The Stacks
All book reviews
402 honest reviews across fiction, non-fiction, mystery, sci-fi, romance, and more.
Showing 73-96 of 402
South of Resurrection
by Jonis Agee
South of Resurrection by Jonis Agee 1997 review. A literary novel about a Nebraska Indian-reservation drifter returning home to deal with his stepbrother's violent death and the family that does not want him back.
The Infinity Link
by Jeffrey A. Carver
The Infinity Link by Jeffrey A. Carver 1984 review. A first-contact hard SF novel about a NASA technician who becomes the conduit for a deep-space alien dialogue that nobody else knows is happening.
CYBERPUNK: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised
by Katie Hafner
Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier by Katie Hafner and John Markoff 1991 review. The 1991 nonfiction account of three early hackers (Kevin Mitnick, Pengo, Robert Morris) that helped define the public understanding of the hacker mythology.
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet
by Katie Hafner
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet by Katie Hafner 1996 review. The first serious history of ARPANET and the team at BBN that built it, written by reporters who actually talked to the engineers.
First Man : The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
by James R. Hansen
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen 2005 review. The authorized 769-page biography of Armstrong that became the source for the 2018 Ryan Gosling film, and is meaningfully better than the film remembers.
Death Drop
by Alina Adams
Death Drop by Alina Adams 2007 review. The fourth Figure Skating Mystery takes Bex Levy backstage at a New York Stars on Ice tour where one of the skaters has been hospitalized after a sabotaged spin.
Axel of Evil
by Alina Adams
Axel of Evil by Alina Adams 2005 review. The third Figure Skating Mystery sends Bex Levy to Moscow for a competition where one of the favorites is murdered, again.
Changer of Days
by Alma Alexander
Changer of Days by Alma Alexander 2004 review. The conclusion to the duology that began with The Hidden Queen, escalating the political stakes without losing the patient register.
The Hidden Queen
by Alma Alexander
The Hidden Queen by Alma Alexander 2004 review. A Croatian-Australian fantasy debut that opens a duology about a princess in hiding learning to use magic she should not have.
No Way Back
by Andrew Gross
No Way Back by Andrew Gross 2013 review. A New York mother witnesses a murder in a Manhattan hotel and the killer comes for her family.
The Lurker At The Threshold
by August Derleth
The Lurker at the Threshold by August Derleth 1945 review. The first Derleth posthumous 'collaboration' with H. P. Lovecraft, building a Mythos novel from unfinished Lovecraft fragments.
Masterpieces of Mystery and the Unknown
by Agatha Christie
Masterpieces of Mystery and the Unknown by Agatha Christie review. A 1969 short-story collection drawing from across Christie's six decades of supernatural and crime shorter fiction.
Merlin Effect
by T. A. Barron
The Merlin Effect by T. A. Barron 1994 review. A standalone young-adult fantasy that became the conceptual seed for the later five-book Lost Years of Merlin saga.
A Romance of the Equator: The Best Fantasy Stories of Brian W. Aldiss
by Brian W. Aldiss
A Romance of the Equator by Brian W. Aldiss 1989 review. The Gollancz best-of fantasy collection from one of the most underrated short-fiction careers in British SF.
Requiem and a Tribute to the Grand Master
by Robert A. Heinlein
Requiem and Tributes to the Grand Master edited by Yoji Kondo 1992 review. The memorial collection assembled after Heinlein's 1988 death, featuring Asimov, Pournelle, Clarke, and the Heinlein essay 'Where To?'.
50 in 50
by Harry Harrison
50 in 50 by Harry Harrison 2001 review. A career-spanning fifty-story Harrison collection, one story per year, that doubles as the best single overview of his short fiction.
The Chains That You Refuse
by Elizabeth Bear
The Chains That You Refuse by Elizabeth Bear 2006 review. The first collection of short fiction from a Hugo-and-Campbell-winning writer at her most generous.
Steles of the Sky
by Elizabeth Bear
Steles of the Sky by Elizabeth Bear 2014 review. The final book of the Eternal Sky trilogy lands its Mongol-empire-inspired epic fantasy with rare grace.
Stonemouth
by Iain M. Banks
Stonemouth by Iain Banks 2012 review. A Scottish prodigal son comes home five years after the wedding that ruined his future, and discovers nobody has forgotten anything.
The Church of the Dead Girls
by Stephen Dobyns
The Church of Dead Girls by Stephen Dobyns 1997 review. Three teenage girls disappear from an upstate New York town and the community begins to suspect everyone, including itself.
Make Room Make Room
by Harry Harrison
Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison 1966 review. The 1966 Hugo-nominated overpopulation novel that became the 1973 film Soylent Green, and is meaningfully better than the film remembers.
Flash Point
by Paul Adam
Flash Point by Paul Adam 2006 review. A Glasgow journalist investigates the death of a young African violinist competing in the Tchaikovsky Competition and stumbles into a missing-instrument scandal.
When Rich Men Die
by Harold Adams
When Rich Men Die by Harold Adams 1987 review. The fifth Carl Wilcox Depression-era mystery sends the alcoholic itinerant artist back to Corden, South Dakota for a banker’s murder.
Murder on a Midsummer Night
by Kerry Greenwood
Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood 2008 review. The seventeenth Phryne Fisher Mystery sends the Honourable Miss Fisher chasing two cases at once in summer 1929 Melbourne.