Category Archives: Books

The World of the Angrazi Raj

Posted on Monday, January 23, 2012 by Keith

The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling My rating: 4 of 5 stars Starting with an intriguing alternate history premise (a comet impact in the 19th century instigates the British empire to relocate to the Raj. By 2030, this Indian-English empire … Continue reading →

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The Word For Human In Any Language

Posted on Thursday, December 22, 2011 by Keith

Embassytown, By China Mieville This was a strange one. Not quite what you’d expect, either form a space opera or from China Mieville, and both in a good way. I don’t even know if you’d want to call it Space … Continue reading →

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As Goes Bella, So Goes the Nation

Posted on Friday, November 18, 2011 by Keith

Over at Goodreads, they’ve discovered something interesting about the readers of the Twilight books (click the link to see the infographic): There is no more divisive book on Goodreads than Twilight. It manages to top both our Best Books Ever … Continue reading →

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Crime and Punishment

Posted on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 by Keith

While doing some research this morning, I came across this fascinating story about Russian poet and Novelist, Boris Pasternak, and his best known work, Doctor Zhivago: After his own novel was denied publication by the journal Novy Mir, Pasternak arranged … Continue reading →

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The Murakami Fanclub United

Posted on Monday, September 12, 2011 by Keith

How Cool is this? It is a launch more reminiscent of a Harry Potter book than a lengthy, difficult novel by a Japanese author, but bookshops in the US are planning to stay open until midnight to cope with the … Continue reading →

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How To Find Your Own North Pole

Posted on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 by Keith

I just finished reading Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valtat. Leave it to a French Verne Fanatic to get Steampunk right. Instead of just gluing a bunch of random gears to a top hat and calling it Steampunk, Valtat incorporates the aesthetic … Continue reading →

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Various And Sundry

Posted on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 by Keith

If you think showing the rubes your complete birth certificate will shut them up Obama, you better think again. They won’t be satisfied until you show them a piece of paper certifying that you’re white. Also, this. *** George R.R. … Continue reading →

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Just a Theory

Posted on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 by Keith

I woke up this morning thinking about the Bible. People ask why I don’t sleep well. The bags under my eyes? it’s because my brain is trying to kill me so it can slip off and find a new host, … Continue reading →

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If You’re Seeing Snow, it’s Time to Change the Channel

Posted on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by Keith

The book club is discussing Neuromancer this month. This is the second book by William Gibson I’ve read, the first being Spook Country. Since they were written a good 20 years apart, I’m taking them as emblematic of his writing … Continue reading →

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A Phoney by Another Name

Posted on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 by Keith

An interesting article at Salon about the debate over whether or not to adapt Catcher in the Rye into a movie touches on something I’ve been thinking on for a while, namely, movie adaptations of books. For the record, I’m, … Continue reading →

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