Category Archives: Book reviews

Book Review: What If? 2 by Randall Munroe

In 2014, XKCD creator Randall Munroe released What If?, a book based on his long-running…blog? It’s not his usual “blag,” but I think it qualifies. Anyway, in it, he used science to answer “absurd hypothetical questions” submitted by his readers. … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

I mentioned The Kaiju Preservation Society in Episode 4 of this season of my podcast as one of the hot new sci-fi books of this year and a rare serious literary treatment of the giant monster trope. This is the … Continue reading

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Book Review: Interchange by Daniel M. Bensen

Last year, I reviewed the book Junction by Daniel M. Bensen, a sci-fi work centered around speculative evolution, that is, imagining how life might evolve on an alternate Earth or other worlds. Junction is a world filled with wormholes connecting … Continue reading

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Book Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Andy Weir, of The Martian and Artemis fame recently put out his third novel, Project Hail Mary. In his most expansive work yet, Weir takes us out of the Solar system entirely to meet Ryland Grace, an astronaut who wakes … Continue reading

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Book Review: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

In 2011, Ernest Cline wrote the bestselling book Ready Player One about a boy competing in a high stakes video game contest in the future virtual reality world of the OASIS. In 2045, the OASIS basically is the internet and … Continue reading

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Graphic Novel Review: First Knife by Simon Roy and Daniel Bensen

A couple months ago, I reviewed Junction, the debut novel of Daniel Bensen. After I posted it, Mr. Bensen was kind enough to thank me for my review and to discuss our mutual interest in writing. He recently suggested that … Continue reading

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Book Review: Delta-v by Daniel Suarez

Delta-v by Daniel Suarez is a new novel about the exploration of our Solar System. It’s been a popular topic in recent years, but Suarez does put a unique spin on it. This is the first sci-fi story I’ve seen … Continue reading

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Book Review: Junction by Daniel M. Bensen

This one might need a bit of background. Lately, I’ve been getting interested in something called speculative evolution, which is a branch of science fiction about how life might evolve on other planets—or in the future, or in Earth’s past, … Continue reading

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Book Review: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

I’ve previously reviewed An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, a science educator and YouTube host alongside his brother, John (author of The Fault in our Stars). Hank’s debut novel featured a visit by an enigmatic alien robot named Carl, … Continue reading

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Book Review: Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

One of the top science fiction books of 2019, even reaching the summer reading list of former President Barack Obama, was Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang. This collection compiles nine recent short stories by the author of “Story of Your … Continue reading

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