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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I watched the TV series before I read this. They are different enough that the book fully engaged me.
Mick Herron, author of the Slough House novels, is on his way to becoming one …
The one story featuring Jackson Lamb and Molly Doran make this a must-read for Slow Horses fans.
The great find for me were the stories with Zoe Boehm. I've now got a whole set of novels to track down and go through.
<spoiler>Mick Herron seems to prefer taking you somewhere that you weren't expecting to go</spoiler>
The one story featuring Jackson Lamb and Molly Doran make this a must-read for Slow Horses fans.
The great find for me were the stories with Zoe Boehm. I've now got a whole set of novels to track down and go through.
<spoiler>Mick Herron seems to prefer taking you somewhere that you weren't expecting to go</spoiler>
The astonishing sequel to Children of Time, the award-winning novel of humanity's battle for survival …
This is a terrific follow-up to Children of Time.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is great at writing characters that think differently from how you or I might think but who you can still grow attached to.
Like all of the other books of his I've read, In this one, he managed to find four or five major science fiction ideas I've never come across before.
And this book has octopuses!
This is a terrific follow-up to Children of Time.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is great at writing characters that think differently from how you or I might think but who you can still grow attached to.
Like all of the other books of his I've read, In this one, he managed to find four or five major science fiction ideas I've never come across before.
And this book has octopuses!
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on …
I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a rising academic's field studies of the high and low faeries on a remote Nordic island. Anyone pining for a follow-up to Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell will likely find this to be satisfying.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a rising academic's field studies of the high and low faeries on a remote Nordic island. Anyone pining for a follow-up to Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell will likely find this to be satisfying.
In a hotel room in Venice, where she's just completed a routine assassination, Villanelle receives …
This book widely diverges from the TV series, but it was still a good engaging read.
After an unfortunate accident, Handry is forced to wander a world he doesn't understand, searching for meaning. He soon discovers …
A race for survival among the stars... Humanity's last survivors escaped earth's ruins to find a new home. But when …
I think it's significant that this is the first book I have finished in a long time.
It's good, serious science fiction. With interesting thinking about where our algorithmically controlled social media future might be heading.
It's space war, but not like any space war story I've ever read. Definitely not "rah, rah, go humans!" stuff.
It's not one I'd recommend for every sci-fi fan. But if you're into Philip K. Dick or Harlan Ellison, this is worth a look.
I think it's significant that this is the first book I have finished in a long time.
It's good, serious science fiction. With interesting thinking about where our algorithmically controlled social media future might be heading.
It's space war, but not like any space war story I've ever read. Definitely not "rah, rah, go humans!" stuff.
It's not one I'd recommend for every sci-fi fan. But if you're into Philip K. Dick or Harlan Ellison, this is worth a look.
It seems to me that it's not so much that Mordak is decent and not evil, it's that he values effectiveness over being evil for the sake of being evil.
I might have a slight preference for Tom Holt's books written under the name "KJ Parker", but I still really enjoy spending time in the worlds Tom Holt has given us under his own name.
It seems to me that it's not so much that Mordak is decent and not evil, it's that he values effectiveness over being evil for the sake of being evil.
I might have a slight preference for Tom Holt's books written under the name "KJ Parker", but I still really enjoy spending time in the worlds Tom Holt has given us under his own name.
Ms McGuire's Wayward Children series is incredible.
After two volumes, I wouldn't rank the October Daye series so highly. But if you're into tormented private investigators connected to the magical world and you've read all the books and stories about Harry Dresden, it's not bad.
Ms McGuire's Wayward Children series is incredible.
After two volumes, I wouldn't rank the October Daye series so highly. But if you're into tormented private investigators connected to the magical world and you've read all the books and stories about Harry Dresden, it's not bad.
It's perhaps a hundred years in the future and E. A. Smithe is "a clone …
The narrator and protagonist of this book is a "re-clone". He is the clone with memory prints of a mystery writer. Now he is a "thing" with no legal rights who resides in a library and his continued existence depends on people consulting him or checking him out from time to time.
With this sort of world-building, I would have expected some sort of sweeping tale where the hero starts a revolution so that people like him get legal rights.
But no. He just does the best he can with the situations that come his way in the constraints he has.
His limited worldview reminded me in a good way of Martha Wells Murderbot.
The narrator and protagonist of this book is a "re-clone". He is the clone with memory prints of a mystery writer. Now he is a "thing" with no legal rights who resides in a library and his continued existence depends on people consulting him or checking him out from time to time.
With this sort of world-building, I would have expected some sort of sweeping tale where the hero starts a revolution so that people like him get legal rights.
But no. He just does the best he can with the situations that come his way in the constraints he has.
His limited worldview reminded me in a good way of Martha Wells Murderbot.
Ms McGuire's Wayward Children series is incredible.
After two volumes, I wouldn't rank the October Daye series so highly. But if you're into tormented private investigators connected to the magical world and you've read all the books and stories about Harry Dresden, it's not bad.
Ms McGuire's Wayward Children series is incredible.
After two volumes, I wouldn't rank the October Daye series so highly. But if you're into tormented private investigators connected to the magical world and you've read all the books and stories about Harry Dresden, it's not bad.
It's perhaps a hundred years in the future and E. A. Smithe is "a clone …
The narrator and protagonist of this book is a "re-clone". He is the clone with memory prints of a mystery writer. Now he is a "thing" with no legal rights who resides in a library and his continued existence depends on people consulting him or checking him out from time to time.
With this sort of world-building, I would have expected some sort of sweeping tale where the hero starts a revolution so that people like him get legal rights.
But no. He just does the best he can with the situations that come his way in the constraints he has.
His limited worldview reminded me in a good way of Martha Wells Murderbot.
The narrator and protagonist of this book is a "re-clone". He is the clone with memory prints of a mystery writer. Now he is a "thing" with no legal rights who resides in a library and his continued existence depends on people consulting him or checking him out from time to time.
With this sort of world-building, I would have expected some sort of sweeping tale where the hero starts a revolution so that people like him get legal rights.
But no. He just does the best he can with the situations that come his way in the constraints he has.
His limited worldview reminded me in a good way of Martha Wells Murderbot.
I got tricked on this. I borrowed it as an eBook from the library. Just when it got going it was over. Because it's a short story.
But if you've started reading Yoon Ha Lee, you have to read everything.
I got tricked on this. I borrowed it as an eBook from the library. Just when it got going it was over. Because it's a short story.
But if you've started reading Yoon Ha Lee, you have to read everything.
