Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
Read January 15, 2011 - January 19, 2011

Premise: Aral Vorkosigan, Imperial Regent of the planet of Barrayar, is set upon by various hostile mutinous forces as he tries to keep control of the planet and not allow it to slip off into a wasteland of conservative politics. His unbelievably amazing wife Cordelia (who ( Read more... )

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold, published 1986 ( Read more... )

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Read December 20, 2010 - December 27, 2010

Premise: Three childhood friends must cope with the sudden extinguishing of the night sky and the resultant time-gap between Earth time (very slow) and Universe-time (super-fast), as they grow up and each cope with the crisis in their own ways.

Verdict: I really loved this ( Read more... )

To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer
Read November 26, 2010 - December 20, 2010

Premise: In some mysterious place at some mysterious time all members of the human race from the first pre-Monolith Kubrick ape down to the extra-terrestrial who has destroyed all of humanity are resurrected to fend for themselves and are protected, ( Read more... )

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
Read October 16, 2010 - November 26, 2010

Premise: In the near-ish future, the Moon is used as an international penal colony and the prisoners as well as the free-born, and citizens are essentially enforced labor for growing grain and other foodstuffs for Earth. Finding themselves ill-treated, the ( Read more... )

The Farmer in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein
Read September 13, 2010 - September 18, 2010

Premise: A young man and his family decide to immigrate to Ganymede because of the promise of a better life, and because they want land to farm. The Earth is so overpopulated that food is heavily regulated and there is hardly enough for everyone to survive.

( Read more... )

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Read September 9, 2010 - September 12, 2010

Premise: A little boy's entire family is killed and he wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts decide to raise him.

Verdict: I loved the whole idea of this book. I loved the story, the characters, the whole mood and feel of the thing. It's a kid's book, yeah, and I ( Read more... )

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Read September 3, 2010 - September 8, 2010

Premise: A 2054 flu pandemic leads to an Oxford historian accidentally being sent back in time to the Black Death.

Verdict: I would like to address the person who keeps leaving reviews for Connie Willis' Blackout saying that there is "a whole bunch of running around looking ( Read more... )

The Mule by Isaac Asimov
Read July 11, 2010 - July 13, 2010

Premise: The Foundation (a cultural organization that essentially rules half the Universe) is threatened by a general of amazing effectiveness and unknown mutant abilities that make it virtually impossible to win against him.

Verdict: First off, this is a Retro Hugo Award--the rules for ( Read more... )

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
Read June 24, 2010 - June 27, 2010

Premise: Famous poet Robert Gu is medically enhanced and comes back from a long bout of Alzheimer's to find the world technologically advanced in the extreme. Robert must cope with the new standards of computer technology and his own changed talents while some crazy terrorist(ish) ( Read more... )