Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (Vol. 2): It Only Hurts When I Pee by Ben Templesmith The slapstick horror of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse continues in volume two, It Only Hurts When I Pee. Wormwood is an “intergalactic, interdimensional, immortal, happy-go-lucky larval worm thing” that “wears corpses likes suits.” You can see the worm he is in the eyeball […]
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Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (Volume 1): Birds, Bees, Blood and Beer by Ben Templesmith Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (Volume 1): Birds, Bees, Blood and Beer is first notable because of the identifiable art of Ben Templesmith, who both wrote and drew this first of three volumes. Ben Templesmith is known for his work on 30 Days of […]
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The Maze Runner by James Dashner The Maze Runner (2009) is a young adult read that zips along, mostly keeping the reader’s interest. James Dashner’s new novel is relatively suspenseful, but never as gripping as it could be due to weaknesses in detail and character. The Maze Runner starts off strongly. Thomas is riding upward in […]
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In this column, I feature comic book reviews written by my students at Oxford College of Emory University. Oxford College is a small liberal arts school just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I challenge students to read and interpret comics because I believe sequential art and visual literacy are essential parts of education at any level […]
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The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker R. Scott Bakker is one of my guilty pleasures. His THE PRINCE OF NOTHING trilogy is a tense, superbly paced yet detailed series that settles firmly on both sides of the traditional/contemporary epic fantasy fence — Dune meets THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Bakker imbues his world with a mood of […]
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In the Courts of the Sun by Brian D’Amato In the Courts of the Sun is an interesting novel, built Frankenstein’s-monster-like from the elements of a Michael Crichton techno-thriller, Gary Jennings’ Aztec series, and one of Stephen Baxter‘s unique spins on time travel. I enjoyed the book, but it’s uneven. The book was written by […]
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Fragment by Warren Fahy I’ve read a number of reviews and comments that compare Warren Fahy‘s Fragment (2009) with Michael Crichton and Jurassic Park. Fragment and Jurassic Park have similar themes and bare bones basic concepts. Both stories involve humans battling supernatural, prehistoric monsters and self-centered murderous villains on the remotest of islands. Let’s be clear: […]
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The Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan Abraham Setrakian had witnessed and survived horrible evil when he was a young man. He’d made it out of a Nazi death camp in Poland, but the horror brought about by the Germans was not what kept the professor awake at night. It was the Stroigoi — […]
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Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George The malevolent King Under Stone cuts not one deal, but two, with the queen of the country of Westfalin: first, that she will be able to have children; second, that Westfalin will be victorious in its battles against other countries. In return, the human queen agrees […]
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Would-Be Witch by Kimberly Frost Would-Be Witch (2009) is the first book in Kimberly Frost’s SOUTHERN WITCH paranormal romance series. I picked it up because Tantor Audio has just released its sequel, Barely Bewitched, and offered to send me a copy for review. There are currently five novels in this popular series. Tammy Jo is […]
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Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding Confession: I love pirates. Stories with pirates in them have captivated me for as long as I can remember (and I’ll blame my family for sitting me in front of such movies as Muppets Treasure Island and The Princess Bride) and continue to bring me great joy. With this in […]
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The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey Yes, my dear child, monsters are real. I happen to have one hanging in my basement. Rick Yancey’s story revolves around Dr. Wathrop who investigates and studies monsters — he’s the Monstrumologist. The setting is late 19th century New England, and the Monstrumologist has taken in Will Henry, the orphan […]
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Rising Stars: Compendium (Part One) by J. Michael Straczynski Having just finished Straczynski‘s Rising Stars, I now have a new comic book to add to my list of favorites. JMS, as he’s known, is the creator of Babylon 5, and he applies his grand world-building skills to this superhero comic. As Neil Gaiman writes in […]
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Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey Solange Drake is about to turn sixteen and she just wants to be a normal teenager. That’s hard enough when she’s got seven big brothers hovering over her, but what really sucks is that she knows she’s going to die on her birthday. If she’s strong enough to survive […]
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Blood Eye by Giles Kristian [In our Edge of the Universe column, we review mainstream authors that incorporate elements of speculative fiction into their “literary” work. However you want to label them, we hope you’ll enjoy discussing these books with us.] Depending on the period being portrayed, historical fiction novels are often too graphic and […]
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Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke The Hunter (Book One), starring Richard Stark’s Parker, by Darwyn Cooke is one of the best graphic adaptations of a novel you could ever get your hands on. The main character is as tough as they come. Women shudder and men cower when Parker passes […]
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Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry The summer I turned 30, I went to Great America with my two sisters and one brother-in-law. We rode the Screaming Eagle rollercoaster, one of those wooden rebuilds of old-time coasters, which (at the time) had the longest drop on the first hill of any rollercoaster in the world. As […]
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Dragon in Chains by Daniel Fox Most epic fantasy written in English has its basis in Western culture. While the worlds created in these books are not our world, they are generally recognizable: the use of language is comfortable, the foods are what we or our ancestors ate, the customs are basically familiar. Even mythological […]
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The Walls of the Universe by Paul Melko Paul Melko’s The Walls of the Universe reminds me a bit of the old-style Heinlein/Asimov kind of juveniles: plucky young intelligent male protagonist into science gets himself into lots of scrapes then extricates himself using those sciency smarts (say, to invent or build something), all of which […]
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Never Cry Werewolf by Heather Davis Shelby’s been caught one too many times breaking curfew with a boy. And this time her awful stepmother means business: she decides, and convinces Shelby’s dad, to send Shelby to a summer camp for moneyed but rebellious teens. Brat camp, that is. At least it’s woodsy Camp Crescent and […]
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Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell Secondhand Spirits (2009) is the first in the WITCHCRAFT MYSTERIES series by Juliet Blackwell. The series centers on Lily Ivory, a natural witch who has traveled the world looking for a place to belong, and finds it in the eccentric Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco. She owns a vintage clothing shop, […]
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Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick Hush, Hush would be better as a horror novel. It’s the story of Nora, who is sexually harassed in school while her teacher stands by and allows it to happen. Then she learns that several supernatural beings are trying to kill her. There’s no one she can trust, not even […]
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The Dark Divine by Bree Despain Grace Divine has a nice stable life. She’s the daughter of the local Protestant pastor, her parents are supportive and loving, and she adores her big brother Jude. She’s got a great best friend and she loves studying art at her high school. Everything is going well until Daniel, […]
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Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon You know it’s going to be a bad day when, first thing, someone steps in front of a moving subway train right next to you; and next, when you have a major fight with your ex-wife about your daughter, it’s hard to believe things will get any better. When the […]
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I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells First novels by new authors are like surprise packages that come in the mail: you don’t know what you’ll find inside, not really, even if there was advance hype. Sometimes you find something so unappealing you wonder that anyone could have thought it was for you. […]
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