This is the kind of book I long to be intelligent enough to fully comprehend, although to purport having done so would be to ignore Blindsight‘s unnerving central message. Blindsight is an incredibly dark, thought-provoking tale that is equal parts science fiction, horror, and psychological thriller. Relying on a one-two punch that alternates between a heady […]
Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a bewitching but almost unbearably bloated novel. Deftly mimicking the oblique style of Jane Austen, Clarke resurrects the concerns, mannerisms and values of early-19th century England. Into this historical milieu she chucks a fabricated history of “English magic,” a longstanding but recently stagnant tradition waiting to be […]
Every human struggle needs an image of a better future for supporters to rally around, but it’s never enough to simply know where we want to end up. The accomplishment of profound societal change, if sought peacefully, also demands a set of linguistic and psychological frames revolutionaries can use to inform, impassion, and ultimately persuade […]
After several years of observing the barrage of praise that’s been heaped upon Cloud Atlas by friends and critics, I finally sat down to read it, convinced it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype. One hundred pages in, I’d already dismissed David Mitchell’s well-loved book as nothing more than a garish, sprawling, unfocused coterie […]
The Culture universe is an undeniably brilliant creation, containing more than one writer’s fair share of imaginative inventions and astonishing moments. I have been impressed with every Culture novel I’ve read, but often complete them wondering what Banks could have done to warm my heart the same way he enchants my brain. After this refreshing […]