Book Reviews

This is the summary tab for the various reviews that I have posted at this site.

The columns will be explained at the top: abbreviation below.

Review Link is as much of the real name as I thought I could fit with the link to the review.  Most reviews have a link to at least one place you can buy it online.

The author is obvious, although with either multiple authors, or authors with long names, they may be truncated.

Type is the time setting relative to the “event”, and also the general tone of the book.

Disasters are the main cause of the crises. 

+/- is whether I recommend the book.  It is the quick glimpse, because people seem to like the thumbs up and down routine.  I try not to make it completely based on personal preferences, but obviously they play a part.

Our numerical ratings are intended to be descriptive, not generally qualitative.  A low number is not necessarily bad, nor a high one good:  1 is low, 4 is in the middle, and 7 is high.

Real is short for Realism.  Realism early on was called grittiness.  It is a general calibration as to how close the events of the book could be viewed from our current reality.  The actual plausibility of the disaster is not factored in unless it causes ongoing problems with the novel.  This avoids endless discussions about whether a Solar Flare, or a viral Pandemic are more “realistic” without letting the Vampire and highly speculative Science Fiction novels off the hook.

Read is for readability.  It is literally how painless the book is to read.  Some people want very straightforward plot driven tales, other like lots of character development, and arcane symbolism and analogy.   A comic book, or an action driven page turner will tend toward the higher end of the scale.  A long introspective novel about somewhat unclear events with a confused timeline would be relatively low on the scale.

