Book #82 of 2026: The Precipice by Ben Bova (The Asteroid Wars #1) This 2001 novel marks the start of a new sub-series within author Ben Bova’s Grand Tour saga, but it also represents the culmination of several previous titles that provide valuable context for returning readers. It’s chronologically the last of his stories to …
Tag Archives: science-fiction
Book Review: Doctor Who: Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimer
Book #81 of 2026: Doctor Who: Lucifer Rising by Andy Lane and Jim Mortimer (Virgin New Adventures #14) The longest entry in its series so far is also one of the best, delivering a militaristic space opera that in many ways presages later adventures in the franchise such as The Impossible Planet / The Satan …
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Book Review: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie
Book #75 of 2026: Radiant Star by Ann Leckie This latest entry is probably the weakest of the six novels in author Ann Leckie’s extended Imperial Radch saga so far, but it’s still an enjoyable enough time that I’m comfortable giving it three-and-a-half stars (radiant or otherwise), rounded up. It takes place during / after …
Book Review: Return to Mars by Ben Bova
Book #71 of 2026: Return to Mars by Ben Bova A largely pointless rehash of a sequel. I really enjoyed Ben Bova’s novel Mars in his loose Grand Tour saga of early space exploration, but there’s little that this second visit to the red planet accomplishes that wasn’t done better in the first. You also …
Book Review: Doctor Who: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival by L. D. Lapinski
Book #70 of 2026: Doctor Who: Charles Darwin and the Silurian Survival by L. D. Lapinski (Icons #2) This is one of the better Doctor Who historical celebrity stories, and definitely an improvement over the Thirteen / Frida Kahlo adventure that launched this recent novella series. Here instead it’s the Tenth Doctor meeting a young …
Book Review: Platform Decay by Martha Wells
Book #69 of 2026: Platform Decay by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #8) I didn’t care as much for the experimental seventh volume of this series, but I’m happy to report that this next installment finds our misanthropic neurodivergent security cyborg back to its usual exasperated self. The plot is relatively straightforward — rescue and …
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Movie Review: Terminator Genisys (2015)
Movie #20 of 2026: Terminator Genisys (2015) [Note: this is an updated version of my review from 2016.] The fifth Terminator movie is a fun but deeply incoherent action spectacle, enjoyable only to the extent you can turn off the parts of your brain that obsess over plot holes or try to keep track of …
Book Review: 84K by Claire North
Book #62 of 2026: 84K by Claire North This novel has an interesting dystopian setting, which reads sort of like Gattaca meets V for Vendetta meets some of the depressing ultra-capitalist futures from Black Mirror. The justice system has shifted all crimes to be punished with indemnity charges rather than jail time, meaning that even …
Book Review: Moonwar by Ben Bova
Book #60 of 2026: Moonwar by Ben Bova (Moonbase Saga #2) Author Ben Bova’s novel Moonrise was a somewhat scattered prelude about life in a near-future lunar settlement, but it built nicely to the situation that’s front and center for this sequel: the facility’s leaders declaring their independence from Earth, so as not to be …
Book Review: Doctor Who: Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans
Book #59 of 2026: Doctor Who: Deceit by Peter Darvill-Evans (Virgin New Adventures #13) One of the better entries that I’ve read in this 90s spinoff series so far, and especially notable for a few fun developments on the side. First, this is the sole VNA novel written by editor Peter Darvill-Evans, and so offers …
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