demiller's blips

I couldn’t finish this. Erikson’s plot and backstory are huge, but the cost of this is too many characters doing too little. Could be half as long and work.

The grown up brother of the X-files. Very dark and potentially disturbing. The character of Frank Black is very well done. Lots of mystery and unknowns.

Hilarious! Can’t believe I missed this when it was on TV. Wait, I can, since I never watch TV. A Very quirky and funny series.

Stephenson‘s best so far. This book requires some thinking to really enjoy. The writing is so good you’ll want to do the thinking.

Even better than Lady of Mazes. This book is not what it seems at the start. Ventus speaks to important concepts concerning AI and philosophy.

My favorite SF novel this year. Huge ideas about how technology impacts us and defines our value systems. Cool tech, and an engaging story. Worth the read.

This had neither new and interesting concepts or a particularly engaging plot. The minor characters were more sympathetic. Ballantyne is no Stross or Banks.

Not nearly as terrifying as it was made out to be. The shaky camera work was an interesting touch, and the effects were decent.

Not Asher’s best, but readable. Frankly, David Weber did this story better and with more drama.

Really pretty amusing, considering it was a zombie movie. I didn’t laugh until I cried, but pretty enjoyable.

Mildly amusing and steampunk. Would have been better if it weren’t such a transparent Will Smith vehicle at the expense of plot.

Stross pulls off a letter-perfect late-Heinlein pastiche. Twice I honestly felt I was reading “Friday.” Lots and lots of fun, and very sexy!

Interesting and a bit challenging, this is pure McDonald. I didn’t find the setting as interesting as River of Gods, but the ideas were very provoking.

The definitive story of the Russian Revolution by a keen observer who was there. If you want to understand what happened and why, read this book.

Gritty and entertaining. Some interesting ideas about interstellar travel and AI in here.

My favorite novel of 2007. McDonald hits it out of the park again. A standout among a crop of excellent near future novels that year

A bit of a change of pace for Vinge in that there is no looming Singularity. Instead, this is a gripping near future novel that is fun and challenging

If you enjoy Stross, Banks, and MacLeod you’ll probably enjoy gridlinked. Perhaps a bit more right-leaning politically than any of the above but a good read.

A great romp through Reynold’s universe from the early days into the very distant future. Required reading for Revelation Space fans.

Promising premise and very steampunk seeming, but ultimately pretty shallow and preachy.

Good ideas, but not engaging enough that I’ve ever finished it, and it’s a short book.

Surprisingly readable, and very enlightening. Some of the material in this book is no doubt controversial, but this book will change your view of early America

This was painful to get through. While it moved the story on it did so at a glacial pace. The cast of characters is large and most aren’t that interesting.

Wow. Just…wow. No wonder this won a Hugo. This work proves graphic novels can be serious literature. Amazingly well written and absorbing.

This is the definitive Singularity novel, even more than Vinge’s “Marooned in Realtime.” There’s enough in this one novel to leave you thinking for years.

One of my absolute favorites. An occult murder-mystery with Steampunk overtones. Depp is great as a very different Ichabod Crane.

A Kubrik classic. Watching this I was almost nostalgic for the obvious insanity of the Cold War as opposed to the brand associated with the War on Terror.

Higher quality animation than the series. Very much in keeping with the series, but didn’t advance the character’s stories in any significant way.

This is a great, dark tune. The combination of traditional Irish instruments and punk and the subject matter make bring out the best in the Murphys.

This was a lot of fun. Great steampunk ambience, humor, and lots of action. Fairly stock anime characters, but some interesting twists. Loved the robots!