Valerie

I don't know if I would have made it through reading a book like this if it weren't written by Douglas Adams. The loss of his wit and wordplay was a huge one for this world. This book, written 30 years ago, details mayhem-filled journeys to track down some of the then rarest species in the world. What's heart-breaking is to look up the species today and see which ones are still around. Some are better (Good on you, New Zealand) and some are gone entirely (Get your shit together, China!). The success stories are minimal and the book stresses exactly how many species we just don't know are going extinct all the time because we are blundering through fragile economies and setting predatory rats loose everywhere. Adams, journeying around as a 6'5” Englishman through 1980s travel mayhem, provides a great travel journal that balances out the serious issues we humans really need to deal with because it's already too late for so many. I'm curious to read his zoologist co-writer's update to this book as well. The tone is hopeful, but that hope is founded in work.

I was almost hesitant to read this one... Book is an incredible character and pondering his back story is sort of a natural part of my life in the fandom. Now that it's resolved for me (yes, very late in the game. I told you I was hesitant), I find my own versions were a bit more complex. I liked some of the smaller stories, and I liked the backwards story-telling, but the actual resolution/beginning left me really wishing this could have been an episode in the tv series. It could have packed a lot more punch.

Another one of those books that remind me why I've stuck with the S&L book club for so long. I'd never heard of Maureen F. McHugh, as unlikely to ever hear of her at this stage. The book isn't in my library, isn't available in audio, and I don't know any fans of her work to clue me in. And this book is great. Her prose and internal monologue overcomes the dated feel to the science fiction aspects (a 45 minute delay to print out your messages.... oh 1992, if you could see us now). The mosaic layering, rich characters, and worldbuilding around of the humdrum everyday life in a communist-dominant world, though, all made this a fantastic read for me.

That said, it is a book about a mixed race gay man written by a white woman, which is always a bit of a red flag. It's progressive for its time, but I'd be curious to hear reviews from people of Chinese descent and the LGBTQ+ community. There wasn't anything to trip my own yikes meter, but I'm a cishet white woman too, so my meter only goes so far.

I would advise you to check the trigger warnings or skip “Three Fragrances,” however if you're in need of such things.

I listened to the “Lightless” audiobook on the recommendation of Kevin Hearne and absolutely loved it. I don't log my audiobooks on GoodReads, but I found it a claustrophobic, suspense-filled sci-fi thriller with powerful prisoners, artificial intelligence, and solid storytelling. So I was excited when I won “Supernova” through the First Reads Program.

Supernova is very different from Lightless in that where Lightless felt painfully combined, Supernova is impossibly vast. While Althea remains one of our narrators, the other is the terrorist saboteur whose shadow lingered over the crew in Lightless, but now is dealing with the aftermath of her successful revolution. Meanwhile, Althea deals with Ananke's newfound intelligence, trying to instill a moral code into her daughter. I was disappointed that Ivan and Mattie do not figure very prominently in this story, but I'm assuming their role is going to be much larger in book three.

Overall, I don't think I liked the structure as much as the first book, mostly because the revolution storyline was not as interesting as Althea and Ananke's storyline. I kept waiting for them to link up, but the fateful meeting is more or less teased all the way through. While Lightless is hardly free from tragedy, Supernova has death and destruction on every page, making it a lot harder for me to get through, and the ending is one of the most disturbing things I have ever read. I feel like I know where the series is going, but I'm very interested to watch it get there.

So while it didn't quite capture the same feel of Lightless, that's probably a good thing. It shows Higgins has range and raises the stakes a lot for the next book. It wasn't quite as aligned to my tastes, but I'm still very game to continue. Recommended for fans of AI gone awry, overthrowing empires, and seriously complex female protagonists.

I stumbled across this in a bargain bin, and boy I do not know how it got there. I have been searching for some quiet, upmarket fantasy, and this ghost story really hits the spot. It packs so much into such a short book, dealing with grief, power, family, suicide, and all with a unique take on what ghosts are and why they linger. Highly recommended for people who want a soft, subtle, fantastical tale.

