en-US Thu, 08 May 2025 00:14:55 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 7528374 Crash explores the disturbing potentialities of contemporary society's increasing dependence on technology as intermediary in human relations.]]> 192 J.G. Ballard Moid 0 currently-reading 3.66 1973
author: J.G. Ballard
name: Moid
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1973
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 12007
The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her attackers in a particularly bloody manner. It believed the man to be a burnt-out case. But not even its machine intelligence could see the horrors in his past.

In this brilliant, multilayered book, Iain Banks explores once again the universe of the Culture, which he has previously visited in Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games. Ferociously intelligent, both witty and horrific, Use of Weapons leaves no doubt that Banks is now the outstanding writer of science fiction in Britain.]]> 411 Iain M. Banks 185723135X Moid 0 4.18 1990
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Moid
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/08
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review:

]]> 231383871 Johnny Mnemonic to the technofetishist blues of Burning Chrome.

Johnny Mnemonic (1981)
The Gernsback Continuum (1981)
Fragments of a Hologram Rose (1977)
The Belonging Kind (1981) with John Shirley
Hinterlands (1981)

Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) with Bruce Sterling
New Rose Hotel (1984)
The Winter Market (1985)
Dogfight (1985) with Michael Swanwick
Burning Chrome (1982)]]> 220 William Gibson 0586074619 Moid 0 additional-editions, library 3.89 1986
author: William Gibson
name: Moid
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: additional-editions, library
review:

]]> 18077752
Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X—what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X—and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound—or terrifying.]]> 341 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104115 Moid 0 3.66 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Moid
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
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]]> 883622 Martian Time- Slip convinces by placing its insanities in a quiet, even domestic context. Here colonised Mars has a flavor of grubby, struggling 1950s suburbia, where money (not to mention water) is in short supply, jobs are insecure, the humor's mostly black, & small tragedies like one minor character's suicide cause far-ranging ripples. The good old human comedy of lies, power-play, real-estate deals and extramarital naughtiness continues as ever--all distorted by the real SF factor, an autistic child's dislocated sense of time. In one memorable scene he sketches the glorious new Martian housing project just being planned...but as it will look a century later, a decayed slum. So powerful are this boy's visions of nightmare futures that they suck in other people & infect them with sick images of the "gubbish worm", an appalling symbol of entropy. Gubbish devours beauty & reduces language itself to meaningless gubble-gubble. The very human and occasionally even likeable villain Arnie Kott plans to exploit this time-twisting ability, whereupon things become very tangled indeed. Another worthy reissue in the Millennium SF Masterworks series, which has yet to pick a single dud.--David Langford]]> 220 Philip K. Dick 0575047100 Moid 0 library 4.09 1964
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: library
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]]> 25984284 Alternate cover edition of ISBN-13: 978-0008139117, ISBN-10/ASIN: 0008139113

The second volume of the extraordinary Southern Reach trilogy.

‘Creepy and fascinatingâ€� Stephen King.

The Southern Reach is a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten.

Following the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in ‘Annihilationâ€�, the second book of the Southern Reach trilogy introduces John Rodriguez, the new head of the government agency responsible for the safeguarding of Area X. His first day is spent grappling with the fall-out from the last expedition. Area X itself remains a mystery. But, as instructed by a higher authority known only as The Voice, the self-styled Control must battle to ‘put his house in orderâ€�.

From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the mysteries of Area X begin to reveal themselves―and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he’s promised to serve.

Undermined and under pressure to make sense of everything, Rodriguez retreats into his past in a labyrinthine search for answers. Yet the more he uncovers, the more he risks, for the secrets of the Southern Reach are more sinister than anyone could have known.]]> 341 Jeff VanderMeer Moid 0 library 3.48 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Moid
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: library
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]]> 6000008 Polish Philip K. Dick Moid 0 3.23 1960
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.23
book published: 1960
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> 1428041 But up on Earth's surface, a different kind of reality reigns. East and West are at peace. Across the planet, an Ă©lite corps of expert hoaxers live in vast private demesnes - repayment for their services in preserving the great lie. Until one day, a tanker emerges and discovers the path to the most sinister penultimate truth of them all...

Front cover illustration by Peter Goodfellow

]]> 207 Philip K. Dick 0586047875 Moid 0 library 3.79 1964
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: library
review:

]]> 25970139
For thirty years, Area X, monitored by the secret agency known as the Southern Reach, has remained mysterious and remote behind its intangible border� an environmental disaster zone, though to all appearances an abundant wilderness. Eleven expeditions have been sent in to investigate; even for those that have made it out alive, there have been terrible consequences.

‘Annihilationâ€� is the story of the twelfth expedition and is told by its nameless biologist. Introverted but highly intelligent, the biologist brings her own secrets with her. She is accompanied by a psychologist, an anthropologist and a surveyor, their stated mission: to chart the land, take samples and expand the Southern Reach’s understanding of Area X.

But they soon find out that they are being manipulated by forces both strange and all too familiar. An unmapped tunnel is not as it first appears. An inexplicable moaning calls in the distance at dusk. And while each member of the expedition has surrendered to the authority of the Southern Reach, the power of Area X is far more difficult to resist.]]> 195 Jeff VanderMeer Moid 0 library, reviewed 3.76 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Moid
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: library, reviewed
review:

]]> 165906 240 Philip K. Dick 1857987012 Moid 0 library 3.73 1966
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: library
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]]> 1913598 309 Iain M. Banks 1841490954 Moid 0 library 4.15 1988
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Moid
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: library
review:

]]> 3144705 0 Philip K. Dick 0283983647 Moid 0 library 3.44 1956
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: library
review:

]]> 17707092 Golden Age SF meets Golden Age Crime in this British Science Fiction Award winner for best novel, from the author of Swiftly, New Model Army, and Yellow Blue Tibia

Ìę

Jack Glass is the murderer—we know this from the start. Yet as this extraordinary novel unfolds, readers will be astonished to discover how he committed the murders and by the end of the book, their sympathies for the killer will be fully engaged. Riffing on the tropes of crime fiction (the country house murder, the locked room mystery) and imbued with the feel of golden age SF, this is another bravura performance from Roberts. Whatever games he plays with the genre, whatever questions he asks of the reader, Roberts never loses sight of the need to entertain. Filled with wonderfully gruesome moments and liberal doses of sly humor, this novel is built around three gripping HowDunnits that challenge notions of crime, punishment, power, and freedom.]]> 371 Adam Roberts 0575127643 Moid 0 library 3.76 2012
author: Adam Roberts
name: Moid
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: library
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]]> 33409942 Minority Report tells the story of a less than reliable special unit which employs those with the power of precognition to fight crime before it happens.

