Previous SFF Author: C.M. Eddy_Jr

Series: Edge

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.

Jurassic Park: Crichton has improved his formula

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

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.

It’s difficult to talk about Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park, though not because the novel’s plot and characters are especially complex. They aren’t.

Alan Grant is a paleontologist who is asked to vet a new theme park that has brought dinosaurs back to life.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: On the Edge

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami’s Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World begins in Murakami’s “hard-boiled wonderland.” This wonderland is postmodern territory: our disaffected hero is in an elevator that is moving so slowly that “all sense of direction simply vanished.” Murakami finds a nexus between the detective story,

The Burning Soul: An autumnal book

The Burning Soul by John Connolly

The Burning Soul, by John Connolly, is an autumnal book, reminding us that winter is coming, a time when we will be more in darkness than light. Surprisingly, given the moody, atmospheric writing, the thriller aspect of the story is grounded in everyday reality, with few supernatural elements — in fact, only a few ghosts haunt this book, and one ghost is missing, its absence a shock.

Charlie Parker is a private investigator. He is a man whose wife and young daughter were taken from him by a serial killer,

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane: On the Edge

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

[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.]

There are a few tropes that will convince me to pick up almost any book that promises to contain them. I’ll call one of them “Searching for a Long-Lost Book,” and another “All My Forebears Were Secretly Witches.”

Far North: All of our favorite post-apocalyptic ingredients

Far North by Marcel Theroux

[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.]

Marcel Theroux’s Far North offers all of our favorite post-apocalyptic ingredients. Our protagonist, Makepeace Hatfield, recalls Stephen King’s gunslinger, Roland, and the spirit of Far North seems to be drawn from the same zeitgeist that made Cormac McCarthy’s The Road so popular.

Around the World in 80 Days: On the Edge

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

[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.]

For years I have had false memories of reading Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. How did this happen? I think I must have seen so many movie versions that they got translated into my head as if I’d read it.

The Revisionists: On the Edge

The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Thomas Mullen is the author of The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers and The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today,

The Night Circus: On the Edge

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Erin Morgenstern studied theatre & studio art at Smith College. She is a writer and artist whose work is described as “fairy tales in one way or another.” The Night Circus is her first novel.

PLOT SUMMARY: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves,

Super Sad True Love Story: On the Edge

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story demonstrates the power of the “dystopian future” premise, arguably because it does not feel like Shteyngart is writing about a distant enough future.

Forever Azathoth: Pastiches and Parodies

Forever Azathoth: Pastiches and Parodies by Peter Cannon

On the back cover of Forever Azathoth: Pastiches and Parodies, H.P. Lovecraft himself is quoted. “As a rule, I don’t think that a comic or flippant style — or one with much satire — mixes well with the weird.” Forever Azathoth sets out to dispute that statement,

Next SFF Author: Rosemary Edghill

Previous SFF Author: C.M. Eddy_Jr

We have reviewed 8298 fantasy, science fiction, and horror books, audiobooks, magazines, comics, and films.

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