Teaser Tuesday 6/25/2013: “Hal Spacejock”

~ James Viscosi ~ 2 Comments

So this week I’m reading a book called Hal Spacejock, by Simon Haynes. (This is after polishing off the very short post-apocalyptic SF book H2O, by Irving Belateche, which while not making it to Teaser Tuesday, is notable because a central plot point is the remnant of the Internet that still exists in its devastated world. The Internet scrap is called the Line, capitalized, which caused me to draw constant comparisons between it and the Line from The Half-Made World. Needless to say, H2O did not benefit from the comparison. But I digress.)

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Teaser Tuesday 6/18/13: Haunted House

~ James Viscosi ~ 2 Comments

This week’s Teaser Tuesday is from Haunted House, by J.A. Konrath and Jack Kilborn (who, despite having different names, are in fact the same person, unlike, say, “Simon & Simon”, who had the same name but were different people). The setup is that a number of characters from previous books by the same author have been brought together in a house where, apparently, everything is trying to kill them. If that sounds a bit “Saw”-ish to you then, well, I’ll have to take your word for it, because I have never seen a “Saw” movie. But it does sort of sound like what I imagine a “Saw” movie might involve.

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Teaser Tuesday 6/11/13: “The Last Kind Words”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

Since last week I featured a rejection letter from Tom Piccirilli’s old magazine “Pirate Writings”, I was inspired to get around to reading his book The Last Kind Words (currently available for the Kindle for $0.99). I haven’t read any of Tom Piccirilli’s work since A Choir of Ill Children, which is one of my favorite book names, though All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By still holds the position of Best Title Ever. But I digress.

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Random Rejection: Pirate Writings, “Graveyard Apples after Midnight”

~ James Viscosi ~ 2 Comments

This week instead of Teaser Tuesday, I decided to reach into the big pile of ancient rejection letters and see what I would find. What I came up with this old slip, from a magazine called Pirate Writings, from none other than Tom Piccirilli, author of such atmospheric horror novels as A Choir of Ill Children and the on-my-Kindle, not-yet-read The Last Kind Words, currently on sale for $0.99 for the Kindle edition. (Marked down from $15. Really, Random House? $15 for an eBook?)

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Teaser Tuesday 5/28/2013: “The Dreaming Void”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

This week I’m still reading Peter F. Hamilton’s The Dreaming Void, part one of his “Void” trilogy.  At 90% through, the faithful still haven’t gotten their ships built yet for launching their pilgrimage to the Void, which will either (1) take them to an Elysian realm of eternal life and happiness or (2) cause the Void to wake up and devour the galaxy.  I’m betting it won’t be (1).

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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

~ James Viscosi ~ 2 Comments

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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