Category Archives: Science fiction

Early Le Guin

Posted on September 5, 2018 by Lizzie Ross

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wind’s Twelve Quarters (1975) (read as an e-book from the NYPL) This collection of seventeen short stories and novellas, all published before 1975, includes several that Le Guin considers “germinal”, that is, leading to two … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Science fiction | Tagged | 4 Comments

The enchanted world

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Lizzie Ross

Another category for the 2015 Reading Challenge is *a book set in the future*, for which I chose a book that has long been sitting on my shelf: Sylvia Louise Engdahl’s Enchantress from the Stars (1970), a Newbery Honor Book. My … Continue reading →

Posted in 2015 Reading Challenge, Adventure, Dystopia, Science fiction, Utopia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

You have to give it time

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Lizzie Ross

The Wells Bequest (2013), Polly Shulman. In an unplanned tag-team review, I’m following up on a book Calmgrove reviewed last fall, Polly Shulman’s The Grimm Legacy (the review of which you can read here). That novel introduced us to the New-York Circulating Material … Continue reading →

Posted in Science fiction, Time travel, Travel book, YA Lit | Tagged | Leave a comment

Update on Mr. Hopkins

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Lizzie Ross

For this post I have to prep you with some math, and then a bit of probability. Fact: there are just under 2.6 million seconds in a 30-day month. Thus, if an improbable event has a one-in-a-million chance of happening, … Continue reading →

Posted in Probability, Science fiction | Tagged | 5 Comments

Hopkins takes a back seat

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Lizzie Ross

Life as We Knew It (2006), Susan Beth Pfeffer Late in 2011, on a previous blog, I reviewed an obscure sci-fi book by RC Sheriff about a cataclysmic disaster involving an asteroid, the moon, and our earth. In fact, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Dystopia, Science fiction, YA Lit | Tagged | 3 Comments

And you thought THIS winter was bad

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Lizzie Ross

Snow stained black from city air is piled high on streets and sidewalks, leaving wide puddles at crosswalks as it melts. This has been quite a winter — twice the average total snowfall — and more is expected next week. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dystopia, Science fiction, YA Lit | 4 Comments

Triptychs

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Lizzie Ross

A (relatively) quick post today, and then an apology in advance. I picked up Laurence Yep’s Newbery Honor book, Dragonwings, and the first few pages made me think of Frank Chin’s Donald Duk, which in turn made me think of … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical fiction, Newbery Award, Science fiction, YA Lit | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Busy busy busy

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Lizzie Ross

Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1963), Dell, 191 pp. I was reminded of Cat’s Cradle when a character in a book I was just reading was described as “busy, busy, busy.” Those three words are a Bokononist’s response when he considers “how … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Humorous, Science fiction | Tagged | Leave a comment

So it goes

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Lizzie Ross

Kurt Vonnegut, who died in 2007 and whose cranky persona I try to emulate whenever possible (my friends are not amused), is on my mind these days, so indulge me as I drone on and on about his books. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Banned/Challenged Books, Humorous, Science fiction | Tagged | 2 Comments

The bad old days

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Lizzie Ross

Dooms Day Book (1992), Connie Willis, 578 pp. Let’s say time travel is actually possible, and you’re a historian eager to see what things were really like, back in the day. Where would you go? According to Willis’ world, you wouldn’t be able … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical fiction, Science fiction | Tagged | 7 Comments