Thomas
Reading this book, I felt the morbid fascination of witnessing a bad car accident. Constantly horrified, I could not look away. A brilliantly executed and surgical evisceration of the tempting rationalizations we employ to avoid noticing our privilege, combined with a compelling overview of the many ways that the publishing industry tokenizes and essentializes marginalized voices (though the lesson applies more broadly), all while avoiding preachiness. This book just lays it all out for you to see and attempt to digest.
A caper that involves metallurgy and chemistry? And EVA safety protocols? On the moon? Sounds like it could be dry reading, right? Wrong! Weir successfully uses the high stakes involved to make scenes that revolve around welding gripping reading. Compelling characters that science their way through what could otherwise be a Raymond Chandler novel make this book and helped me not mind too much the time or two when I saw what was coming a little too easily. Ymmv.
I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could. This is a solid entry in the Star Wars universe. My own knowledge of same comes entirely from movies, television, and games (with some comics back in the day), so I can't compare it to other novels. It's an entertaining story and I enjoyed the approach to what actually happens after the third movie (sixth episode, whatever). The cast of characters are interesting and believable. I can't say I'm hooked enough to bump a bunch of other things I want to read off my list for the rest of the series, but someday, maybe?
Eddo-Lodge's book came in a lot of lists in the spring of 2020 as the pandemic raged and George Floyd's killing sparked demonstrations and organizing around the world for the Black Lives Matter movement. The book is written by a Black British feminist and as such has interesting historical details about race relations in the UK that were new to me in the specifics if not the contours, which mirror those in the US to a remarkable degree. This sets up chapters about systemic racism, white supremacy and white nationalism. The author recounts some of the “good trouble” she's gotten into by confronting white feminism in the UK, as well as the intersections between race gender and class in the process of gentrification. She wraps up with some hopeful reflections on the changes in public discourse on race, though it is an understandably reserved hopefulness. Well-written and clear, with examples and reflections from her own experience that illustrate the analysis, this is a book that earns it's praises.
A satisfying conclusion to the story begun in Path of Darkness. This installment manages to up the stakes while leaving the reader guessing about where we'll end up. I enjoyed the character development, especially in terms of the relationships between the humans and angels (there's a sentence I never pictured myself writing). If you enjoy the supernatural and/or action-packed fantasy, I think you'll like this book.
I thought this book was OK but not great. I almost stopped reading during the prolog when I encountered terrible grammar. I experienced some buyer's remorse. but it was a sword and laser pick so I plowed on. it got somewhat better, grammatically. the story left me shaking my head. the idea that Then Fellhorn is a super guild master, feared by all, which is emphasized over and over (enough already, we get it), isn't consistent with the number of times he screws up. I was left with the impression that the screw-ups were simply required for the plot and so had to be. but I just could not reconcile that with the fearsome reputation he was supposed to have not just for ruthlessness but for competent ruthlessness. there is more that doesn't add up for me in the book but that seemed the most glaring to me. I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series.
I read the hell out of this book, just like the first one. I took every opportunity I could to squeeze in a little reading time, because this was a book, like the first, that had me constantly wondering and caring what happens next. Rothfuss does a great job of hinting at what's coming while never quite allowing us to see the whole picture. For example, in this entry, we meet Meluan who Kvothe helps his patron court. There are ample clues to tell us that she is actually Kvothe's aunt, but this isn't revealed in this book, so we are left wondering just how this will come around to influence the story in the last volume, which I am now impatiently waiting for. Sigh.
Good hard SF novel, with a lot of tense drama. The writing is a bit repetitious, though. And, if you are bothered by everyday racism (constantly being reminded that black characters are black, for example), you will be annoyed reading the book. If you're able to filter that sort of thing out, a decent enough read.
To say the least, gripping. I finished it (in three days) wanting more and wondering where Collins might be taking Katniss in the rest of the series. I can see why B&N allow the first in a series to be loaned out (or is it more than the first? So far I've only seen book #1's): it'll keep ‘em buying the rest of the series, at least in this case.
Collins ably evokes the horror of placing young people in violent situations. Weaving in a variety of approaches to preparing the young to kill or be killed, she ultimately finds them all wanting. Reading Collins' prose I found myself rooting for the protagonist and constantly checking myself, saying of course only in context. A horrifying and somehow still endearing story. Quite an achievement.
