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David Scrimshaw Locked account

DScrimshaw@bookwyrm.world

Joined 2 months, 2 weeks ago

An avid sci-fi and fantasy reader who sometimes does historical fiction or even mainstream.

You might notice that most of my reviews are 5 stars. That's because if I start reading a book that doesn't engage me, I stop reading it. Life is too short. I've realized that it's not fair to review a book I haven't read and nobody really needs to hear why I didn't get into a book especially when they might like it.

My goals with reviews are to be brief and give other potential readers an idea of why they might like the book. I leave it to the marketing people and other reviewers to describe the plots.

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David Scrimshaw's books

Shannon Chakraborty: The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi (2023, HarperCollins Publishers) 5 stars

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the …

Rollicking good fun and more!

5 stars

I felt myself getting more and more excited as I read this book.

Here are some things I particularly liked: - Pirates! (need I say more) - Fantasy that doesn't take place in medieval Europe, but instead in a part of the world and in a time that we could all benefit from learning more about - An old team gets brought together - Problems get solved with cleverness and creativity not just raw power and violence - Magic and supernatural beings that are based in different roots than I am used to - A variety of types of people that reflect the varieties that exist

According to Wikipedia, this is the first volume of a trilogy. I would be entirely happy if instead it turns into a long-running series.

Vajra Chandrasekera: The Saint of Bright Doors (Hardcover, 2023, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. …

An Asian urban fantasy

5 stars

I'm not surprised that this won the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2023 and was nominated for the 2024 Hugo (Except that they're in different years).

I particularly enjoyed seeing how a Sri Lankan has imagined a world that is different from ours.

I see that Chandrasekera's second novel, Rakesfall, is out and it's not a sequel to this one, but I won't be surprised if there is a followup to The Saint of Bright Doors and I'll be eager to read it.

Seanan McGuire: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known (Hardcover, Tordotcom) 5 stars

Dinosaurs and portals, and a girl who can find both in the latest book in …

A series that keeps on giving

5 stars

When Seanan McGuire started this series, I was blown away that she had the brilliant idea of addressing what happens to the children who come back to Earth after being in magical worlds. And blown away by how well she did it.

Now she is nine books in and still finding new and interesting stories for us.

Garth Nix: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz (2023, HarperCollins Publishers) 4 stars

New York Times bestselling author Garth Nix’s exciting adult debut: a new collection including all …

One of my favourite reads of the pandemic

5 stars

Holy cow! This is good!

I've liked all the other Garth Nix books I've read, but this was definitely my favourite.

I don't know how Nix does it, but he has a way of making me love his characters in the first few paragraphs. Here he accomplished this even when the character was a magical puppet.

Adrian Tchaikovsky: City of Last Chances (2022, Head of Zeus) 4 stars

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with …

The start of a fabulous series

5 stars

Adrian Tchaikovsky writes such different stories and in so many genres, that you probably should not assume that just because you've loved other things he's written, you'll love this.

But if you like a fantasy world with compelling characters and a variety of magical systems that are internally consistent but different from each other and cogent observations about bureaucracy and power, you will like this.

The second book, House of Open Wounds is out. The third, Days of Shattered Faith, is on pre-order right now. It would be all right with me if there are many, many more.

Madeline Ashby: Glass Houses (2024, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 5 stars

Join a stranded start-up team led by a terrifyingly realistic charismatic billionaire, a deserted tropical …

If Glass Onion had been realistic...

5 stars

This was a fast read but I think it is going to haunt me for a long time with its forecast of where we are heading with the ultra-rich, techbros and surveillance capitalism.

Adrian Tchaikovsky: Service Model (2024, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

To fix the world they first must break it further.

Humanity is a dying breed, …

A "satire" that feels more every day like something that could happen

5 stars

It seems that Adrian Tchaikovsky has a goal to write a stand out novel in every subgenre of science fiction there is.

I really enjoyed this post-apocalyptic novel about a robot valet who just wants to find someone he can work for.

This next part might be a spoiler: I have a feeling that Tchaikovsky read Daniel H. Wilson's How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion and incorporated my favourite tip which was to disguise yourself as a defective robot.

Malka Older: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles (Tordotcom) 4 stars

Investigator Mossa and Scholar Pleiti reunite to solve a brand-new mystery in the follow-up to …

A fine second outing

5 stars

I think that Malka Older has done a really good job of creating characters who think a bit differently than we do because of the world and time they live in.

And a good job of giving us an interesting story.

It feels like she has room to give us more, and I'm looking forward to it.