Monthly Archives: March 2021

Review: Neal Stephenson – Fall or, Dodge in Hell (2019)

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

Did not finish at around 50% This monster of a novel starts with tech-billionaire Dodge dying in a hospital, and his family finding out that Dodge’s will states that upon his death, his body should be cryogenically frozen. In these … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

Review: Kazuo Ishiguro – Klara and the Sun (2021)

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

8/10 Klara is a robot, an Artificial Friend (AF) whose purpose in life is to be bought to become a companion for lonely children from wealthy families. The story starts in the store where Klara stands around – sometimes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

TOP 100 SCI-FI BOOKS

Posted on March 21, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

This is my list. I’ve been reading science fiction since 2007. But I haven’t read everything out there. I also read non-fiction and fantasy, confining the SF part of my reading to about 15 books per year. I think I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Lists, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 37 Comments

Review: M. John Harrison – Empty Space: A Haunting (2012)

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

8.5/10 Also in this series: Light (2002) Nova Swing (2006) Empty Space is the third and final entry in M. John Harrison’s magisterial Kefahuchi Tract series. Loosely connected to the previous books, Empty Space follows three timelines which feature characters … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Composer spotlight: James Newton Howard and his Film Music

Posted on March 13, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

This is going to be a longer one. I am not used to reviewing music so I hope that I get the terminology right. I would like to focus on a couple of film scores by composer James Newton Howard. … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Movies | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Review: Isaac Asimov – The Naked Sun (1956)

Posted on March 10, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

8/10 The second SF-detective novel featuring the polite robot Daneel Olivaw and the grumpy detective Elijah Baley. Previously in The Caves of Steel (1954), Elijah Baley was forced to accept the off-world robot Olivaw as a partner in an Earth … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Review: Matt Haig – The Humans (2013)

Posted on March 5, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

6.5/10 What is The Humans (2013) about? A short humorous novel about an alien who rushes to planet Earth because a professor is on the verge of cracking an important mathematical problem and the aliens don’t want that to happen. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Review: Steven Erikson – Deadhouse Gates (2000)

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Jeroen Admiraal

9/10 If you seek the crumbled bonesOf the T’lan Imass,Gather into one handThe sands of Raraku Deadhouse Gates both isn’t and is a sequel to the first Malazan Book, Gardens of the Moon. Reading the Malazan books is a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Fantasy | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments