Reviews and Comments

David Scrimshaw Locked account

DScrimshaw@bookwyrm.world

Joined 1 year, 1 month 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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Adrian Tchaikovsky: Shroud (2025, Tor)

Tchaikovsky does it again

Adrian Tchaikovsky has an amazing gift.

He keeps taking on different fantasy and science fiction styles and tropes and then creating something fresh and wonderful.

Shroud was gripping from start to finish. It is a new classic in the theme of surviving an impossible planet and what life is like when the corporations are in charge.

If he gives us more set in this universe, I'll be grateful. But I'll be similarly grateful if he adds to any more of his stories, and I've learned to trust that whatever he does will be terrific.

Heather Fawcett: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands (2024, Ballantine)

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must …

An excellent sequel

No rating

Content warning Not much of a spoiler really...

Paddy Scott: The Union of Smokers (Invisible Publishing)

Longlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour Huckleberry Finn meets The Catcher in …

Try reading this without reading the description or any reviews - Like I did

When this book appeared in Libby, I had no memory of why I had reserved it. But I was ready for a new book and started. Within pages, I was hooked.

I just adored the book and the narrator, Kaspar.

I logged in to give it a 5-star rating and that's when I read in the description that it's the last day of Kaspar's life. Why? Sure he's in dire shape at the end of the book, and because he's the narrator, I guess he couldn't say "and then I died." But still. If it's only in the blurb describing the book is that what really happened?

Anyway, I'm not happy that he apparently died and there won't be a sequel and adorable Kaspar didn't get to grow up. But I can't take off even half a star for it. The book is just too good.

Sebastien de Castell: The Malevolent Seven (2023, Quercus, Jo Fletcher Books)

'Seven powerful mages want to make the world a better place. We're going to kill …

Humour with a hard edge

The title alone meant I had to give this a try and I'm really glad I did.

The Malevolent Seven was gripping and fun. With a completely unique system of magic for us fantasy nerds.

And It looks like the sequel, The Malevolent Eight, will drop in two days!

K. J. Parker: Saevus Corax Captures the Castle (2023, Orbit)

Saevus Corax is a hero for all times

I was really excited when this book came in for me, and it did not let me down.

I love a guy like Saevus who accomplishes his goals with minimal effort, but makes a big effort when that's what's needed.

I'm eager to read the next book in the Saevus Corax series. I also hope that someone out there puts something together to tell us how all of these K.J. Parker books fit together.

reviewed Menewood by Nicola Griffith (The Hild Sequence, #2)

Nicola Griffith: Menewood (2023, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

In the much anticipated sequel to Hild, Nicola Griffith’s Menewood transports readers back to …

A worthy sequel

The wait for this was worth it. It almost overwhelms me to think of the work Nicole Griffith must have done to create this huge story.

Reading Menewood made me feel like I was living in 632 AD.

In her endnotes, Griffith talked about how she dealt with the all the complicated and hard to pronounce names. She really did her best. What worked for me was to just let the names wash over me. The ones that mattered eventually stuck in my brain.

Watching Hild build up her community made me want to play one of those simulation games where you start with a hut and build it into a functional village.

Garth Nix: Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz: Three Adventures (Nix Entertainment Pty Ltd)

One of my favourite reads of the pandemic

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.

A. Deborah Baker: Over the Woodward Wall (2020, Tor.com)

Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes …

A. Deboarah Baker = Seanan McGuire

A fun new story - but no wonder when Seanan McGuire is actually the author.

McGuire has a real talent for crafting believable characters who don't think like each other.

The Improbable Road is a great invention and the friends our two Earth children meet are fascinating.