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Category Archives: literature
Inverted World by Christopher Priest
As much as I love hard SF, I must admit that it often does not age well. If you pick up a 20-30 year old science fiction book, you will often find it full of outdated notions, discredited scientific theories … Continue reading
The Scar by China Miéville
China Miéville is probably most known for his oddball Fantasy/Steampunk novels. I reviewed the first one of them Perdido Street Station a while ago. You may remember that I liked it – or rather appreciated it for what it was … Continue reading
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Extensa by Jacek Dukaj
Here I am again, reviewing a novel most of you probably won’t be able to read. The good news it’s the last one I have for now. The bad news is that I might get more at some point. But … Continue reading
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
I like most of the novels written by Vernor Vinge (well, with exception of Taja Grimm’s World). I thought Rainbow’s End was inspired, and that Deepness in the Sky was a really solid piece of SF. Fire Upon the Deep … Continue reading
Black Oceans (Czarne Oceany) by Jacek Dukaj
Back in July I have reviewed an excellent Polish SF novel titled “Perfect Imperfection”, which by the way may be getting an English language release soon. Over the holidays I acquired two new books by the same author thanks to … Continue reading
The Sparrow by Marry Doria Russell
Sometimes you read a book, and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Not because it was bad, but because the story is so depressing and/or disturbing that it makes you feel dirty. The Sparrow by Marry Doria Rusell … Continue reading
Timeless Books
Sometimes I often rag on fantasy for being redundant and uninspired genre. It’s not that I hate it, it’s just that I find it a rather one-note genre with very little originality. In fact, I would go as far as … Continue reading
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The Orange Eats Creeps
It’s not often that I am unable to finish a book. I am a book worm by nature – I devour printed volumes wholesale not unlike Sam Savage’s Firmin. Good, bad – it does not really matter. So far there … Continue reading
Blindsight by Peter Watts
When I reviewed Embassytown I lamented at the scarcity of well designed, interesting aliens that do not conform to overplayed archetypes such as rubber-forehead people, and rabid, insectoid killing machines. I enjoyed Miéville’s attempt to create a race with a … Continue reading
Essential SF Books You Should Read
We are all fans of science fiction here. Some of us enjoy it more than the others, but most of us read it. Most literary genres have their share of crappy novels, but it often seems like ours has it … Continue reading
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Tatja Grimm’s World by Vernor Vinge
Taja Grimm’s World has a rather interesting pedigree. It started as a short story titled Grimm’s Story which Vinge published some time in the early 60′s. In 1968 he expanded it into a novella format, renamed it to Grimm’s World … Continue reading
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
If you have been following my literary reviews for a little while, you have probably noticed a pattern according to which I select my reading materials. I love hard SF, and I am fascinated by anything that even brushes against … Continue reading
Embassytown by China Miéville
China Miéville is probably best known for his imaginative fantasy work set in the same funky universe as the excellent Perdido Street Station. I really like what he is doing to re-invigorate the genre by pushing at it’s borders from … Continue reading
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Long time ago, some time in the 90′s I presume, the literary science fiction magazine I subscribed to, used to run a series of editorials titled something like “The Return of Feudalism”. They were all written by a Polish expat … Continue reading
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
Guess what time it is kids? It’s time for a book review! We haven’t had one of these in a while. Stop whining! I’m giving you good SF titles to read here. I’m enriching your lives. So you are gonna … Continue reading
Total Privacy Societies: The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi
I love books that explore interesting concepts. The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi was a little bit of an impulse buy for me. You see, I have a running Amazon wish list. Whenever I stumble upon very favorable book reviews, … Continue reading
Halting State by Charles Stross
Halting State is definitely one of Charlie Stross’ low end books. It is nowhere near as impressive and intellectually stimulating as Accelerando or Glasshouse. I’d probably put it in the same category as Singularity Sky. Still, it is quite interesting … Continue reading
Perfect Imperfection (Perfekcyjna Niedoskonałość) by Jacek Dukaj
When I read Accelerando I concluded that Charlie Stross is a master of putting a staggering number of cool ideas on every single page of his novel. The density of ideas per page in that book was so great it … Continue reading
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
Sometimes you stumble upon a book that is well written, interesting, suspenseful, full of unexpected plot turns and reveals, and you go: “Meh…”. Don’t get me wrong – there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. I really can’t criticize … Continue reading
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
Back in September, I wrote about American Gods by Neil Gaiman. As I mentioned back then, my introduction to Gaiman was via the excellent Sandman comics. While his novel was very different from the comics, I still liked it. And … Continue reading
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