Also contains the stories: Autofac, Service Call, The Mold of Yancy, Recall Mechanism, The Unreconstructed M, Explorers We, War Games, If There Were No Benny Cemoli, Novelty Act. Water Spider, What The Dead Men Say, Orpheus with Clay Feet, The Days of Perky Pat, Stand-By, What'll We Do with Ragland Park, and Oh, To Be a Blobel!.]]> 380 Philip K. Dick Moid 0 additional-editions, library 3.97 1987
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: additional-editions, library
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]]> 1902151 If the humans teleported to the colony on the planet of Whale's Mouth are living in the dream world shown on the vid reports, why can't the Lies, Inc. security force get any reply from their agents who have made the (strictly one-way) trip to Whales Mouth? And why are THL, who control the Telpor transportation system, desperate to stop Rachmael ben Applebaum from flying a spaceship to Whale's Mouth?
Is the dream world a multilayered nightmare? Is one of the nightmares real?
Lies, Inc. is a brilliantly inventive novel of deadly adventure and intrigue in a world of ever-shifting realities.

Front cover illustration by Trevor Webb

]]> 223 Philip K. Dick 0586064648 Moid 0 library 3.06 1983
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.06
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: library
review:

]]> 58967290 Penguin Readers is an ELT graded reader series for learners of English as a foreign language. With carefully adapted text, new illustrations and language learning exercises, the print edition also includes instructions to access supporting material online.

Titles include popular classics, exciting contemporary fiction, and thought-provoking non-fiction, introducing language learners to bestselling authors and compelling content.

The eight levels of Penguin Readers follow the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning (CEFR). Exercises at the back of each Reader help language learners to practise grammar, vocabulary, and key exam skills. Before, during and after-reading questions test readers' story comprehension and develop vocabulary.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, a Level 4 Reader, is A2+ in the CEFR framework. The text is made up of sentences with up to three clauses, introducing more complex uses of present perfect simple, passives, phrasal verbs and simple relative clauses. It is well supported by illustrations, which appear regularly.

Visit the Penguin Readers website
Exclusively with the print edition, readers can unlock online resources including a digital book, audio edition, lesson plans and answer keys.

An unnamed writer remembers living in New York City in the United States of America during World War II. He becomes friends with one of his neighbors, the beautiful yet strange, Holly Golightly.]]> 80 Truman Capote 0241542553 Moid 0 3.61 1958
author: Truman Capote
name: Moid
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/26
date added: 2025/02/03
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]]> 1902159 WHAT HAD ANSWERED MANKIND'S CALL FOR HELP?

Thors Provoni had gone to the stars to seek help for his people. So far there was no evidence that any other intelligent species existed out there at all, let alone one willing to aid ordinary homo sapiens on Earth where they had become second-class citizens. For in the 22nd Century dominance in human affairs had passed to a cabal of genetic freaks - telepaths, precogs, 'New Men' with IQs which went off the scale - and ordinary men didn't have a chance. Suddenly a message came from Provoni. He was coming back, miraculously, with friends from Frolix 8 to champion the 'Old Men'. But who, or what, were these friends?

AND WHAT WAS THE PRICE?

Cover illustration: Jim Burns]]> 211 Philip K. Dick 0586042954 Moid 0 dont-own 3.50 1970
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: dont-own
review:

]]> 12848593
Is an electronic Lincoln any less alive than his creators? Is a machine that cares and suffers inferior to the woman Louis loves--a borderline psychopath who does neither? With irresistible momentum, intelligence, and wit, Philip K. Dick creates an arresting techno-thriller that suggests a marriage of Bladerunner and Barbarians at the Gate.]]> 252 Philip K. Dick Moid 0 dont-own 3.28 1972
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.28
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: dont-own
review:

]]> 8935689
Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.]]> 467 Iain M. Banks 1857231384 Moid 0 library, reviewed 3.86 1987
author: Iain M. Banks
name: Moid
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: library, reviewed
review:

]]> 8354255 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants can choose—and change—their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.]]> 218 Ursula K. Le Guin Moid 0 library 4.07 1969
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Moid
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: library
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]]> 636445
This art descends from father to son, since the beginning of time itself.

But one day the empire of the God Emperor vanishes, and strangers begin to arrive from the stars to follow the trace of the hair carpets. What these strangers discover is beyond all belief, more than anything they could have ever imagined...

Brought to the attention of Tor Books by Orson Scott Card, this edition of The Carpet Makers contains a special introduction by Orson Scott Card.]]> 300 Andreas Eschbach 0765305933 Moid 0 library, currently-reading 4.19 1995
author: Andreas Eschbach
name: Moid
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: library, currently-reading
review:

]]> 55004774
Set in a frozen world that is gradually being devastated by ever-encroaching ice, Anna Kavan's masterwork follows one man's pursuit of a mysterious silver-haired girl to the ends of the earth; to the end of everything.

'A brutal novel of a frozen post-nuclear dystopia. Just the most magnificent book ... hugely enigmatic, a genuine novel of the unconscious and a masterpiece' Frank Tallis, Guardian

'Few novelists match the intensity of her vision' J. G. Ballard

'She is De Quincey's heir and Kafka's sister' Brian Aldiss]]> 170 Anna Kavan 0241441560 Moid 0 library 3.63 1967
author: Anna Kavan
name: Moid
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: library
review:

]]> 691923
"The snow started falling on the sixth of September, soft noiseless flakes filling the sky like a swarm of white moths, or like static interference on your TV screen -- whichever metaphor, nature of technology, you find the more evocative. Snow everywhere, all through the air, with that distinctive sense of hurrying that a vigorous snowfall brings with it. Everything in a rush, busy-busy snowflakes. And, simultaneously, paradoxically, everything is hushed, calm, as quiet as cancer, as white as death.

And at the beginning people were happy."

But the snow doesn't stop. It falls and falls and falls. Until it lies three miles thick across the whole of the earth. Six billion people have died. Perhaps 150,000 survive.

