April

This book has been on my TBR list for a long time, ever since it was in a Humble Book Bundle. I really enjoyed it. I don't know if I can categorize it, but there's an unusual romance plot, as well as some elements of crime fiction and some of light fantasy. I would almost call it urban fantasy, except it's nothing like anything else I've read in that genre. There's a strong theme of Eastern spirituality, but I don't know enough about that topic to understand it very well. Hopefully I'll understand it better when I read it again, and I'm sure that I will.

The romance is between a 50-year-old woman and a man who seems to be about the same age. I've never read a romance featuring a woman older than her early 40s, so I was really happy about that. I also liked the portrayal of the complex mother/daughter relationship between Martha and Liz. We never actually see them together, but their love for each other drives the whole plot. Liz believes that her mother deserves adulation from everyone she meets, and the author succeeded in creating a character who lives up to that high esteem, while still making Martha human and imperfect.

This book feels relevant to current discussions about the barriers women face in the tech industry, although it definitely isn't about that topic. It's amazing that this was first published in the early 80s, because it doesn't feel dated at all. I also like that the main villain is not mustache-twirlingly-evil, but bad in a relatively ordinary kind of way. This line is pretty insightful, and I think it applies pretty well to the people in tech who are often in the news these days:

He never obeys the rules if he thinks he can get away with it.

A very good debut urban fantasy. It has the fast-paced feel of this genre, with lots of banter and action scenes. So many action scenes. Overall I enjoyed the core of the book, but the experience of reading it was often pretty exhausting, because the characters are constantly battling enemies. At some point I got drawn in, but it didn't happen for at least three-fourths of the book. So it was a slow read for me, even though I did end up really liking it.

First: major content warning for rape. The main character is a rape survivor, and his whole life crumbled around him as a result of the attack. He relives his rape in detail at one point. Two villains also taunt him about it, using explicit language.

Most of the major characters are something like demigods or superheroes, called Atlanteans, who live in their own community in the human world, but can use magic in various ways. The rules of magic are defined pretty well. Usually, Rune tells the reader important information in a fairly conversational style, which I liked. But I was confused sometimes, because you really only see how magic actually works when it's relevant to the plot. I felt like I had a decent handle on it about halfway through. The Atlanteans' everyday lives are mostly like human lives from our own world, although most of them are fabulously wealthy, except for Rune and his household.

The characterizations are all very good and consistent. The book is completely in the first-person PoV of the main character, Rune, and I felt like I knew him very well. He's easy to like, yet not a reader-insert type of character. He has his own experiences and his own personality. He's very powerful and makes a living as a sort of badass-for-hire, along with his bonded human companion and best friend, Brand, a highly trained warrior.

The plot is about Rune and Brand finding an Atlantean who has been kidnapped, rescuing him, figuring out who kidnapped him, and fighting against monsters. The monsters are mostly zombies; I hate zombies, but it isn't an overly gory book. This plot is totally resolved in this book, but other plot threads are introduced which I'm sure will be explored in the rest of the series.

Atlantean society has an “everyone is bi/pan” feel, with some exceptions. Rune reads as almost completely gay to me. But I thought that his love interest Adam was a great example of bisexual representation. He is flirty and promiscuous, but neither of those are portrayed as especially negative traits. He's also shown to be loyal over the course of this story.

This book's major flaw, to me, is its serious lack of interesting female characters. Almost any of the major characters could have been female, with no changes to the plot: Lord Tower, Kiran (sorry if I misspelled that; I listened to the audiobook), Brand, Quinn, Max. I found the most important female characters impossible to sympathize with, and I don't think any of them were meant to be sympathetic. There are also jokes about anorexia, and about the size of Rune's butt, and I consider that kind of humor to be in bad taste.

On that topic, I don't really like fast-paced banter in general, especially with a lot of real-world references, so I wasn't really the target audience for this book. But I know many readers would like the humor.

I think Rune and Brand are in their late 30s, but Atlantean society works differently, because people age more slowly and live longer lives. They are good at what they do, but the story is very much about Rune coming into his power. So, I'd probably categorize the book as new adult.

It was the gripping plot, as well as my fondness for Rune, that kept me reading, even though there are a few elements that aren't my kind of thing. I'm really eager for the next book. The audiobook narration by Josh Hurley was perfect for an action-oriented story.

This is a short erotic novel focused on age-play. This is not my kink, but I sort of have a kink for reading about kinks, especially the more taboo ones. It's really romantic when characters find acceptance with each other, and that concept is definitely at the center of this story, from both points of view. I am not physically disabled, either, so be aware that I'm doubly outside my lane in reviewing this book.