Review Link	Author	Type	Disaster	+/-	Real	Read
Green Gospel	L.C.Fiore	DY	TR	Y	7	L4
Zazen	Vanessa Veselka	AP	EC, TR	Y+	6	L5
The Cat Who Walked…	Kij Johnson	AP,CH	EQ	Y	1	7
High-Rise	J.G. Ballard	AP	Sc	N	2	L2
White Pickups	Larry Kollar	AP	Wd or S	Y	5	6
The Shelter	SunHi Mistwalker	AP	Ec	Y	6	7
Adrift on the Sea of Rains	Ian Sales	AP	N	N	5	5
The Pulse	Scott Williams	AP	F	Y	7	6
Dark Road	David Waldron	AP	F	~	6	4
Oryx and Crake	Margaret Atwood	AP,PA	B	Y+	4	L5
La jetée ciné-roman	Chris Marker	PA	N	Y+	2	7
Enfold Me	Steven Greenberg	N	EQ	Y	7	5
H.P. Lovecraft, Against the …	Michel Houellebecq	NF, AP	NF	Y	-	-
Vlad	Carlos Fuentes	AP	Vm, Ec	Y+	2	L6
The Literary Conference	César Aira	AP	Wd	Y+	2	L6
The Rest is Silence	Scott Fotheringham	AP	B, Ec	~	6	L5
Fall-Out	Gudrun Pausewang	AP, YA	N	Y	7	6
Quarter-Life Crisis	Evan Mundy	PA	Wd	N	3	5
Ashes, Ashes (Ravage)	René Barjavel	AP	N,E	N	2	5
2012	Collection	AP,PA	Various	N	2	7
Coming From an Off-Key Time	Bogdan Suceavă	AP	NP, Sc	Y	2	L3
Living Souls	Dmitry Bykov	AP	W, NP	N	1	L2
Decline and Fall British Empire	Elliot Evan Mills	AP	W	~	2	5
The Massive	Brian Wood	PA	GW,  G	N	6	7
Loom of Ruin	Sam McPheeter	AP	NP	N	5	6
Dog Eat Dog	David J. Rodgers	PA	NP	Y	5	5
Memoria	Alex Bobl	PA	PO	~	3	5
Friends and Other Signs...	A.P. Menzie	Dy	-	N	4	5
Joshua	John S. Wilson	AP	EC	y+	7	6
War After Armageddon	Ralph Peters	AP	N, EC	N	3	2
Minnesota Cold	Cynthi Kraack	C	N, I	N	4	3
Then	Julie Myerson	AP	I	Y+	4	L3
Desperate Times	Nicholas Antinozzi	AP	EC	N-	2	3
Memory Boy	Will Weaver	AP, YA	V	Y	6	6
Etiquette for an Apocalypse	Anne Mendel	PA	V	Y	4	6
White Horse	Alex Adams	AP	P	Y	4	5
Lost Everything	Brian Slattery	PA	GW, EC	~	1	L2
The Eagle has Crashed	Ted Lacksonen	AP	EC	~	5	3
Biker	Jane Gallion	PA	N?	~	5	4
Valhalla	Newton Thornburg	AP	EC	Y	7	5
The Edge of the Earth	Russell Hill	AP	EC	Y	5	6
Caravan	Stephen Goldin	AP, SF	EC, PO	Y	5	6
King of the Storeroom	Antonio Porta	PA	EC	Y	5	L3
EMP/Solar Flare Special
Half Past Midnight	Jeff Brackett	AP	N, E	N	5	6
One Second After	William Forstchen	AP	E	Y	6	4
Grid Down Reality Bites	Bruce Hemming	AP	E	N	6	2
Preppers Road March	Ron Foster	AP	E or F	Y	6	5
77 Days in September	Ray Gorham	AP	E	Y	5	7
Death Pulse	David Alexander	AP	E	N-	2	3
Super Sad True Love Story	Gary Shteyngart	AP	E, EC	Y	3	L1
Dark Grid	David Waldron	AP	F	~	7	3
Terawatt	Des Michaels	AP	E or F	N	7	5
Solar Flare	Larry Burkett	AP	F	N-	2	2
Warday	Whitley Strieber	PA	N, E	Y+	6	6
Pandemic Week
The Patron Saint of Plagues	Barth Anderson	AP, SF	P, EC	Y+	7	5
Breakdown	Kathrine Hanna	PA	P	Y+	7	6
Pandemic Dawn	B.A. Shields	AP	P, Z	Y	3	6
I Spied A Pale Horse	Mark Timlin	AP	P	Y	4	6
Dreamer’s Island	Gretchen Hummel	C	P	N	2	5
The Colony	Mary Vigliante	PA	P	N	1	4
What Came After	Sam Winston	PA	P	N	3	4
Survivors	Terry Nation	AP	P	Y	6	6
Earth Abides	George Stewart	AP	P	C	5	6
Empty World	John Christopher	AP, YA	P	C	4	6
Retrieved From the Future	John Symour	AP	PO	Y	5	7
Holding Their Own	Joe Nobody	AP	EC, NP	N	7	6
China Tidal Wave	Wang Lixiong	AP	N, NP, EC	Y	4	5
Reawakening Eden	Vivi Andrew	PA, R	P	Y	5	7
These I Will Bring	Risa  Bear	C	PO, GW	Y	7	5
Love in the Ruins	Walker Percy	AP	W, EC	Y	1	L2
Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat	Andrez Bergen	PO	EC, GW	Y	2	2
The Pesthouse	Jim Crace	C	P, GW	N	3	5
Lights Out	David Crawford	AP	E	Y	7	4
Summer of the Apocalypse	James Van Pelt	C	P	N	2	5
The Star Fraction	Ken MacLeod	AP, SF	NP	Y+	5	4
Daybreak Zero	John Barnes	AP	NN, NP	N-	3	2
Malevil	Robert Merle	AP	N	C	5	6
Directive 51	John Barnes	AP	NN, NP	N-	3	3
Survivors	John W Rawles	AP	EC	~	4	4
REAMDE	N. Stephenson	NoA	-		5	5
Salvation City	Sigrid Nunez	AP	P	Y	3	L4
Salvage	Robert Edric	AP	GW,EC	Y+	6	L3
Apocalypse Law	John Grit	AP	D	Y	7	7
Oil Dusk	Cape,  Buckner	AP	PO, EC	~	6	6
Afterlight	Alex Scarrow	PA	PO, NP	Y	7	7
End of the Age	Ervin Sim	PO, SF	G	~	3	3
YellowCake Spring	Guy Salvidge	AP	GW, EC	Y	6	6
I Sniper	Stephen Hunter	NoA	-		6	7
Soft Apocalypse	Will McIntosh	AP, SF	B, PO, EC, GW	~	5	6
Prelude	Kurt Cobb	NoA	-		5	5
World Ends at Hickory Hollow	Ardath Mayhar	AP	N	Y	5	5
Ship Breaker	Paolo Bacigalupi	C, SF, YA	PO, GW, B	Y	4	6
Red Queen	Honey Brown	AP	P	Y+	7	7
Things We Didn't See Coming	Stvn Amsterdam	AP	EC, D	Y+	6	L7
The Windup Girl	Paolo Bacigalupi	C, SF	PO, GW, B	Y	4	7
Kingdom of Four Rivers	Guy Salvidges'	C, SF	GW, PO, NP	Y	4	6
Far North	Marcel Theroux	PA	GW	Y	5	6
The Road	Crmc McCarthy	PA	PD	C	6	6
Post-Apocalypse Dead Letter Office	Nathan Poell	AP, PA	W	Y	5	5
The Profession	Stephen Pressfield	NoA	-		7	6
Operation Serf	Chris Sullins	AP, M	EC, NP	~	7	4
Into the Forest	Jean Hegland	AP	EC	C	7	L5
The Witch of Hebron	James H Kunstler	AP	PO, GW	~	5	4
Random Acts of Senseless Violence	Jack Womack	AP	EC	~	5	L4
Crossing the Blue	Holly Jean Buck	AP	GW	Y	5	5
The Fall of Eden	Richard Michaels	AP	N	N	7	2
Last Light	Alex Scarrow	AP	PO, NP	Y	7	7
The Unit	Terry DeHart	AP	N,E	~	6	4
The Things That Keep Us Here	Carla Buckley	AP	P	Y	7	6
The Burning Hills	Louis L’Amour	NoA	-		6	5
Emergency	Neil Strauss	NoA	-		-	6
Patriots	John  Rawles	AP, M	EC	C	7	4
This World We Live In	Susan Pfeffer	AP, YA	M, V	Y	6	5
The Dead and Gone	Susan Pfeffer	AP, YA	M, V	Y	7	6
Life As We Knew It	Susan Pfeffer	AP, YA	M, V	C	7	6
Long Voyage Back	Luke Rhinehart	AP	N	C	7	5
Three Mokes East	Philip Revene	C	EC	~	5	5
Greybeard	Brian Aldiss	PA, SF	W	~	4	3
No Blade of Grass	John Christopher	AP	PD	C	5	5
Reviewed Earlier
A Distant Crossing	Thomas Park	AP	EC, NP	~	5	4
New Coastal Times	Donna Callea	AP	GW	Y	5	5
Raggedy Edge	Michael S. Turnlund	AP	EC, NP	N	5	3
Gardener Summer	Nova	AP	EC	Y	6	5
Good News	Edward Abbey	PA	GW	~	3	4
The Jakarta Pandemic	Steven Konkoly	AP	P	Y	7	6
The Noah Countdown	B.T. Post	AP	EC, GW, NP	~	6	5
But Not for Long	Michelle Widgen	AP	PO, GW	Y+	7	L4
Partial Reviews
Memoirs of a Survivor	Doris Lessing	AP	EC	~	5	L4
One Second After (partial)	Wm R. Forstchen.	AP	E	Y	6	4

