Dirty Pair (1985): The Little Dictator! Let Sleeping Top Secrets Lie

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books, Dirty Pair, Flowers For Algernon, science fiction

Kei and Yuri – Nozomi Cover Art – Episodes 10 – 13

In which Dirty Pair riffs on the SF classic Flowers for Algernon and does a surprisingly good, and serious, job of it.

That’s not to say that there isn’t any comedy in episode 12 The Little Dictator! Let Sleeping Top Secrets Lie. It’s just that The Little Dictator shows a surprisingly deft touch in terms of transitioning from the comedic set up to the serious ending. Given that the ending is appropriate, a trigger warning for suicide is in order.

Portal (2013) by Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor

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books, Eric Flint, Ryk Spoor, science fiction

Image sourced from: http://grandcentralarena.com/books/portal/

Portal wraps up Eric Flint and Ryk E. Spoor’s hard sf trilogy ^[1], and does so in style.

House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion (2013) by David Weber and BuNine

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books, David Weber, science fiction

House of Steel cover, sourced from Honorverse Wikia

The Honorverse is complex enough that it actually needs a companion volume to provide background on Manticore and Haven.

The short novel I Will Build My House of Steel by David Weber that opens the volume is worth the price of admission in its own right.

Shadow of Freedom (2013) by David Weber

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books, David Weber, science fiction, sf cons

One side effect ^[1] of attending conventions ^[2]is coming away with a to-read pile best described as “eeep!” ^[3]

This included the quite enjoyable Shadow of Freedom.

Redshirts (2012) by John Scalzi

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books, John Scalzi, science fiction

My copy of Redshirts (I’m not gloating here. Much).

The best way to approach Redshirts is by knowing a) about the Red Shirt trope as expressed in popular culture, b) that the trope is about to be twisted beyond recognition, and c) nothing else.