Category Archives: Speculative Fiction

The Turn of the Screw

Posted on June 10, 2017 by

Lately, my husband has been reading The Ambassadors by Henry James. I haven’t read James almost at all (The Golden Bowl, but many years ago) and I thought I would renew my acquaintance with his most famous ghost story, The … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 13 Comments

The Fireman

Posted on June 8, 2017 by

In January, Teresa published a review of Joe Hill’s latest book, The Fireman. I had already been planning to read it, since I’ve read and enjoyed most of what he’s written, but her review made me really excited about it. … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 9 Comments

Charlotte Sometimes

Posted on April 30, 2017 by

Charlotte Makepeace, the central character in this 1969 novel by Penelope Farmer, is all on her own at a new boarding school. But she was lucky enough to get first choice of beds in her dormitory room, at the encouragement of … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's / YA Lit, Classics, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 8 Comments

The Book of Joan

Posted on April 16, 2017 by

It’s the year 2049, and ecological disaster has rendered Earth inhospitable to human life. The wealthy life on something called, CIEL, a life raft in space cobbled together from pieces of space junk that is tethered to the Earth with … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 10 Comments

The Man in the High Castle

Posted on March 7, 2017 by

At the beginning of this year, I was completely hooked on the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick. I’d never read the novel, so I decided that it would be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 7 Comments

Black Wave

Posted on February 11, 2017 by

The first half of Black Wave by Michelle Tea is boring—very well-written, but tedious. The main character, Michelle, spends most of it drinking and doing drugs and hooking up with different women in late 90s San Francisco. She’s drifting along, sort of … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 5 Comments

Sweet Lamb of Heaven

Posted on February 6, 2017 by

When Anna’s daughter, Lena, was born, Anna started hearing voices. They weren’t telling her anything in particular or even necessarily speaking to her. It was just ambient noise that no one else seemed to be able to hear. And when … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 4 Comments

Version Control

Posted on February 3, 2017 by

I’ve started and set aside several books in the last couple of weeks in what was starting to seem like a futile quest for a really good story. I very nearly decided to give up my intention to read as … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 8 Comments

Peacekeeper

Posted on January 19, 2017 by

It’s often easiest to review books when they stay inside generic boundaries, and the smaller the box, the better. This is a cozy mystery, this is a thriller, this is a western. If you like what goes in this box, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime, Religion, Speculative Fiction | 2 Comments

All the Birds in the Sky

Posted on January 15, 2017 by

As children, Patricia and Laurence were equally awkward but in different ways. Laurence wanted nothing to do with going outdoors, preferring instead to tinker with technology. He even managed to create a simple two-second time machine, which is handier than … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 7 Comments