I re-read this book about the end of the world so that Joe and I could talk about it on our podcast, Re-Creative. It’s my favorite Kurt Vonnegut novel, filled with savage observations about the stupidity of human nature, all the while being so compassionate towards the characters – even the ones making bad decisions.
It’s the kind of satire and science fiction I aim to create myself. And if you’re only going to read one Vonnegut book, this should be it!
One of America's greatest writers gives us his unique perspective on our fears of nuclear annihilation
Experiment.
Told with deadpan humour and bitter irony, Kurt Vonnegut's cult tale of global destruction preys on our deepest fears of witnessing Armageddon and, worse still, surviving it.
Solution.
Dr Felix Hoenikker, one of the founding fathers of the atomic bomb, has left a deadly legacy to the world. For he is the inventor of ice-nine, a lethal chemical capable of freezing the entire planet. The search for its whereabouts leads to Hoenikker's three eccentric children, to a crazed dictator in the Caribbean, to…
I was playing Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) decades before it was cool – okay, it’s still not cool – but at least now it’s not ridiculously nerdy. This novel channels all the fun of a great DnD game with well-developed and grounded characters.
Plus, it plays with the tropes of fantasy so well and with such gentle affection that it’s hard not to fall in love with this book! And there’s a sequel, so even if the novel ends, the story doesn’t!
'An outstanding debut which will make you laugh and cry and hold your breath. This is a book that has it all' - K. J. Parker Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best - the meanest, dirtiest, most feared and admired crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld. But their glory days are long past; the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then a former bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help: his daughter Rose is trapped in a city…
Mike Duncan is a tremendously entertaining podcaster, and he has become an excellent writer, too. This is spellbinding storytelling about the Marquis de Lafayette (yes, he also appears in Hamilton).
Lafayette played a critical role in not only the American Revolution but also the French Revolution and in the overthrow of the Bourbon dynasty in 1830. His devotion to liberty and individual freedom is an inspiration and will have you flipping the pages.
I recommend the audiobook version, Mr. Duncan is a fabulous narrator too!
Few in history can match the revolutionary career of the Marquis de Lafayette. Over fifty incredible years at the heart of the Age of Revolution, he fought courageously on both sides of the Atlantic. He was a soldier, statesman, idealist, philanthropist, and abolitionist.
As a teenager, Lafayette ran away from France to join the American Revolution. Returning home a national hero, he helped launch the French Revolution, eventually spending five years locked in dungeon prisons. After his release, Lafayette sparred with Napoleon, joined an underground conspiracy to overthrow King Louis XVIII, and became an international symbol of liberty. Finally, as…
When a physical duplicate of him appears in his living room, wearing a tight-fitting silver lamé unitard and speaking with an English accent, Max knows something bad is about to happen. Bad doesn’t cover it. Max discovers he’s the only human being who can prevent the end of the world, and not just on his planet! In the multiverse, infinite Earths will be destroyed.
Personally, Max thinks the multiverse is in big trouble, because he can’t even keep his toenails clipped on the regular, let alone stop the apocalypse. His only “allies” are a race of manic pixie aliens and dozens of other versions of himself; and let’s face it, both groups are annoying as heck!
From award-winning author Mark A. Rayner, Alpha Max is a silly and serious spoof of the science fiction and superhero movie trope of multiple realities. Fans of the humorous science fiction of Douglas Adams and the black humor and satire of Kurt Vonnegut will love this dark comedy that will make you think as well as laugh.
