Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward: A book review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - In season six of Star Trek: Voyager, a landmark episode called “Blink of an Eye” was released where the USS Voyager was caught in the orbit of a planet where, due to a tachyon field (or something), time was moving at an accelerated rate on the planet’s surface – one second of normal time was about one day on the planet. The Voyager crew watched, in a matter of days, the civilization on the planet go from an early nomadic society to one with technology comparative to theirs. The episode has been placed on several “must see” lists for Star Trek fans, and was a welcome addition to the canon. But what the average viewer doesn’t know is that the entire concept of the episode was taken from a novel by acclaimed science fiction writer Robert Forward.

Click to read more ...

The Amazing Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck: A book review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - During the 1980s, comic books were turning a bit more serious and started to really gear toward an older audience. Strange how the stigma of comics being strictly for kids hasn't left the minds of some, though I would say that these days, the majority of comic books are for older readers. And yes, this extends to the world of super heroes in both Marvel and DC Comics. Not to say that the comics from the previous decade were entirely tame, but it seemed to get a much darker tone than before. One of the prime examples of this is the six part story arc Kraven's Last Hunt, written by J.M. DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Zeck in 1987.

Click to read more ...

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: a book review

 - Urbino, Italy - A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend basically forced me to watch the first episode of the successful HBO TV series Game of Thrones. He had been talking about it non-stop for the past year, and now that Season 2 is approaching, he wanted me to get involved with it so that we would watch the show together. I had no doubts about its quality – I had seen it sweeping up awards in the past months. Plus, George R. R. Martin’s books – upon which the series was based – were the only contemporary books my father would deign to read, and if there’s one thing I’m sure of, that’s the fact that he was a book worm with great taste. I just wasn’t driven by all of that.

Click to read more ...

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan: a book review

- Urbino, Italy - Sasha is 35, looks younger, and her online profiles say she’s only 28. Her life is made of awkward first dates and frequent episodes of kleptomania, to the point where she has started consulting a specialist for help. She works as an assistant for Bennie Salazar, a music producer no longer at the top of his career, and divorced. He manages to have a relationship with his young son only when they both have something to hide from his ex-wife. Bennie notes things on the back of a parking ticket: all of the embarrassing episodes from his past that someway haunt him. Many lives come out of these two with many characters each facing the present, while their minds inevitably go back to the past.

Click to read more ...

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami: A book review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Murakami is a fairly popular, if controversial, novelist in Japan. He demonstrates very clear Western influences (including Kurt Vonnegut…bonus points), so his home country approaches him with fascination. He has taken some heavy flak over the years though from the Japanese literary community for that very reason, although that seems to have lessened in recent years.

Click to read more ...