The Young World by Chris Weitz. Little, Brown and Company. 373 pages. I’ve learned–and I’ve tried to teach my students–that there are significant differences between writing movie scripts and writing books. One might think that if you’re good at writing one, you’ll probably be good at writing the other as well. It’s not necessarily the … More Review: “The Young World” by Chris Weitz
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Broadway Books. 608 pages. I had heard rumor that this story was good and that it was going to be made into a movie. Then recently when Shelly and I went to the showing of Blade Runner (which you should really see), they showed a trailer for the new … More Review: “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline
Under a Graveyard Sky (Black Tide Rising, Book 1) by John Ringo. Baen Books. 512 pages. This book series is a cross-pollination of two disciplines I’ve been reading a lot of: military science fiction and dystopian fiction. Technically, it’s considered horror/sci-fi, but I would probably describe it thusly. The first part is a lot like … More Review: “Under a Graveyard Sky” by John Ringo
“The world does not need more Christian literature. What it needs is more Christians writing more good literature.” — C.S. Lewis The city of the future was made of glass and steel, and shone brilliantly in the night. It was surrounded by ribbons of light, a steady stream of vehicles shining in the night as … More It’s About The Fall of Adam and Eve. Or About the Antichrist. Or Maybe Neither of Them.
Plague Year (The Plague Year Trilogy Book 1) by Jeff Carlson. 346 pages. JVE Books. I’ve read a lot of dystopian novels over the past few years, and admittedly, there are a lot to choose from. Part of the reason is because they are so popular in the YA genre, and for a while I … More Review: “Plague Year” by Jeff Carlson
I’m back in the office. My summer is over with, voluntarily. I’m thinking that I could use the extra time to get ready for the class I’ll be teaching this fall, but I’m also hoping that the time in the office will force me to get back into writing Tesla’s Ghost. The other motivator came … More A Rose By Any Other Name
I’ve been asked what the hardest part of writing a novel is, and my answer tends to be directly related to how well my novel-building is going at the time. My dad used to have a saying: “Some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you.” Some books come together quickly … More Brick By Brick
“This is the way the world ends….not with a bang but a whimper.” –T.S. Eliot The other night I noticed a trailer for another dystopian movie coming out soon, this one “The Fifth Wave,” a so-so story about an alien invasion that comes in waves of devastation. I got hooked on the storytelling a couple … More It’s the End of the World As We Know It…
Flashback by Dan Simmons. Back Bay Books. 550 pages. This book is almost perfect. Almost. I love the way Simmons paints a not-too-distant America that’s been destroyed in the shadow of Flashback, a new and powerful drug that grants its user perfect recall of any memory you desire. As you can imagine, such a drug … More Review: “Flashback” by Dan Simmons
Sorry, I have been somewhat scarce the past few days. I am working with my fellow author, Celeste Perrino-Walker, in the editing process for our upcoming Christian suspense novel, Salome’s Charger, which will appear on virtual bookshelves September 1. Writing is hard work, and editing…is harder work. Some people love it, and I have made … More Miss Me?
The Great Adventure 