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This is supposed to be magic meets sci-fi, but the sci-fi is pretty magical, really.

There are a lot of talking birds and even two talking cats. But don't get your hopes up, the birds and cats are really kind of marginal and they kind of leave it that you don't find out what happened to one of the cats.

Still it was a fun read.

This was a pretty good engaging read. More fun than the previous book [b:The Forbidden Library|17987501|The Forbidden Library (The Forbidden Library, #1)|Django Wexler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372045701s/17987501.jpg|25223481].

But I have two complaints:

1) There's a talking cat, but he's barely involved in the story.

2) There's obviously going to be another book in the series, but we might have to wait a long time and it's not like this is Wexler's only series that needs another volume.

Pretty good space opera sci-fi. It's got spaceships and space stations and the trillion people who live in space actually have different cultures.

Also, there's robots and post-human intelligence that is explored in an interesting way. If there's a sequel, I'll read it.

And I'm going back and reading the books that appear to be set in the same universe but earlier.

Spoiler: No talking cats or rodents even though you'd think the technology to create them would exist.

Pros: The story moves along, Alice is a likable heroine. And there is a talking cat.

Cons: This book does not really stop at an ending. I'm going to have to read the next book in the series, [b:The Mad Apprentice|22504700|The Mad Apprentice (The Forbidden Library, #2)|Django Wexler|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404963612s/22504700.jpg|41951491], very soon. And the talking cat is stereotypical. Hates water, that kind of thing.

Amusing short stories. I read this because I really like the TV comedy Man Seeking Woman which is apparently based on [b:The Last Girlfriend on Earth: And Other Love Stories|14781494|The Last Girlfriend on Earth And Other Love Stories|Simon Rich|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349014283s/14781494.jpg|20434559]. The TV show is particularly fun because it gets totally wacky with dating - when the protagonist goes to a destination wedding, the destination is hell. Literally.

These stories have some of that wackiness, but there's an underlying theme that young people today are shallow.

On the plus side, the first story features an articulate guinea pig.

Amusing short stories. I read this because I really like the TV comedy Man Seeking Woman which is apparently based on [b:The Last Girlfriend on Earth: And Other Love Stories|14781494|The Last Girlfriend on Earth And Other Love Stories|Simon Rich|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349014283s/14781494.jpg|20434559]. The TV show is particularly fun because it gets totally wacky with dating - when the protagonist goes to a destination wedding, the destination is hell. Literally.

These stories have some of that wackiness, but there's an underlying theme that young people today are shallow.

On the plus side, the first story features an articulate guinea pig.

Young people with weird abilities that they think of as super powers and not one of them can talk to cats or rodents.

Disappointing, but I'll read the next book in the series, just the same.

No talking cats or rodents. There are little buffalo looking things that eat anything and fart oxygen. The narrator is a stage hypnotists who uses his hypnotism to fight ESP and corner the market on buffalitoes.

It's light reading, so I read all the stories, but it wasn't the heavier science fiction or fantasy that I normally like.

This is a good sequel to [b:The Oversight|18453119|The Oversight (Oversight Trilogy, #1)|Charlie Fletcher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392338982s/18453119.jpg|26098034], which was a very good book.

I'd have given this one 5 stars, but unlike the first book, this one really needs the next book in the series and the next book is not out yet.

Who knows how long I'll have to wait.

Also, no talking cats.

There's a raven who makes noises that one of the characters understands, but it's not like we get to see the raven's psychological complexity.

This is a good sequel to [b:The Oversight|18453119|The Oversight (Oversight Trilogy, #1)|Charlie Fletcher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392338982s/18453119.jpg|26098034], which was a very good book.

I'd have given this one 5 stars, but unlike the first book, this one really needs the next book in the series and the next book is not out yet.

Who knows how long I'll have to wait.

Also, no talking cats.

There's a raven who makes noises that one of the characters understands, but it's not like we get to see the raven's psychological complexity.

A satisfying wrap-up to the series. And if it's not the wrap-up, I'm okay with that.

A satisfying wrap-up to the series. And if it's not the wrap-up, I'm okay with that.

Once or twice a year, I take a break from talking cats, spaceships and robots to read something that matters.

This book matters. Ta-Nehisi Coates is an important writer and a good writer. I feel like I understand the world better because I've read this book.

And I'm glad I follow the Atlantic so that I can read all his articles there when they come out.