Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

The Maharajah’s General

Posted on June 14, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Maharajah’s General© 2013 Paul Fraser Collard339 pages In The Scarlet Thief, an ambitious but impoverished redcoat saw a way for himself out of the gutter when the officer he served as an orderly became deathly ill on a sea … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Metropolis

Posted on June 12, 2019 by smellincoffee

Metropolis© 2019 Phillp Kerr384 pages At the height of Weimar decadence, young Bernie Gunther is invited to join the Murder Commission. It’s a step up from Vice, and the department needs every watchful eye and quick wit it can get:  … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Top Ten Favorite History Reads

Posted on June 8, 2019 by smellincoffee

My PC was in the shop this past Tuesday (trying to figure out why a new graphics card wasn’t working — turns out the card itself is defective), so I missed the “Books from Your Favorite Genre” list done on … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Roswell reboot…initial impressions

Posted on June 7, 2019 by smellincoffee

I just discovered that there’s a new Roswell — or rather, a show called Roswell, New Mexico, which is loosely based on Melinda Metz’  Roswell High and has no connection to the old CW show beyond also being produced by CW.      … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Altered Carbon

Posted on June 6, 2019 by smellincoffee

Altered Carbon© 2002 Richard K. Morgan416 pages Takeshi Kovacs,  soldier-turned-commando-turned rogue,  is rudely awakened with a job.  Imprisoned for two hundred years, he’s now being offered the chance of parole if he can solve a murder.  Or should it be … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Kill Decision

Posted on June 5, 2019 by smellincoffee

Kill Decision © 2012 Daniel Suarez 512 pages Seemingly every day people within the United States are killed,  destroyed in apparent bomb attacks.  The victims have no obvious connections, but they are not random – nor were they bomb victims.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Limited Wish

Posted on June 5, 2019 by smellincoffee

The universe is trying to kill Nick. Again. Last time, it was only leukemia. Now there are multiple visitors from divergent futures asking him for help breaking into a nuclear power plant, he’s being stalked by a sociopathic mercenary, he’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

What kills us VS what we’re told to worry about

Posted on June 1, 2019 by smellincoffee
Posted in General | 6 Comments

Dinosaurs, India, and the smartphone

Posted on May 31, 2019 by smellincoffee

We in the United States  recently enjoyed a three-day weekend, ostensibly for the purpose of honoring fallen soldiers, though I suspect for most it’s just an occasion to shop and cook out before the summer heat becomes unbearable.  I took … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Buddhist cyberpunk?

Posted on May 30, 2019 by smellincoffee

“As a child I’d believed there was an essential person, a sort of core personality around which the surface factors could evolve and change without damaging the integrity of who you were. Later, I started to see that this was … Continue reading →

Posted in General, quotations | Tagged , | 4 Comments