Usually I like it when two (or more) characters' unique traits fit together like puzzle pieces, in a romance: e.g., one character is socially awkward, and the other is highly extroverted, or even an actual con artist. It's unrealistic, but I don't read romance for realism. But still, the way the characters' traits fit together in this story makes me uncomfortable. Mark has a disorder where he doesn't know when he needs to urinate, so he wears disposable underwear, while Sebastian specifically wants his partner to wear diapers, as part of his age-play fetish. I kept thinking that I wouldn't care if I had a partner with Mark's problem, and I don't think I'm unusual. But even at the end of the story, Mark does not believe that he should expect the acceptance of people in general, just as decent behavior. Mark has never tried to date anyone, because he's not over the bullying he experienced as a child. He has no idea if potential partners would run away screaming from his issue. I understand why he couldn't get over it for himself. It makes sense that age-play with a loving partner would fit into his life as a way of reframing his issue as something positive. But the narrative itself seems to back up his belief that no one but Sebastian would want him, while also giving no other reason for someone to jump into this kinky lifestyle. There is a mild conflict in the story because Sebastian's friends, a gay couple, don't understand why Sebastian and Mark are together. Mark's disability is given as the explanation for their relationship. I also don't know if it's realistic that the couple would react badly that Sebastian is dating a man after having been married to a woman. Sebastian's fetish is intrinsic to his sexuality, and they know this; why would they expect gender to outweigh it?

So, I had some problems with the book. However, it does explore the trust necessary to participate in this kind of play, which is why I was reading it. Also, through their relationship, both Mark and Sebastian start to heal from the wounds of their pasts, which is always romantic. If you like reading about this kink, or if you like these kinds of books, you may enjoy this.

Between 4 and 5 stars. This is going to be a difficult book to review, because it's hard to categorize.
It seems to be out of print (in the US at least), but the audiobook is on Audible. The narration by Jeremy Northam is an amazing performance, and I enjoyed it a lot.

It's a really engaging book, told almost entirely through the journal entries of the main character, Jack. I was emotionally involved with the story at every moment, and I was constantly anxious about what might happen next. It's set in the 1930s, but the language never seems old-fashioned. It isn't really full of twists and turns, but events surprised me several times. It's a pretty slow-paced book, but I was never bored.

Jack starts off pretty cynical, almost misanthropic. The idea of an Arctic expedition appeals to him as an escape from his downtrodden existence. I've always thought I would be okay living alone in the wilderness or something, and I do live alone, just in a suburb. Jack also prefers solitude, so I found him easy to relate to. As Jack discovers, though, we all often take everyday interactions, even with strangers, for granted.

This book deals with the idea that there's something dark and unimaginably terrifying beyond ordinary experience, but the narrative doesn't exactly focus on that topic; instead, it brushes against the concept repeatedly, like a monster in the dark. Jack is a fairly pragmatic man, more likely to complain about everyday problems than philosophical questions, which makes it more disturbing for the reader when he does go down dark mental paths.

At the beginning, Jack doesn't think he's going to get along with anyone on the expedition, since they're all of the upper class, and he isn't. But he becomes close to the leader, Gus, over time. He never learns to get along with Gus's best friend, Algie. I think Jack hates Algie because of jealousy; Jack has a huge crush on Gus (which he doesn't acknowledge to himself until very late in the book). But Algie is fat, and the language Jack uses to describe him is very hateful. So, content warning for that. I think fatness worked well as a surface trait that Jack could hate, though, and I understand why he needed to hate something trivial about Algie.

Because of Jack's feelings for Gus, this book is pretty much a standard gay tragedy. I won't spoil the actual ending directly, but you learn on the first page that Algie survives, and either Jack or Gus dies. So, it's hard for me to rate the book fairly, because I strongly object to "bury your gays."

I was hesitant about reading a horror novel, because I'm a coward about horror, but this one is much more creepy than terrifying. Jack spends most of his time in his own head, even when he's with others, and he spends the bulk of the book alone. When his fear really starts to set in, it feels like he's losing his sanity, which is upsetting. There are also several awful scenes of cruelty to animals (and proposed cruelty to animals). I was expecting the revelation of what had happened to the man who is haunting the island to be much more explicit. It's definitely not that I wanted blood and gore. But the revelation just did not have as much emotional impact as it could have, after so much buildup.

