Chris's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:37:11 -0700 60 Chris's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Dagon and Other Macabre Tales 102575 448 H.P. Lovecraft 0870540394 Chris 5 4.23 Dagon and Other Macabre Tales
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Chris
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mammoth Books presents Wang's Carpets]]> 23974502 34 Greg Egan Chris 5 4.08 1995 Mammoth Books presents Wang's Carpets
author: Greg Egan
name: Chris
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/14
date added: 2024/01/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Swords of Talera (Talera Cycle #1)]]> 932326
A grand adventure in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard.

CHARLES ALLEN GRAMLICH has written novels and stories of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, among many other genres. He lives and works in Louisiana. Watch for the second and third volumes in The Talera Cycle, available soon from Borgo Press.]]> 204 Charles Allen Gramlich 1434400816 Chris 0 currently-reading 4.18 2007 Swords of Talera (Talera Cycle #1)
author: Charles Allen Gramlich
name: Chris
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Eversion 58727132
In the 1800s, a sailing ship crashes off the coast of Norway. In the 1900s, a Zepellin explores an icy canyon in Antarctica. In the far future, a spaceship sets out for an alien artifact. Each excursion goes horribly wrong. And on every journey, Dr. Silas Coade is the physician, but only Silas seems to realize that these events keep repeating themselves. And it's up to him to figure out why and how. And how to stop it all from happening again.]]> 304 Alastair Reynolds 0316462829 Chris 0 to-read 3.88 2022 Eversion
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Chris
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Possessors 80489 252 John Christopher 1587152371 Chris 0 to-read 3.54 1964 The Possessors
author: John Christopher
name: Chris
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cthulhu 2000: Stories 620486
“The Barrens� by F. Paul Wilson: In a tangled wilderness, unearthly lights lead the way to a world no human was meant to see.

“His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood� by Poppy Z. Brite: Two dabblers in black magic encounter a maestro of evil enchantment.

“On the Slab� by Harlan Ellison: The corpse of a one-eyed giant brings untold fortune—and unspeakable fear—to whoever possesses it.

“Pickman’s Modem� by Lawrence Watt-Evans: Horror is a keystroke away when an ancient evil lurks in modern technology.

PLUS FOURTEEN MORE BLOOD-CURDLING STORIES

“Shaft Number 247� by Basil Copper
“The Adder� by Fred Chappell
“Fat Face� by Michael Shea
“The Big Fish� by Kim Newman
“I Had Vacantly Crumpled It into My Pocket . . . But by God, Eliot, It Was a Photograph from Life!� by Joanna Russ
“H.P.L.� by Gahan Wilson
“The Unthinkable� by Bruce Sterling
“Black Man with a Horn� by T. E. D. Klein
“Love’s Eldritch Ichor� by Esther M. Friesner
“The Last Feast of Harlequin� by Thomas Ligotti
“The Shadow on the Doorstep� by James P. Blaylock
“Lord of the Land� by Gene Wolfe
“The Faces at Pine Dunes� by Ramsey Campbell
�24 Views of Mt. Fuji, by Hokusai� by Roger Zelazny]]> 398 Jim Turner 0345422031 Chris 0 to-read 4.12 1995 Cthulhu 2000: Stories
author: Jim Turner
name: Chris
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos 36320
In Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, a pantheon of horror and fantasy's finest authors pay tribute to the master of the macabre with a collection of original stories set in the fearsome Lovecraft tradition.

Contents:
- Iä! Iä! Cthulhu Fhtagn! (1990) by Jim Turner [as by James Turner]
- The Call of Cthulhu (1928) by H.P. Lovecraft
- The Return of the Sorcerer (1931) by Clark Ashton Smith
- Ubbo-Sathla (1933) by Clark Ashton Smith
- The Black Stone (1931) by Robert E. Howard
- The Hounds of Tindalos (1929) by Frank Belknap Long
- The Space-Eaters (1928) by Frank Belknap Long
- The Dweller in Darkness (1944) by August Derleth
- Beyond the Threshold (1941) by August Derleth
- The Shambler from the Stars (1935) by Robert Bloch
- The Haunter of the Dark (1936) by H.P. Lovecraft
- The Shadow from the Steeple (1950) by Robert Bloch
- Notebook Found in a Deserted House (1951) by Robert Bloch
- The Salem Horror (1937) by Henry Kuttner
- The Terror from the Depths (1976) by Fritz Leiber
- Rising with Surtsey (1971) by Brian Lumley
- Cold Print (1969) by Ramsey Campbell
- The Return of the Lloigor (1969) by Colin Wilson
- My Boat (1976) by Joanna Russ
- Sticks (1974) by Karl Edward Wagner
- The Freshman (1979) by Philip José Farmer
- Jerusalem's Lot (1978) by Stephen King
- Discovery of the Ghooric Zone (1977) by Richard A. Lupoff

Cover illustration by John Jude Palencar

]]> 462 Jim Turner 034542204X Chris 0 to-read 4.22 1990 Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos
author: Jim Turner
name: Chris
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/05/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Darkworlds London 36416917 The end of the world is hiding in a game, and now it’s time to play...


A Mashup of LitRPG gameplay and H P Lovecraft’s Call of Cthulhu horror mythos.



Adam Harker is a disgruntled employee of a data-mining corporation in a world that is falling apart. Everyday news stories emerge to suggest the end days are coming.


The ground down population of the great cities of the world work like slaves to service the mega rich elite, and in their spare time they forget their troubles in alcohol, drugs and virtual reality games.


But Adam doesn’t enterDarkworldslike everyone else � unlike them, he isn’t fleeing the end of the world by playing a game.

Which is just as well, because the end of the world lurks right there.


Taking up his role as a gun toting misfit priest, Adam begins to level and take on quests in this Lovecraft themed Virtual Reality RPG set in 1927 London.


But then a secretive guild of players contacts him � a group dedicated to fighting the monsters they find in the code.


