Author: James Viscosi

Teaser Tuesday 5/21/2013: “The Dreaming Void”

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This week I’m almost halfway through Peter F. Hamilton’s The Dreaming Void, part one of his “Void” trilogy, in which humanity discovers that what they thought was a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is, in fact, some sort of ancient, gigantic artifact that periodically wakes up and eats nearby stars. So of course, somebody decides they have to send a ship into it. Readers of Hamilton’s earlier “Commonwealth Sage”, in whose universe the “Void” trilogy is set, will remember how well it turned out the last time humans sent ships poking around such a construct. (Hint: Not well.) Like most of Hamilton’s books, this one is taking a nice long time to get going, but, also like most of Hamilton’s books, I expect that once the plot really kicks in, I won’t want to put it down.

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Title Drop Tuesday: Midnight in the Garden Center of Good and Evil

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MidnightGardenCenter

Teaser Tuesday 5/7/2013: Toby Continues to Stream the Universe

~ James Viscosi ~ 2 Comments

Still reading Toby Streams the Universe, by Maya Lassiter.  The titular psychic, Toby, continues to try to get a handle on his visions while trying to prevent the election of a president who will lead the world into … wait, sorry, that’s a different psychic.  Toby is just trying to keep his friends safe and happy and himself from going insane.  And did I mention he still lives in New York City?

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Teaser Tuesday 4/30/2013: Toby Streams the Universe

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

This week’s free book is Toby Streams the Universe, by Maya Lassiter, in which a psychic (the titular Toby, looking like a PhotoShop mashup of Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire on the cover) who is increasingly unable to control his visions attempts to help his private investigator friend solve cases, prevent his sister (also a psychic) from killing herself, find his missing father, protect his new neighbor from an abusive ex-husband, keep his family’s finances afloat by reading the minds of stockbrokers, change the dark future that awaits various friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and avoid going insane. All while living in New York City. So what have you done lately?

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Review: “The Hobbit”

~ James Viscosi ~ 4 Comments

Most readers probably know that I do the occasional film review here, and that because I like just about every movie I see, instead of actually rating movies myself I judge them based on how long it takes for them to put my wife to sleep.  A few readers may even remember that, several years ago, I had been trying in vain to get my wife to sit through “The Two Towers” and “Return of the King”, after having subjected her to “The Fellowship of the Ring” in an actual movie theater.  Alas, my efforts were in vain, until she happened to wander past the television when I was watching “The Two Towers” for the umpteenth time, and she happened to see Gollum.  A bit more back story:  When we finally got replaced our picture tube last year, it was with a 3D flat screen; and because it’s difficult to find 3D movies for rent locally and I am too cheap to buy them, I rent them by mail, a la Netflix, from an outfit called 3DBluRayRental.com.  Are you with me so far?  Good.  So here is my non-review review of the 3D Blu-Ray of “The Hobbit”.

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Teaser Tuesday 4/16/2013: “Oz Reimagined”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

This month’s free Prime book is Oz Reimagined: New Tales from the Emerald City and Beyond, a collection of short stories inspired by, you guessed it, the Oz stories of L. Frank Baum. Not just based on the characters from the Wizard of Oz, the stories includes Ozma, the Gump, Jack Pumpkinhead, and others. The collection has a foreword by Gregory Maguire of Wicked fame, which should tell you that you are in for some revisionism. As in this story, “Off to See the Emperor”, by Orson Scott Card, in which six-year-old Frank Baum and nine-year-old Theodora are trying to get Theodora’s mother’s ring back, and the Lion is being less than helpful about it.

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“The War of the Ravels” Then And Now: When Mercy Met Brennendah

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

I’m between books at the moment, having finished off Wool and not picked up a replacement yet, so rather than Teaser Tuesday, this week I offer another side-by-side comparison of a scene from The War of the Ravels. In this scene, Our Heroes meet a fellow named Brennendah, of the same species (“Rittandic”) as the villain of the piece, Kihantroh. As usual, the original, 20-year-old version of the scene is on the left, while the rewritten version is on the right.

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Teaser Tuesday 3/26/2013: “Wool”

~ James Viscosi ~ 3 Comments

This week I’m still working on Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, the dystopian SF novel from last week.  This is a big book and well worth the $3.99 Kindle price.  It still mostly takes place in that giant silo (“They mostly stay in the silo.  Mostly.”), and at this point my speculation last week that the title, which seemed to refer to the wool pads use to scrub sensors, might also refer to the old saw about “pulling the wool over one’s eyes” has been explicitly stated.  Five points for me!

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Teaser Tuesday 3/19/2013: “Wool”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

So having run out of free books, I have shelled out the princely sum of $3.99 for Wool: Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey, a dystopian SF novel that, so far, takes place entirely in a giant underground silo in which the remnants of humanity eke out an existence, while outside, the earth is a lifeless world beneath a toxic atmospheric stew.  At the moment the title appears to refer to the wool pads used by convicts (or the occasional volunteer) who goes out into the poisonous world to scrub the sensors and cameras that allow those within the silo to look out at the wasteland they have left behind, but I’m thinking it also refers to the wool being pulled over everyone’s eyes, perhaps by the silo’s IT Department.  We shall see!

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Teaser Tuesday 3/12/2013: “Bottled Abyss”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

Another month, another free book from the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library!  This week it’s Bottled Abyss by Benjamin Kane Ethridge, in which a bottle containing the waters of the River Styx finds its way into mortal hands.  Needless to say, hilarity ensues.

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