Book Review: Grail and the Jacob's Ladder Trilogy by Elizabeth Bear

Grail, by Elizabeth Bear, is the concluding book in her trilogy about the Jacob's Ladder, a generation spaceship traveling to colonize a world around a distant star.  I became interested in Bear when I picked up Dust, the first book of the series.  Dust amazed me with its unusual depictions of high technology, genderqueer characters, and epic queer romance set at an action-adventure pace.  Chill suffered only slightly from middle book syndrome, delivering solid plot progress and character development with plenty of suspense and conflict to keep the reader engaged.  With Grail, Bear wraps up the story well, while providing a fascinating outsider's view of the generation ship's crew and characters.

Book Review: "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter"

By Beau

If you're dismissive of pop culture literature and the current trend to remake the classics like "Pride, Prejudice,  & Zombies" or "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters", that's fine.  I haven't read those either because I'm a hick and feel I have no approach to being able to read Jane Austin.  But Abe Lincoln and vampires?  Yes, please.

QNY Blog Book Review: "Horns" by Joe Hill

I found Joe Hill some time ago when his debut novel, "Heart-Shaped Box" came out which I loved.  At the time, he was being trumpeted as the son of Stephen King which was supposed to get people into his book, at least for a look-see.  From what I could tell, it totally worked.  "Heart-Shaped Box" had all the elements of a great horror-y speculative fiction story: likable characters, vile villains, and just a really enjoyable plot.  Most importantly, he, much like his famous father, is a story-teller first and then a writer.  I've always appreciated this quality and Joe Hill has it in spades.  His novel led me to his short fiction collection "20th Century Ghosts" which satiated my appetite for a bit.  And then "Horns" was announced and I had my pre-order copy bought before I read anything about.

Quick Queer Book Review - Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem

Posted by Riot

I loved Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, so I was very excited to get my hands on his latest novel, Chronic City.  Alas, I was disappointed.

Chronic City follows the life of a former child sitcom star, now an adult, and his friendship with a former Rolling Stone rock music critic, his romantic affair with a ghost writer, and his oblivious employment by the City of New York.

A QNY Book Review: The City Outside My Window - (with bonus voyeurism)

By Father Tony

Friends Christmas-gifted us with Matteo Pericoli's The City Out My Window, subtitled 63 Views on New York.

This is a collection of Pericoli's line drawings of the views of 63 well-known New Yorkers. The premise and the conclusion are fascinating: each New Yorker owns a small private view that is not postcard-spectacular but becomes his or her portal to the world. Seeing someone's private view is an act of voyeurism akin to looking in someone's bedroom or medicine cabinet.  Seeing their view is an intimacy shared. Also, from Paul Goldberger's introduction:

What is less in our control than a city view? We can choose not to live somewhere, but that is about as far as most of us go in determining what we look at from our window. Once we move in, we are captives of what is outside the window, whether it is an expanse of skyline, an array of rooftops, a sliver of green, or a dark airshaft. A view is like a mate: you must be sure you want to live with it, because you cannot really change it. And you have to be prepared for the fact that it may change of its own accord.

I asked the Queer New York team to photograph and share with you their private views. After the jump are their responses plus two of Pericoli's line drawings.