2023 re-reading review: "Jim broke the silence with a single, hard laugh. 'Well, I'll be damned. He found a way to make jackbooted authoritarianism se2023 re-reading review: "Jim broke the silence with a single, hard laugh. 'Well, I'll be damned. He found a way to make jackbooted authoritarianism seem like the good old days. I wouldn't have thought he could.'"
I didn't think I'd find myself so verklempt here at the end of it all, since of course I knew what was going to happen this time. But every goddamned thing that happens here (view spoiler)[Jim is just so fucking traumatized! Zombie Amos! Naomi wasn't the one to make Jim happy again! Miller's back! The cosmic ego death horror! (hide spoiler)] is just so perfect and messy and heartbreaking and all of that even the second time around. I set aside at least ten new books in order to rush through this book 7-9 reread so I could talk about them with a comrade who's finishing the series for the first time, but now all I want to do is reread Leviathan Wakes so I can see these traumatized people as idealistic youths all over again.
"'You are the central fact of my life,' he said. 'Knowing you. Waking up next to you. It's been the most meaningful thing I've done. And I am profoundly fucking grateful I got that. I think of how easy it would have been for us to miss each other, and I can't even imagine what that lifetime would have been.'"
Original 2021 review, four stars: "The dead were still around him, because he couldn't bring himself to believe that they weren't. He could know it. He could understand. But like a kid who'd lost something precious, he'd never been able to shake that sense that maybe, just maybe, if he looked again, it would be there. Maybe the people he loved weren't gone forever. Maybe the past - his past, his losses, his mistakes - were close enough for him to reach back and fix them if he stretched just right. Maybe, despite everything, it could still be okay."...more
There are a few little things that bugged me on the reread, particularly some inconsistencies near the end (and how about the eye-rolling clumsy introThere are a few little things that bugged me on the reread, particularly some inconsistencies near the end (and how about the eye-rolling clumsy introduction of the name Mount Char, which I must've blocked from my memory?), but the main flaw of this book in my mind is its sidelining of some librarians and their catalogs. I want to know more about Alicia's black candle! And Rachel's weird possible futures told to her by her dead children! And what Lisa's deal was, and who Emily and Jacob even were. This remains one of the most deeply weird books I've ever read, utterly without comps, and it will always be the standard for books I'd love to read again for the first time....more
Original 2020 review, three stars: Sometimes you read more than one book at a time and then Emily tells you to imagine Wolf Hall as the soap that MurdOriginal 2020 review, three stars: Sometimes you read more than one book at a time and then Emily tells you to imagine Wolf Hall as the soap that Murderbot is watching, which is just genius.
2022 re-reading review: So this is the thing: when I originally read this book, it was May 2020, I was also doing a reread of Wolf Hall because I'd just finished The Mirror and the Light and wept over the end of it for at least a full day, plus a few days earlier I'd had the absolute worst, most vivid dream about my own death I've ever had in my life, and that confluence of events while I was also completely alone because the only other human I'd seen in person for two months was my ten-year-old and he was currently at his dad's house (joint custody during quarantine was the pits) had completely fried my brain with grief and terror; also I had some drama going on with my parents and my ex-husband was being a jerk. So I was maybe not primed at that time to fully appreciate Murderbot in the way that I, today after rereading this in one hilarious fell swoop, now adore them.
"It was a low-stress group, they didn't argue much or antagonize each other for fun, and were fairly restful to be around, as long as they didn't try to talk to or interact with me in any way."...more
Oh boy, I loved this! Was the ending so abrupt and the epilogue so terrible because I was upset that it was all over or because Sweterlitsch didn't quOh boy, I loved this! Was the ending so abrupt and the epilogue so terrible because I was upset that it was all over or because Sweterlitsch didn't quite know how to end things? This is one of those books that make me sad I'll never again get to experience reading it for the first time....more
Well well well, I thought I was made of sterner stuff than this but the master Shirley Jackson got me good. This book is scary af, to the point where Well well well, I thought I was made of sterner stuff than this but the master Shirley Jackson got me good. This book is scary af, to the point where I kept setting it down to tell myself that certainly my cats would be weirded out if something ghastly was about to happen and since they were calm I should really calm down too (what a treat it is, truly, to read a horror novel on the couch in an empty house with a couple of cats curled up like little cinnamon rolls next to you). How Jackson can write such riveting prose even when it's just about people taking a walk or eating dinner, how her characters can be so well drawn and funny even though they're stuck in some haunted house having frightening things happen to them, and how she can escalate tension to the degree that I have to turn the tv on just to stop myself from jumping every time I hear the faintest sound from the other room - I'm sure I don't know, but good grief is it worth it even if you have to sleep with the lights on.
