This is a space opera with a lighthearted comedy tone. An Earth spaceship heading outward, with most of the crew in cold sleep, encounters an alien obThis is a space opera with a lighthearted comedy tone. An Earth spaceship heading outward, with most of the crew in cold sleep, encounters an alien object and takes it aboard. This changes the plans. They have quantum communications with Earth, so crews on the ship and on Earth try to figure out together what the thing is and all the implications.
Sounds like a book I would like, but no. I made it almost halfway through and never got very interested. I was unable to develop any empathy with the characters, and the aliens they were going to meet didn't look much better. The only character I found at all interesting was the ship itself, which appeared to have started developing self-awareness. But I decided to go on to other books that did hold my interest.
I am loving this series. In this book, Ropa starts what she thought was a paid apprenticeship in magic, only to find out that it's an unpaid internshiI am loving this series. In this book, Ropa starts what she thought was a paid apprenticeship in magic, only to find out that it's an unpaid internship. So she needs some side jobs to support her grandmother and sister, though that's not allowed. Meanwhile, her friend Priya is working at the magical hospital of the book title. A boy has been brought it who's not responsive and obviously has some kind of magical ailment. Priya and Ropa are trying to learn enough about it to save his life, and they have to work fast. Jomo is of course included. And of course there are secret societies and supernatural bad guys. There are also more hints about the grandmother's past as a prominent magician, or something, and I look forward to learning more about that and other ongoing subplots in the next book....more
I loved this book! It's hard to believe it's a first novel, as it pulls together a number of characters and subplots gradually and perfectly. It's defI loved this book! It's hard to believe it's a first novel, as it pulls together a number of characters and subplots gradually and perfectly. It's definitely not hard science fiction; there are aliens above and on Earth, but it's as much about people and relationships. My library had it in the fiction section, not SF.
Alien ships appear and hover over a bunch of cities for a few days, then they leave, seemingly without doing anything. But it soon becomes obvious to the reader that they've done something to a lot of cats, who begin speaking telepathically and have an agenda about places to go.
We see the story through three sets of characters. Blaine and his wife and their two kids are a suburban family, though Anne, "the wife," has way more energy than most people and eats massive amounts, favoring bacon and things in nonrecyclable plastics. She works long hours as a lawyer and she bakes lots of food for the neighbors. Heather is a surly teen who resents her mother and stepfather, who is rich from winning at Jeopardy and developing that into a show biz career. She's starting to be more friendly with her too-perfect stepbrother, and may be getting to the age where she matures enough to drop her resentments. Oliver is in a horrendous car accident at the beginning of the book, and has been basically catatonic for a couple of decades, but when the aliens come, he starts to wake up. There are also viewpoints of several cats who attach themselves to these people.
The writing is light and funny, while showing people as whole complicated individuals with all kinds of emotions. The actual situation with the aliens and the main characters is revealed slowly throughout the book. The cats are excellent characters too, in their own curmudgeonly ways.
In a magical world, Joana is starting her first job, which has to do with creating potions. She's excited, and making some great new friends, but...heIn a magical world, Joana is starting her first job, which has to do with creating potions. She's excited, and making some great new friends, but...her boss is terse and dismissive, her roommate expects the impossible of her (wait, why can't people just use magic to clean up?), and her new boyfriend is not very supportive.
