Welcome! - Omphalos' Book Reviews

GREETINGS!

Welcome to Omphalos' Science Fiction Book Review Pages. This is my attempt at documenting the merits of the English language's best thousand or so science fiction books. At the time of this writing I am about 12% done, with just over 125 books read and reviewed. I am also going to try to review some "future masterpieces" as well, so look for two to three reviews of newer books for every five to six reviews of the classics.

All books are chosen and reviewed of course by me and me alone, and to a small degree, the master list changes every time I look at it. All opinions here are mine. If you wish to have the ability to leave a comment, please drop me a note at the address below and I will register you. I do it that way to keep the spammers the hell out of here. I currently do not accept reviews from anyone, as I wish for this to be my work alone. If I get enough requests I will happily set up a sister site, or give you privileges on my SF forum, so let me know if you are interested. My e-mail address is: Omphalos@distantsoil.org.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

I have managed to be pretty productive in the last quarter or so, but not as much as last year. But I have gotten quite a few reviews up recently, and I'm well back into my groove. The reviews that have gone up since March are: The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964, edited by Robert Silverberg, Stations of the Tide, by Michael Swanwick, A Canticle for Liebowitz, by Walter Miller, Jr., The World Set Free (a.k.a., The Last War), by H.G. Wells, Centaxis, by Sean Williams, The Martian General's Daugher, by Theodore Judson, At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft, Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, Anthem, by Ayn Rand, Chocky, by John Wyndham, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Lot & Lot's Daughter, by Ward Moore (breaking my vow never to review short stories on their own), and A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Coming shortly are We, by Yevgeny Zamaytin, Martians, Go Home, by Frederick Brown, Howard Who?, by Howard Waldrup, Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon, and The Man Who Melted, by Jack Dann, along with at least two more April or May 2008 books to keep the list current.

STAR RATING SYSTEM

So what do the stars in the rating system mean? First and foremost, I am not one of those people who says that he hates everything he sees or reads just because its not perfect. Lucius Shepherd is in my opinion a perfect example of this kind of reviewer, and I really do have trouble reading his very typically negative and unconstructive reviews of movies and books. I also definately do not do a comprehensively thorough review, even though I tend to tear apart books while reading them. I prefer to let my overall feeling of the complete strength of the work guide my hand in determining the tone of the review, even if some parts suck and some parts are fantastic, and I hope that shows as you read. That means that I make notes on what is good and what is bad as I read, but I let my overall feeling of the work guide my hand when I decide what to include in the review and what to leave out.

Now, that being said, I wish I had half-stars or ten stars available here. My brother, Ragabash, just has not gotten past that technical hurdle for me yet, so I'm stuck with the five star system for now. Here is what I am trying to generally say with the stars:

• 0 Stars: Piece of crap. Don't bother reading the book.

• 1 Star: Below average, trite, or relies on stereotypical views of the genre. Hackwork.

• 2 Stars: There is at least one interesting aspect to the book, but overall, it is not a quality piece.

• 3 Stars: Average quality book. Internally cohesive, and at the very least tries to say something important, even if some elements are lacking.

• 4 Stars: Above Average quality book. Worth keeping. All literary elements work well together, but taken as a whole is not a masterpiece of the genre.

• 5 Stars: Singular quality. A masterpiece.

• 5+ Stars: Reserved for very few works. A book with this rating is very rare, in that it surpasses all expectations and lacks in no elements at all. In my opinion books with this rating are worth hunting down immediately.

You should also know that for now the only books I review are those that I personally consider worth keeping and reading again. I am currently going through my book cases and reviewing the books that I love. For that reason you will not usually see any book with less than a three star review. However, I will read and review books upon request, or that are parts of series that I generally like even if the individual book blows, and I have decided to pick up new works a few times per month. The latter Dune books are perfect examples of the first two of these qualifications. Frank Herbert's books are incredibly good. His son's Dune works (co-authored with Kevin J. Anderson) are not. And also, I was asked to review them. Since I also review books upon request, sometimes a stinker or two will creep into this list. Gardner Dozois' Yearly Best Of volume is another example. I usually like that particular series, but some years it is not very good.

Finally, keep in mind as you read these reviews that they are full of spoilers. I'm not sure that a reviewer can fully communicate the strength or weakness of a particular work without discussing plot. But especially for the older books I'm not going to cry if someone gets upset because I revealed the secret in any of Asimov's Foundation books. Come on! Those things are 60+ years old!

PUBLISHING INFORMATION

This is where things can get confusing. Often you will notice that I do not give the original publisher in the information blurb. I have tried to give you the name of the work's current publisher so that you can get the book if you wish. Where the book in question is currently not being printed, I have given original data. However, the year given is the year of original publishing. I have done this so on one hand you will be able to find a current copy quicker, and on the other so that you can arrange the books by year published, which I think is an interesting way to look at them collectively. Please note that I will not be going back to check to see if the publisher link is still correct, unless Amazon UK takes down the photo I am using.

LEGAL NOTICE

Copyright © 2007-2008, Gregory Tidwell ("copyright holder"), an individual. All rights reserved. All content text, images, graphics, photographs, and other materials on this website ("site") are subject to the copyrights and other intellectual property rights of copyright holder. Copyright holder owns the copyrights in the selection, coordination, and arrangement of materials on this site, unless otherwise noted. The contents of these materials may not be altered or modified in any way. You may electronically copy and print hard-copy portions of this site, but only for noncommercial, personal use provided the materials are not modified, all copyright or proprietary notices are retained and conspicuous, and credit is given. Any other use of materials in this Site without the prior written permission of copyright holder is strictly prohibited. Nothing contained in this site should be construed as granting any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the site without the express written permission of the copyright holder.

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