Reviews and Comments

If you love Tim Gautreaux stories, you'll love these.

And if you don't love Tim Gautreaux stories, you haven't read any yet.

It put me off that this collection has a few of his older stories that I've already read. But it turned out to be totally okay. Because most of the stories in this reasonably fat collection are new. And they're terrific.

And I was glad to read the old stories again.

I love how Gautreaux can put people together and have surprising things come out of their interactions.

Goodreads says I reviewed the Kindle edition of this book, but I cannot find that review.

I bet the review was brilliant, but I don't remember what insightful things I said.

Maybe that I hope Mr. Bennett finds a reason to go back to this world even though he seems to have wrapped up the story.

This is pretty much a must-read if you're a student of science fiction and you want to know where it's going with issues like gender and how humans organize themselves.

On the downside, I found it hard to keep all the names straight, I generally didn't know what was going on, and there was a lot more talking than action.

But Ada Palmer is extremely smart, knows a lot about history and it shows.

I'll be reserving [b:The Will to Battle|33517544|The Will to Battle (Terra Ignota, #3)|Ada Palmer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484321667s/33517544.jpg|54280306] when the library gets it.

This is pretty much a must-read if you're a student of science fiction and you want to know where it's going with issues like gender and how humans organize themselves.

On the downside, I found it hard to keep all the names straight, I generally didn't know what was going on, and there was a lot more talking than action.

But Ada Palmer is extremely smart, knows a lot about history and it shows.

I'll be reserving [b:The Will to Battle|33517544|The Will to Battle (Terra Ignota, #3)|Ada Palmer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484321667s/33517544.jpg|54280306] when the library gets it.

In [b:Aurora|23197269|Aurora|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436300570s/23197269.jpg|42742263], Kim Stanley Robinson made a strong case that Earth is likely to be the only home that ever works for humans.

In New York 2140, he shows gives us a group of likable characters showing us how humanity can keep surviving here even after global warming leads to a forty foot increase in sea level and New York City has become a new Venice.

I enjoyed this book. The likable characters and the basic optimism are probably why.

On the other hand, it's made me very insecure about how I'm investing my savings.

In [b:Aurora|23197269|Aurora|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1436300570s/23197269.jpg|42742263], Kim Stanley Robinson made a strong case that Earth is likely to be the only home that ever works for humans.

In New York 2140, he shows gives us a group of likable characters showing us how humanity can keep surviving here even after global warming leads to a forty foot increase in sea level and New York City has become a new Venice.

I enjoyed this book. The likable characters and the basic optimism are probably why.

On the other hand, it's made me very insecure about how I'm investing my savings.

This is a prequel to Every Heart a Doorway. So you know the broad strokes of how this is going to end. But the fine details are entirely worth learning.

If you have any interest in stories about children who find themselves in magical land, and if you're someone who has read from childhood, how could you not, this series can add a whole new depth to those stories for you.

I liked this even more than I liked the first book in the series, [b:The Mechanical|20980667|The Mechanical (The Alchemy Wars, #1)|Ian Tregillis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408923929s/20980667.jpg|40357895]. There's no talking cats, but there is a robot who has more moral fiber than any of the humans. There is also an evil robot. So something for everyone.

If you've read all the [book:The Magicians|6101718] books, which you should if you had any affection for the Narnia books, you might want more Lev Grossman.

This one moves along and the characters are interesting. But if you want to feel like you know what's going on when a story ends, I think you have to be smarter than me.

I don't know if this really qualifies as fantasy.

If you're into Charles Stross and his Family Trade books you'll read this and nothing I can say will stop you.

Not that I would want to.

If you're into alternate universe stories and don't mind being reminded how authoritarian and irrational our reality is becoming, the Family Trade series is a good one.

This book is frustrating because it ends just when the story gets really interesting. But what are you going to do? Wait three years until they all get published? Maybe longer?

If you're into Charles Stross and his Family Trade books you'll read this and nothing I can say will stop you.

Not that I would want to.

If you're into alternate universe stories and don't mind being reminded how authoritarian and irrational our reality is becoming, the Family Trade series is a good one.

This book is frustrating because it ends just when the story gets really interesting. But what are you going to do? Wait three years until they all get published? Maybe longer?

This has some good stories. Some by must read authors. It also has stories that I skimmed over because I wasn't into them.

I often do not like books where I don't know what's going on, but I completely liked this book and the whole series.

I suspect the difference is that the main character, Rudi, also never knew what was going on. The series is over and I don't think either of us still know what was going on.

I figure before long, I'll read the trilogy over again.

Guess what! I just did some research for you and I discovered that he plans to write a book called Europe at Dawn! The series is not over!

As a side bonus - these books make me want to visit eastern Europe - places like Prague and Warsaw. And to pay more attention to my cooking.

This is #7 about Inspector Gamache. It's terrific and I'll keep reading these books as long as Ms Penny writes them.

But I do have a complaint about this one. Inspector Gamache and his crack team seem to know nothing about Alcoholics Anonymous at the beginning of this story. I've never been a member, but I've watched enough TV shows and read enough books to recognize a line from the serenity prayer and to know something about the steps a recovering alcoholic is supposed to take.

I'm also a little surprised that they had to look at microfiche for 20 year old articles at La Presse, but maybe that's accurate.