I picked this up at Denver Comic Con this year and had a chance to talk to Jeremy Whitley about the age level at which you could give a kid Raven. Raven is a kissing book and a fighting book, and so really it should e at any age when kids start to appreciate kissing/fighting books. What it really boiled down to though, was whether or not said kid's parents are ok with queer characters, and it's sad that that is what it boils down to, which I guess means that we should give more kids these books. This series is not about being queer; it's about swash-buckling pirate adventures with love triangles built in as they are built into 90% of YA (btw, is it wrong that the more it looks like Raven/Ximena is a thing, the more I want RavenShine to be a thing? Am I just contrary? Probably). This characters just happen to be queer, and I think a lot more kids are smart enough to realize that is not a big deal than their parents.

This book should be boring. In all honesty, at first it kind of was. I am not one for political thrillers, and really that's who this book is geared towards. It has elves and goblins and airships and pneumatic tubes, but if you replaced those with feudal houses in Edo era Japan, ocean-going vessels, and printing presses, the story would not have to change much at all. The heart of this story is politics and all the rest is dressing.

That said, it is the kind of dressing a master baker spends hours crafting to look simple. Addison has created multiple, distinct cultures, religions, dialects, systems of government, and classes. She could have borrowed terminology from actual societies or just used more traditional terminology, but she doesn't. She worked hard to build this engaging panorama, and I think that's why I ended up feeling the story differently than I would if this were straight-up historical fiction.

The essential story is of a half-elf/half-goblin exiled child of an emperor suddenly and unexpectedly being thrust on the throne. He has no political acumen or alliances to speak of, but has no choice but to adjust, abdicate, or be assassinated. The first third of the book is really just following Maia to meetings, parties, and ceremonies. This really bored me at first, but then I started getting into it when things stopped playing out along the cliched lines. Admittedly, the bad characters get worse and the good characters get better, but it is still not a cliched rice to power by any means. By the end, I cared about the characters even if the pacing was a bit slow.

Addison has said she is not writing a sequel, but might return to the world for another novel. I hope she does because it would be wasteful not to keep exploring the multi-faceted cultures of which this book presents just the tip of the iceberg.

A solid follow-up to the first book. If you like Shadow in Summer, it's worth continuing. The book follows Maati and Otah 15 years or so into the future as they remain chased by the ghosts and events of the past. This novel is even more political/court intrigue focused than the first, so if that's your thing, stick with the series.

Dust finishes off Howey's Silo Saga with both literal and figurative bangs. It maintains the claustrophobic feel and intense pace of his earlier works while making me get sadder and sadder as chapters go on. I saw a cat that had been hit by a car today and burst into tears remembering... Solo and Shadow. Every time he mentions that cat I start getting weepy. Like way weepier than I got for Lukas or Donny. Is that weird?. It does a really nice job of closing up some plot holes and connecting bits of Wool and Shift in a way that makes everything feel better connected than the transition between those two books themselves.

Also, we get Juliette back (yay!) even though I spend most of the book being really upset that nothing ever goes according to her plans and then just being sad that one of my favorite power couples barely gets a thousand words to actually be a power couple. That was a disappointing death and Lukas as a character is just wasted after Wool. We also get Charlotte, a much needed piece of perspective point of view. Donny starts turning into a real character and Solo gets to really shine. The story seems a bit faster paced than Shift and was a lot harder to put down. I have to hand it to Howey that he does a great job integrating complex female viewpoints without any hint of romantic subplot. Odd considering the controversy he stirred up a few years ago over his ex, but I will still award him 10 points for giving me women to identify with in science fiction.

The only thing I really had a problem with was the initial panic after everyone relocates to Silo 17, in particular the crazy church. I get that fighting, looting, and laying claim to as much food and land as people can makes for a pretty realistic mini-apocalypse. However 24 hours in and you're forcing 7 year olds into marriage with crazy cults? That chapter kinda snapped by suspension of disbelief, and seeing as nothing really comes of it and it has no effect on the story afterwards, it was a bit of a let down few chapters.

As a conclusion to the series, it is well worth reading and offers a much-needed ray of hope into the post-apocalyptic genre. It isn't a perfect book, but it's still an enjoyable and emotional read.

Patti LuPone is one of my favorite Broadway divas. Her memoir chronicles her first performance as Gypsy through her 2008 performance of Mama Rose including her time at Julliard, Evita, and all of the other moments we know about. It also chronicles a lot of the moments I knew nothing and was well worth the read as a fan. It confirmed my love of Stephen Sondheim and what a jerk Andrew Lloyd Webber can be. It has ghost stories, love stories, and (completely justified) diva tantrums. I love Patti LuPone and anyone else who loves her would enjoy this memoir.

