The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

Undertow by Karl Edward Wagner ★★★★½   

Oh friends, a full short story: beginning, middle, and oh-shit ending.  We start with stereotypes and bloom into layered, desperate, characters.  This is my favorite “green ribbon” story.

The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams by Michael Moorcock ★★★★½ 

Decades before the Targaryens hit the shelves there was “a race which loved pleasure, cruelty, and sophistication for its own sake. The race of Melnibonéans.” 

Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten ★★★☆☆

Book: ★★★☆☆

Movie: ★★★★☆ 
This doesn’t mean I did not enjoy the book - I did! - it means I appreciated the changes made in the movie version.  

Merfolk by Jeremy Bates ★★☆☆☆

I was expecting a bloodbath and got a dull swim.  

Subterrestrial by Michael McBride ★★★★☆

If you have ever found yourself watching late night "documentaries" on the History Channel, or SyFy, then you know the tasty pool of weird from which Michael McBride writes.

Alien Covenant Origins by Alan Dean Foster ★★★☆☆

The Covenant is getting ready to launch and fulfill mankind’s promise of colonizing the stars.  Who wouldn’t want that?  

Mer Lovers by Tamsin Ley ★★★☆☆

Welcome to the world of evil mermaids and maligned beautiful mermen desperate for commitment and insta luv.  Now that’s a scenario in need of some human ladies!  

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain ★★★★★

The Deepest of Secrets by Kelly Armstrong ★★☆☆☆

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco ★★★☆☆

That just about sums up the book.  

An impressive level of research and love of history went into this book.  But if you don’t share Echo’s niche love of medieval ecclesiastical history the book is tear-out-your-hair frustrating.  

EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture by Liz Walker ★★★★☆

Building the first Ecovillage in America took grit.  The work required behind real world Solarpunk would send most of us screaming!!!