But those 150,000 need help, they need support, they need organising, governing. And so the lies begin. Lies about how the snow started. Lies about who is to blame. Lies about who is left. Lies about what really lies beneath.]]> 360 Adam Roberts 0575076518 Moid 0 3.21 2004
author: Adam Roberts
name: Moid
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
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]]> 850963
But more ancient clans are gathering. In answer to some primal summons, the T'lan Imass have risen. For something malign threatens this world: the Warrens are poisoned and rumours abound of a god unchained and intent on revenge...]]> 1180 Steven Erikson 0553813129 Moid 0 4.49 2001
author: Steven Erikson
name: Moid
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
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]]> 24800
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.]]> 710 Mark Z. Danielewski Moid 0 library 4.11 2000
author: Mark Z. Danielewski
name: Moid
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: library
review:

]]> 52469270
Send a linguist with multiple-personality disorder and a biologist so spliced with machinery that he can't feel his own flesh. Send a pacifist warrior and a vampire recalled from the grave by the voodoo of paleogenetics. Send a man with half his mind gone since childhood. Send them to the edge of the solar system, praying you can trust such freaks and monsters with the fate of a world. You fear they may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find—but you'd give anything for that to be true, if you knew what was waiting for them. . . .]]> Peter Watts 1987751000 Moid 0 library, additional-editions 3.50 2006
author: Peter Watts
name: Moid
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves: library, additional-editions
review:

]]> 45046551 Two months since the stars fell.

Two months ago, innumerable alien objects surrounded Earth, screaming as they burned their way into our atmosphere. The heavens have been silent since. Now, though, a derelict space probe has heard whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there � but not to us.

Who should be sent to find out?

Send a linguist with multiple personality disorder, and a cyborg biologist who can’t feel his own flesh. Send a pacifist warrior, and a vampire resurrected by the voodoo of paleogenetics. Send a man missing half his mind since childhood. And pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. Because they may be more alien than the thing they’ve been sent to find.

A finalist for the Hugo Award on its first publication, Blindsight’s reputation has only increased in the ensuing years. It is one of the great modern examinations of just how alien truly alien life might actually be.]]> 382 Peter Watts 1250237483 Moid 0 library, additional-editions 3.99 2006
author: Peter Watts
name: Moid
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: library, additional-editions
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]]> 36468670
“For sheer naked concentrated horror, unexplained and unexplainable, such tales as The Wendigo ... may be said to lead among the stories of the supernatural.â€�
- Grace Isabel Colbron.]]> 84 Algernon Blackwood Moid 0 3.47 1910
author: Algernon Blackwood
name: Moid
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1910
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/21
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]]> 44311951 "Who Goes There?" : The novella that formed the basis of "The Thing" is the John W. Campbell Jr. classic about an antarctic research camp that discovers and thaws the ancient, frozen body of a crash-landed alien. The creature revives with terrifying results, shape-shifting to assume the exact form of animal and man, alike. Paranoia ensues as a band of frightened men work to discern friend from foe, and destroy the menace before it challenges all of humanity The story, hailed as "one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written" by the SF Writers of America, is best known to fans as THE THING , as it was the basis of Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World in 1951, and John Carpenter's The Thing in 1982.]]> John W. Campbell Jr. Moid 0 3.38 1938
author: John W. Campbell Jr.
name: Moid
average rating: 3.38
book published: 1938
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves:
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]]> 41106810 68 Robert Louis Stevenson 1724758691 Moid 0 3.00 1886
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Moid
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1886
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves:
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]]> 8493821 226 Jack Finney 0575085312 Moid 0 library 3.81 1955
author: Jack Finney
name: Moid
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/13
shelves: library
review:

]]> 179780 385 William Peter Blatty Moid 0 4.20 1971
author: William Peter Blatty
name: Moid
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves:
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]]> 35599223
In this haunting, entrancing novel, Michel Faber introduces us to Isserley, a female driver who cruises the Scottish Highlands picking up hitchhikers. Scarred and awkward, yet strangely erotic and threatening, she listens to her hitchhikers as they open up to her, revealing clues about who might miss them if they should disappear. A grotesque and comical allegory, Under the Skin takes us on a heart-thumping ride through dangerous territory � our own moral instincts and the boundaries of compassion � to present a surreal representation of contemporary society run amok.

An utterly unpredictable and macabre mystery, Under the Skin is a genre-defying masterpiece.]]> 296 Michel Faber 1786890526 Moid 0 library 3.80 2000
author: Michel Faber
name: Moid
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: library
review:

]]> 52635 164 Clive Barker 0061002828 Moid 0 4.08 1986
author: Clive Barker
name: Moid
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves:
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]]> 762530
The Shining stands as a cultural icon of modern horror, a searing study of a family torn apart, and a nightmarish glimpse into the dark recesses of human weakness and dementia.]]> 447 Stephen King 0385121679 Moid 0 4.31 1977
author: Stephen King
name: Moid
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/11
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 36628099 209 Jules Verne 1464301905 Moid 0 library, to-read 4.50 1872
author: Jules Verne
name: Moid
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1872
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/31
shelves: library, to-read
review:

]]> 55401
Set in a brilliantly realized world ravaged by dark, uncontrollable magic, Deadhouse Gates is a novel of war, intrigue and betrayal confirms Steven Eirkson as a storyteller of breathtaking skill, imagination and originality--a new master of epic fantasy.]]> 604 Steven Erikson 0765310023 Moid 0 4.27 2000
author: Steven Erikson
name: Moid
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 14185
Cover illustration: Chris Moore]]> 231 Philip K. Dick 1407247425 Moid 0 library 4.02 1965
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: library
review:

]]> 48484 Two months since the stars fell...

Two months since sixty-five thousand alien objects clenched around the Earth like a luminous fist, screaming to the heavens as the atmosphere burned them to ash. Two months since that moment of brief, bright surveillance by agents unknown.

Two months of silence while a world holds its breath.

Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune’s orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever’s out there isn’t talking to us. It’s talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route.

So who do you send to force introductions on an intelligence with motives unknown, maybe unknowable? Who do you send to meet the alien when the alien doesn’t want to meet?

You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees X-rays and tastes ultrasound, so compromised by grafts and splices he no longer feels his own flesh. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won’t be needed, and a fainter hope she’ll do any good if she is needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called “vampire,â€� recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist â€� an informational topologist with half his mind gone â€� as an interface between here and there, a conduit through which the Dead Center might hope to understand the Bleeding Edge.

You send them all to the edge of interstellar space, praying you can trust such freaks and retrofits with the fate of a world. You fear they may be more alien than the thing they’ve been sent to find.

