Book Reviews
Cave ab homine unius libri.
Fear the man of one book.
Isaac D'Israeli
Since August of 2003, I've been writing brief reviews of most books that I
read, shortly after I finish them. All of those reviews are available
here, sorted by author, rating, or review date. The reviews may be edited, clarified, and updated from the
original versions.
An 
RSS feed of new reviews is available. My reviews are also posted to a
limited distribution newsgroup and to a
mailing list
anyone may subscribe to.
The reviews are just my personal opinion based on how much I like the
book, although I try to provide some analysis of why I hold that opinion.
I try to avoid major plot spoilers, but if you're striving to be
completely spoiler-free, you may not want to read on, since I do sometimes
talk about specific things I liked or disliked and that can include the
general tone of the ending. Please see my review
philosophy for more details on spoilers and on how and why I review and
rate books.
I also have lists of the award winners for best novel
for a variety of science fiction and fantasy awards, including ratings and
links to reviews when I've read the books.
Most recent reviews:
Reviews are sorted by book type, genre, author, by order in a series, and
then by title. The rating (out of 10) is given before each title. You
can also see the same list sorted by rating or by
review date.
Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Poul Anderson
-
- Matucheck
- Kelley Armstrong
-
- Women of the Otherworld
- Catherine Asaro
-
- Skolian Empire
- Neal Asher
-
- Agent Cormac
- Isaac Asimov
-
- Empire
- Paolo Bacigalupi
-
- Kage Baker
-
- Company
- Iain M. Banks
-
- Culture
- John Barnes
-
- Stephen Baxter
-
- Peter S. Beagle
-
- Elizabeth Bear
-
- Edda of Burdens
- Jacob's Ladder
- Jenny Casey
- Promethean Age
- Greg Bear
-
- Darwin
- Songs of Earth and Power
- Gregory Benford
-
- Alfred Bester
-
- Anne Bishop
-
- Black Jewels
- Michael Bishop
-
- James Blish
-
- Chaz Brenchley
-
- Kingdom of Outremer
- David Brin
-
- Kristen Britain
-
- Green Rider
- John Brunner
-
- Steven Brust
-
- Khaavren Romances
- Vlad Taltos
- M.M. Buckner
-
- Lois McMaster Bujold
-
- Vorkosigan
- Chalion
- Octavia E. Butler
-
- Earthseed
- Pat Cadigan
-
- Jacqueline Carey
-
- Kushiel's Legacy
- Moirin
- Raphael Carter
-
- Michael Chabon
-
- Suzy McKee Charnas
-
- Holdfast
- C.J. Cherryh
-
- Company Wars
- Morgaine
- Arthur C. Clarke
-
- Susanna Clarke
-
- Mark Clifton & Frank Riley
-
- Susan Cooper
-
- Dark is Rising
- John Crowley
-
- Julie E. Czerneda
-
- Trade Pact
- Web Shifters
- Cecilia Dart-Thornton
-
- The Bitterbynde
- Pamela Dean
-
- Secret Country
- Samuel R. Delany
-
- Charles de Lint
-
- Philip K. Dick
-
- Cory Doctorow
-
- Diane Duane
-
- Young Wizards
- Hal Duncan
-
- Book of All Hours
- George Alec Effinger
-
- Budayeen
- Carol Emshwiller
-
- Philip José Farmer
-
- Riverworld
- Cynthia Felice & Connie Willis
-
- Lynn Flewelling
-
- Tamir Triad
- Michael Flynn
-
- John M. Ford
-
- Neil Gaiman
-
- Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess
-
- James Alan Gardner
-
- Expendable
- Terry Goodkind
-
- Sword of Truth
- Nicola Griffith
-
- Jon Courtenay Grimwood
-
- Joe Haldeman
-
- Forever War
- Laurell K. Hamilton
-
- Anita Blake
- Merry Gentry
- Elizabeth Hand
-
- Charlaine Harris
-
- Southern Vampire
- M. John Harrison
-
- Kefahuchi Tract
- Kenneth J. Harvey
-
- Robert A. Heinlein
-
- John G. Hemry
-
- Paul Sinclair
- Zenna Henderson
-
- The People
- Nina Kiriki Hoffman
-
- Barry Hughart
-
- Master Li
- Diana Wynne Jones
-
- Guy Gavriel Kay
-
- James Patrick Kelly
-
- Daniel Keyes
-
- Ellen Kushner
-
- Riverside
- Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman
-
- Riverside
- Larissa Lai
-
- Jay Lake
-
- Mainspring
- Ursula K. Le Guin
-
- Annals of the Western Shore
- Earthsea
- Fritz Leiber
-
- Madeleine L'Engle
-
- Time
- Jonathan Lethem
-
- Ken MacLeod
-
- Engines of Light
- Laurie J. Marks
-
- Elemental Logic
- George R.R. Martin
-
- Song of Ice and Fire
- Julian May
-
- Saga of Pliocene Exile
- Paul J. McAuley
-
- Jack McDevitt
-
- Alex Benedict
- Engines of God
- Ian McDonald
-
- Vonda N. McIntyre
-
- Patricia A. McKillip
-
- Riddle-Master
- Robin McKinley
-
- Damar
- China Miéville
-
- New Crobuzon
- Walter M. Miller, Jr.
