Another Space in Time

This is a good comic fantasy title off the same sort of humorous planet as writers like Tom Holt, Ben Elton, and Terry Pratchett. There is satire and certainly parody, and as with those listed she has the gift of dramatic timing. In other words, MT McGuire is in great, Great British, comic company. The fact that she used to do stand-up comedy doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm sure it helps to be a Brit to catch all the clever turns of phrase in this book, but those from once were distant outposts of Britannia will get just as much out of this read; even The US should be able to catch the crest of her comic wave. Of course, if you are not into Peter Cook, John Cleese, Jennifer Saunders, Sandi Toksvig, or MT McGuire Authorholic then you probably won't like K'Barthan books either. Get a life! AMAZON LINK

This book is typical of Ray's easy to read journalistic style. Writing is never effortless, though Ray leaves one feeling that it comes to him nearly as easily as breathing. This historical fiction about the legendary Deputy U.S. Marshall Bass Reeves is a delight, though I would have liked to have had more of the same to read. That we don't is no doubt simply because Ray has no wish to stray far from the factual history. The conversations created to put the bones on the known story ring so true that I found myself on the dusty trail, spitting tobacco with the best and worst of those tough pioneers. That a black man born to slavery, Bass Reeves, could do so well for himself and so soon after the emancipation that stemmed from the American Civil War is nothing less than astounding. Some of his success seems almost unbelievable, which makes it just as well that the real life author is every bit as big a picture as the man he portrays. I am sure that Charles and Bass would have g...

Is Jack Caufield a simplified Bob Waldner? My take is that he more or less is. So how much of the plot is taken from real life? All of it? Well not as a chronology of a single existence, but yes, this all can have happened. The plot is novel in construct, inventive, containing adrenaline kickers, psychological, thoughtful, page turning and ultimately frustrating in a very good reflective of unfolding true life. As individuals we never get all the answers to anything, do we? Crimes and their solutions are usually beautifully dovetailed in conventional genre reads but rarely in the grit and sweat of real life. To Jack, so much of the life he has cut-out for himself seems to be far short of what he would have liked to achieve, despite the fact that he is more than financially secure. He is pervaded by self-doubt. "I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up" and, "I'm not brave enough to be what I want to be" are ever familiar thoughts. ...

This wonderful book has already been heavily reviewed and highly praised. How can I usefully add to the many affirmations of brilliance? I will start by mentioning the only deficiency, which may be confined to the mobi version I read. A few of the changes of scene were abrupt enough to stagger the flow of my reading. I would have liked a few more new chapters to emphasise scene changes, or even a few dinkus between the paragraphs. I didn't find the extra line breaks sufficient on my reading device as they often aren't noticed between variably formed 'screen pages'. I fully acknowledge that this is pernickety― but the book is so well constructed in most other respects that this easily included little change would be worthwhile. If stronger breaks have been left out to account for differences in line length (dependent as it is on font size), then a compromise might be to position a 'dinkus' on a double or treble width indentation to that of the paragraph openin...

This is wonderfully inventive speculative fiction. Philosophical 'science' shines through from page one to the last word. Solari's first book certainly isn't one of the all too predictable adrenal hormone blasts that so many readers are addicted to. Rather, tension builds through the intelligence of the plot. There is plenty of excitement for those prepared to get involved in the story, in the well constructed characters, in the concept of looking at humanity from outside of the box. And yes, there are climatic moments to raise one's blood pressure, just not enough to maintain the constant interest of a gastropod. There are sentence constructions that will unsettle pedantic grammarians, though I don't think many of those reading for pleasure will be the least bit troubled. Anyway, much of the language is emanating from the minds of beings more advanced than mere 'preintelloids'. Solari uses some really gorgeous invented words. This is, after all, spec...

Friedman brings together so many normally closed circles of life's tapestry, dissects them and spreads them wide. Then she chews on them in a range of partly fictional and partially factual related lives, layer by non-sequential layer. The plot draws together and demonstrates the connectivity between the political, cultural and private life strands that mould the being. She studies a series of creative snap-shots to demonstrate the fact that we progress by knowing and understanding each other's paths and not just our own. This is a stand against the autistic political and social boxes that are used to justify aggressive action. Innocence knows to mend rather than destroy, despite the messages delivered by the cynical experienced. The strategy of peace, mending at all costs, is too easily abandoned. The Holocaust is connected to the election of Obama, life in Damascus is connected to the war in Vietnam, and a child adopted into suburban California is connected to the child co...

Stebbins has done it again. He has created a wonderful sequel to your marvellous 'Reader'. I suggest reading in order, though that isn't vital. However, doing so will help you understand and empathise with the expanding vision that is the mind of Ambra Dawn. I sure this book stands alone, but there is a definite downsides to the lack of story revision. All authors of book series have the same impossible problem of balancing back-story and progress that can never satisfy all readers. This is a second visionary, speculative fiction masterpiece; and yes, as is all the best fiction in this category, it is highly philosophical. Stebbins takes us through the lows of his dystopian vision to soar out like the Phoenix into a new and growing existence, a possible Utopia. Well at least the vision can be left to grow unmolested until the inevitable third instalment arrives. What will that be called? My speculation gives me, 'Creator'. I feel sure that we will then come to b...