Malasz

Barnes & Noble announced today that they're getting out of the manufacturing business. It is their intent that in order to cut losses, they won't make any more Nooks. They'll design them, make apps for them, support them with their catalog, but won't build them without outside help. Here's the original text: The company plans to significantly reduce losses in the NOOK segment by limiting risks associated with manufacturing. Going forward, the company intends to continue to design eReading devices and reading platforms, while creating a partnership model for manufacturing in the competitive color tablet market. Thus, the widely popular lines of Simple Touch™ and Glowlight™ products will continue to be developed in house, and the company’s tablet line will be co-branded with yet to be announced third party manufacturers of consumer electronics products. At the same time, the company intends to continue to build its digital catalog, adding thousands of eBooks e...

No matter how far you travel, your past is only a step behind you. The above statement illustrates the underlying theme of D.E.M. Emrys's "From Man to Man".  This short story clocks in at barely 40 pages but is enough to whet your appetite for the larger "It Begins with Ashes". "From Man to Man" follows the character of Draven, a retired mercenary as he tries to settle down into a 'normal' life.  It opens up with an almost heartbreaking scene of Draven imagining himself talking to his sleeping wife and telling her how hard he tried and how he is sorry he failed her. This initially led me to believe that Draven was going to be leaving his wife and son and going back to his life before.  Instead you find him at what you learn is yet another odd job trying to earn a living.  You also are treated to the litany of other jobs in the town that he failed at. This story is a well-crafted and engaging look at someone used to living on the outside of soci...

Anne Charnock's first novel, A Calculated Life , offers a glimpse into late 21st Century England. It isn't glamorous, nor is it horrific. It's a dystopia where government and corporations control a pacified populace. The population has been divided into augmented professionals, who live in wonderful neighborhoods with all the trappings of upper middle class life we see today, and organics , who are crowded together in enclaves outside the city. The enclaves aren't filthy hellholes, but rather subsidized housing where their residents make use of everything to scrape up extra money to take the edge off of their spartan existence. The story is told from the POV of a young woman named Jayna. She works for a successful analytical firm that studies global trends; seeking signals in the noise of everyday life, like whether or not wind direction affects reports of violence. We realize at the outset that Jayna is different, even from the augmented managers she works for. As the ...

Set in 9th century Britain, Sanctuary follows the journey of almost priest Daniel after a mysterious stranger saves his life during a viking raid. Daniel believes the stranger is a sign from God. The stranger disagrees but Daniel follows anyway as he is desperate to find his faith. Little does Daniel know that he is a pawn in a much larger game, one in which he has caught the attention of a very powerful demon. Off the bat, I must say this is an exceptional debut book. I was fearful at times that it would develop into a travelogue. But Kris Kramer successfully avoids this pitfall and instead we are treated to a wonderful story that I would declare just as interesting and enjoyable as Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth though not nearly as daunting. The characters are well written and believable. Though there is a religious nature to Daniel’s quest, the purpose is not to be preachy or overtly religious by rather to provide a background to his struggles. Daniel is a leaf in the wind ...