-
- Hope Mirrlees
-
- Sarah Monette
-
- Doctrine of Labyrinths
- Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear
-
- Elizabeth Moon
-
- Daniel Keys Moran
-
- Continuing Time
- Richard K. Morgan
-
- Takeshi Kovacs
- Chris Moriarty
-
- Spin
- Janet E. Morris
-
- Silistra
- C.E. Murphy
-
- Inheritors' Cycle
- Walker Papers
- Pat Murphy
-
- Audrey Niffenegger
-
- Larry Niven & Edward M. Lerner
-
- Known Space: Worlds
- Naomi Novik
-
- Temeraire
- George Orwell
-
- David R. Palmer
-
- Alexei Panshin
-
- Severna Park
-
- Frederik Pohl
-
- Heechee
- Mars
- Tim Powers
-
- Terry Pratchett
-
- Discworld
Science Fiction & Fantasy (cont.)
- Cherie Priest
-
- Philip Pullman
-
- His Dark Materials
- Alastair Reynolds
-
- Revelation Space
- Jennifer Roberson
-
- Tiger and Del
- Kim Stanley Robinson
-
- Mars
- Matthew Rossi
-
- J.K. Rowling
-
- Harry Potter
- Rudy Rucker
-
- Ware
- Mary Doria Russell
-
- Sparrow
- Geoff Ryman
-
- Fred Saberhagen
-
- Empire
- Swords
- Vlad Tepes
- R.A. Salvatore
-
- Forgotten Realms: Dark Elf
- Robert J. Sawyer
-
- Neanderthal Paradox
- WWW
- John Scalzi
-
- Old Man's War
- Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
-
- Tibet
- James H. Schmitz
-
- Karl Schroeder
-
- Virga
- Charles Sheffield
-
- Sharon Shinn
-
- Samaria
- Robert Silverberg
-
- Clifford D. Simak
-
- Dan Simmons
-
- Hyperion
- Ilium
- Michael Marshall Smith
-
- Norman Spinrad
-
- Allen M. Steele
-
- Neal Stephenson
-
- Sean Stewart
-
- Charles Stross
-
- Singularity Sky
- The Laundry
- Theodore Sturgeon
-
- Michael Swanwick
-
- Sheri S. Tepper
-
- James Thurber
-
- J.R.R. Tolkien
-
- Karen Traviss
-
- Wess'Har
- Catherynne M. Valente
-
- Jack Vance
-
- Dying Earth
- John Varley
-
- Gaea
- Joan D. Vinge
-
- Snow Queen
- Vernor Vinge
-
- Queng Ho
- Jo Walton
-
- Small Change
- Tir Tanagiri
- Peter Watts
-
- Rifters
- David Weber
-
- Honor Harrington
- H.G. Wells
-
- James White
-
- Sector General
- Kate Wilhelm
-
- Walter Jon Williams
-
- Metropolitan
- Connie Willis
-
- Robert Charles Wilson
-
- Spin
- Gene Wolfe
-
- Book of the New Sun
- Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
-
- Cecelia and Kate
- Jane Yolen
-
- Roger Zelazny
-
Graphic Novels & Comic Strips
- Kiyohiko Azuma
-
- Yotsuba&!
