Reviews and Comments

Part memoir and part rumination, in Question 7 Flannagan improbably connects family history, H.G. Wells, colonialism, the bombing of Hiroshima and more. A fascinating read.

Overy looks at both the decision making process leading up to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the role of the these bombings in ending the war. An interesting reassessment of the simplistic tale typically told.

Uhlman is best known as a painter and that comes through in much of his prose. Reunion is the story of a brief friendship between two students during Hitler’s rise to power. Like in Taylor’s Address Unknown, the corrosiveness of fascism is on full display here.

Steinbeck wrote The Moon is Down for the Allied propaganda effort during WWII. A crisp little novella of the conquered and the conquerors.

Memory, family and the line between human and other animals are among the topics Fowler explores in this odd novel. An intriguing cast of characters, not least the occasionally unreliable narrator, keep things interesting.

I tore through this one. A history of the near future written in urgent prose and brief chapters. An adventure story of a family attempting escape from a flooded New York. A coming of age tale. Excellent.

Samatar’s novella is set in the far future on a fleet of ships that escaped a dying earth. It offers biting commentary on social hierarchy and academia. A well paced and moving read let down slightly as the science fictional elements give way to the fantastical near the end in a way I found awkward.

The Curse of Pietro Houdini is a coming of age story mixed with a World War II thriller set in and around Montecassino. Also an exposition of the ways in which fascism and war destroy empathy. A section in the middle bogs down a little and could have used an editor’s knife but this is mostly an engaging and well-told tale.

A little slower to get going than some of the other episodes but still left me hoping Wells isn’t done with Murderbot.

Longo tells the story of the fall of the Iron Curtain in Hungary. Many of those involved in that drama played a part in the picnic at the center of this tale. It was odd reading about the dismantling of walls and of autocracies as our world now rebuilds both. Fittingly, the book ends with the rise of Orban. A hopeful story with a melancholic end.

A murder mystery mixed with Murderbot’s usual existential angst. Another entertaining episode.

A decent warts and all intro to Orwell. The strongest part is the author’s takedown of the modern right’s attempt to co-opt Orwell.

I read and enjoyed DeLuca’s novella Night Roll but no luck with this one. Too much effort given to creating an edgy feel distracts from the story telling. Setting this aside.

Reportage from Republican areas of Spain during the first part of the war. Worthwhile for anyone with an interest in the Spanish Civil War. Unfortunately a second volume covering the end of the war was destroyed by Nazi or Polish censors.

After reading the first 8 books in the series I lost track of it about a decade ago. Picked it up again with Where the Time goes. The usual odd mix of fantasy, alternate history, mystery, humor and a little gothic horror. Another entertaining addition to this offbeat series.