Fiction

  • Science Fiction Friday: SF Film Fest

    Local science fiction fans may be well aware of the Cinerama’s upcoming Science Fiction Film Fest, but how many of you read the book first? Interestingly, most of the films started out as books of one kind or another, and they are worth a look. Here’s a rundown. Metropolis: no source book for this one, but this… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: Little grenades of ideas

    I’ve read a number of articles, essays and blogs over the past six months describing the apparent slow death of short fiction. Once the cornerstone of science fiction, and a major component of modern literature in general, it does seem like fewer people are reading short stories these days. Whenever I give reading suggestions to patrons, it’s only one… Continue reading

  • Your Next 5 Books: Simple stories with vibrant characters

    In this column we regularly highlight a Your Next 5 Books submission that we find interesting, funny, unique, or useful to other readers. Submit Your Next 5 Books entry now, or stop by and see us in person, and maybe you could see your (anonymous) reading habits on Shelf Talk! Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: The use of weapons

    Maybe it’s the confluence of current world events and election season, but I’ve been on a kind of a military science fiction binge lately. I’ve just had a hankering for some Ender’s Game-style sci-fi where the emphasis is placed not only on the futuristic battle scenes, but also on the implications of war in general.… Continue reading

  • Crime: William Faulker, detective?

    This week, I’m loitering in the F’s in my alphabet of crime, because I’ve got an axe to grind. Recently, Atlantic Monthly added its voice to the endless, senseless eyebrow maneuvers (highbrow/lowbrow) that persist in the foothills of the culture wars, in a piece by Maura Kelly called A Slow-Books Manifesto. The gist of the piece is to get more… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Rediscovery of a man

    Cordwainer Smith is one of those science fiction writers whose name is uttered with reverence, though he isn’t very well-known to the casual genre reader. Though he only completed one novel during his brief writing career, Smith’s creations all share an internal history and universe called The Instrumentality of Man. It’s a far-future vision, 14,000… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Cover to Cover

    I’m convinced that the biggest barrier between science fiction and fantasy readers and mainstream readers is the stigma of reading genre fiction. Sadly, some people would be too embarrassed to be seen reading a book with a cover like this on the bus: Even though it’s a wonderful book that would delight readers across the board,… Continue reading

  • Crime: Four Felonious Frasers.

    In publishing it has always been called the “mid-list” – that amorphous body of works that don’t get the attention of heavily promoted bestsellers. It is the vast majority of what gets published, and in the mystery section of any good bookstore or library, it is the source of untold riches. Working my way through my alphabet of… Continue reading

  • Your Next 5 Books: Characters in the Modern World

    In this column we regularly highlight a Your Next 5 Books submission that we find interesting, funny, unique, or useful to other readers. Submit Your Next 5 Books entry now, or stop by and see us in person, and maybe you could see your (anonymous) reading habits on Shelf Talk! Continue reading

  • Crime: E is for Evanovich? Prolific lady sleuths.

    “You know what I really love a book to have?” she asked me. “No, what?” “About 20 sequels!!” We were counting through Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, but she’d already read all 18, and was getting desperate. In fact, she’d also been through our If You Like Janet Evanovich list, and looked through a few other library’s lists as well.… Continue reading

  • Why we like first-person plural … and why we don’t

    Writing a novel in first-person plural can’t be easy, but when an author nails it – like Jeffrey Eugenides did with The Virgin Suicides – it sticks with you. This narrative technique isn’t the “royal we” or a Greek chorus, but a collective voice that observes and is also part of the story. Next to… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: The past is never past

                                 “The past is obdurate.”                                                                 ― Stephen King I love a good time travel story. And I mean all sorts of time travel stories. I like the ones where people go back in time to change things in their own lives. I like the distant past stories of people attempting to fit in to… Continue reading

  • Crime: Mad Dogs and Estleman

    Advancing through my Alphabet of Crime, I pause at the E’s to share a couple of the best hardboiled mystery writers around: Loren Estleman and James Ellroy. The use of the term “hard-boiled” to describe fiction – borrowed from an early 20th-century expression for experienced tough guys – may date from February 17, 1929 when the New York Times… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: I’ve got a bad case of the Bujolds!

    I confess that readers have been telling me for years to try Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. But the covers are so awful (sorry, Baen, but it’s true!) and the phrase often used to describe the series, “military sci-fi,” did nothing to sway me. Then, for a class, I decided to give Bujold a try and read Cordelia’s Honor, an… Continue reading

  • Crime: The Sherlock Holmes you don’t know.

    Arriving at the D’s in my Alphabet of Crime, I want to pay homage to Arthur Conan Doyle, or more specifically to his greatest creation. Sherlock Holmes is especially hot right now, but as arguably the most beloved series character in the history of fiction, he never really goes out of style. Of course you can… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: My favorite druid

    When I discovered the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne, I was expecting an apathetic, immortal druid, with a sad story and lots of dangerous magic. What I got was Atticus O’Sullivan, a delightfully well-adjusted 2,000-year-old tea-maker with a penchant for fish and chips. In the first book, Hounded, Atticus and his sidekick (a wise-cracking… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reads: Dana Stabenow

    Alaksa native Dana Stabenow is the author of two popular crime series set in her home state: nearly a score of titles featuring kickass Aleut private eye Kate Shugak, and a quartet of titles centering on straight-shooting state trooper Liam Campbell. The pair finally meet in Stabenow’s newest title, Restless in the Grave, released on Valentine’s Day.… Continue reading

  • 14 Hopelessly romantic love stories you haven’t read.

    Just call us the Love Library. Our shelves runneth over with great love stories, such as Gone With the Wind, Wuthering Heights, The English Patient, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, A Sentimental Education, or Anna Karenina. In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are some romantic titles you may not have read. The Last nude, by Ellis Avery A young American… Continue reading