Aug 6, 20212 min read
Book Review: A Study in Crimson, by Robert J. Harris
A condensed version of this review appeared in the August 2021 issue of The Historical Novels Review. Sherlock Holmes is the type of...
Jul 9, 20212 min read
Book Review: All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
Ever hate your job and just want to watch Netflix? Turns out Murderbots feel the same way. At least, that’s the general attitude of the...
Jun 5, 20213 min read
Book Review: This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Letters are many things in Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This Is How You Lose the Time War. Taunts between foes. Invitations to...
May 1, 20213 min read
Book Review: The Dark Forest, by Cixin Liu
Cixin Liu’s The Dark Forest generally operates on a galactic scale. But it starts with the perspective of an ant. The diminutive point of...
Mar 25, 20213 min read
Book Review: A Perfect Spy, by John le Carré
Even without context, John le Carré’s A Perfect Spy—a tale of a British secret agent who betrayed his country because he couldn’t unlearn...
Mar 6, 20211 min read
Bonus Content: Images of the Fair
In describing Chicago's first world's fair (also known as the World's Columbian Exposition), I realized that it's easy to hear "fair" and...
Feb 9, 20212 min read
Book Review: Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow starts as a Mexican Cinderella story, except that the fairy godmother is a Mayan god of...
Jan 5, 20213 min read
Book Review: The Evening and the Morning, by Ken Follett
In The Evening and the Morning, Ken Follett shows that he’s still a master at giving the reader the same thing, but different. The book...
Dec 9, 20203 min read
Book Review: The Poppy War, by R. F. Kuang
At first, R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War seems like an edgier version of Harry Potter: an outcast-at-the-academy story with a slightly older...
Nov 14, 20205 min read
Book Review: Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove starts with pigs and ends with sorrow. In between lies one of the best books I’ve read. The novel is set...