]]> 350 Galen Wolf Chris 5 4.28 Darkworlds London
author: Galen Wolf
name: Chris
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/06
date added: 2022/03/06
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]]> <![CDATA[The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)]]> 11203858 'I loved this book. What else is there to say?' Patrick RothfussAccording to mythology mankind used to live in The Tranquiline Halls. Heaven. But then the Voidbringers assaulted and captured heaven, casting out God and men. Men took root on Roshar, the world of storms. And the Voidbringers followed...They came against man ten thousand times. To help them cope, the Almighty gave men powerful suits of armor and mystical weapons, known as Shardblades. Led by ten angelic Heralds and ten orders of knights known as Radiants, mankind finally won.Or so the legends say. Today, the only remnants of those supposed battles are the Shardblades, the possession of which makes a man nearly invincible on the battlefield. The entire world is at war with itself - and has been for centuries since the Radiants turned against mankind. Kings strive to win more Shardblades, each secretly wishing to be the one who will finally unite all of mankind under a single throne.On a world scoured down to the rock by terrifying hurricanes that blow through every few day a young spearman forced into the army of a Shardbearer, led to war against an enemy he doesn't understand and doesn't really want to fight. What happened deep in mankind's past? Why did the Radiants turn against mankind, and what happened to the magic they used to wield?Readers absolutely love The Way of 'Incredible, impressive or fantastic, all these words are an understatement to the quality this book holds. The Way of Kings is the beginning of a masterpiece series in epic fantasy' Novel Notions'It's multi-POV, action-packed, heartfelt, exciting, thrilling, and I am running out of adjectives' ŷ Reviewer, ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'The story is mind-blowing, the ideas and thoughts create a world that is believable and intriguing. A strong tale with a well fleshed out world and multidimensional characters that are easy to care about' ŷ Reviewer, ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'The Way of Kings is a huge opening act to The Stormlight Archive which took every single one of these elements of a good fantasy story and elevated the art of storytelling to a different league' ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'Brandon Sanderson is probably the most gifted storyteller of his generation. He's a silent force that strikes you when you least expect it, and with The Way of Kings he introduces a series that will change the history of Fantasy' ŷ reviewer, � � � � �'I've been struck speechless. I've loved Sanderson's books in the past, but this one completely blew me away. I really wish I could give The Way of Kings a sixth star' ŷ reviewer, � � � � ⭐]]> 1009 Brandon Sanderson Chris 5 4.67 2010 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Chris
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/09
date added: 2021/07/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales]]> 14688 A new edition of the Fantasy Tales that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft

A pioneer in the realm of imaginative literature, Lord Dunsany has gained a cult following for his influence on modern fantasy literature, including such authors as J.R.R. Tolkien and H. P. Lovecraft. This unique collection of short stories ranges over five decades of work. Liberal selections of earlier tales—including the entire Gods of Pegana as well as such notable works as "Idle Days of the Yann" and "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth"—are followed by memorable later tales, including several about the garrulous traveler Joseph Jorkens and the outrageous murder tale "The Two Bottles of Relish." Throughout, the stories are united by Dunsany's cosmic vision, his impeccable and mellifluous prose, and his distinctively Irish sense of whimsy.

Here published for the first time by Penguin Classics, this edition is the only annotated version of Dunsany's short stories.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators.]]> 432 Lord Dunsany 014243776X Chris 0 to-read 4.09 1986 In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales
author: Lord Dunsany
name: Chris
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Gods of Pegana 1138654 104 Lord Dunsany 1599868857 Chris 0 to-read 3.89 1905 The Gods of Pegana
author: Lord Dunsany
name: Chris
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1905
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The King of Elfland's Daughter]]> 14686 240 Lord Dunsany 034543191X Chris 0 to-read 3.82 1924 The King of Elfland's Daughter
author: Lord Dunsany
name: Chris
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1924
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Drood 3222979 Drood� is the name and nightmare that obsesses Charles Dickens for the last five years of his life.

On June 9, 1865, Dickens and his mistress are secretly returning to London, when their express train hurtles over a gap in a trestle. All of the first-class carriages except the one carrying Dickens are smashed to bits in the valley below. When Dickens descends into that valley to confront the dead and dying, his life will be changed forever. And at the core of that ensuing five-year nightmare is�

Drood� the name that Dickens whispers to his friend Wilkie Collins. A laudanum addict and lesser novelist, Collins flouts Victorian sensibilities by living with one mistress while having a child with another, but he may be the only man on Earth with whom Dickens can share the secret of�

Drood. Increasingly obsessed with crypts, cemeteries, and the precise length of time it would take for a corpse to dissolve in a lime pit, Dickens ceases writing for four years and wanders the worst slums and catacombs of London at night while staging public readings during the day, gruesome readings that leave his audiences horrified. Finally he begins writing what would have been the world’s first great mystery masterpiece, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, only to be interrupted forever by�

Drood.

Based on actual biographical events, Drood explores the still-unresolved mysteries of one of our greatest writer’s dark final days in a profoundly original tale that confirms Lincoln Child’s assessment of New York Times bestselling author Dan Simmons as “a giant among novelists.”]]> 775 Dan Simmons 0316007021 Chris 0 to-read 3.54 2009 Drood
author: Dan Simmons
name: Chris
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Hollow Man 1552646 293 Dan Simmons 0553082523 Chris 0 to-read 3.52 1992 The Hollow Man
author: Dan Simmons
name: Chris
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Age (Golden Age, #1)]]> 207410 The Golden Age is 10,000 years in the future in our solar system, an interplanetary utopian society filled with immortal humans.

Phaethon, of Radamanthus House, is attending a glorious party at his family mansion celebrating the thousand-year anniversary of the High Transcendence. There he meets an old man who accuses him of being an imposter, and then a being from Neptune who claims to be an old friend. The Neptunian tells him that essential parts of his memory were removed and stored by the very government that Phaethon believes to be wholly honorable. It shakes his faith. Is he indeed an exile from himself? He can't resist investigating, even though to do so could mean the loss of his inheritance, his very place in society. His quest must be to regain his true identity and fulfill the destiny he chose for himself.

The Golden Age is just the beginning of Phaethon's story, which will continue in The Phoenix Exultant, forthcoming from Tor.
]]> 407 John C. Wright 0812579844 Chris 0 to-read 4.08 2002 The Golden Age (Golden Age, #1)
author: John C. Wright
name: Chris
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> Fatherland 56842
The naked body of an old man floats in a lake on the outskirts of Berlin. In one week it will be Adolf Hitler’s 75th birthday. A terrible conspiracy is starting to unravel�

What if Hitler had won?

Fatherland is set in an alternative world where Hitler has won the Second World War. It is April 1964 and one week before Hitler's 75th birthday. Xavier March, a detective of the Kriminalpolizei, is called out to investigate the discovery of a dead body in a lake near Berlin's most prestigious suburb.

As March discovers the identity of the body, he uncovers signs of a conspiracy that could go to the very top of the German Reich. And, with the Gestapo just one step behind, March, together with an American journalist, is caught up in a race to discover and reveal the truth -- a truth that has already killed, a truth that could topple governments, a truth that will change history.]]> 380 Robert Harris 0061006629 Chris 0 to-read 4.01 1992 Fatherland
author: Robert Harris
name: Chris
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Chris 0 to-read 4.16 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Chris
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Piranesi 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X Chris 0 to-read 4.22 2020 Piranesi
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Chris
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> Oryx & Crake (MaddAddam, #1) 45160941 449 Margaret Atwood Chris 4 4.17 2003 Oryx & Crake (MaddAddam, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Chris
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2020/09/14
date added: 2020/09/14
shelves:
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]]> Do You Dream of Terra-Two? 35436043
Have you ever hoped you could leave everything behind?
Have you ever dreamt of a better world?
Can a dream sustain a lifetime?