I went back and forth on this book. Half of it I dearly loved. Half of it made me want to punch characters in frustration. I'm settling on three stars has the happy medium of ratings system.

The parts I loved are basically any parts featuring dragons. Brennan takes a scientific approach to mythological beasts and I love everything thing about it. She takes the tropes associated with dragons and tweaks them just enough to create a new and interesting topic. I particularly love that dragons expel various substances from their mouths depending on breed and what would be sensible from an evolutionary perspective. The concept of Victorian Jane Goodall of the Dragons is intensely enjoyable for me, and for that alone the book deserves to be read.

The parts I don't like all pretty much deal with the humans. A lot of time in the book is devoted to a mystery that involves dragons only peripherally, and the humans in that drama are pretty obviously cast. The good guys are super-good and the bad guys are super-bad without much time to prove themselves otherwise. Also our heroine, while a neat concept, pretty much drove me crazy with her actions. The metaphor of “the dragon inside” this young, oppressed noblewoman is a bit too overdone for my taste. She's reckless and stupid and people die because of her recklessness. It's frustrating to a degree that knocks my love of the concept down. I'm hoping that as Isabella grows into the woman narrating, she grows out of her recklessness as well and I can stop wanting to punch her. I'm still interested enough to continue the series, but won't last long if the whole thing is going to be stupid people doing reckless things.

I'm honestly most worried that at the end she has a child. I'll bet Isabella becomes super-cautious and her reckless kid goes wandering into danger at every turn. It's going to be Carl, Stay in the Tent with dragons instead of zombies, isn't it? Please say it isn't. I so want it to be about the dragons...

So I'd still recommend it if you like your fantasy with a heavy dose of science. Also if you're a Jane Austen type fan. I think that's the audience to which Isabella is meant to appeal.

So imagine the fantasy art off of a 1970s van came to life and played D&D. That's about this book. The rock band/mercenary band joke was funny for about a hundred pages, but this is almost 500 pages long, and I got tired of it so fast. It wants so badly to be Spinal Tap but the jokes are a pretty tired mix of phallic humor, fat jokes, and D&D references. Plus, there really isn't a complex woman in the entire story. Even the one that is supposed to be a real character and not just a shrewish/whorish ex-wife switches allegiance to the whim of the plot no less than three times.

It's a funny concept, but just not a funny book at this length.

I picked this book up because Greg Bear was signing with another authoer at my local bookstore. I've never read him before, but I've seen his name over and over at bookstores and on my dad's bookshelves. Time to finally fill a hole in my sci-fi knowledge. This novel looked to be the most interesting stand-alone novel the bookshelf had of his, so I bought it for him to sign. His handwriting is pretty atrocious, but he's a great speaker who kept the audience entertained. His banter and dark humor translate very well to this particular story.

The first part reminded be very vividly of the movie “Cube.” Strangers wake up confused in a ship that appears bent on killing them. Their memories are hazy and most of them are mutated in some way or another. It's got creepy children (sometimes multiple copies of them), philosphical monsters, and trap after trap after trap. The pace takes off from the very first paragraph and really doesn't let up... ever. If you're looking for high action, this is definitely a good choice.

The story is more than just a thrill ride, though. It delves into the ideas of exactly how humanity survives, the costs we may or may not be willing to pay. Sometimes it does this in a very bizarre way, and I'll admit a few of the time shifts gave me trouble following, but mostly I enjoyed unraveling the mysteries that never seemed to quit. Also, the random pop culture references even the characters making them do not understand. Bear plays with language a lot in this book, unusual for such an action adventure and an element that makes it stand out.

I definitely enjoyed this story and hopefully will have time to pick up more of Bear's work inthe future.

I've never read Carrie Vaughn before, but I met her at Denver Pop Culture Con this year, and she liked my costume. We took pictures. I'm really happy that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. In a world where dystopian fiction is at peak saturation, this was a totally different kind of story. It's really more of a small town murder mystery set against a dystopian backdrop. The telling of Enid's story in alternating flashback and present day scenes really worked, and kept the action quietly building. I really love quiet genre fiction, and that's exactly where this fit. I also like that in any other dystopian story Enid would undoubtedly be the villain, and I kept expecting her to uncover something dark about her society, but the end left me feeling hopeful and very convinced in the power of birth control. You maybe have to suspend your disbelief a bit to believe that society essentially chooses to live medievally except for solar cars and the world's greatest birth control ever invented, but you know what, I'll roll with it.

