This is one of the better short stories, taking place in the '60s and really a nice set piece. Fascinating for what it is but, of course, one needs toThis is one of the better short stories, taking place in the '60s and really a nice set piece. Fascinating for what it is but, of course, one needs to know the rest of the series to really enjoy it. :)
Merged review:
This is one of the better short stories, taking place in the '60s and really a nice set piece. Fascinating for what it is but, of course, one needs to know the rest of the series to really enjoy it. :)...more
No honest assessment of 2021 can be achieved without a dour look at 2020, but that’s only because we’ve all begun to appreciate and accept the abuse tNo honest assessment of 2021 can be achieved without a dour look at 2020, but that’s only because we’ve all begun to appreciate and accept the abuse that the year has heaped upon us. Or perhaps we haven’t accepted the abuse. I know I haven’t. But I have noticed that many others are finding tons of easier targets to redirect their ire, thereby making everyone else’s world just a little worse.
I say hogwash to all that shit.
We’re stronger than that. So, screw you, 2021! You will not defeat us!
Oh! Right! This is Goodreads! Maybe I should talk about books. :)
When 2020 ended, I was licking my wounds and decided to focus on a great re-read of many of my favorite books through the years, so there’s a relative lack of the new in my list. My 508 book list. But that doesn’t mean that there weren’t a few great stand-outs!
Out of all of these, Dune, Hyperion, and Earth are my favorites, but they had always been my favorites and these were pure pleasure re-reads. In fact, most of the books in this list ARE re-reads.
Comfort books.
Well, it is what it is.
I hope everyone is glad they got out of 2021 alive! And for those who didn’t, I sympathize. ...more
Since the new movie adaptation of the real history, with all-star actors and actresses, is all the buzz, I decided to read the book that it was based Since the new movie adaptation of the real history, with all-star actors and actresses, is all the buzz, I decided to read the book that it was based on. And no, I have not seen the movie (yet).
But either way, I'm glad to have read it. It's the account of the last lawful use of duels in the French court during the Hundred Year's War, and because it was a pretty horrific way to perform law from any way you look at it, it also ended the practice.
Rivalry, rape, rapine, perhaps even a bit of revenge. Of course, the topic is evergreen. How should the law be settled in case of rape accusations? Why, with multiple perjury, likely malfeasance, with women treated as chattel and burned, pregnant, at the stake for simply accusing her rapist, of course. And if that isn't enough, resort to systemized knightly duels because, as we know, might always makes right.
The history is written well and the book is very readable, full of basic explanations and personages and cultural baggage, but the history of this, itself, is aggravating as hell.
Good book, however. And good riddance to the practice....more
There's something about reading St. Mary's at Xmas-time that makes me turn myself around, get all cheery, order a double something on the rocks, and pThere's something about reading St. Mary's at Xmas-time that makes me turn myself around, get all cheery, order a double something on the rocks, and pick up a frozen chicken.
It is, after all, a St. Mary's story. And we are very happy to know what happens to eggs in ze pocketsies. Yes, and what might not have happened had Frodo gone to THIS neighborhood, instead.
I really loved this story. Adventure, humor, a bright thumb in the eye to the cops, the new establishment, and a whole new appreciation for nude gardening.
And all of a sudden, we've got ourselves a political treatise, a medieval fairy tale, and a Red Rising hardcore high-tech revolution all rolled into oAnd all of a sudden, we've got ourselves a political treatise, a medieval fairy tale, and a Red Rising hardcore high-tech revolution all rolled into one tiny novella.
Can you say Adrian Tchaikovsky?
I thought it was funny as hell right at the very beginning that our main character would be named Tocqueville, as in comte de Tocqueville, the French Aristo that argued for the decent treatment of the lower end of the class struggle, who was so essential to the formation of the United States of America.
And I found it equally hilarious how we jumped right from Robin Hood to education to revolution and a great little twist at the end. Class warfare, you know? And it's almost as if we're channeling a little taste of Attack on Titan, too, with a pretty fantastic turn of the knife on vegetarianism.
This is a pretty solid YA Japanese Steampunk adventure, offering up a good deal of mythology and explanations (gotta love kitsune) and mixing it prettThis is a pretty solid YA Japanese Steampunk adventure, offering up a good deal of mythology and explanations (gotta love kitsune) and mixing it pretty hardcore with big revolution steampunk stuff with iron samurai.
It is exactly what you might assume it is. It's a very good example of the YA revolution genre, and it is a good example of what is so common in that YA revolution genre.
Of course, if this is exactly what you're looking for, and you have a big itch for samurai and nine-tailed-foxes and enough great name-dropping to make me jump up and go, Naruto? Naruto? but this book is NOT that. It's still pretty fun, however....more
Getting through all three of these Siege books has been a real pleasure. In each of these, we get to see a different aspect of life and profession butGetting through all three of these Siege books has been a real pleasure. In each of these, we get to see a different aspect of life and profession but even though the times aren't the same, the wider world is.
