Tag Archives: mystery

George Alec Effinger’s Audran Trilogy: When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun, The Exile Kiss

Just to get it said, and because I think it has larger implications in discussing these works by George Alec Effinger (although maybe not, but it needs to be said anyway): I seldom comment on the design of books, mostly … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | Comments Off on George Alec Effinger’s Audran Trilogy: When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun, The Exile Kiss

Lawrence Schimel’s Fairy Tales for Writers/Charles Ardai’s The Good-Neighbor Policy: A Double-Cross in Double Dactyls

We are very fond of small presses here at Green Man Review, not least because they publish some of the most interesting things out there. Several years ago, A Midsummer Night’s Press was revived after a fairly lengthy hiatus. The … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Lawrence Schimel’s Fairy Tales for Writers/Charles Ardai’s The Good-Neighbor Policy: A Double-Cross in Double Dactyls

Gosford Park

It was a hot humid day, and the prospect for a cool evening by the waterfront watching fireworks seemed too unlikely to consider. Traditionally we spent this holiday evening with our friends Fran and Kevin. Since the kids were infants … Continue reading

Posted in Film | Tagged , | Comments Off on Gosford Park

China Miéville’s The City & The City

China Miéville calls himself a writer of “weird fiction,” in the tradition of Lovecraft, and that works for me, since he seems to otherwise defy easy categorization. Dark contemporary fantasy/steampunk/mystery/horror is how I’ve described Perdido Street Station to friends in … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , , | Comments Off on China Miéville’s The City & The City

Sharyn McCrumb’s The Songcatcher 

The Songcatcher is the latest volume in Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballad series, which examines life in the Appalachian Highlands as reflected in the folk music tradition of that culture. Earlier books in the series are If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Sharyn McCrumb’s The Songcatcher 

Rebecca Ore’s Slow Funeral

Slow Funeral did not get lost in my reviewing pile — a pile now just small enough that our two felines aren’t in mortal danger from getting caught in a catquake that might bring down the pile! (Don’t laugh: this pile was … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Rebecca Ore’s Slow Funeral

Deborah Grabien’s JP Kinkaid Chronicles

This review is by the oh so extraordinary Sunny Solomon, of Bookin’ With Sunny. I have been hooked on Deb Grabien’s novels since I had the great good fortune to read the first of her Haunted Ballads series. What pulled me … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Deborah Grabien’s JP Kinkaid Chronicles

Phillip DePoy’s The Devil’s Hearth

I’ve a special fondness for mystery series set in the Appalachian Mountains as there’s not lot of good ones even though there’s a lot of not so great ones. Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballads series had some memorable outings, particularly among the … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Phillip DePoy’s The Devil’s Hearth

Warren Ellis’ Ignition City, Vol. 1

I promised myself, when I read Warren Ellis’ Planetary, that I was going to become more familiar with his work. Well, up popped the first volume of the collected Ignition City, and it’s just as good. Mary Raven, like all … Continue reading

Posted in Graphic Literature | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Warren Ellis’ Ignition City, Vol. 1

Steven Brust’s Dzur

Dzur is the tenth in the Taltos Cycle. Brust said at one point that there was the distinct possibility of seventeen volumes in this series, unless he died or got bored with it, but I have a feeling that boredom … Continue reading

Posted in Books | Tagged , | Comments Off on Steven Brust’s Dzur