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LitStack Review: Gemini Cell by Myke Cole

Gemini Cell Myke Cole Ace Books Release Date: January 27, 2015 ISBN 978-0-425-26964-0 They’re lying to you. Whoever wrote the back cover copy and the PR blurb-age wants you to think that Gemini Cell, the fourth in Myke Cole’s “Shadow Ops” series (and a precursor to the first three books) […]

LitStack Review: The Human Division by John Scalzi

The Human Division John Scalzi Tor Books Release Date: May 14, 2013 ISBN 978-0-7653-3351-3 John Scalzi may just single-handedly bring me back to the “science fiction” half of the “science fiction and fantasy” genre. I used to enjoy reading tales of space exploration and alien life; Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, […]

Birthdays

On this day, June 11, in 1572, Ben Jonson was born in Westminster, London, England. A towering figure in English (and therefore Western) literature, especially during the Renaissance and Restoration, he is considered second only to William Shakespeare (whom he knew) in his importance to British drama. Indeed, known for his intellect and cultured satire found in both his plays and his poetry, he was more widely known and better received than Shakespeare, and enjoyed the patronage of King James VI and I. The man who has been called the first poet laureate continued to write up until his death in 1637; he was 65.

Birthdays

On this day, December 3, in 1857, Joseph Conrad was born in Berdichev, Imperial Russia (modern
Ukraine, then a part of Poland). While he settled in England and wrote in English, he always considered himself a Pole. Heart of Darkness, one of the most famous of his 20 novels (which explores colonialism and the attitudes regarding what constitutes a barbarian versus civilized society) is considered one of the best English novels of the 20th century, as is his novel Lord Jim, which chronicles a crew’s abandonment of its disabled ship. Conrad died in England in 1924 at age 66.