- Brian Michael Bendis, et al.
-
- Berkeley Breathed
-
- Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano
-
- The Sandman
- Neil Gaiman, et al.
-
- The Sandman
- Edward Gorey
-
- Frank Miller
-
- Sin City
- Alan Moore & David Lloyd
-
- Jill Thompson
-
- Joss Whedon, et al.
-
Other Fiction
- Eric Ambler
-
- Jane Austen
-
- Barbara Bickmore
-
- Dan Brown
-
- Robert Langdon
- James Clavell
-
- Helen Cresswell
-
- Bagthorpe Saga
- Nicola Griffith
-
- Aud Torvingen
- Mark Haddon
-
- Joseph Heller
-
- Catch-22
- Georgette Heyer
-
- Norton Juster
-
- Ellen Klages
-
- Harper Lee
-
- Paul Malmont
-
- Yann Martel
-
- Alice Munro
-
- George Orwell
-
- Carolyn Parkhurst
-
- Ellen Raskin
-
- Geoff Ryman
-
- Felix Salten
-
- Dorothy L. Sayers
-
- Peter Wimsey
- Alexander McCall Smith
-
- The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
- Dodie Smith
-
- Dalmatians
- Neal Stephenson
-
- Baroque Cycle
- Robert Louis Stevenson
-
- David Balfour
- Rex Stout
-
- Nero Wolfe
- Anne Tyler
-
Non-Fiction
- David Allen
-
- Karen Armstrong
-
- John Berendt
-
- Peter L. Bernstein
-
- Hanne Blank
-
- Robert Borski
-
- Bill Bryson
-
- Richard Carlson, Ph.D.
-
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
-
- Samuel R. Delany
-
- Marcus du Sautoy
-
- Richard P. Feynman
-
- Mark Forster
-
- George Gamow
-
- Malcolm Gladwell
-
- James Gleick
-
- Ben Goldacre
-
- Anthony Grafton
-
- Brian Greene
-
- Jerome Groopman, M.D.
-
- Sam Harris
-
- Jane Jacobs
-
- Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (ed.)
-
- Ralph Keyes
-
- Mark Kurlansky
-
- David Langford
-
- Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
-
- Michael Lewis
-
- Thomas A. Limoncelli
-
- Barry N. Malzberg
-
- Bethany McLean & Peter Elkind
-
- Mark Monmonier
-
- Nick Montfort
-
- Michael Moorcock
-
- Toni Morrison
-
- Teresa Nielsen Hayden
-
- George Orwell
-
- Collected Writing
- Dr. Laurence J. Peter & Raymond Hull
-
- Peter Principle
- Julie Phillips
-
- Robert M. Pirsig
-
- Quality
- Christopher Priest
-
- Karl Sabbagh
-
- Peter Seibel
-
- Simon Singh
-
- Robert C. Solomon & Fernando Flores
-
- Duncan Steel
-
- Rory Stewart
-
- William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White
-
- Nassim Nicholas Taleb
-
- Colin Thubron
-
- Lynne Truss
-
- Edward R. Tufte
-
- Robin Wilson
-
- Gary K. Wolfe
-
- Howard Zinn
-
Note that ratings for books that I actually like will be
between 5 and 10; a rating of 5 indicates that I felt neutral about the
book after having read it. Anything below 5 means that I considered
reading the book to be a waste of my time. As such, an "average" good
book will get a 7. Since I mostly read books that I have some reason to
believe I'll like, you won't see many ratings below a 5.
I also write magazine reviews (only of science
fiction and fantasy so far). An index of all my SFF
short fiction reviews, from magazines, collections, and anthologies, is
available.
For more information about where I get the other information I collect
about the books I read and about how I mantain this site, see my
review notes.
Last modified and
spun 2010-08-29