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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Two years ago, the Monochrome inquiry was set up to investigate the British secret service. …
It's not obvious for a long time how this story connects with Slough House. Which makes sense because I get the feeling that Mick Herron likes to discomfort his readers.
To fix the world they first must break it further.
Humanity is a dying breed, …
It seems that Adrian Tchaikovsky has a goal to write a stand out novel in every subgenre of science fiction there is.
I really enjoyed this post-apocalyptic novel about a robot valet who just wants to find someone he can work for.
This next part might be a spoiler: I have a feeling that Tchaikovsky read Daniel H. Wilson's How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion and incorporated my favourite tip which was to disguise yourself as a defective robot.
Investigator Mossa and Scholar Pleiti reunite to solve a brand-new mystery in the follow-up to …
I think that Malka Older has done a really good job of creating characters who think a bit differently than we do because of the world and time they live in.
And a good job of giving us an interesting story.
It feels like she has room to give us more, and I'm looking forward to it.
Old spooks carry the memory of tradecraft in their bones, and when Solomon Dortmund sees …
A solid entry in the Slow Horses stable.
Tom Bettany, a British ex-spy crammed with dark skills, comes out of retirement when he …
If you haven't read any of the Slough House books, you could start here.
But it would probably be better to start with Slow Horses.
If you have read any of the Slough House books, you'll want to read all of them, and this more or less counts as one. So you have to read it and it will not let you down.
"London Rules might not be written down, but everyone knows rule one: Cover your arse. …
Not much to say except this completely maintains the excellence of the Slough House series. Bonus - we learn more about River.
An anonymous representative of the Devil, once a high-ranking Duke of Hell and now a …
Is it wrong that I prefer the KJ Parker books to the Tom Holt books even though it's the same author with a different name?
During this one, I clued in that Prosper's Demon, the narrator of Inside Man, is in the same world as Saevus Corvus and Orhan the engineer.
This is a fun read and it raises good questions for anyone who has ever pondered what it would mean for there to be an omniscient supreme being with a "plan" that is behind everything we experience.
Avoiding the lifestyle of his late gangster father by working as a clock repairman, Joe …
I don't know if this is steam punk, urban fantasy or what, but it's fun.
Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before …
Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always …
This is entirely as interesting and fun as all of Ann Leckie's previous books and it goes in directions that I'd never have expected from the others.
She is also gifted at writing aliens that are truly alien - just about incomprehensible to humans - and not just creatures that are basically like us but maybe a little angrier or something. Similarly her humans think differently from each other.
Is this fantasy or sci-fi? It has robots, space ships, genetic modifications and more, but it also has legends, swords with names, giants and, my favourite, talking animals.
Either way, it's lots of fun and I really enjoyed spending time in the Earth of 11,000 years from now.
And talking beavers were a big part of the story. I think they're my new favourite talking animal.
Apparently, Robin Sloan wants this to be the first novel in a series. If this happens, I'm in. But if it doesn't, this was still an entirely worthwhile read.
There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.
Meet Toadling. On the …
This was a delight with clichés turned upside-down and other little surprises along the way.
There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.
Meet Toadling. On the …
This was a delight with clichés turned upside-down and other little surprises along the way.
Not since Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine has such a …
Not since Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and Louise Erdrich's …
I like a story where the characters have all these links between them that they don't even know about. This is one of those stories. And one where the author makes you love his flawed characters in a very short time.
