Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a linguist by trade with an MA in Intercultural Communications. I'm also an immigrant in my chosen country. You could say I have a fascination for different worlds/cultures in my blood. But those cultures only really come alive with the people that live in them, the way they think, feel, and talk, and especially where their cultures meet, with all the tensions, heartbreaks, love and hate, misunderstandings, fear, and courage that reverberate in those encounters.


I wrote

Santuario

By G.B. Gordon,

Book cover of Santuario

What is my book about?

Police teniente Alex Rukow has spent his life trapped on Santuario, his people’s home-slash-prison-island. They’ve been living in poverty under…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Fifth Season

G.B. Gordon Why did I love this book?

This trilogy is absolutely epic—in scope, in emotion, and in sheer craftsmanship. I love good bones, and the structural mastery displayed here is blowing me away. And the worldbuilding is immersive and all-encompassing. It sucks you in, and doesn't let you go even long after you finish the last page.

By N. K. Jemisin,

Why should I read it?

30 authors picked The Fifth Season as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

At the end of the world, a woman must hide her secret power and find her kidnapped daughter in this "intricate and extraordinary" Hugo Award winning novel of power, oppression, and revolution. (The New York Times)

This is the way the world ends. . .for the last time.

It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester.

This is the Stillness, a land…


Book cover of Use of Weapons

G.B. Gordon Why did I love this book?

This is a book that asks all the hard moral questions, and isn't shy about not having all the answers, but leaving the reader to try and come up with their own. The worldbuilding is—pardon the pun—out of this world. And if, like me, you can't get enough of it, there are more books set in the same universe.

By Iain M. Banks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Use of Weapons as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The third Culture novel from the awesome imagination of Iain M. Banks, a modern master of science fiction.

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances' foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks or military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings she did not know him as well as she thought.

The drone known as Skaffen-Amtiskaw knew both of these people. It had once saved the woman's life by massacring her…


Book cover of Expendable

G.B. Gordon Why did I love this book?

A seemingly perfect society and its ugly underbelly always make for a compelling read. But this one goes a step beyond with compassion, culture-clash, inclusivity, sheer storytelling genius, and characters I was rooting hard for through every page. Luckily, since I couldn't get enough, there are quite a few sequels.

By James Alan Gardner,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Expendable as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a world where the marginalized of society are sent into space on suicide missions, one woman decides to fight back: “Riveting” (David Feintuch).
 
In Expendable, the first volume of the League of Peoples, Festina Ramos is assigned to escort an unstable admiral to planet Melaquin. Little is known about Melaquin, for every explorer who’s landed there has disappeared. It’s come to be known as the “planet of no return,” and the High Council has made a habit of sending troublesome admirals there in an attempt to get rid of them. It’s clear that this is intended to be Ramos’s…


Book cover of Leviathan Wakes

G.B. Gordon Why did I love this book?

This one has it all. I was chewing my nails down to the quick over the fate of the characters. The worldbuilding is incomparably complex and detailed down to the language (though the books don't develop Belter to the same extent as the TV series), and the pace left me breathless, and forgetting work, dinner, and sleep.

By James S. A. Corey,

Why should I read it?

23 authors picked Leviathan Wakes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Humanity has colonized the planets - interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions - the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond. Now, when Captain Jim Holden's ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the…


Book cover of Golden Witchbreed

G.B. Gordon Why did I love this book?

I read this book decades ago from a library, and it stuck with me to such an extent that I had to go out, find it back, buy it, and read it again. Both the characters and the worldbuilding are breathtaking. The story is full of intrigue, politics, careful diplomacy, and self-interested string-pulling, love, fear, and wonder. It's an absolute doorstopper, and I inhaled it.

By Mary Gentle,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Golden Witchbreed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Orthe - half-civilized, half-barbaric, home to human-like beings who live and die by the code of the sword. Earth envoy Lynne Christie has been sent here to establish contact and to determine whether this is a world worth developing. But first Christie must come to understand that human-like is not and never can be human, and that not even Orthe's leaders can stop the spread of rumors about her, dark whisperings that could cost Christie her life.And on a goodwill tour to the outlying provinces, these evil rumors turn to deadly accusations. Christie is no offworlder, Church officials charge: she…


Explore my book 😀

Santuario

By G.B. Gordon,

Book cover of Santuario

What is my book about?

Police teniente Alex Rukow has spent his life trapped on Santuario, his people’s home-slash-prison-island. They’ve been living in poverty under the tyrannical regime of their own elite familias for the last two-hundred years, ever since the Skanians banished them to the inhospitable south. Increasingly shamed by the decisions of their ancestors, the Skanians seek to open their borders. But dissent exists on both sides, and in this explosive political situation, a dead body appears on the island.

Bengt, a Skanian investigator, is shipped to Santuario to lead the murder investigation. But he and Alex run afoul of the local familias, and the problems with their investigation and their budding relationship seem like nothing compared to just getting out of this whole mess alive.

Book cover of The Fifth Season
Book cover of Use of Weapons
Book cover of Expendable

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Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

By Jeffrey Dunn,

Book cover of Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

Jeffrey Dunn Author Of Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Creative writer Dream fisher History miner Divergent Dyslexic

Jeffrey's 3 favorite reads in 2024

What is my book about?

A retired English teacher has come home to Appalachia, a land of industrial disaster and natural beauty. He has been enticed with stories of Wildcat’s transformation: of the collective action embodied in Hotel Wildcat as well as the artisanal pursuits springing to life in the old iron mill. But in returning, he must confront his dark memories: the lost love of his hippie chic girlfriend not to mention the lost trust between his middle-class family and working-class Wildcat.

Written in the lyrical grit so characteristic of America’s Rust Belt, Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance is a testament to the redemptive potential…

Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance

By Jeffrey Dunn,

What is this book about?

Journey into Appalachia's Heart: Love, Loss, and the Resilience of a Forgotten Land

Discover the captivating allure of the Appalachian region as Jeffrey Dunn skillfully weaves a tale of love, loss, and redemption in his exquisitely crafted literary fiction masterpiece, Wildcat: An Appalachian Romance. Immerse yourself in the depths of the rust belt's rugged landscapes, where the echoes of industrial disaster intertwine with the sublime beauty of nature, all while the characters navigate the delicate dance between past and future.

In this poignant narrative, our protagonist, a retired English teacher, returns to his roots, lured back to the once-shuttered Hotel…


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