This is all a setup for the nonfiction subject of how to deal with your emotions. Joana goes through a bunch of toxic positivity, where she feels guilty for not being able to be happy all the time. Then she gets a new counselor who helps with "taming dragons," where the dragons are her emotions (this is a magic world, so they manifest literally, as wild-colored splotches). The message is that you have to process your negative emotions, and processing them includes understanding them and sometimes speaking up, setting boundaries, etc. It's an excellent message for young and older people, and the magical world framework makes the book fun to read....more
I liked this, but there was something subtle about each story that bothered me. Maybe it was meanness? Especially in the last story, where a young womI liked this, but there was something subtle about each story that bothered me. Maybe it was meanness? Especially in the last story, where a young woman who works in an office, apparently competent, is drawn as if she's a small child and apparently falls for a Nigerian prince scam. Come to think of it, female representation in all the stories was...not quite right....more
This is beautiful and intriguing. A girl shows up at a small desert town in a sandstorm. She's injured, and the townspeople take care of her. Then sheThis is beautiful and intriguing. A girl shows up at a small desert town in a sandstorm. She's injured, and the townspeople take care of her. Then she helps them out with a difficult situation and then leaves. It's apparently a dystopian (or not) future, or an alternate world, or maybe a different planet? There's just not enough to it, and apparently no sequel or prequel is in sight - if one happens. I would definitely read it. Oh, and what does the title mean?...more
This book is delightful! It's set in an alternate Edinburgh, where there is magic, and which is also dystopian. Climate change has caused large areas This book is delightful! It's set in an alternate Edinburgh, where there is magic, and which is also dystopian. Climate change has caused large areas to be underwater; housing and legitimate jobs are less available; and social safety nets, including free health care, don't exist anymore.
Ropa is a 14-year-old girl who can see and talk with ghosts, Her family is her grandmother (obviously a powerful magic user, apparently more powerful than Ropa knows) and her little sister. They live hand-to-mouth in a caravan in a poor area of town. Ropa has dropped out of school, though she was the smartest kid there, and continues to learn through independent reading. So her conversation is a mix of alley slang and things she's read. She tries to earn enough for her family to survive by talking to ghosts; the ghost's living family pays to get their messages, or sometimes the ghost has some way to pay.
Ropa's close friend Jomo has a new job. He doesn't want to talk about it, but eventually he takes Ropa there, and it's the titular library, and it's strictly for magic users - secret society territory. From there, things happen. Ropa learns more about magic, gets in a lot of trouble, and manages to do some good and to mature a bit.
Ropa's family is Shona from Zimbabwe, and I think Jomo's is too, and she makes a new friend named Priya, who is in a wheelchair. So the main characters are non-white, with disability representation too. That's all low-key; the people are who they are. Ropa's way of understanding ghosts includes her mbira (a Shona musical instrument).
This first book in the series pulls together all the plot elements, but there's plenty that I still want to find out. What happened to Ropa's parents? What are her grandmother's powers? Her sister is also very smart, even if she's just seven, and I think she's also going to have some major magical talents. Oh, and Ropa is finding that if she studies magic, from books in the secret library of course, she can learn a lot more. I like it that magic is treated like a science. There are so many places the series can go -and has, as there are already three more books, all of which I will be reading soon....more
How nice to have a short story to read while waiting for the next Lady Astronaut book. It's short, but it's a good one. Gay astronauts in 1960, yay! How nice to have a short story to read while waiting for the next Lady Astronaut book. It's short, but it's a good one. Gay astronauts in 1960, yay! ...more
It's been a good 15 years since I read (and loved) the four earlier books, so I hoped I'd remember enough to read this. I did remember Lila and Zal anIt's been a good 15 years since I read (and loved) the four earlier books, so I hoped I'd remember enough to read this. I did remember Lila and Zal and Teazle, but not a lot more. So I was confused at times. Some of that was that Robson's writing style is so sophisticated and complex that you have to pay good attention. I tend to skim; could not do that here. Then again, there were several places where the writing seemed simpler but awkward. I wondered what was happening with that.
The book began with conversations between the three characters, which filled in some background. Once things started happening, I was able to get into it and understand most of what was going on. There was a bunch of action, some villains/concepts/playing-with-fire stuff that threatened to destroy everything, and our good-ish heroes working on salvaging as much as possible. I wish I'd read this book right after the others. I love Robson's writing, and will read her books whenever I can....more
One of the most stellar lineups of authors I've ever see. Six are absolute favorites of mine, and I already liked most of the rest too.
That said, therOne of the most stellar lineups of authors I've ever see. Six are absolute favorites of mine, and I already liked most of the rest too.
That said, there was a strange tendency to tell, in great detail, rather than show. Even some of my favorite writers included what seemed to me too high a percentage of exposition in their stories. This is partly because of the theme, which is a solar system that humans have expanded into. I did like that theme, though, and almost all the stories....more
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