A century ago, an astronomer discovered an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. She predicted that one day humans would travel there to build a utopia. Today, ten astronauts are leaving everything behind to find it. Four are veterans of the twentieth century’s space-race.

And six are teenagers who’ve trained for this mission most of their lives.

It will take the team twenty-three years to reach Terra-Two. Twenty-three years locked in close quarters. Twenty-three years with no one to rely on but each other. Twenty-three years with no rescue possible, should something go wrong.

And something always goes wrong.]]> 520 Temi Oh Chris 0 to-read 3.61 2019 Do You Dream of Terra-Two?
author: Temi Oh
name: Chris
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> Touch 22314178
Now Kepler is looking out through the eyes of the killer himself, staring down at a broken and ruined body lying in the dirt of the alley.

Instead of dying, Kepler has gained the ability to roam from one body to another, to jump into another person’s skin and see through their eyes, live their life � be it for a few minutes, a few months or a lifetime.

Kepler means these host bodies no harm � and even comes to cherish them intimately like lovers. But when one host, Josephine Cebula, is brutally assassinated, Kepler embarks on a mission to seek the truth � and avenge Josephine’s death.]]> 426 Claire North 0316335924 Chris 0 to-read 3.78 2015 Touch
author: Claire North
name: Chris
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August]]> 35066358 417 Claire North Chris 5 4.03 2014 The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
author: Claire North
name: Chris
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/09/09
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I really loved this, most enjoyable read this yearso far. It reminded me a lot of The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, or, to a slightly lesser degree, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. The audiobook was also excellently narrated.
]]> The Doll Factory 38591165 The Doll Factory, the debut novel by Elizabeth Macneal, is an intoxicating story of art, obsession and possession.

London. 1850. The Great Exhibition is being erected in Hyde Park and among the crowd watching the spectacle two people meet. For Iris, an aspiring artist, it is the encounter of a moment � forgotten seconds later, but for Silas, a collector entranced by the strange and beautiful, that meeting marks a new beginning.

When Iris is asked to model for pre-Raphaelite artist Louis Frost, she agrees on the condition that he will also teach her to paint. Suddenly her world begins to expand, to become a place of art and love.

But Silas has only thought of one thing since their meeting, and his obsession is darkening . . .]]> 336 Elizabeth Macneal 1529002397 Chris 0 to-read 3.76 2019 The Doll Factory
author: Elizabeth Macneal
name: Chris
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magician (The Riftwar Saga, #1-2)]]> 43916 Raymond E. Feist's classic fantasy epic, Magician, has enchanted readers for over twenty years. The revised edition was prepared to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its publication, and incorporates over 15,000 words of text omitted from previous editions.

At Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician � and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever.

Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun.

Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilization. Pug’s destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic.]]> 681 Raymond E. Feist 0586217835 Chris 3 4.32 1982 Magician (The Riftwar Saga, #1-2)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: Chris
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/08/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Differently Morphous 39027664
After centuries in the shadows, the Ministry is forced to unmask, exposing the country's magical history - and magical citizens - to a brave new world of social media, government scrutiny, and public relations.

On the trail of the killer are the Ministry's top agents: a junior operative with a photographic memory (and not much else), a couple of overgrown schoolboys with godlike powers, and a demonstrably insane magician.

But as they struggle for results, their superiors at HQ must face the greatest threat the Ministry has ever known: the forces of political correctness....

Differently Morphous is the latest and greatest tale to emerge from the mind of writer (and narrator) Yahtzee Croshaw.]]> 1 Yahtzee Croshaw Chris 4
OK not really, but good clickbait, right? What I did love about this book is that it made me laugh out loud, and it's certainly about as funny as a classic Discworld novel. Partly because it's voiced by the author, who's withering sarcasm many will recognise from Zero Punctuation. Partly because... well, [spoilers removed].

The book has its flaws, which other reviews have outlined. But I'm hoping for a sequel!]]> 3.92 2019 Differently Morphous
author: Yahtzee Croshaw
name: Chris
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/04/15
date added: 2020/08/11
shelves:
review:
A sarcastic Pratchett-esque take on Harry Potter for the Twitter age.

OK not really, but good clickbait, right? What I did love about this book is that it made me laugh out loud, and it's certainly about as funny as a classic Discworld novel. Partly because it's voiced by the author, who's withering sarcasm many will recognise from Zero Punctuation. Partly because... well, [spoilers removed].

The book has its flaws, which other reviews have outlined. But I'm hoping for a sequel!
]]> Recursion 42046112 Memory makes reality.

That's what NYC cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome—a mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It's why she's dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face to face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease—a force that attacks not just our minds, but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

At once a relentless pageturner and an intricate science-fiction puzzlebox about time, identity, and memory, Recursion is a thriller as only Blake Crouch could imagine it—and his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.]]> 326 Blake Crouch 1524759783 Chris 3 4.15 2019 Recursion
author: Blake Crouch
name: Chris
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/08/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Ham on Rye 38501 288 Charles Bukowski 006117758X Chris 0 to-read 4.17 1982 Ham on Rye
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Chris
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed]]> 101438 382 Ben R. Rich Chris 0 to-read 4.45 1994 Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed
author: Ben R. Rich
name: Chris
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Glass Key 30007 Dashiell Hammett's tour de force of crime fiction combines a bulletproof plot, authentically corrupt characters, and writing of telegraphic crispness.]]> 214 Dashiell Hammett 0752851330 Chris 0 to-read 3.96 1931 The Glass Key
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Chris
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1931
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/07/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Single Man 16842 186 Christopher Isherwood 0816638624 Chris 0 to-read 4.08 1964 A Single Man
author: Christopher Isherwood
name: Chris
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, #1)]]> 92121 175 Roger Zelazny 0380014300 Chris 0 to-read 4.07 1970 Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber, #1)
author: Roger Zelazny
name: Chris
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/05/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Can Medicine Be Cured?: The Corruption of a Profession]]> 43714180 'A deeply fascinating and rousing book' Mail on Sunday. 'What makes this book a delightful, if unsettling read, is not just O'Mahony's scholarly and witty prose, but also his brutal honesty' The Times.]]> 292 Seamus O'Mahony 1788544536 Chris 0 to-read 4.10 2019 Can Medicine Be Cured?: The Corruption of a Profession
author: Seamus O'Mahony
name: Chris
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Doll: Short Stories 11948221 FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA. 'She wrote exciting plots, she was highly skilled at arousing suspense' GUARDIAN 'One of the last century's most original literary talents' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Du Maurier employs well the assured balancing of uncanny possibilities ... and the bitterly wry sense of absurdity that were to characterise her finest fiction' HELEN TAYLOR, INDEPENDENT 'I want to know if men realise when they are insane. Sometimes I think that my brain cannot hold together, it is filled with too much horror - too much despair . . . I cannot sleep, I cannot close my eyes without seeing his damned face. If only it had been a dream.'This collection showcases the budding talent and fierce imagination of Daphne du Maurier, before she went on to write one of the most beloved novels of all time. In these tales of human frailty and obsession, a waterlogged notebook washes ashore, revealing a dark story of jealousy and passion; a vicar coaches a young couple divided by class issues and an older man falls perilously in love with a much younger woman. Each tale demonstrates du Maurier's extraordinary storytelling gifts and her deep understanding of human nature.]]> 223 Daphne du Maurier Chris 4 4.06 1937 The Doll: Short Stories
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Chris
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1937
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/11/01
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]]> <![CDATA[The Talisman (The Talisman, #1)]]> 59219
You are about to take a journey... a terrifying trip across America where young Jack Sawyer is searching for the Talisman, the only thing that can save his dying mother. His quest takes him into the menacing Territories where violence, surprise and the titanic struggle between good and evil reach across a mythic landscape... a journey into the dark heart of horror.]]> 656 Stephen King 0375507779 Chris 0 to-read 4.13 1984 The Talisman (The Talisman, #1)
author: Stephen King
name: Chris
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1984
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/10/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Floating Dragon 19593 Two monstrous evils.

