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The good:
- a brand new magical world to explore
- with flying airships
- that are crewed like naval ships in the Napoleonic wars

And if that's not enough:
- a major point-of-view character is a talking cat!

The bad:
- it's the first book in a series, who knows how long before the next volume comes out?
- if Butcher is writing these books, he's not writing about Harry Dresden.

Now that Ancillary Mercy is out, it's time to read this whole series starting with Ancillary Justice if you haven't.

This is a science fiction universe that is different from any of the others out there and it's exciting and fun.

From what I see in a Reddit "Ask me Anything" with Ann Leckie, this trilogy may be done but she is not finished with the Radch universe. That is good news.

Now that Ancillary Mercy is out, it's time to read this whole series starting with Ancillary Justice if you haven't.

This is a science fiction universe that is different from any of the others out there and it's exciting and fun.

From what I see in a Reddit "Ask me Anything" with Ann Leckie, this trilogy may be done but she is not finished with the Radch universe. That is good news.

I really enjoy Charles Stross Laundry series where horrific monsters meet horrific bureaucracy.

This one culminates at the Last Night at the Proms - an added bonus for a brass band player like me.

I do have to report that the cat in this story does not talk. I'm not sure why not because Mr. Stross can definitely write good talking cat stories. It seems like he just doesn't want to. Kind of like his dumb reasons for not writing a sequel to Iron Sunrise.

Someone wants Marco, the talking bird, to go to bed. But Marco has too much to do. Like paint. And discover new fish. Maybe to go underwater and paint fish. And invent new things. Like vehicles on stilts. And then talk about it all on TV. And go into outer space.

Even though this book did not have a talking rodent, I identified with Marco's desire to get on with his projects and not go to bed.

And of course, it is full of Roz Chast illustrations.

This is a fine sequel to Dirty Jobs.

Christopher Moore's writing is almost always fun.

If you want gore and darkness in your urban fantasy, this is not for you. But if you like quirky characters with crisp dialague, it is for you.

This is a fantasy novel that has virtually no magic for most of the book. Instead it's more like one of those circa 1800s war novels where Sharpe is out fighting in the colonies.

As it happens, I love that sort of novel and thoroughly enjoyed this one. I'm going to reserve the next volume in this series right now even though there are indications that it will be more magic focused.

I love Roz Chast and her cartoons, but I cannot give this book 5 stars.

Marco is a talking bird who goes to his first day of school. The day had ups and downs. From what I remember of kindergarten back in 1965, some of it seems to be similar - nap time? what self-respecting 5-year-old takes naps when there is so much to do.

For Marco, he would rather get started on his plan to get to the moon.

So here is why I can't give 5 stars:

(1) Marco is a talking bird. Which is okay. But I just prefer talking rodents. I don't know why, but I do.

(2) [Spoiler warning] Marco does not get to the moon. This may be realistic and it could be that the kids who read this need to know that while they might meet other kids in kindergarten who will help them make enormous block towers, they won't be reaching the moon.

The message is clear. I should write a story about a talking rat who goes into outer space.

I love Roz Chast and her cartoons, but I cannot give this book 5 stars.

Marco is a talking bird who goes to his first day of school. The day had ups and downs. From what I remember of kindergarten back in 1965, some of it seems to be similar - nap time? what self-respecting 5-year-old takes naps when there is so much to do.

For Marco, he would rather get started on his plan to get to the moon.

So here is why I can't give 5 stars:

(1) Marco is a talking bird. Which is okay. But I just prefer talking rodents. I don't know why, but I do.

(2) [Spoiler warning] Marco does not get to the moon. This may be realistic and it could be that the kids who read this need to know that while they might meet other kids in kindergarten who will help them make enormous block towers, they won't be reaching the moon.

The message is clear. I should write a story about a talking rat who goes into outer space.

I read this book because I liked the stories about the heroine Matt Black in Hoffman's Permeable Borders.

I wouldn't say I loved this book, but I definitely want to read more stories about the magical Matt and her witch friend Edmund.

Arthur gets drafted.

Here's something I like about this series compared to Harry Potter: As Harry Potter got older, he became more of a jerk and more petulant about fighting the bad guys.

Arthur might be getting tougher, but he's taking on his responsibility and if anything becoming more considerate of the people around him.

[Possible spoiler: No talking rats in this book, but there are hints they'll show up again.]

Arthur gets drafted.

Here's something I like about this series compared to Harry Potter: As Harry Potter got older, he became more of a jerk and more petulant about fighting the bad guys.

Arthur might be getting tougher, but he's taking on his responsibility and if anything becoming more considerate of the people around him.

[Possible spoiler: No talking rats in this book, but there are hints they'll show up again.]

Roz Chast is one of my favourite cartoonists. I've snipped some of her pages from old New Yorkers and hung them on my wall. This book has a mixture of cartoons and prose that tells a story that is sad and touching and sometimes funny. Even if I had my own copy, I wouldn't be cutting out pages to put on the wall.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this series. Each book has Arthur up against a different set of bad guys and each time the bad guys are very different.

I'm still reminded of the Wizard of Oz series with this series, and still prefer Nix's magica and weirdness as well as the characters.

As a naval action buff, this novel could have given me more, but it had talking rats and I always love a story with talking rats.

The only problem with this book is that it is a collection of short stories and not a bookshelf of novels.

Garth Nix has a gift for creating characters that you really care about with just a few sentences.

I'm afraid the only thing stopping me from a complete Garth Nix binge is the time it takes for his books to become available at the library.