But you’d give anything for that to be true, if you only knew what was waiting for them
]]> 384 Peter Watts 0765312182 Moid 0
]]> 4.01 2006
author: Peter Watts
name: Moid
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2023/02/09
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: library, interviews, 2023-read-along, reviewed
review:



]]> 8320840 The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft collects the author's novel, four novellas, and fifty-three short stories. Written between the years 1917 and 1935, this collection features Lovecraft's trademark fantastical creatures and supernatural thrills, as well as many horrific and cautionary science-fiction themes, that have influenced some of today's writers and filmmakers, including Stephen King, Alan Moore, F. Paul Wilson, Guillermo del Toro, and Neil Gaiman. Included in this volume are The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, "The Call of Cthulhu," "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," "At the Mountains of Madness," "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," "The Color Out of Space," "The Dunwich Horror," and many more hair-raising tales.]]> 1098 H.P. Lovecraft 1435122968 Moid 0 to-read, anthologies, library 4.37
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Moid
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, anthologies, library
review:

]]> 354620
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 272 Margaret Cavendish 0140433724 Moid 0 3.25
author: Margaret Cavendish
name: Moid
average rating: 3.25
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/22
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
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]]> 51798508
H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu, first published in 1928, is one of the greatest classics of American horror literature. Cthulhu himself, dreaming and waiting at the bottom of the sea, became a symbol for the entire mythology that Lovecraft created. François Baranger, an illustrator who has previously worked in film and games, was fascinated early on by Lovecraft's creatures and visions which populated the darkest recesses of fantasy. In this book, he has taken on the work of illustrating Lovecraft's most iconic novel.]]> 64 H.P. Lovecraft 1624650449 Moid 0 library, reviewed 4.35 1928
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Moid
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at: 2022/10/23
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: library, reviewed
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]]> 15730101 The Call of Cthulhu is a harrowing tale of the weakness of the human mind when confronted by powers and intelligences from beyond our world.]]> 43 H.P. Lovecraft Moid 0 additional-editions, library 3.97 1928
author: H.P. Lovecraft
name: Moid
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: additional-editions, library
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]]> 11362302
Mark Twain wrote his greatest works more than one hundred years ago, but he's never far from the minds of Americans. Whether it's the new, complete, and uncensored version of his autobiography hitting bestseller lists or the removal of certain controversial language from one of his novels, his name and his legacy remain a topic of conversation--and undoubtedly will for years to come. There's no better time to appreciate his stories, or read them for the very first time.

Ìę

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , The Prince and the Pauper , Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court , and The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson are collected in this timeless and elegant book. Part of the Canterbury Classics series, Mark Twain features a beautiful cover, a ribbon bookmark, and other elements to enhance the reading experience, along with an introduction by a renowned Twain scholar that will enlighten new and familiar readers alike.

Ìę

This edition of Mark Twain is a treasure to enjoy forever--just like the writing of Twain himself!]]> 718 Mark Twain Moid 0 4.43 2006
author: Mark Twain
name: Moid
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: library, additional-editions, anthologies
review:

]]> 58361376 No library's complete without the classics! This new, enhanced leather-bound edition collects the influential stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe was a master of tales of the mysterious and macabre. From the eerie incantations of “The Ravenâ€� to the persistent fright of “The Tell-Tale Heart,â€� his stories and poems are unforgettable explorations of the darker side of life that still offer lessons and insight into human behavior today, making them an integral component of just about any library.

This Canterbury Classics edition collects his best-known works: from “Annabel Leeâ€� to “The Fall of the House of Usher,â€� “Lenoreâ€� to “The Pit and the Pendulum,â€� and many, many more.

With an impressive leather cover, specially designed endpapers, and other all-new enhancements, as well as an essay by a Poe scholar, this volume is the perfect introduction for new readers and the perfect resource for devoted fans. Poe's writings were truly original—and this unique book is the perfect look at his uncommon genius.]]> 744 Edgar Allan Poe 1607103141 Moid 0 to-read, anthologies, library 4.45 1849
author: Edgar Allan Poe
name: Moid
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1849
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves: to-read, anthologies, library
review:

]]> 1188074 205 Philip K. Dick 0586041591 Moid 0 library 3.75 1964
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: library
review:

]]> 13260318
Kem Nunn’s “surf noirâ€� classic is a thrilling plunge into the seedy underbelly of a Southern California beach town—the inspiration for the film Point Break .

People go to Huntington Beach in search of the endless parties, the ultimate highs, and the perfect waves. Ike Tucker has come to look for his missing sister and for the three men who may have murdered her. In that place of gilded surfers and sun-bleached blonds, Ike’s search takes him on a journey through a twisted world of crazed Vietnam vets, sadistic surfers, drug dealers, and mysterious seducers. He looks into the shadows and finds parties that drift toward pointless violence, joyless vacations, and highs you may never come down from...and a sea of old hatreds and dreams gone bad. And if he’s not careful, his is a journey from which he will never return.]]> 309 Kem Nunn 1451645546 Moid 0 3.81 1984
author: Kem Nunn
name: Moid
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
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]]> 40044630
This chilling collection of scary stories will keep you awake for hours! Psychological horrors, disturbing dramas, and gruesome ghosts compose this compendium of confessions made in the dead of night. From vampires and a monkey paw to an unstoppable heart and haunting apparitions, anecdotes of supernatural terror will have you turning pages long past the witching hour. Allow famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Henry James, Washington Irving, and more to prey upon your emotions and peace of mind at slumber parties and camping trips, or anytime you want to end the night with a delightful fright!

Contents:
The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe (1843)
Dracula’s Guest, Bram Stoker (1914)
The Devil and Tom Walker, Washington Irving (1824)
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Ambrose Bierce (1891)
Kerfol, Edith Wharton (1916)
The Elixir of Life, Honoré de Balzac (1830)
The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
The Case of Lady Sannox, Arthur Conan Doyle (1893)
Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1835)
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James (1898)
The Willows, Algernon Blackwood (1907)
The Shunned House, H. P. Lovecraft (1924)
The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe (1842)
The Vampyre, John William Polidori (1819)
One Summer Night, Ambrose Bierce (1893)
For the Blood Is the Life, F. Marion Crawford (1905)
Count Magnus, M. R. James (1904)
The Body-Snatcher, Robert Louis Stevenson (1881)
Sredni Vashtar, Saki (1911)
The Horla, Guy de Maupassant (1887)
The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe (1845)
The Man Who Found Out, Algernon Blackwood (1912)
La Grande BretÚche, Honoré de Balzac (1831)
The Terror of Blue John Gap, Arthur Conan Doyle (1910)
The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)
The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allan Poe (1845)
The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka (1915)
The Outsider, H. P. Lovecraft (1926)
The Monkey’s Paw, W. W. Jacobs (1902)
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book, M. R. James (1894)
Present at a Hanging, Ambrose Bierce (1888)
The Room in the Tower, E. F. Benson (1912)
The Trial for Murder, Charles Dickens (1865)
William Wilson, Edgar Allan Poe (1839)
Afterward, Edith Wharton (1910)
The Succubus, Honoré de Balzac (1833)
The Damned Thing, Ambrose Bierce (1894)
The Tree, H. P. Lovecraft (1921)
The Empty House, Algernon Blackwood (1906)
The Bottle Imp, Robert Louis Stevenson (1891)
The Screaming Skull, F. Marion Crawford (1908)
The Judge’s House, Bram Stoker (1891)
The Black Cat, Edgar Allan Poe (1843)
The Open Window, Saki (1914)
Rappaccini’s Daughter, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1844)
Sir Edmund Orme, Henry James (1891)
A Ghost, Guy de Maupassant (1883)
In the Penal Colony, Franz Kafka (1919)
The Signal-Man, Charles Dickens (1866)
Lost Hearts, M. R. James (1904)
An Inhabitant of Carcosa, Ambrose Bierce (1887)
The Damned, Algernon Blackwood (1914)
The Japanned Box, Arthur Conan Doyle (1899)
The Tomb, H. P. Lovecraft (1922)
The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe (1846)]]> 896 Ernest Hilbert 1626865043 Moid 0 to-read, anthologies, library 4.17 2015
author: Ernest Hilbert
name: Moid
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves: to-read, anthologies, library
review:

]]> 34536323 Imagine living on a planet with six suns that never experiences Darkness. Imagine never having seen the Stars. Then, one by one your suns start to set, gradually leading you into Darkness for the first time ever. Image the terror of such a Nightfall.

Scientists on the planet Kalgash discover that an eclipse - an event that occurs only every 2049 years - is imminent, and that a society unfamiliar with Darkness will be plunged into madness and chaos. They realize that their civilization will end, for the people of Kalgash have a proven fear of Darkness, but they are unable to predict the insanity and destruction that will accompany the awesome splendor of Nightfall.

Based on the classic short story by Asimov, "Nightfall" is unabridged Bookcassette Audio at its best - a spellbinding tale of an alien civilization not unlike our own.

]]> 176 Isaac Asimov Moid 0 additional-editions, library 4.11 1969
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Moid
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves: additional-editions, library
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]]> 28225843
At first, Borne looks like nothing at all—just a green lump that might be a Company discard. The Company, although severely damaged, is rumoured to still make creatures and send them to distant places that have not yet suffered Collapse.

Borne somehow reminds Rachel of the island nation of her birth, now long lost to rising seas. She feels an attachment she resents; attachments are traps, and in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary, the Balcony Cliffs, Rachel convinces her lover, Wick, not to render Borne down to raw genetic material for the drugs he sells—she cannot break that bond.

Wick is a special kind of supplier, because the drug dealers in the city don’t sell the usual things. They sell tiny creatures that can be swallowed or stuck in the ear, and that release powerful memories of other people’s happier times or pull out forgotten memories from the user’s own mind—or just produce beautiful visions that provide escape from the barren, craterous landscapes of the city.

Against his better judgment, out of affection for Rachel or perhaps some other impulse, Wick respects her decision. Rachel, meanwhile, despite her loyalty to Wick, knows he has kept secrets from her. Searching his apartment, she finds a burnt, unreadable journal titled “Mord,â€� a cryptic reference to the Magician (a rival drug dealer) and evidence that Wick has planned the layout of the Balcony Cliffs to match the blueprint of the Company building. What is he hiding? Why won’t he tell her about what happened when he worked for the Company?]]> 336 Jeff VanderMeer 0008159173 Moid 0 library 3.92 2017
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Moid
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves: library
review:

]]> 6100116 116 W.C. Sellar Moid 0 3.59 1930
author: W.C. Sellar
name: Moid
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1930
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves:
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]]> 55399 Vast legions of gods, mages, humans, dragons and all manner of creatures play out the fate of the Malazan Empire in this first book in a major epic fantasy series from Steven Erikson.

The Malazan Empire simmers with discontent, bled dry by interminable warfare, bitter infighting and bloody confrontations with the formidable Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii, ancient and implacable sorcerers. Even the imperial legions, long inured to the bloodshed, yearn for some respite. Yet Empress Laseen's rule remains absolute, enforced by her dread Claw assassins.

For Sergeant Whiskeyjack and his squad of Bridgeburners, and for Tattersail, surviving cadre mage of the Second Legion, the aftermath of the siege of Pale should have been a time to mourn the many dead. But Darujhistan, last of the Free Cities of Genabackis, yet holds out. It is to this ancient citadel that Laseen turns her predatory gaze.

However, it would appear that the Empire is not alone in this great game. Sinister, shadowbound forces are gathering as the gods themselves prepare to play their hand...

Conceived and written on a panoramic scale, Gardens of the Moon is epic fantasy of the highest order--an enthralling adventure by an outstanding new voice.]]> 666 Steven Erikson 0765348780 Moid 0 3.91 1999
author: Steven Erikson
name: Moid
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
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]]> 12025864
Source: anthonyburgess.org]]> 158 Anthony Burgess Moid 0 library 4.05 1962
author: Anthony Burgess
name: Moid
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/06/09
shelves: library
review:

]]> 74519157
What’s inside was a nightmare. What’s outside is a thousand times worse.

Welcome to Wayward Pines, the last town.

Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed.

But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. And now that secret is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity.

The Last Town at last pitches Ethan Burke and his fellow residents into all-out war against the forces outside the town’s gates â€� and in doing so delivers every bit the riotously horrific, breathlessly action-packed conclusion that the Wayward Pines trilogy deserves.]]> 290 Blake Crouch 1529099838 Moid 0 4.34 2014
author: Blake Crouch
name: Moid
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/01
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]]> 17920175 None of the residents know how they got here. They are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry. Some believe they are dead. Others think they’re trapped in an unfathomable experiment. Everyone secretly dreams of leaving, but those who dare face a terrifying surprise.

Ethan Burke has seen the world beyond. He’s sheriff, and one of the few who knows the truth—Wayward Pines isn’t just a town. And what lies on the other side of the fence is a nightmare beyond anyone’s imagining.]]> 298 Blake Crouch 1477808701 Moid 0 4.12 2013
author: Blake Crouch
name: Moid
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/30
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]]> 15096164
WHY CAN'T HE MAKE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD? WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS? AND WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE ELECTRIFIED FENCES ENCIRCLING THE TOWN? ARE THEY KEEPING THE RESIDENTS IN? OR SOMETHING ELSE OUT?

Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.....]]> 307 Blake Crouch 1612183956 Moid 0 3.93 2012
author: Blake Crouch
name: Moid
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/05/26
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]]> 34113771 In the sequel to the cult classic The Hustler, Eddie Felson returns to the poolroom to give the game one last shot.

It has been twenty years since the epic match-up between Eddie Felson and Minnesota Fats. Having gone from bona fide stardom to playing in exhibition matches for cable television, Eddie decides that he’d like to give the game one more shot. With a failed marriage behind him and a new generation of competitors in his way, Eddie must face his demons and find the will to succeed once more.]]> 304 Walter Tevis 1474600824 Moid 0 3.75 1984
author: Walter Tevis
name: Moid
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/19
date added: 2024/05/19
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]]> 26450745 'A wonderful hymn to the last true era when men of substance played pool with a vengeance' TIME OUT'This book sees the poetry of the pool game ... Fast Eddie's ascent up the ladder from pool shark to full-time hustler is the story of the will to power, told in cool fifties style' GUARDIANFast Eddie Felson has a reputation as a pool hustler to be feared, but his ambitions go far beyond taking small-town punks for a few bucks here and there. He has the talent to make big money, but he soon learns that it takes more than natural ability to become a real winner. He heads to Chicago to test himself against the legendary Minnesota Fats in more than forty-hours of high-stakes pool. Can he find the will to overcome his failings and fulfil his potential as the best there is?]]> 224 Walter Tevis 1474600816 Moid 0 4.16 1959
author: Walter Tevis
name: Moid
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/16
date added: 2024/05/16
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]]> 1440148 252 H. Beam Piper 0843959118 Moid 0 4.01 1962
author: H. Beam Piper
name: Moid
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/12
date added: 2024/05/12
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]]> 66370 131 Richard Bachman 0451076451 Moid 0 3.73 1977
author: Richard Bachman
name: Moid
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
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]]> 3471919 208 James Blish 0099063700 Moid 0 library 3.55 1958
author: James Blish
name: Moid
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves: library
review:

]]> 920395
Stark has friends in Red, which is just as well because Something is about to happen. And when a Something happens it’s no good chanting ‘Duck and coverâ€� while cowering in a corner, because a Something is always from the past, Stark’s past, and it won’t go away until you face it full on.]]> 310 Michael Marshall Smith 0006512666 Moid 0 library 4.26 1994
author: Michael Marshall Smith
name: Moid
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/22
date added: 2024/04/22
shelves: library
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]]> 1335601
"The Willows" is one of Algernon Blackwood's best known short stories. American horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. "The Willows" is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction.]]> 105 Algernon Blackwood 1587156520 Moid 0 4.09 1907
author: Algernon Blackwood
name: Moid
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1907
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2024/04/18
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]]> 92504
But with the power came the game â€� the assassination game â€� which everyone could watch on TV. Would the new man be good enough to evade his chosen killer? Which made for fascinating and exciting viewing, compelling enough to distract the public’s attention while the Big Five industrial complexes ran the world. Then, in 2203, with the choice of a member of a maverick cult as Quizmaster, the system developed a little hitchâ€�

Solar Lottery was Philip K. Dick’s first published novel, brilliant and idiosyncratic, powerful and affecting.]]> 188 Philip K. Dick 0575074558 Moid 0 library 3.50 1955
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/11
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves: library
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]]> 197042662
When Abe and Dan, two widowers who have found solace in each other’s company and a shared passion for fishing, hear rumours of the Creek and what might be found there, the remedy to both their losses, they dismiss them. Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir.

It's a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.]]> 329 John Langan 1804366536 Moid 0 3.79 2016
author: John Langan
name: Moid
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/11
date added: 2024/04/11
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]]> 1051889 Unity Director William Barris discovers that the Vulcan 3 computer has become sentient & is considering drastic action to combat what it sees as a threat to itself. Vulcan 3 has been kept ignorant about information related to the Healer revolutionary movement by Managing Director Jason Dills, who is still loyal to its sentient predecessor, Vulcan 2. Vulcan 2, fearing it will be superseded by Vulcan 3, established the Healers as a movement to overthrow its successor.
Dill & Barris begin to suspect one another, as Dill has received a letter that refers to Barris' previous contact with the Healers, but Vulcan 2 suffers partial damage in a terrorist attack. It advises Dill not to inform Vulcan 3 about the existence of the Healers, for fear that Vulcan 3 will order their mass execution. However, Vulcan 3 has already noticed the gap in available data about the rebels, & manufactured killer androids of its own. Barris & Dill resolve their differences & attack Vulcan 3, resulting in the destruction of the artificial intelligence, but Dill dies in the attempt. Finally, however, humanity is free from Unity & its technocratic dictatorship.]]> 154 Philip K. Dick 0099133008 Moid 0 3.36 1960
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.36
book published: 1960
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/28
date added: 2024/03/28
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]]> 588899 Luke Skywalker has destroyed the Death Star. But the Rebel Alliance still has to fight on against the imperial tyranny that plagues the galaxy!

Luke Skywalker, joining his new-found knowledge of the mysterious Force to his skill as a space-pilot, has destroyed the Death Star, the mighty Imperial battle station that once threatened the survival of the Rebel Alliance. But the Rebel struggle against Imperial tyranny continues to rage across the galaxy.

While travelling to a secret meeting with underground leaders on a vitally important planet, Luke and Princess Leia are forced to land on the remote swamp-world of Mimban. Here they find themselves once more fighting for their lives against Imperial cruelty - and caught up in a perilous quest for the mysterious Kaiburr crystal, a gem that holds the key to the secret that could change the fate of whole worlds. But before Luke and Leia can secure it, they have to face many alien dangers. And the most lethal power for evil in the universe: The Dark Lord of the Sith himself - Darth Vader...

Cover Illustration: Ralph McQuarrie]]> 222 Alan Dean Foster 0722181302 Moid 0 3.16 1978
author: Alan Dean Foster
name: Moid
average rating: 3.16
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/22
date added: 2024/03/22
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]]> 1246233

]]> 879 Samuel R. Delany 0553148613 Moid 0 3.92 1975
author: Samuel R. Delany
name: Moid
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/16
date added: 2024/03/16
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]]> 498148 255 Philip K. Dick 0441042112 Moid 0 library 3.51 1957
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1957
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves: library
review:

]]> 1385482 186 William Hope Hodgson 0881840181 Moid 0 3.48 1908
author: William Hope Hodgson
name: Moid
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1908
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/26
date added: 2024/02/26
shelves:
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]]> 592314 319 Charles Stross 1841495697 Moid 0 library 3.90 2004
author: Charles Stross
name: Moid
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/21
date added: 2024/02/21
shelves: library
review:

]]> 167848 757 Vernor Vinge 1857988515 Moid 0 library 4.31 1999
author: Vernor Vinge
name: Moid
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/17
shelves: library
review:

]]> 25893307 With an introduction by Philipp Meyer

The wrath of God lies sleeping. It was hid a million years before men were and only men have power to wake it. Hell aint half full.