This book was very different from what I usually read, and I'm really glad I took a chance on it. I would like to read more books written in the style of a journal. I recommend it to anyone looking for something unusual.

Amazing novella. I've never read anything quite like it. It's in first person, in the manner of someone telling their life story to the reader, which works perfectly for the unusual concept. The plot did not go at all where I expected, but everything seemed inevitable in the end, which made it very satisfying to read. It's also pretty tightly written, with very few extraneous details, like a classic short story.

A lot of the reviews mention how evil the main character is, and yeah, he's pretty bad, but in an almost ordinary way. He never seems to glory in anything but his own cleverness, never in violence or his other crimes. So it creeps me out a lot to consider him, and to know there are probably many people like him in reality, just without his supernatural ability. But while reading, I didn't find him disgusting or impossible to identify with, or anything like that.

Sometimes, I really like these sort of vague fantasy settings that aren't that different from our world, just without real countries or historical figures. It lets my imagination fill in the blanks, which I usually do with Elder Scrolls settings, but I'm not really all that imaginative. Specifically, the first city made me think of Bravil in Oblivion, because it has a very seedy feel.

This was my first time reading something by this author, and I look forward to reading him again.

I was really looking forward to this one because I enjoy Kim Fielding's books and because I liked the premise, but I couldn't quite connect with the characters or the story.

Elliott's major conflict was internal; his prior boyfriend was an actual criminal, and he felt guilty for letting himself get involved with a bad person. I understand this state of mind myself, but I didn't feel he really got over his hangup within the story. Worse, for large parts of the book, it wasn't really clear what exactly was bothering him (the guilt), so I had trouble feeling sympathy for him. From my perspective, he had a lot of advantages that he wasn't seeing at all: a steady job, lots of books, people who cared about him, and a perfect partner. In the end he decides he does have enough, but he isn't ecstatic about it. It felt like he was settling, rather than embracing his life. There are also hints of him starting an interesting research project, and maybe finding his purpose in life that way, but that plotline doesn't go anywhere.

Simon's conflict is about his parents' homophobia, and that is mostly just depressing. I predicted the actual ending and it was unreasonably sappy, and I am a hardcore lover of sappy endings. Elliott also has to deal with a homophobic neighbor, and when that situation comes to an inevitable crisis, the neighbor doesn't really face the consequences of his own actions. Instead the police act as though Elliott and the neighbor have committed equivalent crimes. No, the neighbor committed an outright hate crime, and Elliott reacted in anger, like any normal person would. I really have no patience right now for any narrative that makes it seem like a hate crime is in any way the same as a negative reaction to the hate crime.

I think I understand the message the book is trying to put forth, that community is the most important thing we have in life. But it's delivered in a fairly heavy-handed way and it does not address all of Elliott's problems. So I can't really accept the happy ending.

On the positive side, of course it's a well written book. Elliott and Simon's banter is really funny. I always like that Kim Fielding makes her heroes avid readers, and Elliott is an actual book hoarder, which is (unfortunately) easy for me to relate to. Simon is quite a dreamy love interest, although I think I might've liked this book better if it had had alternating PoVs, instead of just Elliott's.

Basically, though, this is a fairly bland contemporary romance, and there are enough negatives to prevent me from recommending it with enthusiasm.

I don't think I can write a long review yet, because my thoughts aren't really in order, but I absolutely loved this. I was eagerly anticipating it for months, and it met and exceeded my high expectations. I think it might be one of the best books I've ever read - a new classic of queer fantasy.

I'm primarily a romance reader these days, and I'm always a little hesitant to read a book that isn't marketed as romance but features queer characters, because it's so common that queer characters die. Nobody dies in this book and nothing tragic happens. The romance is perfect, and in general, this book has me considering fairy-tale tropes in a new way. Are they always about messing with the usual social order? I'm excited to approach some of my old favorites with this idea in mind.

Highly recommended.

This was a trip to pure cotton-candy fluffland, and I loved it. It's incredibly sweet.

There's zero conflict between the main characters. They are both dealing with some difficult things: the PoV character is recovering from having been a slave (he isn't a slave at any point in this story), and his love interest is facing the death of a beloved parent. But they both help each other, and it's clear that their mutual support will continue.

I can never get enough of queertopia fantasy worlds, where no one has any problem with anyone's orientation. Jaime also comes from a country that's a little behind the one he's living in, in terms of social progress, so he's very happy that his romance can be out in the open. There isn't any mention of specific queer people other than the main pairing, and their relationship is a little more structured than I prefer in fiction (the love interest is much more dominant than the PoV character, although there is nothing like BDSM going on). But that's a minor reading preference. I really liked all the public courting scenes, as well as how completely Maxim's family accepted Jaime.

