Month: February 2019

Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

E.F. Sunland

I told one person I was looking for fantasy recommendations and received a massive reading list. Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series was also recommended, but I won’t review all nine books here. Most books in a series share common strengths/pitfalls so I’ll do a big round-up post if/when I finish. In the meantime, I read Novik’s Uprooted which is wonderful for being a single, self-contained book and not another series. At 439 pages, it’s not even long for its genre. read more

Review: Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

E.F. Sunland

Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End was included in a long list of sci-fi recommendations. At 224 pages, its pacing is perfect. The alien ships appear at the end of the first chapter and the aliens, the Overlords, swiftly implement changes for the betterment of humanity. A dark and suspenseful undertone builds even as living conditions improve on Earth. What do the Overlords want? read more

Review: Endurance by Alfred Lansing

E.F. Sunland

I heard about Alfred Lansing’s Endurance when FictionFan awarded it Book of the Year 2018. (I’m going to read Tombland too, but that’s part of a series and I’ve got a lot of reading to do first.)

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton set sail on the Endurance with 27 men to begin the “Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition” and cross the Antarctic on foot—the “last great Polar journey” of 1,800 miles: read more