This quiet suburban town of Hampstead is threatened by two horrors.

One is natural. The hideous, unstoppable creation of man's power gone mad.

The other is not natural at all. And it makes the first look like a child's play.]]> 595 Peter Straub 0425189643 Chris 0 to-read 3.84 1982 Floating Dragon
author: Peter Straub
name: Chris
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/10/30
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]]> Ghost Story 19581 In life, not every sin goes unpunished.

GHOST STORY

For four aging men in the terror-stricken town of Milburn, New York, an act inadvertently carried out in their youth has come back to haunt them. Now they are about to learn what happens to those who believe they can bury the past -- and get away with murder.]]> 567 Peter Straub 0671685635 Chris 0 to-read 3.94 1979 Ghost Story
author: Peter Straub
name: Chris
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1979
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/10/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> Fall; or, Dodge in Hell 35429993 The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Seveneves, Anathem, Reamde, and Cryptonomicon returns with a wildly inventive and entertaining science fiction thriller�Paradise Lost by way of Phillip K. Dick—that unfolds in the near future, in parallel worlds.

In his youth, Richard “Dodge� Forthrast founded Corporation 9592, a gaming company that made him a multibillionaire. Now in his middle years, Dodge appreciates his comfortable, unencumbered life, managing his myriad business interests, and spending time with his beloved niece Zula and her young daughter, Sophia.

One beautiful autumn day, while he undergoes a routine medical procedure, something goes irrevocably wrong. Dodge is pronounced brain dead and put on life support, leaving his stunned family and close friends with difficult decisions. Long ago, when a much younger Dodge drew up his will, he directed that his body be given to a cryonics company now owned by enigmatic tech entrepreneur Elmo Shepherd. Legally bound to follow the directive despite their misgivings, Dodge’s family has his brain scanned and its data structures uploaded and stored in the cloud, until it can eventually be revived.

In the coming years, technology allows Dodge’s brain to be turned back on. It is an achievement that is nothing less than the disruption of death itself. An eternal afterlife—the Bitworld—is created, in which humans continue to exist as digital souls.

But this brave new immortal world is not the Utopia it might first seem . . .

Fall, or Dodge in Hell is pure, unadulterated fun: a grand drama of analog and digital, man and machine, angels and demons, gods and followers, the finite and the eternal. In this exhilarating epic, Neal Stephenson raises profound existential questions and touches on the revolutionary breakthroughs that are transforming our future. Combining the technological, philosophical, and spiritual in one grand myth, he delivers a mind-blowing speculative literary saga for the modern age.

]]> 896 Neal Stephenson 0062458736 Chris 0 to-read 3.44 2019 Fall; or, Dodge in Hell
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Chris
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/06/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Wallet of Kai Lung (Kai Lung #1)]]> 1988387 180 Ernest Bramah 1595478884 Chris 0 to-read 3.51 1900 Wallet of Kai Lung (Kai Lung #1)
author: Ernest Bramah
name: Chris
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1900
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/06/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> Dark Matter 27833670 A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

"Are you happy with your life?"

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."

In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that's the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.]]> 342 Blake Crouch 1101904224 Chris 5 4.13 2016 Dark Matter
author: Blake Crouch
name: Chris
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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date added: 2019/06/03
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]]> Carrion Comfort 924608 636 Dan Simmons 0913165379 Chris 5 4.29 1989 Carrion Comfort
author: Dan Simmons
name: Chris
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/06/02
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]]> Awake in the Night Land 21911510
John C. Wright has been described by reviewers as one of the most important and audacious authors in science fiction today. In a recent poll of more than 1,000 science fiction readers, he was chosen as the sixth-greatest living science fiction writer.]]> 313 John C. Wright Chris 3 4.35 2014 Awake in the Night Land
author: John C. Wright
name: Chris
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2019/05/30
date added: 2019/05/30
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]]> <![CDATA[The Eyes of the Overworld (The Dying Earth, #2)]]> 872816 190 Jack Vance 0671832921 Chris 5 4.14 1966 The Eyes of the Overworld (The Dying Earth, #2)
author: Jack Vance
name: Chris
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1966
rating: 5
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date added: 2019/05/26
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]]> From the Dust Returned 9634
They have lived for centuries in a house of legend and mystery in upper Illinois -- and they are not like other midwesterners. Rarely encountered in daylight hours, their children are curious and wild; their old ones have survived since before the Sphinx first sank its paws deep in Egyptian sands. And some sleep in beds with lids.

Now the house is being readied in anticipation of the gala homecoming that will gather together the farflung branches of this odd and remarkable family. In the past-midnight stillness can be detected the soft fluttering of Uncle Einars wings. From her realm of sleep, Cecy, the fairest and most special daughter, can feel the approach of many a welcome being -- shapeshifter, telepath, somnambulist, vampire -- as she flies high in the consciousness of bird and bat.

But in the midst of eager anticipation, a sense of doom pervades. For the world is changing. And death, no stranger, will always shadow this most singular family: Father, arisen from the Earth; Mother, who never sleeps but dreams; A Thousand Times Great Grandmére; Grandfather, who keeps the wildness of youth between his ears.

And the boy who, more than anyone, carries the burden of time on his shoulders: Timothy, the sad and different foundling son who must share it all, remember, and tell...and who, alone out of all of them, must one day age and wither and die.

