Tag: dark fantasy

Teaser Tuesday 10/16/2018: “Old Man’s War”

~ James Viscosi ~ Leave a comment

So this week I’m reading Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi, in which citizens of Earth and other planets are offered―in exchange for ten years of service in the Space Force Colonial Defense Force (hereafter “SF CDF”), which does interstellar battle against hostile aliens―a rejuvenation treatment which (allegedly) returns them to their days of youth and vigor. Because the SF CDF wants recruits with plenty of years of knowledge and experience, but doesn’t want to be on the hook for their Medicare payments, or something.

 

Old Man's War
Really, aren’t they all old men’s wars? It’s just not usually the old men who fight them.

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Teaser Tuesday 10/9/2018: “The Oddfits”

~ James Viscosi ~ Leave a comment

So this week I’m reading The Oddfits, by Tiffany Tsao, an odd little fable that reads kind of like you put Matilda, the good parts of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (I was not a fan), and The Hole Behind Midnight into a blender, and then hit puree. Oh, also, there’s ice cream.

oddfits

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Teaser Tuesday 10/2/18: “Before Midnight”

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So this week I’m reading Before Midnight, a Nero Wolfe novel by Rex Stout, which is one of the few Stout books that was not included in the box of paperback Wolfe mysteries that I received a year or two ago from my dad.

 

before_midnight
Before midnight, we’re not gonna let it all hang out

 

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Teaser Tuesday 9/4/2018: “Great North Road”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

So this week, and probably for a week or two more, I’m reading Great North Road, a science fiction murder mystery by Peter F. Hamilton. As far as I know, this book, like the excellent Fallen Dragon, is a standalone novel, unrelated to and not set in the same universe as the “Commonwealth” novels (the also-excellent Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, the what-most-people-seem-to-consider-better-but-I-consider-only-pretty-good “Void” series, of which I’ve so far only read the first one) or the “Night’s Dawn” series, of which I’ve so far read, uh, nothing. It’s also, being Peter F. Hamilton, a doorstopper, or would be if it weren’t an eBook, which is why I’ll probably still be reading it next week. Fortunately, like most Hamilton books, it’s shaping up to be―you guessed it―excellent.

gnr
Not to be confused with the Dalton Highway

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Teaser Tuesday 8/28/18: “The Spirit Clearing”

~ James Viscosi ~ 1 Comment

So this week I was reading The Spirit Clearing, a novel (which would have been better as a short story*) about a young man who, after surviving a horrific car accident, wakes to find that his left eye has been drained of all coloration, but has gained the ability to see ghosts, auras, the past, and, possibly the future. Trading a baby blue for second sight? Sure, why not.

spiritclearing
This time, it really is a Mr. Grim about the Reaping.

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Sha Na Na Narra

~ James Viscosi ~ Leave a comment

So this week I am, you guessed it, still reading The Original Shannara Trilogy. At this point, I’m well into the third book, in which the band has to track down a shady who has absconded with all their cigarettes … no, wait, that’s not right. In this book, the druid Allanon and his current band of reluctant followers have to stop the Mord Wraiths (humans corrupted by the use of malign magic) from poisoning the Silver River and overrunning all the civilized lands, and some other lands too while they’re at it.

wishsong_2
None shall pass

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