort (1987) – Terry Pratchett
This week, I dug into another Discworld novel for the Book Shelf. And I’ve said it before, but I’m glad I waited until now to read them, I wouldn’t have appreciated them, and their wonderful humour when they were originally released. And now, I also don’t have to wait a year or two for the…
Thunderball (1961) – Ian Fleming
The ninth book, and eighth full novel,in Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007 series is up this week. And this one is a bit of a special case. It was originally concocted as a screenplay, and early editions gave sole credit to Fleming, whereas future editions, much like the film(s) that would later be developed from…
Star Trek: The Disinherited (1992) – Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, and Robert Greenberger
The Human Adventure continues as I delve into another Star Trek novel, and revel in the storytelling that actually feels like an episode (or several) of The Original Series. Set during the original five year mission, the three authors work to craft a tale that works as a cohesive whole while giving us separate story…
The Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three (1964) – Lloyd Alexander
Using Welsh myth and legend as a basis, Lloyd Alexander wrote a series of novels under the umbrella heading, The Chronicles of Prydain. Aimed at younger readers, this was a collection of stories that were never really on my radar as a kid. By the point I was of an age to think about reading…
Star Trek: Probe (1992) – Margaret Wander Bonanno
Supposedly set a few weeks after the events of The Voyage Home, Probe is the next book in PocketBooks Star Trek series. I personally like to push it to just after The Final Frontier, because the Enterprise seems to be working without any real problems. The probe after reestablishing contact with the cetacean lifeforms on…
For Your Eyes Only (1960) – Ian Fleming
This week’s 007 book, as I continue to make my way through the series, is a collection of short stories, a number of which either have names that would be used for the film series, and are filled with familiar names and sequences as we dig into different moments in the life of James Bond….
Star Trek: Faces of Fire (1992) – Micheal Jan Friedman
When I read the blurb for this book, the next in the PocketBook Star Trek series, I was a little anxious as to how they were going to walk the line of having a young, ten year-old David Marcus interact with Kirk and company during their original five year mission and how Kirk’s interaction with…
The Mind Reels 