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The Song of Achilles
Review: 5 stars! This was an extraordinary piece of writing. A retelling of the Illiad done vividly and clearly. A masterpiece based on a materpiece. Plenty-o-gayness. This book made me want to: punch Odysseus in the snotbox Overall rating: Readability: Plot: Other: Gayness
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The Tartan Sell
Review: Failing to check my spreadsheet first meant that this was a second read for this one. It seems I had first read this in 1997, deep in the drunken years. So deep in fact that I had zero memory of it. Acceptable for a re-read. I couldn’t help but enjoy this book, despite it
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A Recipe For Bees
Review: A very moving, very well constructed novel. I love reading Canadian literature because it speaks to my own experiences in this country. I love reading about the protagonist’s adventures in a town that I have been to. I learned a lot about the art and science of beekeeping. No way I’m ever doing that.
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Dark Matter: Reading The Bones
Review: Excellent! A collection of SF stories by African-American writers involving the unique experiences of the African diaspora. SF, as in Speculative Fiction, not limited to what one thinks of as science fiction. Most were myth or alternative history tales. Lots of SF that involved voodoo characters, most notably Papa Legba. Remember him from Gibson’s
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Icy Sparks
Review: Meh. This is a woman’s book. It’s good and the writing is excellent but I could not identify with the woman protagonist as I am not a woman. Male characters were women with moustaches. Sort of 2-D cardboard cut-outs of what the author thinks her men would be like, not how they really are.
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Deepsix
Review: This was good. The first two parts were excellent. The third not so much. Well written, engaging and the characters were easy to identify with. The third part, Skyhook, blew through my suspension of disbelief. Completely implausible and unconvincing. Despite that, on the whole a very good read, well worth the time. This book
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Steppenwolf
Review: First of all, this book was exquisite. Secondly, I am stoned right off my tits so I will continue this review tomorrow morning. … A tour de force. Art, metaphysics, music, Bohemia. All are present in this remarkable novel. This book made me want to: read more Hermann Hesse Overall rating: Readability: Plot: Other:
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Have Tux, Will Travel
Review: This one, out of all the Bob Hope Bios that I have read, ranks in the top. I can’t say “The Best” because each book has unique merits. This is an autobiography, written in mid-1950s (1954 I believe) when Hope was still at the top of his game. Top billing, top dollars, top of
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Shadows on the Rock
Review: Like all Willa Cather novels the prose is exquisite. Unlike most Willa Cather novels this was not set in the Great Plains. It was a novel of 17th century Quebec. Go Canada! Had to dust off my French skills as there were quite a few bits and pieces en français with no translation. Usually
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Worlds That Weren’t
Review: 4 authors in fair Verona where we lay our scene… Sorry, had to be done. Harry Turtledove (noted Twitter anti-Trumper), S.M. Stirling, Mary Gentle, Walter Jon Williams. All What if? tales of alternate history. All excellent and all writers can either excel or really, not excel. Not a lot of middle ground in this
In His Own Words