Louise Löwenspets
I originally bought this anthology to read Tanglefoot by [a:Cherie Priest 221253 Cherie Priest https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1263959704p2/221253.jpg]. That story was as good as I expect from her. The other stories are quite a mixed bag though. I realised that i really don't appreciate some authors usage of first person narrative.My favourite stories (not counting Tanglefoot) were A serpent in the gears (Margaret Ronald), Zeppelin City (Michael Swanwick & Eileen Gunn), Smoke city (Christopher Barzak) and Clockwork Fairies (Cat Rambo).Even though the last one was a little too clever at times trying to get as many hints to our timeline as possible.
A collection of short stories mostly set in mundane worlds but with greater or smaller hints of the fantastic. The stories are all pretty amazing and some makes you think about how our world works (or doesn't work as it may be).Some of the worlds the stories are set in I would like to know more about. And some we do get to know more about. Two of the stories Gustaf Frödings hemliga liv and Skymningssång have sequels (or maybe side-quels?) that lets the reader know more about those stories and settings.The stories or worlds besides those that I feel I would like to know more about is the authoritarian world of Författardrömmar with its very powerful publishers. And who (or what) exactly is running the office in Inbjudningskortet? Those two stories I would certainly like to know more about with more stories set in those worlds.Kretsloppets vedermödor got me thinking about [b:Hyperion 77566 Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1) Dan Simmons https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1332885131s/77566.jpg 1383900] and how the cruciform gets used in later books in that series, even though the story here isn't quite like that and we don't get to follow the story that far.In these seventeen stories we meet all kinds of fantastical creatures. Dragons, zombies, vampires, people who can manipulate time, some sort of succubus, trolls, demons, Death, oh, and I'm pretty sure Mr. Morden from Babylon 5 makes an appearance asking his: What do you want?All in all I think these stories are as I said pretty amazing and worth a read. I had a very good time reading them and every time I read a title before starting a new story I was wondering what kind of fantastical world I would be stepping in to this time. And I was never disappointed.
Almost more philosophy than science fiction or fantasy in a way. But hey, I liked it.
It is a book that makes you think about what you are reading. If you know a little bit of mythology I think you get more of the goings on. Or maybe not. It's that kind of book.
Set in the same universe as [b:The Burning Dark 17910115 The Burning Dark Adam Christopher https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1373073645s/17910115.jpg 25095570]. We follow a group of marines on a search and rescue mission on a warworld. Turns out there might be more to their orders than meets the eye...I really appreciated another look in to the Human-Spider wars. And nothing is black and white...
None of the characters are likeable, the first 10% was a rehash of the last book, the first 40% could have been severely shortened (nothing happens!) and when the story finally picks up it really isn't that interesting since I don't care about any of the really annoying characters!
And I really wanted to love this series! I love the whole Irish/Gaelic mythology bit which is the only reason it got two stars from me.
Better than book two, even if it suffers from some of the same deficits. It repeats a lot of the ending of book two - the first 10-20% is more or less the last 10% of book two with some added insight into what the characters were thinking. Why not put that in the previous book instead? And if you want to do a recap of what has happened so far, it must be possible to get it done in a less padded way.
You would also think that the third book (that concludes what has been the major storyline) would get to the main story a little earlier than about 40% in.
There are a couple of characters in this book that are approaching likeable - Jacko and Aí. I was actually rooting for them to survive - as opposed to most of the other characters where it really didn't matter to me if they survived or not. Pretty bad when you feel like that about the main character in a book where they are supposed to be liked... It felt like most of the characters in these books were stupid and selfish and rarely learned from their mistakes.
Oh, and the evil guys are really EVIL in all their evilness. Just in case you missed that they were EVIL it does get repeated a lot throughout the series. They are EVIL. Like, really.
I believe that the (so far) three books of this series could have been edited down to one long-ish or two shorter books since I really don't feel like there really is enough story for three books.
But that's just my opinion - I understand that there are people who really like this series as is. So maybe I am missing something.
I am not a fan of horror stories which is why my short review of this book is: This is a horrible, horrible book that I can't believe I actually read - but in a good way.
The story is in a way a slow build suspension story about a couple of months in a small town in Georgia in 1957. In another way it is a straight up horror story about unkillable evil with intervals that makes you believe that what the people of Gaither experienced maybe actually exists in the real world.
As I said a horrible, horrible book...
The thing about the story that made me keep on reading was actually the same thing that made me feel that it was a horrible book for me, the intervals.
These are snippets from other works that supports the story by sounding as if they are from the real world. I think that they are fictional, but I don't know that they are. Which makes the story more horrifying by making it seem more real.
The fact that I actually read the book and gave it four stars is to me a testament to the fact that it is a good book that is worth the read. I really like this book which I wouldn't have thought since it is in the horror genre.
But I won't be reading it again - and I will never watch a movie in a theater called ShadowShow.
