Reviews and Comments

David Scrimshaw Locked account

DScrimshaw@bookwyrm.world

Joined 1 year, 9 months 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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Alejandro Zambra: My documents (2015)

"My Documents is the latest work from Alejandro Zambra, the award-winning Chilean writer whose first …

Review of 'My documents' on 'Storygraph'

These were well written stories, but they were bleak. And lately, I'm not in the mood for bleak stories.

reviewed Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4)

Martha Wells: Exit Strategy (EBook, 2018, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom)

Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help the only human who ever …

Review of 'Exit Strategy' on 'Storygraph'

When this book arrived on my e-reader from the library it was a real good news, bad news things.

Good news, because I'd get to spend more time with Murderbot. Who it is a delight to spend time with.

Bad news, because this maybe means I won't have any Murderbot time to look forward to.

Yoon Ha Lee: Revenant Gun

Review of 'Revenant Gun' on 'Storygraph'

This is a strong finish to the trilogy.

I especially like the "servicer" characters, who are basically sentient robots that the humans are barely aware of as thinking beings. I hope Yoon Ha Lee gives us more of them.

reviewed All Systems Red by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)

Martha Wells, Martha Wells: All Systems Red (EBook, 2017, Tordotcom)

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring …

Review of 'All Systems Red' on 'Storygraph'

This is a charming series and I loved spending time with Murderbot.

I think this might be a good series for people who want to try science fiction because they like things like Star Trek, but don't like most sci-fi they have tried.

The stories are pretty short. Not too short for a full story to be told, but too short for someone who wants to spend a lot of time with the delightful Murderbot. (Spoiler Alert: Murderbot isn't actually a murderer. It's more a life-saver.)

Yoon Ha Lee: Revenant Gun

Review of 'Revenant Gun' on 'Storygraph'

This is a strong finish to the trilogy.

I especially like the "servicer" characters, who are basically sentient robots that the humans are barely aware of as thinking beings. I hope Yoon Ha Lee gives us more of them.

Mark Lawrence: One Word Kill (2019, Amazon Publishing)

In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the …

Review of 'One Word Kill' on 'Storygraph'

Between this book and Stranger Things, I get the impression that my life would have gone better if Dungeons and Dragons had been a thing in the early 70s and I'd found a few people to play it with.

Max Gladstone: The Ruin of Angels (2017)

Review of 'The Ruin of Angels' on 'Storygraph'

If you're into this series, you'll read this book.

If you're thinking about getting into the series, I'd suggest starting with [b:Three Parts Dead|13539191|Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1)|Max Gladstone|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333049511s/13539191.jpg|19101555], which was the first book written although not the first by chronological setting.

And with this book, you can be confident that the series continues to be interesting and fun.

I always thought that if I ever wrote a book, I'd want to put every wacky idea I had into that book. So, I probably wouldn't be able to write a second book. Max Gladstone had all kinds of fresh, new wacky ideas for this book and this is the sixth book in the Craft Sequence. There is no sign that he is running out of these ideas and so I think he must have an amazing ability to generate them.

[Here's a funny thing: This listing is for "The …

Review of 'The Ruin of Angels' on 'Storygraph'

If you're into this series, you'll read this book.

If you're thinking about getting into the series, I'd suggest starting with [b:Three Parts Dead|13539191|Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence, #1)|Max Gladstone|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333049511s/13539191.jpg|19101555], which was the first book written although not the first by chronological setting.

And with this book, you can be confident that the series continues to be interesting and fun.

I always thought that if I ever wrote a book, I'd want to put every wacky idea I had into that book. So, I probably wouldn't be able to write a second book. Max Gladstone had all kinds of fresh, new wacky ideas for this book and this is the sixth book in the Craft Sequence. There is no sign that he is running out of these ideas and so I think he must have an amazing ability to generate them.

[Here's a funny thing: This listing is for "The …

Review of 'Taste of Marrow' on 'Storygraph'

This was a fun and quick read. We got to learn more about the characters from [b:River of Teeth|31445891|River of Teeth (River of Teeth, #1)|Sarah Gailey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484234556s/31445891.jpg|52146842] and see what happens next.

There could have been more of the hippos, but it's not like there are a whole bunch of other books out there where people are riding hippos as they get into scrapes in the wild west.

Kate Heartfield: Armed in Her Fashion (Paperback, ChiZine Publications)

Review of 'Armed in Her Fashion' on 'Storygraph'

An engaging read and not like any other fantasy novel I've read.

It's particularly refreshing that the main characters are all women except for the transgender man-at-arms.

It is worth reading the author's "Featured Notes and Highlights" on the book's Goodreads page. I read them after reading the book. I don't think there are any big spoilers if you want to read them first.

I like that I actually learned some things about medieval history.

Sarah Gailey: Taste of Marrow (River of Teeth) (2017)

Review of 'Taste of Marrow (River of Teeth)' on 'Storygraph'

This was a fun and quick read. We got to learn more about the characters from [b:River of Teeth|31445891|River of Teeth (River of Teeth, #1)|Sarah Gailey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484234556s/31445891.jpg|52146842] and see what happens next.

There could have been more of the hippos, but it's not like there are a whole bunch of other books out there where people are riding hippos as they get into scrapes in the wild west.