Science Fiction Book Review Podcast

SFBRP #023 - Spider Robinson - Callahan’s Secret

Luke Burrage — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:40:20 +0000

Luke reads Callahan’s Secret, a book by Spider Robinson about drinking, getting drunk and hangovers… oh, and some aliens too.

More info on the SFBRP Wiki.

Next novel: A.A. Attanasio - The Last Legends of Earth

SFBRP #022 - John Brunner - The Crucible of Time

Luke Burrage — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 17:57:23 +0000

By using really alien aliens to explore very human issues, The Crucible of Time is exactly what Luke needed after last week’s disappointment.

More information on the SFBRP Wiki.

Next review: Spider Robinson - Callahan’s Secret

SFBRP #021 - Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes - Encounter With Tiber

Luke Burrage — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:54:04 +0000

Luke mentioned in the last show that Encounter With Tiber was one of the most memorable books he has read. Turns out, after re-reading it, that he might have a selective memory.

More information on the SFBRP Wiki.

Next book review: John Brunner - The Crucible of Time

SFBRP #020 - Joe Haldeman - The Forever War

Luke Burrage — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:00:07 +0000

After his first ever reading of the classic Joe Haldeman novel The Forever War, Luke manages to talk a surprisingly long time about such a short book.

More information on the SFBRP wiki.

SFBRP #019 - Alastair Reynolds - The Prefect

Luke Burrage — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:32:29 +0000

The Prefect is the second book and the first novel by Alastair Reynolds reviewed so far. While thinking he couldn’t talk so long about a story that has so many spoilers to avoid, Luke got a bit too enthusiastic and went on for almost 30 minutes!

Find more information on the SFBRP Wiki.

Buy the book on amazon.com:

SFBRP #018 - Greg Bear - Moving Mars

Luke Burrage — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 14:36:38 +0000

Moving Mars is a book by Greg Bear. It won a Nebula Award and all that… but did it move Luke?

Find more information on the SFBRP Wiki.

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #017 - Kim Stanley Robinson - Antarctica

Luke Burrage — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:57:21 +0000

Luke read this book years before going to Antarctica… how well did Kim Stanley Robinson capture the feeling of the coldest, driest, highest and least populated continent? And is the novel any good?

Find more information on the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #016 - David Evans - Time Station Berlin

Luke Burrage — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:28:53 +0000

The first in the theme “Sci-fi novels about places Luke has lived” is Time Station Berlin, set in Luke’s home town. Luke explains why this book is such a big inspiration.

More info about this episode on the SFBRP Wiki

Do not buy this book from amazon.com:

SFBRP #015 - Vernor Vinge - The Peace War

Luke Burrage — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:46:17 +0000

Luke reviews this novel from 1984 and thinks about bobbling himself up, only to come back in future times when he can read all of Vernor Vinge’s books and not have to wait so long for the new ones.

For more info see the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #014 - Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson - Variable Star

Luke Burrage — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:51:09 +0000

This is first listener submitted book for Luke to review. Variable Star is a novel 51 years in the making. Question: if Heinlein was on a spaceship heading out at 97% of the speed of light for 17 years, and Spider Robinson stayed on Earth to pursue his own writing career, would it have been completed any faster? Also, due to time dilation, Luke managed to talk for 20 minutes about the book.

More info on the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #013 - Charles Stross - Singularity Sky

Luke Burrage — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:29:28 +0000

Singularity Sky is book in a new genre that Luke would like to call “Technobabble Opera”. Charles Stross has loads of great ideas, but do good ideas make a good book?

More info on the SFBRP Wiki

Buy the book on amazon.com (full disclosure, the book costs no more if you use that link to buy the book, but I get a few cents for each sale):

SFBRP #012 - Ken MacLeod - Learning the World

Luke Burrage — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:01:25 +0000

Luke is sorry for not updating this blog feed for a week… this episode is a review of Learning The World, a book with a blog where someone apologizes for not keeping up to date with their blog. After a week of tonsillitis, Luke gets back to the shorter length of podcast.

SFBRP #011 - Frank Herbert - Dune

Luke Burrage — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:48:27 +0000

After reading Frank Herbert’s Dune, Luke had so much to say that this episode is less of a review, and more of a discussion on what makes it such a great novel. With so much to talk about, Luke stopped recording after almost 30 minutes.

SFBRP #010 - Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson - Hunters of Dune

Luke Burrage — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:46:57 +0000

Non-Frank-Herbert Sequel of Dune. Luke reads books like this one so you don’t have to.

SFBRP #009 - Carl Sagan - Contact

Luke Burrage — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:34:35 +0000

The legendary science popularizer Carl Sagan turned his hand to science fiction. Luke, a fan of Carl Sagan’s other work, reviews a book he didn’t finish reading.

SFBRP #008 - Robert Reed - Marrow

Luke Burrage — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:32:07 +0000

Luke likes stories that feature big things that float mysteriously in space. And Marrow is a book about just that topic, and a lot more besides.

SFBRP #007 - Peter F. Hamilton - Fallen Dragon

Luke Burrage — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:48:55 +0000

A big book with big ideas means Luke runs long with his review of this chunky 2001 novel. You’ve got to love body armour and battles… but Luke wants a more human conclusion.

SFBRP #006 - Fire in the Abyss - Stuart Gordon

Luke Burrage — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:44:13 +0000

Luke reads and reviews a book from 1984 about the sixteenth century historical figure of Humphrey Gilbert and how, instead of drowning at sea, Humf was displaced through time by a secret government experiment.

SFBRP #005 - Alastair Reynolds - Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days

Luke Burrage — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:18:03 +0000

Luke checks out the 2003 book set in Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space universe. A slightly longer podcast this time as Luke discovers it contains two novellas instead of one novel.

Download here.

SFBRP #004 - Robert A. Heinlein - The Door Into Summer

Luke Burrage — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:16:58 +0000

A classic time travel book from an undisputed master of science fiction, Robert A. Heinlein. Luke thought he had read this one before but he was wrong. Does this book, written in 1956, still hold up today?

SFBRP #003 - Pamela Sargent - Venus of Dreams

Luke Burrage — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:14:42 +0000

In 1984 Pamela Sargent wrote a long book about the terraforming of Venus. Luke read it and found it longer than he expected.

SFBRP #002 - Joan D. Vinge - The Outcasts of Heaven Belt

Luke Burrage — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:11:28 +0000

The first review is the 1978 book from Joan D. Vinge, a name that Luke doesn’t know how to pronounce. The Outcasts of Heaven Belt is about reliance on technology, the politics of resource management and, of course, space battles.

SFBRP #001 - Introduction to the SFBRP

Luke Burrage — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:09:28 +0000

No book review for this episode, instead an introduction to Luke, an introduction to the podcast, what the rating system means and much more.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-07394c4171b60e7108f5a93c40cdae6d}

The start of something new.

Luke Burrage — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:11:20 +0000

The first post on the new blog and rss feed for a new podcast I’ve been planning and recording for about a year. I thought it would be best to actually get started on the project that I included in my new years resolutions…