By turns lyrical, wistful, poignant, and chilling, From the Dust Returned is the long-awaited new novel by the peerless Ray Bradbury -- a book that will surely be numbered among his most enduring masterworks.]]> 206 Ray Bradbury 0743429982 Chris 0 to-read 3.78 2001 From the Dust Returned
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Chris
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/04/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe]]> 7726420
Minor Universe 31 is a vast story-space on the outskirts of fiction, where paradox fluctuates like the stock market, lonely sexbots beckon failed protagonists, and time travel is serious business. Every day, people get into time machines and try to do the one thing they should never do: change the past. That’s where Charles Yu, time travel technician—part counselor, part gadget repair man—steps in. He helps save people from themselves. Literally. When he’s not taking client calls or consoling his boss, Phil, who could really use an upgrade, Yu visits his mother (stuck in a one-hour cycle of time, she makes dinner over and over and over) and searches for his father, who invented time travel and then vanished. Accompanied by TAMMY, an operating system with low self-esteem, and Ed, a nonexistent but ontologically valid dog, Yu sets out, and back, and beyond, in order to find the one day where he and his father can meet in memory. He learns that the key may be found in a book he got from his future self. It’s called How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and he’s the author. And somewhere inside it is the information that could help him—in fact it may even save his life.]]> 256 Charles Yu 0307379205 Chris 0 to-read 3.45 2010 How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
author: Charles Yu
name: Chris
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/28
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]]> Rainbows End 102439
With knowledge comes risk. When Robert begins to re-train at Fairmont High, learning with other older people what is second nature to Miri and other teens at school, he unwittingly becomes part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to use technology as a tool for world domination.

In a world where every computer chip has Homeland Security built-in, this conspiracy is something that baffles even the most sophisticated security analysts, including Robert’s son and daughter-in law, two top people in the U.S. military. And even Miri, in her attempts to protect her grandfather, may be entangled in the plot.

As Robert becomes more deeply involved in conspiracy, he is shocked to learn of a radical change planned for the UCSD Geisel Library; all the books there, and worldwide, would cease to physically exist. He and his fellow re-trainees feel compelled to join protests against the change. With forces around the world converging on San Diego, both the conspiracy and the protest climax in a spectacular moment as unique and satisfying as it is unexpected.]]> 381 Vernor Vinge 0812536363 Chris 0 to-read 3.78 2006 Rainbows End
author: Vernor Vinge
name: Chris
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)]]> 8855321
Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.]]> 592 James S.A. Corey 1841499889 Chris 0 to-read 4.30 2011 Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)
author: James S.A. Corey
name: Chris
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/28
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]]> Anathem 2845024
Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates—at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros—a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose—as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world—as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.]]> 937 Neal Stephenson 0061474096 Chris 0 to-read 4.16 2008 Anathem
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Chris
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Revelation Space (Revelation Space #1)]]> 89187
For the humans now settling the Amarantin homeworld, it's of little more than academic interest, even after the discovery of a long-hidden, almost perfect city and a colossal statue of a winged Amarantin.

For brilliant, ruthless scientist Dan Sylveste, it's more than merely intellectual curiosity - and he will stop at nothing to get at the truth. Even if it costs him everything.

But the Amarantin were wiped out for a reason, and that danger is closer and greater than even Syveste imagines...

The original novel in the epic series, Revelation Space was nominated for both the BSFA and Arthur C. Clarke awards. Reynolds' PhD in astronomy and experience with the ESA means that his space operas present hard science spins on intergalactic adventures and have impacted SF for years.]]> 585 Alastair Reynolds 0441009425 Chris 0 to-read 3.99 2000 Revelation Space (Revelation Space #1)
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Chris
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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]]> The Cyberiad 18194 Solaris. Ranging from the prophetic to the surreal, these stories demonstrate Stanislaw Lem's vast talent and remarkable ability to blend meaning and magic into a wholly entertaining and captivating work.]]> 295 Stanisław Lem Chris 0 to-read 4.18 1965 The Cyberiad
author: Stanisław Lem
name: Chris
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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]]> Clarges 17316399 122 Jack Vance 0575109548 Chris 4 4.17 1956 Clarges
author: Jack Vance
name: Chris
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1956
rating: 4
read at: 2019/03/27
date added: 2019/03/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Quantum Magician (The Quantum Evolution, #1)]]> 38608575 478 Derek Künsken 1781085706 Chris 0 to-read 3.90 2018 The Quantum Magician (The Quantum Evolution, #1)
author: Derek Künsken
name: Chris
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Troop 17571466 358 Nick Cutter 1476717710 Chris 0 to-read 3.83 2014 The Troop
author: Nick Cutter
name: Chris
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect]]> 36204378
"Correlation is not causation." This mantra, chanted by scientists for more than a century, has led to a virtual prohibition on causal talk. Today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, instigated by Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and established causality -- the study of cause and effect -- on a firm scientific basis. His work explains how we can know easy things, like whether it was rain or a sprinkler that made a sidewalk wet; and how to answer hard questions, like whether a drug cured an illness. Pearl's work enables us to know not just whether one thing causes another: it lets us explore the world that is and the worlds that could have been. It shows us the essence of human thought and key to artificial intelligence. Anyone who wants to understand either needs The Book of Why .]]> 432 Judea Pearl 046509760X Chris 0 to-read 3.93 2018 The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
author: Judea Pearl
name: Chris
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/28
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]]> Downward to the Earth 845485
Okay, they did resemble elephants, it can't be denied. That led many people to underestimate the Nildoror and their obviously more fearsome commensals, the Sulidoror.

But aliens should never be judged by human standards, as the Company learned to its cost when Holman's World, now once again known as Belzagor, was given back to the natives and the Company sent packing. Now Edmund Gunderson, once head of the Company's operation on this world, has come back across the galaxy to settle old scores with the Nildoror. If he can even get them to acknowledge his existence.

Cover Artist: Gene Szafran]]> 176 Robert Silverberg 0451044975 Chris 0 to-read 3.86 1969 Downward to the Earth
author: Robert Silverberg
name: Chris
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1969
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/10
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]]> Burning Chrome (Sprawl, #0) 22323 Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome.

Johnny Mnemonic (1981)
The Gernsback Continuum (1981)
Fragments of a Hologram Rose (1977)
The Belonging Kind (1981) with John Shirley
Hinterlands (1981)

Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) with Bruce Sterling
New Rose Hotel (1984)
The Winter Market (1985)
Dogfight (1985) with Michael Swanwick
Burning Chrome (1982)]]> 226 William Gibson 0060539828 Chris 0 to-read 4.07 1986 Burning Chrome (Sprawl, #0)
author: William Gibson
name: Chris
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1986
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/01/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 33396171 ASIN B01MYZ8X5C moved to the more recent edition

A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid � a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.� Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 156 Martha Wells Chris 4 4.27 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Chris
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/11
date added: 2019/01/11
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]]> The Cipher 15764138
Nicholas, a would-be poet, and Nakota, his feral lover, discover a strange hole in the storage room floor down the hall - "Black. Pure black and the sense of pulsation, especially when you look at it too closely, the sense of something not living but alive." It begins with curiosity, a joke - the Funhole down the hall. But then the experiments begin. "Wouldn't it be wild to go down there?" says Nakota. Nicholas says "We're not." But they're not in control, not from the first moment, as those experiments lead to obsession, violence, and a very final transformation for everyone who gets too close to the Funhole.

