“if you can’t pay with things, you could pay with skills,” said Sakina, motioning to the shadow. “Well, wait a minute,” said Alif, looking from the shadow to Sakina. “My skills are more or less limited to computers… I’m not sure how much help that is to an, ah, to a…” Effrit, said the shadow. I’m an effrit. And I’ve got a two-year-old Dell desktop in the back that’s had some kind of virus for ages. The screen goes black five minutes after I […]
On Myth and Mayhem (A Robert #CBR6 Review)
Call Rant: The Oral Biography of Buster Casey Chuck Palahniuk’s sci-fi epidemic kind-of but not really zombie novel about folklore and the creation of mythical figures. No, really. That’s the best line I can come up with to explain what, exactly, Rant is supposed to be. People are interviewed about Buster “Rant” Casey, a ne’re-do-well country boy who packs up his things at 18 (including millions in stolen gold coins) and brings a small town epidemic to the big city. Or, it’s the novel about […]
“Mutiny on the Enterprise”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #26
by Robert E. Vardeman “Zarv’s entire family had been killed by the Romulans in a brief incursion years before. His hatred for them and all they stood for transcended mere duty; it took on personal overtones.” This is a direct sequel to Mr. Vardeman’s “The Klingon Gambit,” and it is just as wretched, ridiculous, and poorly-written as its predecessor. Even though Enterprise and her crew are in desperate need of repairs and rest after their last mission, they are given a trio of ambassadors and […]
“Time For Yesterday”: Star Trek Novelization Vangie13 cbr #25
by A.C. Crispin “I wish that once, just once, I could command a mission where everything goes perfectly. Everything. The transporter functions without a hitch, both the warp drive and the impulse engines stay on-line for the duration, nobody from security suffers so much as a hangnail, and the ship’s computer doesn’t even hiccup.” Since this a sequel to the same author’s “Yesterday’s Son,” I decided to read it out of order. It’s actually #39 in the Pocketbooks series, while “Yesterday’s Son” is #11. I […]