"Maybe it will go on down the other side of the hall," Theodora whispered, and Eleanor thought that the oddest part of this indescribable experience was that Theodora should be having it too. "No," Theodora said, and they heard the crash against the door across the hall. It was louder, it was deafening, it struck against the door next to them (did it move back and forth against the hall? did it go on feet along the carpet? did it lift a hand to the door?) , and Eleanor threw herself away from the bed and ran to hold her hands against the door. 'Go away,' she shouted wildly. 'Go away, go away!' There was complete silence, and Eleanor thought, standing with her face against the door, Now I've done it; it was looking for the room with someone inside."...more
Original 2019 review: Although I haven't read as much as usual this year, I've been fortunate to read some really wonderful books, like this, which isOriginal 2019 review: Although I haven't read as much as usual this year, I've been fortunate to read some really wonderful books, like this, which is beautiful and tremendous and deeply spiritual and kind of perfect for the way I've been feeling lately. Another A Tale for the Time Being in that it's a spot on book for this time in my life.
2022 re-reading review: Gah, this book is just so beautiful. (view spoiler)[I just cannot get over the incredible cleverness of lent as a verb, how Giralamo's life and faith and love of God are lent over and over to the world although he himself has no hope of redemption. I convinced Albert to read this and we were talking about how it reads better if you like Girolamo and honestly, I just love him, I love his constant battle with his pride and his deep love of God and how much he values friendship and the taste of apples and his little room in San Marco. There are a few things that seem a bit goofy to me on this read, such as Marsilio's ability to turn his glow on and off at will and Crookback getting not as much play as he perhaps deserves considering how it all works out, but the way Walton ties everything together with the single uniting thread of Giralamo's pride and then?? I mean, c'mon: "Girolamo falls forward, onto his face, like good people. The gates of Hell have been opened." Makes me cry every time. (hide spoiler)]...more
Truly this has been my most dismal summer ever as far as reading goes and a pretty difficult summer just in general, but this was a nice little rereadTruly this has been my most dismal summer ever as far as reading goes and a pretty difficult summer just in general, but this was a nice little reread that got me through a bad day....more
Take a drink every time someone says abomination and black out halfway through the book. This is curiously repetitive, not only the endless harping abTake a drink every time someone says abomination and black out halfway through the book. This is curiously repetitive, not only the endless harping about abomination but characters going over the same ground over and over again; for example, I only need to be told once that a certain someone insists another certain someone is dead and a truthsayer has verified their belief, thanks, but it comes up at least three times. I look forward to Dune Messiah (on which I'm still waiting, Overdrive, hint hint) to see how Muad'Dib & Co got from the end of Dune to this messy business, because the only thing I remember from reading it is Alia's naked crysknife fight....more
Well folks, I did it, I reread this entire series over the past few months in preparation for the last book coming out, and managed to time it so thatWell folks, I did it, I reread this entire series over the past few months in preparation for the last book coming out, and managed to time it so that all the juicy bits about the protomolecule and its attendant horrors (view spoiler)[zombie Timothy! (hide spoiler)] and Winston Duarte: Laconian god emperor and the Belter/Martian/oh hell everyone who hates fascism underground and their shenanigans are all fresh as a daisy details in my mind for whenever my library gets through processing copies of Leviathan Falls and I get one in my hands and struggle to both read it as fast as I can because I cannot wait to see what happens and also pace it because there will be no more from my Expanse friends once it's over. ...more
Original 2018 review: I think I might be an anarchist now.
2023 rereading review: Well, still an anarchist and perhaps the best thing I can say for thiOriginal 2018 review: I think I might be an anarchist now.