THE CIPHER was the winner of the 1991 Bram Stoker Award, and was recently named one of io9.com's Top 10 Debut Science Fiction Novels That Took the World By Storm. Long out-of-print and much sought-after, it is finally available as an ebook, with a new foreword by the author.


"An ethereal rollercoaster ride from start to finish." - The Detroit Free Press

"Combines intensely poetic language and lavish grotesqueries." - BoingBoing

"Kathe Koja is a poet ... [T]he kind that prefers to read in seedy bars instead of universities, but a poet." - The New York Review of Science Fiction

"Her 20-something characters are poverty-gagged 'artists' who exist in that demimonde of shitty jobs, squalid art galleries, and thrift stores; her settings are run-down studios, flat-beer bars, and dingy urban streets [a] long way from Castle Rock, Dunwich, or Stepford, that's for sure." - Too Much Horror Fiction

"This powerful first novel is as thought-provoking as it is horrifying." - Publishers Weekly

"Unforgettable ... [THE CIPHER] takes you into the lives of the dark dreamers that crawl on the underbelly of art and culture. Seldom has language been so visceral and so right." - Locus

"[THE CIPHER] is a book that makes you sit up, pay attention, and jettison your moldy preconceptions about the genre ... Utterly original ... [An} imaginative debut." - Fangoria

"Not so much about the vast and wonderful strangeness of the universe as it is about the horrific and glorious potential of the human spirit." - Short Form



From Publishers

Down-and-out Nicholas and his friend Nakota one day discover a black hole in the floor of an abandoned storage room in his apartment building, which they quickly christen the "Funhole." The two set out to see what happens when they drop various items into the hole, whetting its appetite with insects, a mouse and a human hand, which all come back violently rearranged. Next, they lower a camcorder into the hole to record the action within. The videotape they retrieve is spellbinding, but there's a what Nicholas sees is different from everyone else's vision. To Nakota the hole means change, because whatever is dropped into the Funhole emerges transformed-- if it ever emerges. Mesmerized by the Funhole, she claims that Nicholas is the only one who can make things happen around it. For Nicholas himself, the hole is a phenomenon that forces him to face his miserable, aimless life. Koja has created credible characters who are desperate for both entertainment and salvation. Inaugurating Dell's new Abyss Books series, this powerful first novel is as thought-provoking as it is horrifying.]]> 218 Kathe Koja 1938263006 Chris 4 3.54 1991 The Cipher
author: Kathe Koja
name: Chris
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/10
date added: 2019/01/10
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]]> Pale Fire 7805
Nabokov's darkly witty, richly inventive masterpiece is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum.

Part of a major new series of the works of Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita and Pale Fire, in Penguin Classics.]]> 246 Vladimir Nabokov Chris 0 to-read 4.17 1962 Pale Fire
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Chris
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1962
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/01/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Teranesia 156787 352 Greg Egan 0061059803 Chris 0 to-read 3.49 1999 Teranesia
author: Greg Egan
name: Chris
average rating: 3.49
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Clockwork Rocket (Orthogonal, #1)]]> 9756310
On Yalda's world, plants make food by emitting their own light into the dark night sky.

As a child Yalda witnesses one of a series of strange meteors, the Hurtlers, that are entering the planetary system at an immense, unprecedented speed. It becomes apparent that her world is in imminent danger � and that the task of dealing with the Hurtlers will require knowledge and technology far beyond anything her civilisation has yet achieved.

Only one solution seems tenable: if a spacecraft can be sent on a journey at sufficiently high speed, its trip will last many generations for those on board, but it will return after just a few years have passed at home. The travellers will have a chance to discover the science their planet urgently needs, and bring it back in time to avert disaster.]]> 512 Greg Egan 0575095113 Chris 0 to-read 3.64 2011 The Clockwork Rocket (Orthogonal, #1)
author: Greg Egan
name: Chris
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/22
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]]> Diaspora 156785 443 Greg Egan 3453161815 Chris 0 to-read 4.12 1997 Diaspora
author: Greg Egan
name: Chris
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/22
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]]> Quarantine 156775
Some see the bubble as the revenge of an insane God. Some see it as justice. Some even see it as protection. But one thing is for certain -- now there is the universe, and the earth. And never the twain shall meet.

Or so it seems. Until a bio-enhanced PI named Nick Stavrianos takes on a job for an anonymous client: find a girl named Laura who disappeared from a mental institution by the most direct possible method -- walking through the walls.]]> 280 Greg Egan 0061054232 Chris 0 to-read 3.90 1992 Quarantine
author: Greg Egan
name: Chris
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)]]> 36223860 alternate cover for ISBN 9781250186928

It has a dark past � one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.]]> 158 Martha Wells Chris 0 to-read 4.23 2018 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
author: Martha Wells
name: Chris
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Invent Everything: Rebuild All of Civilization (with 96% fewer catastrophes this time)]]> 37752621
With this book as your guide, you'll survive--and thrive--in any period in Earth's history. Bestselling author and time-travel enthusiast Ryan North shows you how to invent all the modern conveniences we take for granted--from first principles. This illustrated manual contains all the science, engineering, art, philosophy, facts, and figures required for even the most clueless time traveler to build a civilization from the ground up. Deeply researched, irreverent, and significantly more fun than being eaten by a saber-toothed tiger, How to Invent Everything will make you smarter, more competent, and completely prepared to become the most important and influential person ever.]]> 464 Ryan North 0753552558 Chris 0 to-read 4.13 2018 How to Invent Everything: Rebuild All of Civilization (with 96% fewer catastrophes this time)
author: Ryan North
name: Chris
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/12/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)]]> 6424171 An alternate cover edition can be found here.

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price. Until something goes wrong. . . .--back cover]]> 416 Michael Crichton 0345370775 Chris 5 4.25 1990 Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)
author: Michael Crichton
name: Chris
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1990
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/12/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs]]> 4443485 Winner of the 2009 James Beard Book Award for Best Book: Reference and Scholarship

Great cooking goes beyond following a recipe--it's knowing how to season ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish. Thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provide a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Readers will learn to work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients; experiment with temperature and texture; excite the nose and palate with herbs, spices, and other seasonings; and balance the sensual, emotional, and spiritual elements of an extraordinary meal.Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from America's most imaginative chefs, THE FLAVOR BIBLE is an essentialreference for every kitchen.]]> 380 Andrew Dornenburg 0316118400 Chris 0 to-read 4.06 2008 The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs
author: Andrew Dornenburg
name: Chris
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/11/27
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]]> Wylding Hall 25010941
Now, years later, the surviving musicians, along with their friends and lovers—including a psychic, a photographer, and the band’s manager—meet with a young documentary filmmaker to tell their own versions of what happened that summer. But whose story is true? And what really happened to Julian Blake?]]> 176 Elizabeth Hand 1504007182 Chris 0 to-read 3.75 2015 Wylding Hall
author: Elizabeth Hand
name: Chris
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/10/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Imago Sequence and Other Stories]]> 911954 To the long tradition of eldritch horror pioneered and refined by writers such as H.P. Lovecraft, Peter Straub, and Thomas Ligotti comes Laird Barron, an author whose literary voice invokes the grotesque, the devilish, and the perverse with rare intensity and astonishing craftsmanship.

