All Systems Red by Martha Wells

June 24, 2025

I’m eight years behind in reading Martha Wells’ first Murderbot Diaries entry, All Systems Red. The short science fiction book won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for Best Novella. It won the Alex Award. It was also a bestseller, made into an Apple...

When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

March 25, 2025

As much as I liked John Scalzi’s The Kaiju Preservation Society, I liked When the Moon Hits Your Eye even more. This is a standalone, but Scalzi said it’s sort of in a group with his last two novels, The Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain. It...

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

September 23, 2023

Are you ready for cats who are management, and dolphins who want to unionize? I love John Scalzi’s imagination, and Starter Villain is a joy from start to finish. Most people would look at Charlie Fitzer and see a loser. At thirty-two, he’s divorced,...

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

July 26, 2023

Science fiction and fantasy author Connie Willis has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. She has written comic novels, and stories of time-traveling historians. So, why not an alien who looks like a tumbleweed in The Road to Roswell? Francie Driscoll owed...

Stella by Josh Dygert

April 20, 2022

Sometimes, I just stumble across a book that surprises me. I’d never heard of Josh Dygert, but his novella, Stella, is set in Indiana. It was short enough that I could read it this week after meeting my deadline. It’s poetic and atmospheric with the heat...