Tome Topple Round 6 TBR

It’s that time of year again ladies and gentleman. Another round of the Tome Topple Readathon will be soon upon us. It’s time for discussions of possible to be read piles, and I wanted to share what I will potentially be reading with you.

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Review – The Rig by Roger Levy

The Rig
By: Roger Levy
Release Date: May 8, 2018
Publisher: Titan Books
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


This book took a little longer than I thought it would, partially because it’s a whopping 615 pages long. The Rig by Roger Levy kept me hooked for every single page, though. Even as the days begin to turn to weeks since I’ve finished it the story has stayed with me, and I find myself thinking about it more as time goes on. It’s been some time since a book has stayed with me in quite this way, and I think I might have found a new favorite.

Review – The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

The Gone World
By: Tom Sweterlitsch
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Rating:


Telling me there are time travel aspects to a book might be one of the quickest ways to get me to read a book. I’m a sucker for a good time traveling story. And that is certainly a major aspect of The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch.

Review – Vampire Hunter D Vol. 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi

Vampire Hunter D Vol. 1
By: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Illustrator: Yoshitaka Amano
Translator: Kevin Leahy
Release Date: March 10, 1983; (English) 2005
Publisher: DH Press
Series: Vampire Hunter D
Rating:


Fun story. I borrowed a copy of Vampire Hunter D from Hoopla. Since Yoshitaka Amano (of Final Fantasy fame) is the artist, something I was aware of earlier, I assumed this was a manga. Not sure why, seeing as Yoshitaka Amano hasn’t illustrated any manga as far as I am aware. (Do correct me if I’m wrong. I’d love to read a manga he’s illustrated.) As it turns out, Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi is a light novel! I love light novels!

Review – The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts

The Freeze-Frame Revolution
By: Peter Watts
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Series: Sunflower Cycle
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


The Freeze-Frame Revolution is a story of revolution aboard a space ship tasked with traversing the galaxy building warp gates. In order to keep building for as long as possible the humans aboard are cryogenically frozen between builds, waking only when absolutely necessary. But not everything is as it seems.

Review – The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer

The Strange Bird
By: Jeff VanderMeer
Release Date: February 27, 2018
Publisher: MCD/Firrar, Strous, and Giroux
Series: Borne
Rating:


My library tends to always have novellas in their new books section, and I tend to always check them out immediately. This past week I found a book called The Strange Bird by Jeff VanderMeer, which is a title I hadn’t heard of before. Once I’d checked the book out and gotten home I realized I was in the middle of two other novels by the same author – Annihilation, the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy, as well as Borne.

Review – Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente

Space Opera
By: Catherynne M. Valente
Release Date: April 10, 2018
Publisher: Saga Press
Rating:


Okay. So. Space Opera. Wonderful, glorious Space Opera. It has been a long time since I loved a book this much or devoured it quite so quickly. I originally listened to the audiobook on hoopla. When the hardcover copy came in the mail a few weeks later I immediately read the whole thing cover to cover. Is Space Opera by Catherynne Valente that good? Well, yeah. It is.

Review – Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from Around the World

Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from Around the World
By: Dale Knickerbocker (editor)
Release Date: June 4, 2018
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Lingua Cosmica: Science Fiction from Around the World is an academic book. This isn’t a novel or even a generic non-fiction title. This is a book by academics about science fiction writers from countries other than the United States. These authors are giants of the genre, the sort of authors whose works change science fiction in that region.

Throwback Thursday Review – Radio Freefall by Matthew Jarpe

Radio Freefall
By: Matthew Jarpe
Release Date: August 7, 2007
Publisher: Tor Books
Rating:


I stumbled upon Radio Freefall by Matthew Jarpe at the library recently. It isn’t a new release, I hadn’t been familiar with the author, and I can’t recall ever hearing about the novel. So, naturally, I checked it out immediately, knowing nothing but what the flap copy said – this this was a cyberpunk story with rock and roll, AIs, and technology. And you know what? It was a lot of fun.

Review – Captain Harlock Space Pirate: Dimensional Voyage Vol. 1 by Leiji Matsumoto and Kouiti Shimaboshi

Captain Harlock Space Pirate: Dimensional Voyage Vol 1
By: Leiji Matsumoto
Illustrator: Kouiti Shimaboshi (art); Meaghan Tucker (lettering)
Translator: Zack Davisson
Release Date: September 5, 2017 (English)
Publisher: Seven Seas
Series: Captain Harlock Space Pirate: Dimensional Voyage
Received From: Publisher
(All reviews are our own, honest opinions.)
Rating:


Captain Harlock Space Pirate: Dimensional Voyage is a retelling of Captain Harlock. Billed as a good place to start from for those who haven’t read the original series, I planned to put that to the test. And, yes, I can say with certainty that this was a good place to start from. While I know the general concept of Captain Harlock, I have not read the original manga, so I was going into this rather blind. I never felt lost or left behind. The manga really does do an excellent job of introducing the world and its character’s to a new audience.