Neil Gaiman writing about Douglas Adams is sort of a perfect fit for my tastes, and I had a good time reading about how H2G2 in all its many and varied forms came to be. It's strange to look at what Adams and the world thought of his many creations in 1988, even before Mostly Harmless came out and long before we lost him so tragically. This is a window into the entertainment, technology, and process of the time with a very young Gaiman impersonating Adams' voice as he is still finding his own. A good read for any H2G2 fans though probably not much new information.

Well this installment was absolutely nothing like I expected. Part of this is that every blurb, even the quote on the cover “She will destroy them all” led me to believe this was going to be a story about Shahar Arameri. She is the character described on the back, and that would fit the theme of Awesome Lady Getting Way Too Involved with Gods theme of the series. I was surprised however when the point of view character ends up being Sieh and Shahar features... hardly at all. If anything Dekarta is the one getting way too involved with gods.

That immediately had me worried, and made this book hard to begin. Sieh is the god of Childhood and generally exists in the form of a child. Any sort of romantic element was going to be incredibly awkward, I felt. Jemisin, as usual, figures out to deal with the maturation of a child as old as the earth. She writes from the first person POV of an immortal brat, and it's entirely believable. Jemisin is a real master of point of view and the wit and charm of her characters (down to Sieh's “annotations” of the glossary in the back) make this book worthwhile. She also pulls off the neat trick of having the exact ending I predicted from the beginning occur in a completely unexpected way. It made the story both satisfying and surprising.

I didn't bond with Sieh quite as much as I did with Yeine or Oree. I might have preferred the book from Deka's point of view, honestly, but I still am impressed at how Jemisin captures the terror or a nearly omnipotent child combined with the fears and realities of aging. It's still emotionally moving and complex, but it doesn't resonate as much with me personally as the first two.

I do recommend getting the edition with the bonus Oree and Itempas story in the extras section. That capped the trilogy nicely for me. It's a fine ending to a fantastic series, and now I'm going to have to pick up The Killing Moon.

N.K. Jemisin is fast becoming one of my favorite fantasy authors. Her books are rich, intense, and utterly unique. The Broken Kingdoms picks up the story after The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but while the original cast make a few cameos, the bulk of the story is an entirely new set of characters. We follow Oree, a woman who is blind except where magic is concerned, and learn of her adventures in the land created by Yeine's ascension.

I think what I enjoy most about Jemisin's work is how she deals with relationships. She recognizes the complexity of caring for another being, both in a romantic and platonic sense. She isn't afraid to show relationships evolving, and even though she has a female and a male protagonist, the story never devolves into the trite “will they or won't they” storyline. In this sense, the book is even more intriguing than HTK.

I'm also a sucker for any story which takes the mystery out of faith. So much of religion in our world in based on “This is what I believe.” In Jemisin's world, Gods are a fact. There's one right there. It's how they interact and deal with the mortal world that makes it interesting. The stories are similar to Greek Myths in that, but their content is modern and fresh. I also like the way Jemisin subtly addresses issues of race and prejudice without ever feeling preachy, just honest. One of my favorite parts is when Lady Serymn first realizes Shiny is Itempas, and her first comment is "He's Maro." That's what you took from this, lady?.

The Inheritance Trilogy is so far right up there on my list of Fantasy favorites. I just ordered the third installment and can't wait to read it. If you like HTK, it definitely is worth continuing on to The Broken Kingdoms.

I generally listen to Dresden books because James Marsters, so this is the first time I've actually read one. Overall, I'm not a huge fan of short story collections for novel series. Most of them read like slightly above average fan fiction, especially when it comes to vampire larps. It's fine, and the last novella, “Aftermath” is more in tune with the series style and I got pretty into it. It isn't necessary per se to the Dresden universe, but fans will likely enjoy it on that level.

I like Neil Gaiman. I like Norse myths. I like this book.