2023 rereading review: Well, still an anarchist and perhaps the best thing I can say for this book is how often I think randomly about Hron over any of the theory I've read in the intervening years. This is sweet and sad and only a little didactic and gained an extra star on the reread....more
I'm incredibly discomfited to realize that I'm almost finished with this series. I thought there were twelve or thirteen of these floating around. So I'm incredibly discomfited to realize that I'm almost finished with this series. I thought there were twelve or thirteen of these floating around. So now the question is: do I read the seventh one in a month as though I was still blissfully unaware that it's the last for a while or do I stretch it out and wait and pretend that I don't know the end is nigh?...more
"This being before Ikea turned up, backed by the limitless expanse of the Swedish forests, fabled home to fascist biker gangs, depressed detectives, a"This being before Ikea turned up, backed by the limitless expanse of the Swedish forests, fabled home to fascist biker gangs, depressed detectives, and werewolves. 'Really?' I asked. 'Werewolves?' 'That's what I heard,' said Beverly. No wonder the detectives were depressed, I thought."...more
Original 2018 review: "How can he explain to him? The world is not run from where he thinks. Not from his border fortresses, not even from Whitehall. Original 2018 review: "How can he explain to him? The world is not run from where he thinks. Not from his border fortresses, not even from Whitehall. The world is run from Antwerp, from Florence, from places he has never imagined; from Lisbon, from where the ships with sails of silk drift west and are burned up in the sun. Not from castle walls, but from countinghouses, not by the call of the bugle but by the click of the abacus, not by the grate and click of the mechanism of the gun but by the scrape of the pen on the page of the promissory note that pays for the gun and the gunsmith and the powder and shot."
This book slayed me. This book grabbed my head and shoved it underwater, immersed me totally, and when I was forced to surface, I had no idea where I was for hours afterward. I've been nursing it for days because I didn't want it to end, but now that it's over I get to read Bring Up the Bodies again and apparently Mantel is writing the third book of Cromwell's life so I have something to look forward to in 2019. Five stars so you know that I'm serious.
"Another man would go to Leicester to see where he died and talk to the abbot. Another man would have trouble imagining it, but he has no trouble. The red of a carpet's ground, the flush of the robin's breast or the chaffinch, the red of a wax seal or the heart of the rose: implanted in his landscape, cered in his inner eye, and caught in the glint of a ruby, in the color of blood, the cardinal is alive and speaking. Look at my face: I am not afraid of any man alive."
2020 rereading review: Although going in the order Mantel intended is probably the best way to read this trilogy, it was actually fascinating to hit this one again immediately after TM&TL (soothing, too, because Cromwell's death kind of destroyed me so it was very nice to resurrect him right away; when I finally stopped bawling, I read the first 100 pages of this.) Meetings and events are even more laden with portent, Cromwell has a hand crafting the laws that eventually help destroy him, and the reader may find it hard to stomach the lives and times of certain people (view spoiler)[like Call-Me, and Richard Riche, and it's especially difficult/fascinating to watch Riche help dismantle Thomas More since you know he's eventually going to do much the same to Cromwell. How happy I was that Rafe didn't turn on him in the end! (hide spoiler)] that they used to like. I now have a much better grasp of all the religious and social intricacies of this and I'm really looking forward to digging into Bring Up the Bodies since I was just a wee thing when I read that and basically had no idea what most of it meant. This remains one of the very best books I've ever read in my life, and I've read a ton of them so that should really count for something.
"He, Cromwell, walks away so he does not have to see the man's distress. He looks at the wall, at the paneling, and runs his index finger across its grooves. 'When they took him from the house, the townspeople were assembled outside. They knelt in the road and wept. They asked God to send vengeance on Harry Percy.'
God need not trouble, he thinks: I shall take it in hand."...more
Original 2018 review: This was such a doozy I'm writing a review three days after adding it just to say that it's been three days & I can't stop thinkOriginal 2018 review: This was such a doozy I'm writing a review three days after adding it just to say that it's been three days & I can't stop thinking about it.
2019 re-reading but actually listening review: This is my favorite of the series. I love every bit of it - the characters in Skygarden Tower, Abigail, the Summer Court, Zack, the battle at the farm especially as read by K. H-S, good grief! and all the very sly & delightfully not-heavy-handed-at-all foreshadowing. Brilliant.
