Book Review: Divided We Fall

I’ve always liked anthologies because I can get a taste of multiple authors at one time. Anthologies also introduce me to authors I haven’t yet read and finding new authors is always fun. This week’s book review subject is Divided We Fall: One Possible Future edited by Tiffany Reynolds and Patty McIntosh-Mize. The authors include Sarah A. Hoyt, Brad Torgerson, Mack Henkel, Jon Del Arroz, and more. There are twelve stories in all. All twelve are good to great, but I’m only going to go into detail about a few of them here.

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Book Review: “What Does This Button Do?” by Bruce Dickinson

This week’s book review is not an urban fantasy selection. It’s Bruce Dickinson’s autobiography, What Does This Button Do? Like many people, I have an eclectic range of interests when it comes to reading. Well, let’s be honest, I’ll pick up pretty much anything if it looks interesting. On a three-week backpacking trip through Europe after college I read five or six Jason Bourne novels…in a row. I discovered how formulaic they were, but they kept me engaged until the next hostel or pension. Hostels had (or may still, I don’t know) libraries that functioned as sort of pick up/drop off points for books (this was waaaaaay before phones and tablets or e-readers. Way before). Pick up a book in London, read it, drop it off at hostel in Edinburgh or Paris or Nice or wherever, and pick up another one. I read a lot of things in terms of genre and authors that I might not have otherwise. It was definitely a way to broaden my already wide reading horizons. All that is to explain why I read and write urban fantasy but end up reviewing a book by and about the lead singer of Iron Maiden.

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Book review: Paladin’s Sword

The weekly book reviews continue! This week I’m reviewing Fiona Grey’s debut book, Paladin’s Sword, the first in the Professor Porter series. We are introduced to Dr. June Porter, newly minted PhD in folklore and military history, on her way to her first full-time position at Paladin University in New Hampshire. In addition to her new PhD, June is also in possession of magic which, unlike the PhD, she would like to put behind her. But the universe is a fickle thing, and it has other plans for her.

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Book Review: The East Witch

Starting this week, I’m adding a weekly (maybe every two weeks) book review to the blog. I think I’m going to keep it on Tuesdays, but that will be determined by how other things get scheduled. The writing prompt responses for More Odds Than Ends are due (sorta) Tuesday evening, and I usually procrastinate enough that I don’t get them done until then. I expect that the majority of books I review will be in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, but giving that I am a politics and history geek, there may be some of those as well. All of my reviews are in the mode of “hey, I found this fun/interesting/enthralling and you might too.” So, if you agree or disagree, you can comment accordingly. Just keep it polite, thanks. We’ll see how this all goes.

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