Book #148 of 2024: Orca by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #7) This 1996 fantasy novel finds its reformed antihero still in fugitive drifter mode, on the run from his former employers rather than working for them as an assassin-for-hire and district crime boss. It’s about a year after the events of book #6 Athyra, and …
Tag Archives: reread
Book Review: Flash Forward by Chris Archer
Book #139 of 2024: Flash Forward by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #7) Another propulsive installment of this 90s middle-grade science-fiction series, finally now firmly past its original formula of kid after kid turning thirteen, unlocking special powers, and facing off against a shapeshifting alien assassin. At this point, the core team of Ethan, Ashley, Jack, and …
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Book Review: Athyra by Steven Brust
Book #137 of 2024: Athyra by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #6) Given how the last volume in this series sort of blew up the overall premise, and how author Steven Brust has bounced around in the timeline before now, it would have been unsurprising for this sixth novel to be another flashback entry, taking place …
Book Review: Aftershock by Chris Archer
Book #128 of 2024: Aftershock by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #6) Another excellent and propulsive installment of this 90s middle-grade alien conspiracy series. We’ve got time travel now! The latest protagonist to turn thirteen and unlock special powers from her extraterrestrial heritage is one of the popular kids in school — not quite a mean girl, …
Book Review: Phoenix by Steven Brust
Book #126 of 2024: Phoenix by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #5) I’m perhaps a bit biased, as this was the first Vlad Taltos book that I ever picked up back in the day, but I do think it’s a big step forward from the previous volumes and possibly a series-best entry. In typical bouncing timeline …
Book Review: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Book #121 of 2024: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King One of Stephen King’s regular preoccupations as a horror author seems to be the idea of a person getting stuck in confined circumstances just off the track from their ordinary life. This 1999 novel, in which a nine-year-old girl winds up separated …
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Book Review: Shape-Shifter by Chris Archer
Book #117 of 2024: Shape-Shifter by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #5) A fun twist for this middle-grade 90s sci-fi series. For four books now, we’ve been hearing backstory about how Todd Aldridge mysteriously vanished on his thirteenth birthday, and watching as a succession of his classmates have both gained access to special powers and quickly had …
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Book Review: Taltos by Steven Brust
Book #115 of 2024: Taltos by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #4) We’ve once again jumped around in the timeline for this fourth Vlad Taltos installment, though as usual, the context clues make it pretty easy to place the adventure in its proper spot within the protagonist’s personal lifespan. In this case, it’s his earliest outing …
Book Review: Second Sight by Chris Archer
Book #106 of 2024: Second Sight by Chris Archer (Mindwarp #4) This fourth Mindwarp novel follows the same general structure as the first three: another kid in this fictional Wisconsin town turns thirteen, discovers they have special powers, and then quickly has to use them to avoid falling into the clutches of a shapeshifting alien …
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Book Review: Teckla by Steven Brust
Book #104 of 2024: Teckla by Steven Brust (Vlad Taltos #3) Another crisis with antihero Vladimir Taltos, sorcerer-assassin and crime boss of his local fantasy city. This third adventure takes place soon after book one (the second volume being a prequel), and offers probably the most straightforward plot yet: the protagonist’s wife has gotten involved …
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