There are hints of worldbuilding that could be developed into an interesting plot, but there isn't much actual plot here, aside from the romance. I feel that the story is intended as a pure escape, and it succeeds really well, for me. I'll definitely be reading/listening to it again. I don't know if the next book will be about another couple in the same world, or about this pair, or something else, but I look forward to finding out.

I finished this book, even though I wasn't enjoying it, because I was curious to find out all the details of what was going on. But I had guessed the correct explanation pretty early, and there wasn't much detail given about it, when everything was revealed. One plot twist really did surprise me: the nature of the AI. Otherwise, there were not many surprises.

Maria turns out to be unbelievably powerful, capable, and intelligent, and yet she isn't fully responsible for almost anything she's done. Yes, she was tortured, but the narrative gives her original ethical lapse (editing Sally's partner's mind map) very little scrutiny, and Maria agreed to do that without any torture. So the story seems cowardly in that it fails to make Maria responsible for any of her own choices.

The worldbuilding is really weak, in my opinion. It's set several centuries in the future but it could almost be our world plus cloning, spaceships, and driverless cars. Until late in the book, when we learn what's up with the aunt-impostor in Maria's memory, there are very few references to any made-up culture of the future, or history, except what readers already know and the fictional clone riots (which never get all that much exploration). I didn't understand the “life” substance at all. Is cloning the only change in human society that has come about because of its discovery or invention?

Okay, the changes in the Catholic Church were unusual, but also pretty unbelievable to me. But I had a lot of trouble suspending disbelief at different points in this book, which might have been my own problem. The portrayals of mind hacking also seemed ridiculous.

Most of all, I don't understand why we needed to be in everyone's point-of-view almost all the time. It felt like lazy writing. It was also very annoying to spend so much time in Maria's and Hiro's PoVs early on, only to learn that I didn't know much about either of them. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author, and it was not a good experience. She doesn't differentiate between character voices very much, which is especially bad because of the constant PoV shifts.

I noticed that Audible has it classified as a technothriller, and that makes a lot more sense than science fiction. There's no sense of wonder or possibility. I don't understand why it got a Hugo nomination. I've really enjoyed several other works on the nomination list this year, but I've also read lots of great books that would never get anywhere near that list.

4.5 stars, because it's nearly perfect, but I felt it was slightly too long.

This book has a lot of the themes and concepts Harper Fox often includes in her work: spirituality (Christian and pagan), queer identity, mental illness, and transformation. As always, she handles those weighty topics with care, while telling a great story.

It's set immediately after WWII, and there's a lot of detail about how life has changed for everyday people, because of the war. I have not read many books set in this period, although I often heard about it from my grandmother and her siblings. It was interesting to see this portrayal of tradition vs. progression, especially women's changing roles. Things were still very bad for gay men at this time, though, and this book portrays that reality directly. I was afraid the plot was going to go in a much darker direction than it did. But Rufus and Archie have both suffered quite a lot before the story begins, and they also suffer in this story.

Still, this isn't an angst-fest. The rectory is one of the most appealing places I've ever read about, and I loved all the cozy domestic scenes. This book also has some of my favorite romance tropes. Rufus & Archie fall deeply in love with each other before anything romantic/sexual happens. There's also no conflict between them. The plot gives them many opportunities to save each other's lives, and I loved every one. Because they do go through a lot, their happy ending is very satisfying to read.

This is an interesting book and I mostly enjoyed it. I found it pretty unpredictable, and I'm sure I'll read it again.

I don't remember why I wanted to read it, apart from seeking out SFF with queer characters. I read The Picture of Dorian Gray 25+ years ago and had to head to Wikipedia to refresh my memory about the plot. But I do remember the sensuality of that book, and in that way, this one is a great homage. I was expecting somewhat more sensory imagery, but it's definitely there. The idea of pursuing pleasure is central to the plot.

Evadne and Dorina are both fully three-dimensional characters. Neither of them is always easy to like, yet I found myself always cheering for them. Their conflict with each other is completely understandable. I started off disliking Evadne a lot, but over the course of the story, I felt like I came to understand her. She's at odds with the world; it makes her angry when people see her accurately, sometimes, because she's ashamed of who she is. Dorina starts off comfortable with herself, and I enjoyed her romance and character arc in general, which is really about celebrating who she already is. Content warning She is 17 when she gets together with her love interest, who is about 35. I thought that was all fine, within the context of this story, but YMMV.

