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EmilyMah

EmilyMah

Well, okay, as I've worked to build up my shelf, I've encountered a dilemma. Most people use this site to talk about books they've read and give them a thumbs up or thumbs down. The thing is, most of the books I read these days are by friends. They're members of my writers group, or former Clarion classmates, or writers I've shared rooms with... more »
  • member since July 27 2007

Reviews

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Displaying 1-10 of 17 reviews
  • Jumper
    • Rated 5 stars

    I am very excited to see this movie. The book is great because it gives a new and interesting take on teleportation. The main character is a troubled teen in an abusive situation. Where many kids in these circumstances learn to dissociate from their bodies in some way in order to endure, this teen discovers that he can will himself elsewhere. Needless to say, this has all kinds of interesting ramifications for him and everyone he knows. Steve Gould is also a great guy and I'm happy to see this success coming his way. You know, this movie, if it does well, can be made into a trilogy. Here's to hoping it is!

    EmilyMah wrote this review Thursday, December 6 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Polaris: A Celebration of Polar Science
    • Rated 0 stars

    Total cheat for me to be reviewing this one. One of my stories is in it. Speaking about the other writer's though, this is a wonderful, timely anthology. My personal favorites were "Frozen Witness" and "Swept Away"

    EmilyMah wrote this review Wednesday, November 21 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Passage
    • Rated 5 stars

    Connie's won more awards than nearly anyone else in the field. She's also a wonderful human being who, despite the fact that she's had hundreds of students, remembers me by name every time I see her. I've known her for about six years now, I attend one of her lectures or talk to her roughly twice a year. At this rate, I should know everthing she knows in 1,427,982 years. I read Passage while preparing for Clarion West in 2001 and promptly thought "I'm too stupid to learn from this woman!" and had one of my weekly crises of faith. This book is fast paced, draws on Connie's thorough and meticulous research of history and medicine, and has one of my favorite endings of all time. Bear in mind, I was once a little kid living in a hospital too.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Wednesday, November 21 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Rewind
    • Rated 4 stars

    Terry England is one to watch. I myself have watched him for six years as he's churned out short story after short story, and a couple of novel concepts. I've seen him press on even when the writing's hard and the publishing world is at its most indifferent. Some of the most fantastic fiction I've ever read has come from this guy when he's on a roll. It just seems to flow from the back of his brain. He's got another novel project that he's subbing around. As soon as I'm done typing, I'll cross my fingers.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Wednesday, November 21 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Child of a Rainless Year
    • Rated 5 stars

    What can I say, I loved this one. Jane paints a beautiful portrait of Las Vegas, New Mexico in all its whacked our splendor. The prose is lyrical and engrossing, and the protagonist is one of my favorites, a woman with a passion for art who is searching out her past. While the region and its history keep the story cooking, magic creeps into the liminal space. Beautifully done.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Wednesday, November 21 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Sky People
    • Rated 4 stars

    I found this to be straight up Edgar Rice Burroghs-ish, and at the time several of us in the critgroup said as much to Stirling. Then he wrote the follow up novel, "In the Courts of the Crimson Kings" and blew us all away. Read this one for a good ride and to get a feel for the tradition Stirling is writing in. Then pick up the next one when it comes out. He does a very different take on straight up adventure SF that is both thought provoking and some of the most fun I've ever had.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Wednesday, November 21 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Betrayal in Winter
    • Rated 5 stars

    Book 2 of Daniel's quartet. This one is better than the last, but more to the point, it is a necessary stepping stone to get to book 3. You really want to read book 3, trust me. It'll "break your head", as the author has been known to say.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Tuesday, November 20 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • A Shadow in Summer
    • Rated 5 stars

    I've been a fan of Daniel Abraham for a long while. And yes, we are also in the same writer's group. Having said that, I *strongly* recommend this series. Book one is great. Book 2 is even better. Book 3 will blow your mind. Book 4 is a spectacular finale. The direction these books go is not what you'd expect. If you feel lukewarm about book 1, rest assured, Daniel's improving at a totally disgusting rate. If I didn't like him, I'd hate his guts.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Tuesday, November 20 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Kitty and the Midnight Hour
    • Rated 5 stars

    Perhaps the most intelligent book of its kind out there. This isn't a remix of Laurel K. Hamilton. This is a story about what kinds of darkness define us and which side of the line we choose to be on. Kitty begins this book as a woman with a dark secret and a desire to sulk in the shadows. She's the omega of her pack and as a wolf she could literally run off into the woods, never to be human again. Yet in chapter one, while she's running her midnight hour radio program, a slew of pranksters call in and try to derail her show by talking about vampirism. Then, comes a caller who claims to be a vampire, and Kitty knows he's telling the truth. Rather than put him off, she offers him some advice. By the end of that show, she's got hundreds of fans with their own dark secrets desperate to hear her voice. From this point on, going wolf and disappearing means leaving all of them behind. I am so glad this series got picked up.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Tuesday, November 20 2007. ( reply | permalink )
  • Kitty Takes a Holiday
    • Rated 5 stars

    I just love Carrie. On the surface, it might be easy to think she's just writing to the formula, but beneach each cliche is a clever twist or uncomfortable insight. In this one, Kitty faces some small town prejudice. The resolution, though, is neither predictable, nor superficial.

    EmilyMah wrote this review Tuesday, November 20 2007. ( reply | permalink )
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