"Nightingale doesn’t swear very often, but when he talks about Geoffrey Wheatcroft you can tell he really fucking wants to."...more
2023 third (??) re-read plus re-listen while I had a bad headache review: "'We can do that,' Amos said. 'Shouldn't be hard.' 'You sure?' Alex said. 'Th2023 third (??) re-read plus re-listen while I had a bad headache review: "'We can do that,' Amos said. 'Shouldn't be hard.' 'You sure?' Alex said. 'This is Medina Station under occupation by a bunch of splinter Martian military expats. It's not Baltimore.' Amos' smile was as placid as always. 'Everywhere's Baltimore.'"
Original 2018 review, four stars: Hooray for the publishing cycle that gives me a new one of these to crack open and read until midnight on New Year's Eve. Those crazy kids James S. A. Corey have written a continuation on the theme of Authoritarianism Is Bad and I am all here for it. A character from a previous novel has been up to no good with the protomolecule in ways that make our fears from the first few books look adorably quaint, so who's going to tell someone who has been getting up to such nefariousness that they CAN'T be the absolute military dictator and supreme ruler of the entire universe?
The thing that I loved most about this was the vast perspectives, the application of how authoritarianism is terrible but some of the people who aren't getting hurt right that moment may find comfort in letting go & in having decisions made for them, turned on an enormous scale. If your new tyrant wannabe can provide stability, why should you fight back? Who is going to pull a Kent Brockman and welcome their new ant overlords? Who will join the resistance and hide in the tunnels, both figuratively and literally, to plot against you? And how will those tasked with being the arms of your machine respond when they're asked to do unthinkable things in your name? New character Singh is perhaps the best example of this mindset, how his actions escalate as a result of his face-saving mistakes (view spoiler)[and how he finally admits to himself that he can be the person who loves his daughter more than anything and is willing to murder whoever he needs to to keep her safe. I was so happy to see him get his comeuppance! (hide spoiler)] and the bar for atrocities he's willing to justify keeps moving farther and farther away from him. I love the stability of these characters, the crew of the Roci in particular of course, and it was very comforting to know that Holden was going to lay down a, "Your empire's hands look a lot cleaner when you get to dictate where history begins and what parts of it don't count," at an opportune time, and he did not disappoint.
Here's to hiding in the tunnels, here's to resistance. "Whenever there's just one voice that matters, something terrible comes out of it," edited in 2023 to add, because it made me laugh: or as Houston says, "Now that you fuckers have come to your senses about the immorality of centralized power."...more
Original 2017 review"'Don't be stupid,' said Seawoll. 'I'm far too fucking senior to go down there. It's strictly constables, sergeants, and lunatics.Original 2017 review"'Don't be stupid,' said Seawoll. 'I'm far too fucking senior to go down there. It's strictly constables, sergeants, and lunatics. We'll keep the kettle on for you.'"
While not the shiniest example of exactly why I love Peter Grant books, since I don't feel like it ever quite got there with the plot, this has a ton of potential for the rest of the series and I do just really love these books.
2019 re-listening review I'm never going to read anything new in 2019, apparently, just keep self-soothing with the dulcet tones of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. This is still not one of my favorites of the series, but KH-S makes this story a lot more palatable - although for some reason he really cannot do a good American accent, I think it was Carol. who first said that.
"'That's not going to happen anytime soon,' said Lesley. 'Maybe it's in the library - how's your Latin?' 'Better than yours. 'Aut viam inveniam aut faciam',' I said, 'which means, 'I'll either find a way or make one,' which was a favorite of Nightingale's and attributed to Hannibal. ''Vincit qui se vincit,' said Lesley, who loved learning Latin as much as I did. 'She conquers who conquer themselves,' another Nightingale favorite and the motto from Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which was something we hadn't had the heart to tell him yet."...more
Original 2017 review: I'm having a hard time holding myself back from plowing through this series as fast as possible out of respect for all the forloOriginal 2017 review: I'm having a hard time holding myself back from plowing through this series as fast as possible out of respect for all the forlorn, neglected titles in my endless to-read piles.
2018 re-read but actually listening this time review: "'Have you been out clubbing recently?' I asked. She stopped slicing and turned to regard me with solemn black eyes. 'Are you sure?' She shrugged and started chopping again. I decided that I was gonna let Nightingale sort that one out. The clear chain of command is a wonderful thing. "Is that what we're having for the trip?' I asked. 'Cucumber sandwiches?' Molly indicated the rest of her ingredients - salami and liver sausage. 'Eh, you're just taking the piss now, aren't you?'"
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