Both heroines are very smart. There is no idiot ball in this book, even though not every character knows everything that's going on at every point. When it makes sense for them to guess something, they do, maybe even a little before they should. They're also both very brave and daring.

Evadne is heterosexual and cis (there aren't any explicitly trans people in the book), and she's also gender nonconforming. Dorina is a lesbian and there are other LGB characters as well. I appreciated the general sense of queer acceptance in this book; even the villains aren't especially homophobic, although they do say a few nasty things on the topic. I also really liked that none of the female characters were threatened with sexual violence, although I thought Evadne was probably afraid of that at a few points.

On the negative side, this book has some pacing issues. I felt bogged down reading the first two-thirds, which is mostly about Evadne and Dorina's ideas of how other people feel about them. They're in this exciting setting, and the reader knows there's supernatural stuff happening. But it felt almost like a family drama for a while, which is not a genre I like. Still, the promise of fantasy elements and my inability to predict the plot kept me continuing through any dull parts.

Also (major spoiler) I did not like the ending much. I think Evadne paid too high of a price. Maybe I'll change my mind after thinking it over, though.

Overall, I liked this and will read more by this author. I am weak and I don't especially like reading about female characters coming to terms with the terrible hand life has dealt them. This isn't that kind of book at all, which I found refreshing.

This is a good short romance, sort of a slice of life set in a fantasy world. Both characters do a lot of introspection, but the writing is also fairly atmospheric. I really felt the bleakness of Anton's isolated farm and the difficulty of his life. His relationship with Petre is extremely understated, but I believe they'll have a happy future together. I'll definitely seek out more of this author's work.

This is overall a good read that delivers on everything the blurb promises.

I didn't enjoy the first quarter of this book much at all and considered setting it aside. I really dislike the author's writing style. It's in present tense, which I don't like, and the first half also has frequent excerpts from a TV interview one of the main characters gave shortly before the space mission. I didn't find this structure confusing, just annoying. But beyond those two things, I didn't like all the poetic descriptions of the characters' love for space.

When books have an overly lyrical style, I cringe, and then I feel like an old curmudgeon, because it was exactly my favorite style 20 years ago. I had a creative writing professor who used this style in his work, and I thought he was the best. But my tastes have changed over the years.

But I feel guilty saying that, because the writing is beautiful, and I think most readers would enjoy it. And I do really like the actual substance of the book. The plot is very romantic and the two main characters are both lovable. I was cheering for their happy ending. I've had a few long-distance relationships that started out similarly (although not on such an epic scale, of course), and the author did a great job of capturing those feelings: idealizing the person you love, knowing them very well without knowing them at all, and then being excited yet terrified to finally meet them.

For some reason I thought this was gay-for-you, which I usually don't like, but it definitely is not. Patrick is gay, and Curt is bisexual; he has been out since almost the start of his astronaut career. It's great bisexual representation. If he were a real celebrity, I would be a huge fan. The device of the TV interview gives the author the opportunity to have Curt speak openly about his bisexuality in a way that is rare to encounter in m/m romance. I also really appreciate the diversity of the rest of the cast, who are all interesting characters.

Some of the critical reviews here complain about lack of sex. There are a few racy scenes, including one explicit sex scene, and one that is written in poetic language (but it's clear what's happening). I'm not sure why people made that complaint, and I hope that readers who avoid books with sex scenes don't pick this one up based on that misleading info.

At its core, this is a story about two lonely people finding each other against all odds, and learning to love each other. It also feels like an ode to the space program, which brought back some of the worshipful feelings I had towards NASA, as a kid. I know I will remember the story itself fondly, but I didn't enjoy the actual reading experience.

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as The Caves of Steel, but I liked it. Baley and Daneel travel to Solaria to solve a murder. It's a human-settled world with a culture that is strange to both of them, and fairly strange in itself. It takes Baley a long time to figure out anything about their culture, and his investigation of how things work there makes up the bulk of the novel. He's out of his element, just as in book one.

The Solarians come across as arrogant, but it never seems like they actually should be proud of what they've achieved. Because of the way they live, they don't understand the basics of many concepts, like normal (on Baley's Earth and also in reality) police procedures. The Solarians often expect the force of their personalities or their importance within Solarian society to convince Baley that they're innocent of the murder. It's interesting to consider this planet as a kind of libertarian paradise, especially with the way things are in the US right now. I really like that Baley clearly considers sociology an important science and values the opinions of sociologists.

