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Also known as "In Our Hands, the Stars", this book has equal elements of speculative science fiction, international espionage, and cautionary tale about the misuse of science and habits of security.

Basic plot synopsis - A top Israeli scientist discovers something that will revolutionize travel both here and in space, and returns to his native Denmark for reasons revealed later in the book. Other nations (primarily cold war America and Soviet Union) try to acquire this technology, providing much of the tension and the climax of the novel.

I couldn't put this book down. The speculative science was spot on, the paranoia of the other governments was an excellent adversary. I especially enjoyed the touches of humor. While on Mars, the two main characters have a moral discussion of scientific responsibility and the actions of Denmark during World War II which is particularly well done.

Two of my favorite genres - time travel and the Stainless Steel Rat. No explanation of why characters just "fade out" at the beginning of the story, and clearly no "parallel dimensions" hypothesis, but good fun regardless. As an aside, some good clean fun poked at 1970s Earth, the US in particular.

Not so much a biography as a series of vivid memories or anecdotes, this is eminently readable and enjoyable to boot. Within these memories also lie some kernels that would sprout into scenes in his later books. Read primarily as a precursor to Going Solo, I really liked this book.

I liked the premise (invading a planet from another planet is impossible - but these guys are doing it - go figure out how). The infiltration and action were just as clever and fun as in the first book. The information gained late in the book seems to hint at a recurring villain. The only thing that lets this down is the solution to the original problem - it turns out they are successful invading planets because... they convert all the resources to invading the next planet? Not terribly convincing.

A very good origin story, with all the standard bits (mentor, daring escape, lessons learned). The beginning was better than the end, which was just okay. Also not as high-tech as the other stories.

Good physics, but pretty scattered content - entropy at work? Is probably better as a series of blog entries.

Groff Conklin puts together some fine collections. The stories I liked best in this collection were Shortstack and Trouble Tide.

Surprising Excursion - check, check. This is not an exhaustive history of mathematics, but rather a few stops along that road. Some great anecdotes along the way, and even the table of contents tells a story. I understand that some of the proofs and other math bits are on the author's website. A good read!

RIP Harry Harrison. This is a great book and a quick read. First read some 30 years ago, this has more satire than I remember, morals, plenty of action, and plot twists galore.

I enjoyed many of the themes in this thick satire, but not all of them clicked for me now. Least favorite or least understood - Boaz.

Spooky: The Definitive Guide to Horror Gaming is a genre describing book, a gamemaster guide, and an uber bibliography all-in-one. The back of the book says "Spooky tells how to bring the thrill of a great horror story into your games." It covers this topic well, whether introducing a horror scene, adventure or campaign. This book also covers horror mixed with humor, from the Scream movies to the Camp of Plan 9 from Outer Space.

I greatly enjoyed the humor contained here, even though some sections got out of hand. I also loved the anecdotes from the authors (Tracy freakin' Hickman fer goshsake!). This isn't a bible to be referred to for handling trouble, it's more of a manifesto to be read and digested. I haven't run a game using the XD20 system, but expect it would be LARPish, and that seems to be the point of this book - RPG is basically Improv with a stricter setting and more rules.

A stark book, but then that's the theme. Told from the perspective of one man, the possibility of this tale is very close to reality. I had an alternate solution for the ending, which arrived a little too quickly. Still and all, a good read.

Took a while to get through this, but what an ultra complete record of The Empire Strikes Back. Stunning visuals and interesting anecdotes abound!