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SCIENCE FICTION

MYSTERIES & THRILLERS

Murder at the top of Indian society. Literally.

Murder at the top of Indian society. Literally.

A decade ago Anglo-Indian author Abir Mukherjee broke into a second career as a crime novelist after 20 years working as an accountant. His first effort, A Rising Man, appeared in 2016. An historical detective novel featuring a pair of Calcutta cops shortly after World War I,...

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NONFICTION

Many write about Donald Trump. These authors really know.

Many write about Donald Trump. These authors really know.

Obviously, I'm some kind of masochist. To date I've read and reviewed 25 books about Donald Trump. I'd sworn off subjecting myself to any others until Maggie Haberman's account of Trump's first year back in office. She's been on point on Donald Trump for the New York Times for...

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Popular Fiction

Why do some novels win literary awards?

Why do some novels win literary awards?

Let's see if we can figure out why this paper-thin work of fiction won wide recognition and a literary award for its author. Snow Hunters introduces . . . let's count them: eight characters in 226 pages: Yohan, a North Korean soldier captured by UN forces late in the Korean...

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Explore My “BEST OF the category” selections

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

When people ask me that question, I never know what to say. In a lifetime of reading, I’ve read many thousands of books. And I’ve reviewed well over 2,000 of them on this site. Picking just one as a “favorite,” or even a handful of them, makes no sense to me.

The problem is, I read for many different reasons. Perhaps you do, too. And I read many different sorts of books. Mysteries and thrillers. Popular fiction, especially historical fiction. Science fiction.

And nonfiction, history in particular. You’ll find hundreds of reviews in every one of those categories on this site.

Look to the right for a rotating random selection culled from throughout this site.

Happy reading!

 

Surveillance Valley reveals the secret military history of the Internet.

Shocking revelations: the secret military history of the Internet

The secret military history of the Internet comes to light in a powerful new book. It's well known that the Internet was birthed by the Pentagon. Originally called the ARPANET, the name reflected its origin in the military's Advanced Research Projects Agency created late in the Eisenhower...
The Long and Faraway Gone is a prize-winning novel of suspense.

A prize-winning novel of suspense probes the impact of crime

The flamboyant musician Wayne Coyne, lead singer and songwriter for the Flaming Lips, has been one of Oklahoma City's most recognizable assets since the 1960s. As Wikipedia notes, "Flaming Lips concerts feature confetti cannons, lasers, laser pointers, images projected on to a screen, dozens of...
Phase Six

This future pandemic is worse than COVID-19

Here's a novel about the pandemic COVID-19 might have been and could still become. And something much like the nightmarish scenario it portrays could still come about in any one of innumerable other ways, given the endless resourcefulness of our microscopic foes, who are the world's most populous...
Cover image of "The Bright Ages," a fresh history of the Middle Ages

A fresh look at the history of the Middle Ages

Scholars of medieval history seem to be unanimous in their conclusion that the Middle Ages were, in no way, the "Dark Ages." Most of the stereotypes that abound in popular views of the era are poorly grounded in reality, if at all. But leave it to two young medieval historians to write a book that...
Cover image of "The Oppermanns," an early anti-Nazi novel

A German anti-Nazi novel published in 1933

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes From a distance of ninety years, it's difficult for many Americans to understand how Adolf Hitler could have come to power in such a highly advanced and cultured country as Germany. And at the same time, many of us wonder why, with Hitler's true intentions so...
The Lost Fleet: Dauntless is the first book in a popular military SF series.

The exciting first book in a military SF series

Military science fiction doesn't often rock my boat. Of course, there are exceptions, such as Joe Haldeman's classic, The Forever War. But that novel didn't work so brilliantly because it celebrated the military life. No, it was exciting because it highlighted the impact of relativity on travel at...
Cover image of "Secrets Typed in Blood," a 1940s noir novel

Pentecost and Parker are on the case

Think 1940s noir, and what comes to mind? Tough-guy private eyes and corrupt cops. Fistfights in dark alleys. Beautiful dames with murder in their eyes. But that's not what Stephen Spotswood has in store for you in his 21st-century take on the period. Because only in the mood they convey do the...
Cover image of "The Sympathizer" by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a novel about Vietnam

The Vietnam War through Vietnamese eyes

Viet Thanh Nguyen's remarkable debut novel, The Sympathizer, has won a slew of literary awards, including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It was also a finalist for a number of other prestigious awards and has been named a Best Book of the Year on more than twenty lists, including those of...
Cover image of "The Wars of the Roses,"

Don’t call it “the Wars of the Roses”

Even if your knowledge of English history is sketchy at best, you're likely to have heard of the Norman Conquest, the Black Death . . . and the Wars of the Roses. You may then be surprised to learn, as Dan Jones informs us in his account of that famous conflict, that the so-called "wars" were far...
Cover image of "Consequence," a novel about peaceful protest and terrorism

Exploring the boundary between terrorism and peaceful protest

Where is the line between peaceful and legitimate protest and terrorism? Though the answer to that question might seem obvious, it's not -- and Berkeley-based author Steve Masover's debut novel, Consequence, explores that territory with skill and sophistication. Consequence tells a tale dominated...

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Mal Warwick - Book Reviews

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Mal Warwick

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