Above all, the main first-person characters are nicely droll and ironic. Their meteoric rise from truly humble beginnings is a delight. The way each of them gains their fame is both quirky and amusing.
In this particular book, we get away from a humble engineer or a poverty-ridden stage actor and live a life of a lucky, but minor translator for a distant embassy who just happens to survive his nation's ruin and his boss's suicide.
From there, it just gets wacky cool, jumping from an impossible situation to a life of book-reading pleasure to being welcomed by cannibals to becoming a prophet and then the supreme leader. You know, normal, obvious stuff that happens to all us academic types. :)
I had a great time. It's light epic fantasy, with all the humor AND the twisty plots and huge battles, wrapped into one. ...more
If anything, this one might be a better read than the first, but only because I fell in love with the different characters a bit more. The first was aIf anything, this one might be a better read than the first, but only because I fell in love with the different characters a bit more. The first was a very engineering kind of novel. This one takes place in the same city, but years apart, and the focus is quite amusing.
Acting.
I mean, sure, we've got this cool little commonplace trope going on here where an actor takes over for whatever supreme ruler has just kicked, right, and we love it because it's absurd and full of absolute peril and we hope to see the little squirt get away with it and perhaps even do a better job of being Emperor than the original. RIGHT? Or is that just me? Nah. I think there are a lot of us who wish our supreme leaders would just get swapped out with an actor who then grows into his/her role and fixes the things that are so obviously wrong. :)
But yes, there's still a Siege going on here. And therefore it is still a good Xmas book. Who do we want to see swapped?
Not the author. This is too fun. And now that I know that K. J. Parker is just another name for Tom Holt, it looks like I have a growing list of books I need to read. ...more
I admit I was hook-line-and-sinkered with the title. Anything that logical and/or methodical tied to an epic fantasy title just screams niche-cool.
AndI admit I was hook-line-and-sinkered with the title. Anything that logical and/or methodical tied to an epic fantasy title just screams niche-cool.
And I wasn't disappointed. Engineer-turned-hero tales, turning a hopeless situation (a dead army, useless leaders, and a bunch of screwed-over normal people) into something resembling hope is, I admit, all kinds of awesome. Don't we like McGuiver for the same reason?
Well, this isn't a small-scale adventure even if the voice of our dour, slightly sarcastic hero downplays his own achievements in the narration. Indeed, this has all the hallmarks of a grand low-fantasy turnaround. Impossible stakes with very little to work with but a whole city of scared people with nothing left to lose? Got it. It's time for the normals to pull off a miracle.
And they do. I really enjoyed this.
Of course, I read it just in time for Xmas because aren't most family visits kinda like siege warfare? Yep. So, merry Xmas! ...more
This is one of Agatha Christie's most acclaimed novels and people say so for a damn good reason. It's sharp, logical, methodical, and it's deadly.
Oh, This is one of Agatha Christie's most acclaimed novels and people say so for a damn good reason. It's sharp, logical, methodical, and it's deadly.
Oh, yeah, and so was the murder.
Merry Xmas! Nothing brings in the Xmas cheer like a good cozy murder mystery, after all, and this particular one is ALL about family. No spoilers. Unless you know. And then, (view spoiler)[A family that murders together, stays together. (hide spoiler)]. It's damned heartwarming.
I can repeat these words until my jaw drops off or until the elder gods pry open our universe and come slithering through, but I haveThis is so good.
I can repeat these words until my jaw drops off or until the elder gods pry open our universe and come slithering through, but I have to assume that saying them once, here, in this review, is sufficient.
Because this book is so damn good.
It's been a long time coming. I've been in awe ever since the first book came out, through the time when I met these two authors and enjoyed them reading excerpts from Cibola Burn, through the tv series, each fantastic book since, and the last trilogy that jumped ahead far enough to see a changed galaxy. Twice. And every single time, I've fallen all the way into the text and lived in it with utter joy, horror, pathos, and laughter.
This is what I consider top-notch SF.
And this particular book is the crown and joy of the series. Some series can't pull off good ends, but this one does it with flying colors. All those great hints and beginnings in Leviathan Wakes, all the nasty surprises, the supreme twists, the deep foundations, it all comes back around and GETS RESOLVED.
Jim, Naomi, Amos, Alex. The originals. Even Miller. All the others that had come and gone throughout the series. They all got a fantastic sendoff.
Notable sendoffs? No spoilers. But, my lordy, Jim and Amos got the chef's kiss.
These are lush characters, complicated, subtle, and both are so aware of the pulls that threaten to Like the first book, this one is truly excellent.