Set in the anarchic world opened up by America's westward expansion, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is an epic and potent account of the barbarous violence that man visits upon man. Through the hostile landscape of the Texas-Mexico border wanders the Kid, a fourteen year-old Tennessean who is quickly swept-up in the relentless tide of blood. But the apparent chaos is not without its order: while Americans hunt Indians - collecting scalps as their bloody trophies - they too are stalked as prey.

Since its first publication in 1985, Blood Meridian has been read as both a brilliant subversion of the Western novel and a blazing example of that form. Powerful and savagely beautiful, it has emerged as one of the most important works in American fiction of the last century. A truly mesmerising classic.

'A bloody and starkly beautiful tale' Sunday Times

'Unlike anything I have read in recent years, an extraordinary, breathtaking achievement' John Banville]]> 372 Cormac McCarthy Moid 0 4.01 1985
author: Cormac McCarthy
name: Moid
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/15
date added: 2024/02/15
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]]> 7437 Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, a book that redefined not just literature but American culture. An unnerving tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in New York, Tangier, and ultimately a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone, its formal innovation, taboo subject matter, and tour de force execution have exerted a significant influence on authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson; on the relationship of art and obscenity; and on the shape of music, film, and media generally. Naked Lunch: The Restored Text includes many editorial corrections to errors present in previous editions, and incorporates Burroughs’s notes on the text, several essays he wrote over the years about the book, and an appendix of 20 percent new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript, which predates the first published version. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a valuable and fresh experience of this classic of our culture.]]> 289 William S. Burroughs 0802140181 Moid 0 3.48 1959
author: William S. Burroughs
name: Moid
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/11
date added: 2024/02/11
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]]> 7402932 159 Algis Budrys Moid 0 library 3.75 1958
author: Algis Budrys
name: Moid
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/09
date added: 2024/02/09
shelves: library
review:

]]> 1531151 384 Michael Moorcock 0450058956 Moid 0 library, to-read 3.27 1965
author: Michael Moorcock
name: Moid
average rating: 3.27
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/06
shelves: library, to-read
review:

]]> 55840828 Who dares to read The King in Yellow?

A man pursued by a church organist who wants his soul. An artist plagued by repeated sightings of a watchman who looks like a coffin worm. Ghosts, wayward cats, and scientific dabblings with dire consequences. Each of these ten tales is chilling in its own right, but taken together, they weave a wickedly eerie spell that is sure to enthrall.

United by vague references to a play with the same name, which never appears in the book—a play that "induces despair or madness in those who read it"â€�The King in Yellowis undoubtedly Robert W. Chambers' finest work. The book quickly gained an influence over generations of writers of "weird tales," long before there was even a name for them. H. P. Lovecraft greatly admired the book, hailing it as achieving "notable heights of cosmic fear."

Chambers' genius will take readers to the most horrifying place of all—their own imaginations.

This beautiful new reprint includes an introduction by creator and writer of True Detective, Nic Pizzolatto.]]> 238 Robert W. Chambers 1464213712 Moid 0 3.51 1895
author: Robert W. Chambers
name: Moid
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1895
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/04
date added: 2024/02/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 38190066 In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave.

When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again.

Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them.

And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun.]]> 295 Octavia E. Butler 1472258223 Moid 0 library, reviewed 4.33 1979
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Moid
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at: 2022/02/10
date added: 2024/02/02
shelves: library, reviewed
review:

]]> 11510 600 Dan Simmons 074723826X Moid 0 library, to-read 4.13 1996
author: Dan Simmons
name: Moid
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/02
shelves: library, to-read
review:

]]> 912471
Their names include Brahma, Kali, Krishna and also he who was called Buddha, the Lord of Light, but who now prefers to be known simply as Sam. The gradual unfolding of the story -- how the colonization of another planet became a re-enactment of Eastern mythology -- is one of the great imaginative feats of modern science fiction.]]> 320 Roger Zelazny 0575079010 Moid 0 3.95 1967
author: Roger Zelazny
name: Moid
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves: reviewed, own-different-edition, library, 2023-read-along
review:

]]> 33507 269 Jules Verne 076072850X Moid 0 to-read, 2023-read-along 3.92 1869
author: Jules Verne
name: Moid
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1869
rating: 0
read at: 2023/07/31
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves: to-read, 2023-read-along
review:

]]> 59420703
From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined.

Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come.

Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us—and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.

It is a novel both immediate and impactful, desperate and hopeful in equal measure, and it is one of the most powerful and original books on climate change ever written.]]> 592 Kim Stanley Robinson Moid 0 library, 2023-read-along 3.66 2020
author: Kim Stanley Robinson
name: Moid
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2023/10/31
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves: library, 2023-read-along
review:

]]> 77565 517 Dan Simmons 0553288202 Moid 0 library 4.23 1990
author: Dan Simmons
name: Moid
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/31
date added: 2024/02/01
shelves: library
review:

]]> 14742538 384 A.A. Attanasio 0552990043 Moid 0 library 3.05 1981
author: A.A. Attanasio
name: Moid
average rating: 3.05
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/23
date added: 2024/01/23
shelves: library
review:

]]> 17690 The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.]]> 255 Franz Kafka Moid 0 4.00 1925
author: Franz Kafka
name: Moid
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 49569829 New introduction by Ian Rankin
_________________________________________

‘One of the most playful and entertaining writers of our generationâ€�
Val McDermid, Guardian

In an absorbing voyage as interesting to non-drinkers as to true whisky connoisseurs, sci-fi and literary author Iain Banks explores the rich heritage of Scottish whisky, from the most famous distilleries to the most obscure operations.

Whisky is more than a drink: it's a culture that binds together people, places and products far across Scotland's rugged terrain. Switching from cars to ferries to bicycles, Banks criss-crosses his homeland, weaving an engrossing narrative full of fascinating traditions, peculiar people, and the downright bizarre places he encounters on his journey down Scotland's great golden road.]]> 384 Iain Banks 1529124786 Moid 0 3.52 2003
author: Iain Banks
name: Moid
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/09
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 102098 160 Jack Vance 0447745476 Moid 0 library 3.81 1950
author: Jack Vance
name: Moid
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1950
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves: library
review:

]]> 28374232 Original cover ISBN: 9780575081147

It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer.

