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

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Showing posts from 2024

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Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang (Review)

Posted by Eric Hendel December 22, 2024

First Contact Stories Reviews Science Fiction Space Opera Translations

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Strange Horizons Review of Nikhil Singh’s Dakini Atoll

Posted by Eric Hendel November 15, 2024

Cyberpunk Dystopias Literary Works Science Fiction Updates

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

Posted by Eric Hendel September 18, 2024

Dystopias Literary Works Magic Realism Multiverse Stories Reviews

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Myst: The Book of Ti'ana by Rand Miller with David Wingrove (Review)

Posted by Eric Hendel July 16, 2024

Epic Fantasy First Contact Stories Multiverse Stories Reviews Speculative Fiction

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Strange Horizons Review of James Logan’s The Silverblood Promise

Posted by Eric Hendel June 29, 2024

Epic Fantasy Fantasy Mysteries Speculative Fiction Updates

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Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (Review)

Posted by Eric Hendel March 28, 2024

Dystopias First Contact Stories Reviews Science Fiction Space Opera

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Strange Horizons Review of Joma West's Twice Lived

Posted by Eric Hendel March 20, 2024

Magic Realism Multiverse Stories Speculative Fiction Updates Young Adult

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Strange Horizons Review of Naomi Kritzer's Liberty's Daughter

Posted by Eric Hendel January 20, 2024

Climate Fiction Dystopias Science Fiction Updates Young Adult

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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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