ELITIST BOOK REVIEWS

Aaaaand here’s another round of Crimson Pact stories for the reading masses. I know most of you by now have probably read over my full disclosure of each of the previous anthologies: Vol 1 (EBR Review), Vol 2 (EBR Review), and Vol 3 (EBR Review). So you already know that our boss here at EBR, Steve Diamond, figures prominently in them. And you know that I’ve promised to stay impartial, like I always try to do, with my reviews. And you know also know that in light of these two facts, I have no qualms whatsoever about reviewing these anthologies. So, I guess I won’t have to give you my normal spiel about the ethics of posting a book review that is so closely connected to our own blog, or anything like that, and– Dang. I guess I did just that, didn’t I? Oh well. So much for being succinct this time around…
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Neil Gaiman’s last published novel, ANANSI BOYS (Amazon), was clear back in 2005, so imagine the squees of fans (female and male alike) with the knowledge that June 2013 meant the relief of the drought with THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE (Amazon).
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EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it! Burton & Swinburne books to continue in amazing new adventure of intrigue and mayhem! Deviltry! Betrayal! Vampires! It’ll cost ya more than a dime, but will be worth every ha’penny you spend to get it!
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As the enforcer for the Roanoke werewolf packs, Andrew keeps the area safe from lone wolves invading their territory. But there’s something wrong with the strange lone he’s hunting at the opening of SILVER (Amazon). She only runs in human form, she runs seemingly directionless, and she smells sick with silver. When he catches up with her, Andrew doesn’t find what he’s expecting: instead of a lone who needs expulsion from pack lands, he finds a woman who needs protection.
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The title of the book says it all: HOME IMPROVEMENT: UNDEAD EDITION (Amazon) is an anthology of stories with home improvement themes and the undead. All of them are smart, well-written, and unique. Enjoy!
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I’ve been suffering a bit of a reading slump of late. I’ve got plenty of awesome material to pick from and a complete and utter lack of motivation to read. Maybe it’s the summer heat? Regardless, NEXUS by Ramez Naam (Amazon) has shattered that lethargy and cleansed it in napalm. Optioned for a film by Paramount and Darren Aronofsky, NEXUS is probably the best book of 2012 that I’ve read in 2013. It’s a perfect summer beach read, a stimulating near-future thriller loaded with equal amounts action and speculation. NEXUS offers human characters, real (scary) science, and deep ethical dilemmas. This fiction debut is the contemporary evolution of cyberpunk: the future isn’t about virtual reality but augmented reality. Pardon my drooling, I had a blast reading this.
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It’s always an interesting experience to sit down and try to write a review on a debut novel. There are numerous questions that always raise their heads, not the least of which pertain to the standards that I hold debuts to in relation to other books. Was the debut good as compared to other novels? Or, perhaps, was it just good for a debut novel? Or was it good at all, for that matter? At times I think I’m coming to a point of convergence on the issue, but at others I still wonder.
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In some ways I really wish we could do two reviews of THE HUMAN DIVISION by John Scalzi (Amazon). I recently got the book in the mail and read through it in a few days. It was fun and fast-paced, and like most of Scalzi’s writing it was filling with that humor, action and suspense that makes him so darn readable to many people out there. The thing is, the book was released in two separate ways and written as a kind of experiment in publishing.
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