Biography: Cooking Dirty by Jason Sheehan

Today in January Magazine’s biography section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews Cooking Dirty by Jason Sheehan. Says Shechter:

In Cooking Dirty author Jason Sheehan has a kick-ass way of expressing himself and explains the why of a cook’s love of food, expresses passion and tells the reader why anyone would do what he did for years; work in exhausting, overheated, nasty kitchens full of egos, burns and yelling and make meals for people. And you get it.

Sheehan hid cooking magazines under his bed the way other adolescent boys hide skin mags. He comes across, often, as an utter mess. A college drop-out, he smokes, drinks, drugs and messes up. He had, it seemed, for most of his life, no idea what to be as an adult. He didn't own a bed. You read his honest narrative and think "I so do not want this guy to get anywhere near my food."

The full review is here.

Review: Stalking the Vampire by Mike Resnick

Today in January Magazine’s SF/F section, Andi Shechter reviews Stalking the Vampire by Mike Resnick. Says Shechter:

One of the moments I dread at parties is when I’m trapped with a bunch of people and someone says something punny. In my crowd, this means that for the next 15 minutes, everyone will try and one up the punster, and there will be no getting out alive. I head for the exit as soon as it starts. I mean, I’ve got amazingly clever and intelligent friends, but this form of humor bores me after about, well, two minutes. Or less.

Mike Resnick’s Stalking the Vampire is like that. A sequel to Stalking the Unicorn, a book published close to 20 years ago and reissued here in trade paperback by Pyr along with this new book. Resnick’s book is funny for a while and then you get it. And you get it and you get it.

The full review is here.

Review: The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J Grant

Today, in January Magazine’s SF/F section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link and Gavin J Grant. Says Shechter:

There’s creepy horror and quiet horror, silly fantasy and dark fantasy. There’s poetry -- most of which didn’t do it for me but no harm. Paul di Filippo’s “Femaville 29” uses the aftermath of fictional tsunami that leaves hundreds of thousands of people homeless and helpless to create a wonderful tale of children coping in ways far different than usual. There are ghosts and sometimes maybe there are ghosts. There are stories that are clear fantasy, clear horror and some that are a combination of both.

Of course there are familiar names like Gene Wolfe and Joyce Carol Oates, Delia Sherman and M. Rickert, but there are many new names too -- new at least to me. The editors worked hard to create a very representative volume of the field as it exists. Writers from several countries are represented, all points of view, lots of information about where to find these and more are offered. They’ve done a really great job with this anthology.

Shechter also has a single story that is far and away her favorite of the collection, but we’ll leave that for the full review.

Review: From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust

Today, in January Magazine’s SF/F section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust. Says Shechter:

There’s no way around it though. From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain is a romp. It’s hilarious, it’s edgy, it’s smart and it’s a hoot. The premise is silly enough -- group therapy for some of the world’s superheroes. Minister Faust not only knows psychobabble and uses it well, but he gets into the personalities of the various heroes and villains with exceptional wit and talent.

The full review is here.

Review: Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer

Today, in January Magazine’s SF/F section, Andi Shechter reviews Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer. Says Shechter:

Rollback is a dynamite science fiction novel that examines some major themes -- great and small .... I’ve read some trilogies, of course, and I’m a big fan of series books in the mystery genre. But sometimes, I just want to read a book that tells a story; a single story that ends when it should end. Don’t you?

In Rollback we get the big story -- communications with aliens -- and a smaller one -- life extension. Neither is a simple idea; yet the more complicated one is that of life extension. Both are told cleanly, intelligently and woven together well.

The full review is here.

Review: If Minds Had Toes by Lucy Eyre

Today, in January Magazine’s fiction section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews If Minds Had Toes by Lucy Eyre. Says Shechter:

If I had a better grounding in abstract philosophy, maybe I would understand the point of If Minds Had Toes. The book is cute in a lot of ways. It's bright, sprightly, full of dialogue and characters that might work if my eyes did not have a tendency to completely glaze over by the time I hit the second page of discussion.

The full review is here.

Review: Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Today, in January Magazine’s Science Fiction/Fantasy section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman. Shechter calls it a “hugely enjoyable book”:

Soon I Will Be Invincible tells the story of Dr. Impossible (not exactly the best supervillain name, ya think?) and the array of good guys determined to keep him from taking over the world. The timeline at the back of the book tells part of the story. I mean, how good can a bad guy be at being bad when he’s created five -- count ‘em five -- Doomsday machines? Usually, you stop at one because you’ve destroyed the Earth or the universe and can now take over whatever is left. But Dr. Impossible seems to have a little trouble in that regard. He keeps getting caught, locked up, then he escapes, tries again, you know the story, right?

The full review is here.

Review: Poster Child by Emily Rapp

Today, in January Magazine’s biography section, contributing editor Andi Shechter looks at Poster Child by Emily Rapp. Says Shechter:

It is difficult to develop empathy or sympathy for Rapp, even when she tells you that she was often the only female at the prosthetics office, talking only with far older men, often war veterans. No one there was her peer, no one had an understanding of her situation. She doesn't seem to want any sympathy though. Maybe she wants to tell her story at the same time she wants distance from it, but that left me unable to understand her. She prefers stoicism to warmth, observation to understanding.

The full review is here.

Review: Where’s My Jetpack? by Daniel H. Wilson

Today, in January Magazine’s art & culture section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews Where’s My Jetpack? by Daniel H. Wilson, the book that answers all of our questions about the extremely disappointing 21st century. Says Shechter:

What Wilson does in Where’s My Jetpack? is take a topic that those of us in the Baby Boomer generation saw in comics, movies, read in novels, watched on television, dreamed of and saw at the Smithsonian or the World’s Fair. He explains what exactly it would take for the ideas to become reality and the state of development of about 30 futuristic ideas ranging from underwater cities to space elevators, from teleportation to x-ray specs. He explains that some of these out-of-this-world ideas absolutely do exist.

The full review is here.

Review: We, Robots by Sue Lange

Today, in January Magazine’s science fiction/fantasy section, contributing editor Andi Shechter reviews We, Robots by Sue Lange. Says Shechter:

In We, Robots, Lange takes on a heavy science fiction theme, examining once again, what it is to be human. At the same time, it’s deftly lightweight. The story doesn't try to redefine the genre (a little too much of that going on lately, I say) but it looks at the membrane that separates human and machine, which seems to be getting increasingly thinner. It’s a topic that has fascinated writers and readers for a long time, and I like Lange’s take on it.

Shechter’s review is here.

Review Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

Today in January Magazine’s children’s book section, contributing editor Andi Shechter looks at Un Lun Dun, China Miéville's first book for young adults.

Shechter reports that Un Lun Dun works on all levels. “The best praise I can offer is that Un Lun Dun has made me want to read the “adult” fiction of China Miéville.”

The review is here.