Honestly, Neil Gaiman and Kevin Hearne are responsible for pretty much everything I know about Norse myths, so most of my knowledge is second hand filtered through other, more modern stories. This collection is nice because it reads in that signature Gaiman style of modern prose soaked in classical themes. I'd be curious on the take of someone who has actually read the Poetic and/or Prose Edda, but as a layman, I really enjoyed the sense of humor and pacing in Gaiman's retellings. It's a short read, and certainly well worth your time if you are at all a mythology fan.

This is another one of those books that makes me happy I joined Sword and Laser. From the cover and the description, I would've shelved this under “Dad Book” and moved on. Boy, would I have missed out. This book is vast. The scale goes from a small, medieval society all the way up to incomprehensible transcendant superintelligences. Yet, both ends of the civilization scale and everything in between are treated as viable peoples with genuine concerns. There is no stomping about by superhumans in the stone age, and in fact the stone age poses its own threats.

Its also vast in its ideas of consciousness and thought. I don't think many would disagree that the best part of this book is the Tines, a pack-minded species of sentient dogs who are only intelligent in groups of 3 or more which make up an individual person. It is one of the best reveals of a concept I've ever read, and I ended up caring for these characters so much. Maybe too much as I was always a little disappointed when POV switched back up to space opera.

The scope made me feel like I was reading a little Redwall and a little Ringworld at the same time, and that is really all I every wanted out of a book. I have a large stack of must reads on my shelf, so it may be a bit before I get to the sequels, but I definitely plan to get to them.

This is a cute book, obviously inspired by the H2G2 tradition, although I don't know that I'll remember it a few years from now. The story of galactic internet piracy and the law firm out to protect the planet is entertaining if flimsy. If you like oodles of musical references and can suspend your disbelief across the Milky Way, it's a fun read. Overall, the characters are pretty stock, though so I found it a little hard to invest in the story and finish the book, even though it's relatively short. I enjoyed parts of it, and I love a good use of the footnote, but was a little disappointed in emphasis on the farce over the characters.

This book was interesting and in a vein with Doctorow's philosophy and body of work. I picked it up when he was speaking at my FLBS, and he referred to it as his novel about abundance, about what we would do if there was enough for everyone. The setting is a world were the very rich control the world, abandoning people, places, and things the moment they cease to be profitable. Other people pick up othose things and through miraculous advances in 3D printing, are able to live quite comfortable. They walk away from society and live without norms of ownership.

Oh, and with their unlimited time and research materials, walkaways “cure” death.

Parts of the book were hard to get into (Doctorow is very smart and occasionally gets really into the nitty gritty which I could take or leave, but the characters are interesting and include complex portrayals of trans and bisexual (male and female) characters from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. It's a utopia of sex, drugs, and simulated human bots. While the concept is a bit hard for me to see as a viable future, it is a cool thought experiment and definitely worth the read.

I've only ever read Okorafor's short fiction, so this was a great experience. I don't think I've ever read a book that explored feminism in an East African society, let alone a post-apocalyptic East African society. The nuanced take on women in these cultures is smart, refreshing, and well-worth the read. At times, I felt the pacing was a bit quick for me (maybe I'm just super into her short fiction and wanted something slower-paced), but it was an impressive story nonetheless. If you like a good mix of sci-fi and fantasy, complex and complicated characeters, and beautiful prose, give this one a try.

My initial reaction to the book was “The Canterbury Tales: In Space!” I really enjoyed the 6 stories for the price of one aspect of the novel. Each tale was told in a very different voice allowing me to read a psychological horror story, a hard-boiled detective story, an emotion-shredding story of family loss... just tons of variety. Obviously, the book draws a lot from the work of Keats. Not having much background in that area, I do feel like I'm missing a lot of references. Still, I really enjoyed it and now need to pick up the sequel. Cliffhangers are not my friend.

I can't decide whether I like this book more or less than Hyperion. I think I like them both but for very different reasons. While Hyperion was brilliant in its variety, the way it mimicked the Canterbury Tales in tonal shifts, Fall of Hyperion is brilliant in the way it brings those tales together. Time travel makes me a bit dizzy, and there are still some points I don't understand Where did Brawne's superpowers come from?, but the way it connected memorable characters with themes very close to my heart (society's dependence on technology, what would happen to a world without the Web?) make this one of the top sci-fi series I have read. I'll definitely read Endymion, though I'll take a break first. One can only stare into Hyperion's lapis sky for so long. Lapis, lapis, lapis...