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Blog | Eric Hendel

Personal blog devoted to long-form book reviews and criticism.

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Showing posts from 2023

Posts

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (Review)

Posted by Eric Hendel December 16, 2023

Absurdism Humor Multiverse Stories Reviews + Science Fiction

Absurdism Humor Multiverse Stories Reviews Science Fiction

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All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Review)

Posted by Eric Hendel September 16, 2023

Dystopias Novellas Reviews Science Fiction + Space Opera

Dystopias Novellas Reviews Science Fiction Space Opera

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Strange Horizons Review of Kaisa Saarinen’s Weather Underwater

Posted by Eric Hendel August 03, 2023

Climate Fiction Dystopias Feminist Works Literary Works + Updates

Climate Fiction Dystopias Feminist Works Literary Works Updates

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Strange Horizons Review of Lavanya Lakshminarayan's The Ten Percent Thief

Posted by Eric Hendel May 31, 2023

Climate Fiction Dystopias Science Fiction Short Fiction Anthologies + Updates

Climate Fiction Dystopias Science Fiction Short Fiction Anthologies Updates

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Babel by R.F. Kuang (Review)

Posted by Eric Hendel April 30, 2023

Alternate History Fantasy Reviews Speculative Fiction + Steampunk

Alternate History Fantasy Reviews Speculative Fiction Steampunk

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Strange Horizons Review of Stacey McEwan’s Ledge

Posted by Eric Hendel March 12, 2023

Dystopias Epic Fantasy Fantasy New Adult + Updates

Dystopias Epic Fantasy Fantasy New Adult Updates

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Strange Horizons Review of Paul Cornell’s Rosebud

Posted by Eric Hendel January 29, 2023

Absurdism Dystopias Novellas Science Fiction + Updates

Absurdism Dystopias Novellas Science Fiction Updates

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Eric Hendel

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Popular Posts

Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang (Review)

(Cover Designer: Kelli McAdams ) Jumpnauts is exactly the opposite of the sort of novel which I expected Hao Jingfang to write, initially in a bad way, but also ultimately in a good one. Hao's debut novel, Vagabonds , was an extraordinarily subtle work of science fiction. Taking the form of a slow-paced and contemplative narrative, that earlier book detailed the deceptively complex story of how two seemingly analogous characters from human settlements on Earth and Mars voyaged to one another's worlds, only to come away from the experience with wildly contradictory views not of the planets they have just visited, but instead their respective homes. Vagabonds represented a novel whose dense and intricate plot wove together the lives of multiple generations of individuals, all of whom struggled to navigate an enduring political and social conflict requiring they confront the weighty question of how utopian societies should define themselves. By contrast, Jumpnauts ...

Strange Horizons Review of Nikhil Singh’s Dakini Atoll

(Cover Artist: Elena Romenkova ) A review I wrote of Nikhil Singh's novel Dakini Atoll is currently up in the most recent edition of Strange Horizons . This book was a very complex and fascinating story that skips between several different interconnected narratives, all of which are ultimately woven together into a work exploring themes of mass media and the nature of human awareness. The main storyline follows an actress named Delilah Lex, who as the novel opens realizes she has become trapped within the simulated reality of the television program she currently stars in (a virtual TV show called " Good Morning Delilah! "). However, this surreal narrative is also interspersed with the experiences of Anita--a corporate agent working for a quasi-religious organization called "Angelinc." There is also a storyline following a friend of Delilah's--a movie director named Fortunato who unexpectedly becomes drawn into an investigation of a mysterious global plague,...

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin (Review)

(Cover Artist: Ernst Haas) There's a way that Ursula Le Guin's 1971 novel The Lathe of Heaven is often described, and I want to start this review by talking about why this is a summary of this book which I disagree with. Generally, the way I've seen The Lathe of Heaven characterized is that it is the story of a man named George Orr, who believes that everything he dreams becomes real. Terrified of this power, George is ultimately assigned therapy with a psychiatrist named William Haber, who sets out to cure George of these (supposedly) delusional beliefs in his brain's ability to change the world. In time however Haber reveals himself to actually be a mad scientist with a god complex--a man obsessed with finding a way to manipulate the reality-bending power of George's dreams so as to remake the world in his own image. Soon, George realizes that he must do whatever he can to keep the power of his dreams from Haber's control, and in so doing protect the univ...

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