Collected here for the first time are nine terrifying tales of cosmic horror, including the World Fantasy Award-nominated novella “The Imago Sequence,� the International Horror Guild Award-nominated “Proboscis,� and the never-before-published “Procession of the Black Sloth.� Together, these stories, each a masterstroke of craft and imaginative irony, form a shocking cycle of distorted evolution, encroaching chaos, and ravenous insectoid hive-minds hidden just beneath the seemingly benign surface of the Earth.

With colorful protagonists, including an over-the-hill CIA agent, a grizzled Pinkerton detective, and a failed actor accompanying a group of bounty hunters, Barron’s stories are resonant and authentic, featuring vulnerable, hard-boiled tough guys attempting to stand against the stygian wasteland of night. Throughout the collection, themes of desolation, fear, and masculine identity are played out against the backdrop of an indifferent, devouring cosmos.]]> 239 Laird Barron 1597800880 Chris 0 to-read 4.01 2007 The Imago Sequence and Other Stories
author: Laird Barron
name: Chris
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/10/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Uplift War 19735165
THE UPLIFT WAR is the third book in David Brin's magnificent Uplift series. Winner of the Hugo award when it was first published, it is a sweeping, brilliantly crafted story of adventure and wonder from one of the greatest writers of science fiction.]]> 653 David Brin 1405514450 Chris 4 4.03 1987 The Uplift War
author: David Brin
name: Chris
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2018/10/19
date added: 2018/10/19
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]]> Excession (Culture, #5) 12013 Excession, the Culture's espionage and dirty tricks section orders Diplomat Byr Gen-Hofoen to steal the soul of a long-dead starship captain. By accepting the mission, Byr irrevocably plunges himself into a conspiracy: one that could either lead the universe into an age of peace or to the brink of annihilation.]]> 500 Iain M. Banks 0553575376 Chris 0 to-read 4.20 1996 Excession (Culture, #5)
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Chris
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/10/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (Heechee Saga, #2)]]> 373399 THE HEECHEE SAGA
Book Gateway
Book Beyond the Blue Event Horizon
Book Heechee Rendezvous
Book The Annals of the Heechee


From the Paperback edition.]]> 336 Frederik Pohl 0345446674 Chris 0 to-read 3.96 1980 Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (Heechee Saga, #2)
author: Frederik Pohl
name: Chris
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/10/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Startide Rising (Uplift Book 2)]]> 18889577 498 David Brin Chris 4 3.95 1983 Startide Rising (Uplift Book 2)
author: David Brin
name: Chris
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2018/10/04
date added: 2018/10/04
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]]> Carrion Comfort 12305880 801 Dan Simmons 1849166358 Chris 5 3.99 1989 Carrion Comfort
author: Dan Simmons
name: Chris
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at: 2018/08/18
date added: 2018/08/18
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]]> <![CDATA[City of the Chasch (Planet of Adventure, #1)]]> 2596311
Tschai was a vast planet and previously unexplored. Adam, taken as slave by humans, learned that there were four other intelligent but non-human races dominant on that strange world. And to find the mystery of the distress call and the vicious attack, he would have first to gain his freedom and then find a safe way to pass the city and the alien Chasch and their treacherous cousins, the Blue Chasch.

Jack Vance's Tschai novels are considered his masterwork, a constantly changing epic canvas of weird peoples, exotic lands, and surprising extra-terrestrial adventures.]]> 200 Jack Vance 0312940432 Chris 5 3.82 1968 City of the Chasch (Planet of Adventure, #1)
author: Jack Vance
name: Chris
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1968
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/08/10
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]]> Snow Crash 830 Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous� you'll recognize it immediately.]]> 438 Neal Stephenson 0553380958 Chris 3 4.02 1992 Snow Crash
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Chris
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/08/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows (The Cthulhu Casebooks, #1)]]> 29236245 352 James Lovegrove 1783295945 Chris 0 to-read 3.71 2016 Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows (The Cthulhu Casebooks, #1)
author: James Lovegrove
name: Chris
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/08/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> Sleeping Beauties 34520458 In this spectacular father/son collaboration, Stephen King and Owen King tell the highest of high-stakes what might happen if women disappeared from the world of men?All around the world, something is happening to women when they fall asleep; they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed, the women become feral and spectacularly violent...In the small town of Dooling, West Virginia, the virus is spreading through a women's prison, affecting all the inmates except one. Soon, word spreads about the mysterious Evie, who seems able to sleep - and wake. Is she a medical anomaly or a demon to be slain? The abandoned men, left to their increasingly primal devices, are fighting each other, while Dooling's Sheriff, Lila Norcross, is just fighting to stay awake.And the sleeping women are about to open their eyes to a new world altogether...]]> 736 Stephen King 1473665213 Chris 3 4.00 2017 Sleeping Beauties
author: Stephen King
name: Chris
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2018/07/15
date added: 2018/07/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)]]> 2052
This is an alternate cover edition.]]> 231 Raymond Chandler 0394758285 Chris 0 to-read 3.96 1939 The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Chris
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> Never Let Me Go 6334
Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.]]> 288 Kazuo Ishiguro 1400078776 Chris 5 3.85 2005 Never Let Me Go
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Chris
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 5
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]]> Catch-22 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Chris 0 3.99 1961 Catch-22
author: Joseph Heller
name: Chris
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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]]> Animal Farm 7613
The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

One night, all the animals at Mr. Jones' Manor Farm assemble in a barn to hear old Major, a pig, describe a dream he had about a world where all animals live free from the tyranny of their human masters. Old Major dies soon after the meeting, but the animals � inspired by his philosophy of Animalism � plot a rebellion against Jones.

Two pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, prove themselves important figures and planners of this dangerous enterprise. When Jones forgets to feed the animals, the revolution occurs, and Jones and his men are chased off the farm. Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm, and the Seven Commandments of Animalism are painted on the barn wall...]]> 129 George Orwell Chris 0 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Chris
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 0
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]]> Lord of the Flies 7624 182 William Golding 0140283331 Chris 0 3.70 1954 Lord of the Flies
author: William Golding
name: Chris
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1954
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)]]> 100915
Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don't believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch. When they meet the Lion Aslan, they realize they've been called to a great adventure and bravely join the battle to free Narnia from the Witch's sinister spell.]]> 206 C.S. Lewis Chris 0 4.24 1950 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Chris
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1950
rating: 0
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]]> The Lord of the Rings 33 One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.