For anyone who likes etymology and has an interest in London this is an excellent book.
I found it to be really interesting. And while I know and am aware of the fact that many places that are now in London proper haven't always been it became much more obvious when I learned the origin of the names and how they definitely couldn't be considered names that would have originated in a city.
I really liked this book.
A few of the stories left me with a feeling of ‘meh' but for the most part I really liked these stories.
Several of them were pure fluff, a few had a bit more fodder for thought.
This is a strange mix of [b:Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch 12067 Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch Terry Pratchett https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392528568s/12067.jpg 4110990], The Truman Show and [b:Redshirts 13055592 Redshirts John Scalzi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg 18130445]. And when I say strange I mean strange, but in a really good and fun way.People who can't laugh at Christianity or [a:L. Ron Hubbard 33503 L. Ron Hubbard https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1195072218p2/33503.jpg] should probably steer clear though.
If you like puns you are going to love this one! I think all of them are in here somewhere.
Fascinerande bok om bluffmakare genom tiderna. Boken beskriver både bluffar gjorda för egen vinning och bluffar för att hjälpa andra.
En intressant bok, men frågan jag ställer mig är om det funnits en språklig redaktör för den här boken. Stavfel, saknade negationer, felaktiga århundraden (vid i alla fall två ställen anges årtal på 1900-talet som ska vara på 1800-talet), grammatiska fel, svårigheter att använda hans/hennes samt sina korrekt och ett flertal luddiga meningar som jag behövde läsa om flera gånger för att få klart för mig vad författaren menade.
En följdfråga jag ställde mig var att om nu den språkliga delen var så dåligt kontrollerad hur står det då till med faktadelen? Har det funnits någon faktaredaktör?
Boken innehåller inte heller någon litteraturlista vilket gör att jag som läsare inte på ett enkelt sätt kan fördjupa mig i något av de ämnen/upptäckter som presenteras i boken.
A few good stories, one great and a lot of not good ones including at least one that I find hard to believe was actually written in the 21st century.
I knew some things about Karl Bartos before reading this book (mainly that he had been a part of Kraftwerk), that has now changed.
This is a biography both of the life of Karl Bartos and the music of Karl Bartos, where the musical biography is the framework of his life's story and takes center stage.
He kept a “musical journal” from early on, where he wrote down what music he was working on at the time, which is the basis of this memoir.
A good chunk of the book looks at his sixteen years with Kraftwerk, but we also get to see his musical life before (at the Robert Schumann conservatory) and after (finding his way back to his own musical expression).
This is an open and honest description of the (musical) life of Karl Bartos from the viewpoint of Karl Bartos.
Okay, so my german was not quite good enough to read this without a dictionary or Google translate to hand and I had never heard of the author before finding this book in my library (don't know how well known she is outside of Germany), but it was a really, as the title says, encouraging story. A story of how one person overcame her insecurities (and eating disorder) and learned to see and love herself for her.
The author has apparently been very open about her eating disorder on Instagram and has a huge following and has been to countless schools throughout Germany talking about eating disorders, body shaming etc. all in an effort to break taboos around these things and help young people so maybe they won't have to live a life similar to hers.
I bought and started reading this thinking it was by [a:Adam Christopher 590743 Adam Christopher https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301580226p2/590743.jpg]. After only a few pages I began to suspect that I was mistaken and after some digging around on the internet I realised that it was indeed written by another Adam Christopher.What was it that made me suspect that it wasn't by [a:Adam Christopher 590743 Adam Christopher https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301580226p2/590743.jpg]? Well, I did think that the language was a bit simplistic. It also felt like the story had not really been thought through or developed past the initial idea. The book (novella?) has a nice basic premise but it lacks in the telling. The premise: Scientists (!) around the world have decided to create the ultimate immersive gaming experience by “transporting” the gamers' consciousness into a game that is so realistic that you can not tell it is a gaming environment. (Reminds me a bit of Better Than Life in the TV-series Red Dwarf.)We follow three teens who get to be the first in America (or at least their hometown) to be transported into the game. Benjamin/Shain is our main POV character.Much of the book is set in the game, where we follow them on quests. Well, two quests - and they actually only complete on of them, I think. There really isn't much follow up. We also get to see a little bit about the real world but only through the eyes of Benjamin/Shain, and not enough to actually start caring about these characters.It also seems that Benjamin/Shain is somehow not properly connecting with the game. He cannot level up his character, he doesn't get access to any abilities etc. But he is also special... And then there are bandits who take an interest in Benjamin/Shain... And Starterville (where all the players start out and receive quests), is populated by Native Americans who are all NPC's living in teepees.I think this could have been a good book if the author had taken his time to think through what was going to happen. And more description would have been nice. I have recently read [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One Ernest Cline https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383399667s/9969571.jpg 14863741] a book that also has descriptions of in-game experiences, but those are done in a way that makes you feel that you are there with the player. In the last chapter we suddenly get lots of almost poetic descriptions of the gaming environment that feel like they come from a different story, since we have not seen anything like it earlier in the book.Oh, and there are no dragons in this book.
