BenHaskett.com – book stuff, mostly
Some of you who read my stories leave a star rating on Goodreads or Amazon. Probably once a day, I check to see if there are any new reviews and/or ratings. I memorize the number of both, and when I refresh the page and see that the number has increased, it’s like getting a surprise …
I wrote an editorial review for Through a Forest of Stars. I loved it! Here’s my review: Through a Forest of Stars kicks off in 2217, where Earth is in rough shape and the recently settled Mars isn’t doing any better. Unsure how to improve the situation on either planet, humanity explores the stars for resources. …
I wrote an editorial review for Maz’hura. I though it was really good. Here’s my review: Celebrations aboard the interstellar spaceship Celestial are cut short when a newborn star, whose awe-inspiring birth Captain Shirakaya and her crew have just witnessed, is suddenly devoured by monstrous aliens long believed extinct. This act of celestial carnage is bad …
I wrote an editorial review for Roller Rink Starlight. It was phenomenal. Here’s my review: Despite the title and preface, Roller Rink Starlight doesn’t have a whole lot to do with competitive speed skating. Sure, there’s some skating action in here—several chapters are chock full of arcane skating lingo, race times, and second-by-second retellings of …
This is probably going to sound stupid (or at least obvious) to anyone who already knows anything about Bram Stoker and/or Dracula, but: Wow, y’all, this book is where Dracula comes from. As in, like, this is his first appearance; Bram Stoker, in his 1897 novel, created the character Dracula. And Van Helsing. Like how Walt Disney created …
I hope you’ve been productive over the past year, the Coronavirus year, the year when you were encouraged to simulate life inside a bomb shelter. With the kids home, doing that whole distance learning thing, and with the local parks wrapped in yellow caution tape, we did a few things to break up the monotony. …
I wrote an editorial review for Cormorant Lake. It was phenomenal! Here’s my review: When Evelyn returns home late at night and finds her roommate’s two young girls in a dangerous situation, she finally breaks. She hastily gathers their things and buckles the little girls into the backseat of her ’92 Corolla before racing out of California in …
A copy of my short story sold a few days ago, which was surprising because I hadn’t done anything to make that happen. (Naturally, and like most other hobbyist writers, getting a sale usually involves some sign-spinning on my part.) When I sold a second copy an hour later, I got so suspicious that I …
I wrote an editorial review for The Chowderhead Crusades. It was great! Saying anything is the “Ready Player One for fans of [insert thing here]” can have unintended consequences, but I’m telling you, The Chowderhead Crusades is a good book—and, in a few ways, it’s actually more exemplary of the obscure-trivia-with-practical-applications genre than Ready Player One. Here’s my review: …
I wrote an editorial review for Past Versus Future. It was a pretty good book! Here’s my review: Past Versus Future posits that the big bang was merely one bang in a series of many. Like a cosmic reset button, each bang brings with it a whole new universe where civilizations rise and fall, where species venture beyond their …