From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.]]> 1216 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618640150 Chris 4 4.52 1955 The Lord of the Rings
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Chris
average rating: 4.52
book published: 1955
rating: 4
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]]> The Catcher in the Rye 5107 It's Christmas time and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school...

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends. The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.

The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

J.D. Salinger's (1919�2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.]]> 277 J.D. Salinger 0316769177 Chris 4 3.81 1951 The Catcher in the Rye
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Chris
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 4
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]]> The Great Gatsby 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Chris 1 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Chris
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 1
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date added: 2018/06/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Conan the Cimmerian, #1)]]> 33482
Poem and first 13 tales, in order written, plus Miscellanea drafts, notes, maps by author.
Cimmeria poem
1 The Phoenix on the Sword 1932
2 The Frost-Giant's Daughter 1976
3 The God in the Bowl 1952
4 The Tower of the Elephant 1933
5 The Scarlet Citadel 1933
6 Queen of the Black Coast 1934
7 Black Colossus 1933
8 Iron Shadows in the Moon 1934
9 Xuthal of the Dusk 1933
10 The Pool of the Black One 1933
11 Rogues in the House 1934
12 The Vale of Lost Women 1967
13 The Devil in Iron 1934]]> 496 Robert E. Howard 0345483855 Chris 0 to-read 4.17 2002 The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Conan the Cimmerian, #1)
author: Robert E. Howard
name: Chris
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/06/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Planet of Adventure (Planet of Adventure, #1-4)]]> 40865
Against a backdrop of baroque cities and haunted wastelands, sumptuous palaces and riotous inns, Reith will encounter deadly wastrels and murderous aliens, dastardly villains and conniving scoundrels.

And always the random beauty in need of rescue...]]> 544 Jack Vance 0312854889 Chris 5 4.28 1968 Planet of Adventure (Planet of Adventure, #1-4)
author: Jack Vance
name: Chris
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1968
rating: 5
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date added: 2018/06/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon #1)]]> 11143208 753 China Miéville Chris 4 4.07 2000 Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon #1)
author: China Miéville
name: Chris
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/01
date added: 2018/04/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)]]> 25563522 Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel.

Adrian Tchaikovksy's critically acclaimed, stand-alone novel Children of Time, is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age � a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

"Children of Time is a joy from start to finish. Entertaining, smart, surprising and unexpectedly human." - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls.]]> 609 Adrian Tchaikovsky Chris 5 4.37 2015 Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Chris
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2018/01/30
date added: 2018/01/30
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]]> 1984 5470 328 George Orwell Chris 5 4.15 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Chris
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1949
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/11/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)]]> 8935689
Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.]]> 467 Iain M. Banks 1857231384 Chris 3 3.86 1987 Consider Phlebas (Culture, #1)
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Chris
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1987
rating: 3
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date added: 2017/11/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)]]> 17333324
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

Once, she was the Justice of Toren - a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.

Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.]]> 386 Ann Leckie Chris 0 to-read 3.98 2013 Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1)
author: Ann Leckie
name: Chris
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/11/14
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]]> A Time to Kill 11946003 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B003IDMUWC


The multi-million copy bestselling thriller that introduced Jake Brigance to Clanton.

This is the book that launched the giant Grisham, that became the film, and then inspired a sequel, Sycamore Row.

When Carl Lee Hailey guns down the hoodlums who have raped his ten-year-old daughter, the people of Clanton see it as a crime of blood and call for his acquittal.

But when extremists outside Clanton hear that a black man has killed two white men, they invade the town, determined to destroy anything and anyone that opposes their sense of justice.

Jake Brigance has been hired to defend Hailey. It's the kind of case that can make or break a young lawyer. But in the maelstrom of Clanton, it is also the kind of case that could get a young lawyer killed.]]> 530 John Grisham Chris 4 4.27 1989 A Time to Kill
author: John Grisham
name: Chris
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2017/11/12
date added: 2017/11/12
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]]> Zothique 809796
Zothique depicts the destinies of the inhabitants of the last continent of the Earth, when it is in its agony... and stages one of the most captivating and splendid fantasy that literature has produced.]]> 273 Clark Ashton Smith 0345219384 Chris 5 4.26 1970 Zothique
author: Clark Ashton Smith
name: Chris
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1970
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/10/07
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]]> Stand on Zanzibar 41069 U.S.A. Trilogy, Stand on Zanzibar is a cross-section of a world overpopulated by the billions. Where society is squeezed into hive-living madness by god-like mega computers, mass-marketed psychedelic drugs, and mundane uses of genetic engineering. Though written in 1968, it speaks of 2010, and is frighteningly prescient and intensely powerful.

This edition comes with a tipped in collectors' note and an introduction by David Brin.]]> 672 John Brunner 1857988361 Chris 0 to-read 3.95 1968 Stand on Zanzibar
author: John Brunner
name: Chris
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1968
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/10/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare]]> 184419
As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body.]]> 182 G.K. Chesterton 0375757910 Chris 5 3.85 1908 The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Chris
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1908
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/10/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Player of Games (Culture, #2)]]> 18630 293 Iain M. Banks 0061053562 Chris 5 4.28 1988 The Player of Games (Culture, #2)
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Chris
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/08/21
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]]> The Children of Men 12647911 Children of Men is a brilliant mystery possessing all of the qualities which distinguish P.D. James as a novelist.

Under the despotic rule of Xan Lyppiatt, the Warden of England, the old are despairing and the young cruel. Theo Faren, a cousin of the Warden, lives a solitary life in this ominous atmosphere. That is, until a chance encounter with a young woman leads him into contact with a group of dissenters. Suddenly his life is changed irrevocably, as he faces agonising choices which could affect the future of mankind.

PD James is the world's pre-eminent crime writer, most famous for her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries and for her bestselling titles Death Comes to Pemberley and The Murder Room. Children of Men was adapted into a hit film in 2006, directed by Alfonso Cuarn the film starred Clive Owen, Michael Caine and Julianne Moore.]]> 306 P.D. James Chris 4 3.84 1992 The Children of Men
author: P.D. James
name: Chris
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2017/08/08
date added: 2017/08/08
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dragon Masters and Other Stories]]> 19239252
The race of man is growing old, but it's not yet ready to die - not while there are dragons still to kill! The cross-bred dragon armies of the Men of Aerlith are the most appalling horrors ever to threaten the sanity of our future: Termagents ~ three hundred reptilian giants with six legs apiece, the most fecund breeders of them all. Jugglers ~ eighteen of them, growling amongst themselves, waiting for an opportunity to snap off a leg from any unwary groom. Murderers (striding and long-horned) ~ eighty-five of each, with scaly tails and eyes like crystals. Fiends ~ fifty-two powerful monsters, their tails tipped with spike steel balls. Blue Horrors, Basics, Spider Dragons... the enemy has no chance.]]> 302 Jack Vance 0575109920 Chris 5 4.41 2002 The Dragon Masters and Other Stories
author: Jack Vance
name: Chris
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/18
date added: 2017/07/18
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]]>