Not much like the TV-show based on this book, but that in my opinion did not matter. I really liked the TV-show and I really liked this book, even though they use the same premise and develop it very differently.
The book focuses on the research team at CERN who believe they inadvertently caused the whole of humanity to get a vision of 20 years hence. During this vision everybody lost consciousness causing among other things plane and car crashes and a huge loss of life.
Much of the book focuses on the science and everyone trying to figure out what happened and then in good scientific fashion trying to recreate the experiment.
But we also have time to look at some of the characters' reactions and thoughts as to what they saw in their visions. Is it worth it to put time into a relationship you know won't last? Why did some people not see anything? Is the future fixed?
I found the story to be really intriguing and it had me hooked from start to finish (read it in one sitting).
Humanity has ventured outside of our solar system for the first time. Unfortunately we are still humans and we seem to have a tendency to bring out the worst in each other when given the opportunity.We will still be petty even when we have reached, and started to colonise, space. Thousands of new worlds have opened up to humanity thanks to the gate opened in [b:Abaddon's Gate 16131032 Abaddon's Gate (Expanse, #3) James S.A. Corey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388202946s/16131032.jpg 17606564]. The first of these new planets about to be officially colonized by humans have already been settled by a group of Belters looking for a new home. Since they don't have an official approval to settle on said planet the company who does, wishes them to leave. Before they can sit down and resolve this some of the Belters blow up the landing pad and an incoming shuttle.To stop this from escalating James Holden and the Rocinante is sent in as mediators. And there may be something left behind by the aliens, who built the gate and the protomolecule, still on the planet.The book is a really great read, one that's hard to put down because you have to know what will happen next. Even if you hate the description of some of the humans actions because it seems far too likely that those would be the actions of some of us.There are bright points though. The crew of the Rocinante is still trying to do the right thing even if it costs them, and not every human in the book is looking out only for themselves (or their employer). Several people realise that maybe, working together is the better solution to their problems.The fact that the planet is located 18 months travel away from Earth also gives everything a more urgent feeling. Help won't be able to get there in a timely manner. When things go wrong they only have each other to lean on. Which you think they would do...Hmm, not a very coherent review.
I really liked this book.
It is a mix of fantasy and steampunk, maybe with a dash of science fiction, in a way that may sound a bit weird but actually works. The only things that was a bit jarring at times were a few glaring typos and the fact that the author used the word drug instead of dragged which through me out of the story a few times.
The story:
It's set in a world with at lest three sentient species: Humans, Norians and Daeryc, where the Daeryc are monster- or demon-like. They have a war going with the Erians (a human kingdom where most of the norians seem to live) but are also fighting the humans in the Order of Luminan, although on a smaller scale. Mostly one-on-one.
There is magic of sorts in this world. Some humans, called Exorcists, part of the Order of Luminan, can channel energy from the Creator which they use to fight the daeryc. And some of the norians are Spirit Speakers who can manipulate the spirits in rocks, earth, wood, water etc which they mainly (these days) use in the fight against the daeryc.
We follow Ciel, an Exorcist with a prosthetic arm which she can load with divine energy and use as a weapon against the lone daeryc she faces/seeks out in her work for the Order. As the book progresses it becomes clear to us, and Ciel, that everything is not right in the Orders upper hierarchy. More and more Exorcists are killed on mission while it has been years since they last found a human that would be able to channel the Divine Energy. The Exorcists, humanity's weapon against the dearyc, are dying out.
This is the first in a series and it does end without resolving much, but I definitely think it's worth the read and I personally look forward to when the author has time to write the next book.
Oh, and the short story about Grendel the Goblin, at the end of the book, is really worth your time as well!
I really liked this book. It does seem to have borrowed a lot of plots from other stories though. In chapter 15 alone I felt like there were shades of The Matrix, Stargate SG-1, Fringe, the Australian TV-show Parallax, Star Trek: Enterprise, Buffy season 6 and the Hitchhikers series of novels. But this gets kind of an explanation in chapter 33 that makes the use of those other plots seem like it was meant to make us think of other stories if that makes sense. The story as a whole is engaging and I kept reading on wanting to know what happened next.
The story does however end on a kind of a cliffhanger and even though book number two in the series is expected in 2015 that might be something of a turn off for some.
The stories in this collection are set within the Planetfall universe but separated by time (and space). You get to see that world through the eyes of several different people with very different outlooks and values.
I had read these stories before when they were sent out in Emma Newman's newsletters, but getting to read them closer together really made me feel that they are set in the same universe. It also made me want to reread the Planetfall novels.