On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set out on an epic journey. Their goal, the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers trancend the limits of time and pace. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.]]> 480 Dan Simmons Moid 0 library 4.08 1989
author: Dan Simmons
name: Moid
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/01/15
shelves: library
review:

]]> 1001558
Ìę


A Deepness in the Sky is a 1999 Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel and the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novel.]]> 608 Vernor Vinge 0312856830 Moid 0 additional-editions, library 4.28 1999
author: Vernor Vinge
name: Moid
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/08
shelves: additional-editions, library
review:

]]> 4353112 450 Harlan Ellison 033025068X Moid 0 to-read, library 4.33
author: Harlan Ellison
name: Moid
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves: to-read, library
review:

]]> 893595
The planet Golgotha—supposedly lifeless—resides in a remote star system, far from those inhabited by human colonists. It is home to an enigmatic machine-like structure called the Blood Spire, which has already brutally and systematically claimed the lives of one starship crew that attempted to uncover its secrets. But nothing will deter Richard Swift from exploring this object of alien originâ€�

Turquoise Days

In the seas of Turquoise live the Pattern Jugglers, the amorphous, aquatic organisms capable of preserving the memories of any human swimmer who joins their collective consciousness. Naqi Okpik devoted her life to studying these creatures—and paid a high price for swimming among them. Now, she may be the only hope for the survival of the species—and of every person living on Turquoise . . .]]> 111 Alastair Reynolds 1902880277 Moid 0 additional-editions, library 4.29 2001
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Moid
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/19
shelves: additional-editions, library
review:

]]> 60758177
Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.

Twelve enchanting and fantastical stories about the evolution of the universe from the giant of Italian literature, Italo Calvino. His characters - whether human, dinosaur or mollusc - disport themselves among galaxies, experience the solidification of planets, move from aquatic to terrestrial existence, play games with hydrogen atoms - and have time for a love life.

'A landmark in fiction, the work of a master' - Ursula K Le Guin]]> 192 Italo Calvino 024157370X Moid 0 library 3.83 1965
author: Italo Calvino
name: Moid
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/19
date added: 2023/12/19
shelves: library
review:

]]> 9894146 256 Philip K. Dick 0575099011 Moid 0 library 3.75 1982
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/11
date added: 2023/12/11
shelves: library
review:

]]> 127284214 When you bring back a long-extinct species, there’s more to success than the DNA.

Moscow has resurrected the mammoth, but someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out, again.
The late Dr. Damira Khismatullina, the world’s foremost expert in elephant behavior, is called in to help.
While she was murdered a year ago, her digitized consciousness is uploaded into the brain of a mammoth.
Can she help the magnificent creatures fend off poachers long enough for their species to take hold? And will she ever discover the real reason they were brought back?

A tense eco-thriller from a new master of the genre.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 192 Ray Nayler 1250855535 Moid 0 3.78 2024
author: Ray Nayler
name: Moid
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/02
date added: 2023/12/02
shelves:
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]]> 8146139 The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.]]> 134 Jack London Moid 0 4.26 1903
author: Jack London
name: Moid
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1903
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/01
date added: 2023/12/01
shelves:
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]]> 2463772
Herb Asher, selfish and indifferent, lives alone in a dome on a planet where he operates a microwave relay transmitter/receiver and spends much of his time watching 3-D holo tapes of his favorite superstar singer, Linda Fox. One day a local deity interferes with his tapes and sends him on a reluctant mission of mercy to visit a dying woman in a nearby dome. They are joined by Elias, a wanderer, who turns out to be (literally) the Prophet Elijah and who explains to them that Rybys, the woman, is pregnant with the Son of God and that they must return to Earth as a married couple for the birth of the child to prepare for Armageddon, in which the powers of evil will be finally and completely defeated and Earth will be saved.

Accidents ensue as they reach Earth and Rybys dies, Emmanuel is born brain-damaged and Herb spends ten years in cryonic suspension listening to Muzak. Emmanuel is put into a special school, where as a child He meets a girl named Zina, who is, in fact, a supernatural being. She reveals to Him His own suppressed knowledge of the purpose of His existence and her involvement in it. By the combination of their powers we are transported to a different world, an alternate version of Earth. Rybys is alive there and married to Herb, who runs a music store and is falling in love with an obscure singer named Linda Fox.

There Herb is captured by Belial, who appears in the form of a baby goat, and in a powerful and moving scene Herb discovers his salvation, and Earth’s, in the strength of his love for Linda.

In this book Philip K. Dick brings together many of his thematic concerns expressed over the years. With roots in the Torah and the Cabala and with a sense of deeply felt mystical vision, he combines an interplanetary setting and a gritty social realism to produce a book that challenges the normal definitions of science fiction and our notions of what science fiction is and is not supposed to be. He makes a compelling personal statement about belief, humanity, and life—and again tells an irresistible, fascinating, entirely unique and real story about people living humanly in a world which they cannot control but in which they ultimately triumph.]]> 216 Philip K. Dick 0671417762 Moid 0 library 3.65 1981
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/27
date added: 2023/11/27
shelves: library
review:

]]> 2135028 A Fire Upon The Deep, this is the story of Pham Nuwen, a small cog in the interstellar trading fleet of the Queng Ho. The Queng Ho and the Emergents are orbiting the dormant planet Arachna, which is about to wake up to technology, but the Emergents' plans are sinister.]]> 606 Vernor Vinge 1857988264 Moid 0 additional-editions, library 4.21 1999
author: Vernor Vinge
name: Moid
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves: additional-editions, library
review:

]]> 17840697 272 Philip K. Dick 140723997X Moid 0 library 3.66 1981
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Moid
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/20
date added: 2023/11/20
shelves: library
review:

]]> 53456188
In this harrowing novel, the world's cities have been reduced to cinder and ash and alien plants have overtaken the earth.ÌęÌęThe plants, able to grow the size of maples in only a month and eventually reach six hundred feet, have commandeered the world's soil and are sucking even the Great Lakes dry. In northern Minnesota, Anderson, an aging farmer armed with a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other, desperately leads the reduced citizenry of a small town in a daily struggle for meager existence. Throw into this fray Jeremiah Orville, a marauding outsider bent on a bizarre and private revenge, and the fight to live becomes a daunting task.]]> 192 Thomas M. Disch Moid 0 library, 2023-read-along 3.29 1965
author: Thomas M. Disch
name: Moid
average rating: 3.29
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves: library, 2023-read-along
review:

]]>