These are lush characters, complicated, subtle, and both are so aware of the pulls that threaten to tear them apart. Their nature versus the pull of humanity, just trying to live and survive and perhaps find a little love in this pre-WWI human world.
No kind of review can truly explain this. The details, the immersion, and the depth of emotion are what make this a great book. It's magical realism done right. I truly cared and got torn apart by all the pulls.
A little bit of brutal honesty here: I've never been much of a fan of Magical Realism. I can count on only two hands the number of MR books that I thought were truly great. The rest either felt pretentious or vapid or an excuse to write a banal book and slap a little bit of magic in there to have it slide into the specific genre like an evil-ass bird egg-bombing another species' nest.
But Helene Wecker's two novels are the real deal. Genuine and heartfelt. They came alive for me and this is why I'm so impressed.
This might be one of my favorite fantasies of the year and it's not even close to being my preferred subgenre. :)...more
With distinct YA vibes even if it isn't precisely YA, this SF M/M romance is perfectly fine for those who prefer this kind of thing. It's full of royaWith distinct YA vibes even if it isn't precisely YA, this SF M/M romance is perfectly fine for those who prefer this kind of thing. It's full of royals, light political intrigue, slow-burn romance with a galactic empire on the verge of war.
As for me, personally, I think it was light on the SF and worldbuilding and the characters were fine if not brilliant. This kinda hits a middle-of-the-road read for me and it isn't anything near my actual preference, but it matches a lot of the kinds of SF that are published these days and it didn't actually suck. It just didn't ring any bells for me....more
This is a surprisingly original and fascinating entry into the SW canon, avoiding much of the trap of old character pressure by simply giving us a ripThis is a surprisingly original and fascinating entry into the SW canon, avoiding much of the trap of old character pressure by simply giving us a rip-roaring space adventure during the height of the Republic, 200 years before Phantom Menace.
But wait, no fall of the republic? How could that be interesting?
Trust me, bro. It is. Mass tragedy suddenly brings out the best in people, and the ones who answer that biggest call are the Jedi, and they're smart heroes. You know, a bright and optimistic answer to a horribly dark time. Almost like this book was kinda made for us, here and now, to address something that we lack.
Better than all that, however, is the fact that the plot remains unique, its villains interesting, its MCs memorable. In short, it was better-than movie-worthy, with all the bigger-than-life events and heroism.
If you're looking for a bit of optimism in your reading diet, I totally recommend this....more
So, fanboy here. I've gotta sit down for a moment and tell you something rather important.
This is a freaking awesome space opera, ya'll.
It starts outSo, fanboy here. I've gotta sit down for a moment and tell you something rather important.
This is a freaking awesome space opera, ya'll.
It starts out with an amazing bang-up interstellar battle and ends with one, and every step of the way, in-between, is a gloriously fascinating tale that is parts Becky Chambers-quality characterization, part David Brin Uplift War worldbuilding, and every bit as exciting and vast as Christopher Paolini's To Sleep In a Sea of Stars.
High praise? Indeed. And it comes from an author who consistently writes some of the very best, most original SF in the past decade, without even counting THIS book.
So, is he a superstar? Well, to me, he is. That's why I've sat you down for this little talk to add one little extra bit:
If you haven't read this guy, then WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?
'Nuff said.
Prepare yourself for a massive head-trip across the stars, dealing with massively incomprehensible god-like aliens that are only partially in our 3D space, who like to transform civilized worlds into ART PROJECTS.
Post battle blues. All of them trying to find a new balance as tragedy looms ever closer. I like some of the new ideas popping up, especially in contePost battle blues. All of them trying to find a new balance as tragedy looms ever closer. I like some of the new ideas popping up, especially in context to Boruto’s karma.
The baddies at this point seem… i don’t know… slightly overpowered for the context and on a total cheat-code mindset. :)...more
I can’t believe what I’m reading right now. This is insane. I mean, OP battle aside, seeing just how crazy Naruto is going, it should be par for — butI can’t believe what I’m reading right now. This is insane. I mean, OP battle aside, seeing just how crazy Naruto is going, it should be par for — but, damn.
Holy crapola, it’s just not letting me down. One fast scene after another and potential to take a breath, but in the end, it always leaves you breathlHoly crapola, it’s just not letting me down. One fast scene after another and potential to take a breath, but in the end, it always leaves you breathless.
Great story time. I can’t believe where this is going. Finally, it feels like Boruto is living up to the Narutos. The tragedy is just beginning....more
Well, no one complain that the storylines are all of one note. I’m loving the new direction this is taking. And loving the speed, as well. Amado is tuWell, no one complain that the storylines are all of one note. I’m loving the new direction this is taking. And loving the speed, as well. Amado is turning out to be one hell of an interesting character.
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