Looking for Jake: Stories
by China Mieville
Published by Del Rey
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Reviewed by Sharron Stockhausen
Whether you are an absolute sci-fi fan or just wanting your first taste of sci-fi/fantasy, you'll want to get China Mieville's book, Looking for Jake. Already an acclaimed award-winning author, Mieville continues to please with his thirteen stories and one novella in this volume.
The title story is also the first story and previews the flavor of the rest of the collection by causing the reader to wonder what's going on underneath the obvious and what could possibly happen next.
"The Ball Room" takes the familiar (the playroom that retail establishments furnish to entertain children while their parents shop) to a new plane of things not being as they seem. You'll feel the fun--and the tension--that awaits in the ball room.
While each of a the stories brings its own appeal ranging from intense visions to paranoia, every one of them contains the author's powerful voice and tempts the reader to see things with new eyes.
Just when you think the writing reaches the top, you come to the novella, "The Tain," and experience "The Looking Glass" in a way Lewis Carroll couldn't imagine.
Sharron Stockhausen served two terms as president of Twin Cities (Minnesota) Sisters In Crime.
Armchair Interviews says: Looking for Jake: Stories delights sci-fi and fantasy fans--new and old. Get the book, read the stories, and prepare to turn your imagination on full blast.