Michael Basnett, Sparklers (ILT Books, 2003)
[pp.757. $24.95. ISBN: 723483445127]
Readers may remember Canadian writer Basnett from his Substars trilogy (Density, the second volume of which, was nominated for the De Granville Prize). Sparklers is a fat stand-alone volume in the same mode, which is to say it is a fast-paced galactic space opera with an ingenious central premise and occasional moments of poetry. Basnett is quickly becoming a writer worth noticing. Continue reading Book review: Michael Basnett – Sparklers →
Thomas Hodgkin, Denis Bayle: a Life (Badger Books 2009)
[pp.321. £20.00. ISBN: 724381129524]
This is a novel with an interesting conceit, written by a newcomer to SF (although according to Hodgkin’s own author bio, he has published a number of mainstream novels). The book takes the form of a biography, complete with preface, scholarly apparatus, timeline and everything else. The subject of the story is a fictional Science Fiction author, the Denis Bayle of the title, but the point of the book is less to tell a life story (Hodgkin doesn’t give Bayle that interesting a life).
Continue reading Book review: Thomas Hodgkin – Denis Bayle: a Life →
Abraham Silberschlag, Armada of Zion (Velcro Books 2008)
[pp.477. $19.99. ISBN: 4321949312]
Armada of Zion is a book calculated to divide opinion sharply amongst its readership. However well written, however compelling a storyline, however vivid the characters, this is a novel leaves an uncomfortable aftertaste for many readers. But perhaps that’s all to the good. Better a book to hate passionately or a book to love passionately than a book that is bland. Continue reading Book review: Abraham Silberschlag – Armada of Zion →
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