I am using this opportunity to present something somewhat different: instead of authors that are worth picking up and holding on to (depending on your tastes, of course), I'll cover a few who qualify as popcorn: light fare, tasty, but with no lasting content.

Linnea Sinclair's stock in trade is romances in semi science fiction settings. The romance ( Read more... )

So LJ is not crashing on me today, hence I shall attempt to catch up on reviews. This is a recent author, who's done some nice things in science fiction and in fantasy.

Hilari Bell has written a few books covering a range of genres. Some common themes do emerge, though, namely difficult moral choices involving different (on could even say alien) ( Read more... )

And another one! This time, it's straight fantasy, with an epic setting and gritty characters.

James Barclay has written one trilogy that I know of, The Chronicles of the Raven (starting with Dawnthief), a fairly solid fantasy trilogy. It is set in a fantasy world where magic is known, and used, mainly for military purposes. The continent on which ( Read more... )

Sorry about the longer than usual delay. I blame appendicitis, and don't recommend it to anyone else,no matter how good an excuse it might provide. I'll be writing a few more reviews than usual, in order to catch up - I think I'm pretty close to 100 authors by now, frighteningly enough. This author does science ficiton, and a reasonable job of it.

( Read more... )

This time around, I'm discussing an author who is very well known for one series, but has actually produced other things that are worth reading as well (or instead).

Frank Herbert is known more or less exclusively for the Dune books, of which there are many. The premise of the books is that a unique product, spice, grows on the desert planet of Dune ( Read more... )

Late, but a review nonetheless! This author is relatively well known, and has produced both fantasy and science fiction.

Simon R. Green has written a number of series with rather epic scales, both in science fiction and in fantasy. Characters tend to be somewhat larger than life, and the obligations of dramatic necessity are very much respected, but ( Read more... )

Another less known author, from back when. This one has produced a few pieces of very nice fantasy, taking new looks at old forms.

Nicolas Stewart Gray has written a few books that I know of, and a number of short stories. These all share an atmosphere, though the settings vary from one tale to the next. Grimbold's Other World centers around a young ( Read more... )

And since i'm on a roll, I'll try to catch up by tossing another author in the ring. One of the old school science fiction writers, with a knack for interesting situations.

Robert Sheckley has written a large body of short fiction, and possibly some novels, though I have not (to my knowledge) read any. His work has been collected in a variety of ( Read more... )

Catching up, I hope. This author is another oldie but goodie, with some rather biting humor, typically  in the science fiction genre.

Fredrick Brown wrote one novel that I know of, Martians Go Home!, which had quite a bot of success in its day. It starts when a science fiction writer, seeking his muse in booze and solitude, is visited by a martian. ( Read more... )

I still have some backlog to deal with, but here's a review! This author is one of the older school writers, with some interesting ideas and a mix of fantasy and science fiction.

Robert Silverberg has produced a range of books, with a fairly versatile genres covered. The Majipoor books are a science fiction / fantasy hybrid, with pseudo technology ( Read more... )