By N. K. Jemisin Orbit, ©2015 ISBN: 987-0316229296 Paperback, 512 pages In the Stillness, a land riddled with shakes and blows and hotspots, Father Earth never forgets his hatred for humans. Here, the world ends over and over in periodic Fifth Seasons, winters triggered by seismic events whose effects linger for months, years, even decades….
Author: DremaDeoraich
What’s In a Number?
Last night I finished the book I was reading (The Moon and the Other, see Reviews page), and started N.K. Jemisin’s Fifth Season for the second time, so I can review it here. I loved it the first time, got so lost in it that I forgot to watch for style and plot points and…
The Moon and the Other
By John Kessel Saga Press, ©2017 ISBN:9781481481441 Hardback, 608 pages In the mid-22nd century, humans have colonized the Moon in multiple domed cities. One, the Society of Cousins, is notorious for its matriarchal social structure and free attitudes toward sexuality. Another, Persepolis, is the SoC’s opposite in every way that counts—government, use of space, attitudes…
Words vs. Swords
A few weeks ago, I awoke in the middle of the night with a killer opening line for a short story about a man facing a firing squad. The idea so fascinated me that I got out of my nice comfy bed and fumbled in the dark bedroom to find a pen and paper, then…
Waking Gods: Book Two of the Themis Files
By Sylvain Neuvel Del Ray/Random House. ©2016 ISBN: 9781101886717 Trade Paperback, 336 pages Nine years have passed since the formation of the Earth Defense Corps. Themis, Kara and Vincent have become parade attractions, t-shirt slogans and action figures while the science team continues to probe Themis for new technologies. Everyone has begun to believe the…
Some Assembly Required
Our new treadmill arrived Friday. Not Saturday, as we’d scheduled it, but a whole day early. I just happened to be home, fortunately, and had the delivery drivers bring it in and set the box in the living room. They expected to set it up, too, but I –Ms. Speaks-the-Truth-Even-When-I-Should-Shut-Up—told them that if they really…
Sleeping Giants: Book One of the Themis Files
By Sylvain Neuvel Del Ray/Random House. ©2016 ISBN: 9781101886717 Trade Paperback, 336 pages 11-year-old Rose Franklin sneaks out of her house to ride her new birthday bike and wakes the next morning in an enormous metal hand lying at the bottom of a deep, square hole whose walls glow turquoise light through intricate carvings. Seventeen…
Grunt Work
I’ve heard others say I should tailor my writing to fit a chosen market. In other words, write to fit the magazine in which you’d like to publish. Maybe I’m just a rebel, but I’ve always done it the other way ‘round—write first, match to a market after. ‘Course, that might explain why I’m not…
Myst III, The Book of D’Ni
By Rand Miller and David Wingrove Hyperion Books. © 1998 ISBN: 978-0786889426 Mass Market Paperback, 544 pages Seventy years after the fall of D’Ni, Atrus and Catherine return with a team of enthusiastic assistants, intent on rebuilding. The devastation is overwhelming, unimaginable. The team hardly knows where to start. But Atrus feels certain some D’Ni…
Planting Seeds
Years ago, I worked in retail and stood on my feet all day. Now that my day job involves sitting, and my “night job” (writing) also involves sitting, I’m getting sludgy around the middle. Walking outside is more fun than the cardio equipment at the gym, but weather gods don’t always cooperate with my schedule….