 

 

Abbreviations:

 

Type:

AP: Apocalypse-in-progress

PA: Post-Apocalyptic – the disaster occurs before most or all the action

C:  Collapsed.  Society collapsed some time ago, and adjustments have already been made

Dy:  Dystopian- things are crummy, but in this particular definition, there has been no “collapse”.

 

YA: Considered Young Adult

CH: Considered suitable for youngsters

SF: Science Fiction. I am looking more for tone, or voice, rather than literal definition here.

NoA:  Not Apocalyptic, nor particularly dystopian either.  These are usually novels out of genre.

NF:  Non-fiction- I only have one, because it is essays about a fiction writer.

 

Disaster

B= Biotechnology

E= EMP Electro Magnetic Pulse

EC= Economic Collapse (other than peak oil)

EQ= Earth Quake

F= Solar Flare

FL= Flooding

G= God or supernatural forces (anywhere from good to ambiguous in nature)

GW= Global Warming

I= Ice Age (popular in the pre-global warming days)

M= Meteor or Comet strike

N= Nuclear (usually war, but accidents do happen)

NN= Nanotechnology

NP= Nefarious plotters trying to bring the world down

P= Pandemic Disease, was originally “D”

PO= Peak Oil

PD= Plant Disease

S= Demonic  Forces (supernatural clearly evil).  The “S” is for Satan of course

Sc= Sociological collapse – collapse from within

T= Technology fail

TR= Terrorists

V= Volcano (usually with secondary weather effects)

Vm- Vampires.  Volcanos got there first so they got the “V”

W= War

Wd= Weird Science

Z= Zombies