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Category Archives: literature
Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
When I reviewed Illium and Olympos by Dan Simmons I was quite impressed by how he managed to seamlessly blend the legendary ancient epic with post-singularity science fiction while staying true to both. I gave Simmons a lot of credit … Continue reading
Diaspora by Greg Egan
I believe I have found a new favorite writer. His name is Greg Egan and he writes science fiction so hard you can’t consume it in hasty bites least you want to break your mind’s teeth on it. You have … Continue reading
The Postmortal by Drew Magary
If you know me, you probably realize I’m a firm believer in the fact that aging is a disease that can, and should be cured. Our short lifespans and high reproductive rates have been instrumental in getting us where we … Continue reading
Capacity by Tony Ballantyne
Here is a very poignant question: what happens when you digitize a human mind and then bootstrap it and run it as a self aware software entity? How that virtual person relate to the original physical person from which it … Continue reading
The King of Pain (Król Bólu) by Jacek Dukaj [part 3]
Welcome to the third and final installment of the exhaustive review of this remarkable (and remarkably long) book. The Social Tragedy of Post-Scarcity Imagine a world in which nano-assembly has been perfected and made super cheep. Imagine a nation in … Continue reading
The King of Pain (Król Bólu) by Jacek Dukaj [part 2]
I’m usually not a huge fan of anthologies. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with collections of short stories – it’s just that when I buy a book, I prefer the more substantial experience of a novel, rather than … Continue reading
Line of Resistance (Linia Oporu) by Jacek Dukaj
If you asked me who were the most interesting SF writers of the last decade or two, I would without give you five names: Vernor Vinge, Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, Neal Stephenson and Jacek Dukaj. Not necessarily in that order. … Continue reading
The Price of Immortality: beware what you wish for
I asked her if she would like to live forever. She said no. They all say no. Why is that? We have all been brainwashed. Human society has been coping with death and loss for so long, that it became … Continue reading
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Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson
Oh, you liked Anathem by Neil Stephenson? You should totally read Diamond Age, they told me. It’s his best book yet, they told me. You know what? That’s bullshit. Diamond Age is nowhere near as good as Anathem. You see, … Continue reading
About that one time when I found my dad’s magazine collection
Once upon a time when I was digging through the junk in the attic and found my dad’s “magazine collection”. I view that event as one of the pivotal moments of my life. It was an experience that changed me … Continue reading
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Celestis by Paul Park
Celestis by Paul Park is yet another book to add to my collection of stories with unconventional and interesting aliens. One thing I dislike in my science fiction are space opera style aliens. I’m willing to tolerate that kind of … Continue reading
City at the end of Time
I often rag on Fantasy for being redundant, but I have realized I might be unfair. Perhaps my definition of Fantasy is to narrow. After all, I like Neil Gaiman’s writing, and what is it if not Fantasy. Gaiman is … Continue reading
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
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