Unfortunately, Daneel is not in this book much. I like his interactions with Baley and I missed them here. I really don't like the way Baley treats him or other robots. I do think Asimov was alluding to real, historical slavery here, with Baley referring to all the other robots as “boy,” which made me cringe every time. I don't believe I'm supposed to sympathize with the way Baley treats robots. But they still don't really seem humanoid, or not in the way that fictional robots like Data or Bender are humanoid. So I can't really hate Baley for his attitude, because it isn't completely analogous to real human bigotries.

The mystery's solution (major spoiler) was pretty unsatisfying to me. I did predict right away that the robots were somehow guilty but I think that I was meant to come to that conclusion, since a reader doesn't have the characters' mental constraints about whether robots can follow Asimov's laws or not. I thought the robots had been manipulated somehow, which was sort of true, but it's more accurate to say that the murderer used robots to set up a situation in which a human, Gladia, would commit the actual crime. The way Baley acts towards women is always pretty bad, but here, he does not even hold Gladia responsible for her crime. According to him, several men and Solarian society all manipulated Gladia into killing her husband. But she actually did it, and I don't sympathize with Baley protecting her. Every criminal has reasons for their crimes. I understand that Leebig was guilty of a worse crime (working towards galactic domination), but then, the story's conclusion meant that the murder investigation actually did work as the Solarians expected it to work; they all turned against Leebig, because he threatened their way of life. So it was Leebig's loss of his peers' support that brought justice here, not Baley following normal police procedures.

At one point, Baley spends a few hours with a woman he considers ugly. She's no more or less likable or three-dimensional than any of the other side characters in the book. Afterward, Baley longs to see the beautiful Gladia, to cleanse his mind of the first woman's ugliness. Yikes. I am not sure if these views are meant to be Baley's or if it's just because this book was written in the 1950s. I guess it was probably progressive at the time that female characters had plotlines at all. I strongly dislike the misogyny in these books. So although I'm very curious to find out what happens to Baley and Daneel on Aurora, I'll probably take a break before continuing with this series.

This is the last series by Ava March on Audible that I hadn't listened to yet, and I liked this first installment. It has a mild plot, but mostly a lot of both MCs straining against the plackets of their trousers and then having sex with each other.

The premise (explained in the blurb) makes me a little uncomfortable, which is why it took me so long to get to this series. The consent is dubious, because of Oliver's deception. On the other hand, the BDSM elements seem fine to me. The dom (Vincent) tells Oliver he'll stop at any time and he actually does when Oliver asks him to, although nothing bad is going on. BDSM is not something I seek out in books, but I usually do like the way Ava March writes it.

Vincent is very rude to everyone who isn't Oliver, which I don't like. I understand this is part of the way ultra-toppy heroes are generally written, though.

But this book is pretty good. If you like the window-dressing (Regency clothes, a character being called “my lord” in bed, scenes at White's, etc.), you will probably also enjoy this.

This was my first time reading anything by Asimov, which is a shame, because I'm very familiar with a lot of stories which I now see come directly from the basic concepts about robots here. Actually, I listened to an audio version, narrated by William Dufris, and the voice he chose for Daneel sounds a lot like Data. And Daneel was obviously an inspiration for Data.

Summarizing the plot: a police detective finds himself “immersed in a nightmare of murder and robotics.” The detective, Lije Baley, is way out of his depth, and he makes several major mistakes. I guessed who the murderer was right away, but I had no idea what had actually happened until Baley figured it out, which makes it a pretty good mystery novel, in my opinion. There's a decent amount of philosophical stuff in this book, too, but I found it was woven pretty well into the actual story, along with a lot of clever worldbuilding.

This book was first published in 1954, and Baley has the mentality of someone from that era. He has some terrible ideas about women, seeming to view them as commodities. I was thinking at first that humanity would need some sort of Handmaid's-Tale-style chain of events to lead to this kind of future, but I suppose that this is how things were in the 50s. On reflection, though, I think the narrative itself shows that Baley was wrong not to view women as making their own choices for their own reasons, although he definitely doesn't understand that fact. Baley is not meant to be some kind of paragon, and neither are any of the other characters in the book.

One of the problems I've had lately reading mainstream fiction, even recently published books, is that I always feel like most of its sole point-of-view characters who are cishet white dudes are meant to have ordinary reactions to events, easy for all readers to relate to, even though I have different reactions myself. So, I end up feeling alienated. But I didn't have that problem with this book; beyond Baley's origins in the 50s, he's written as a product of the fictional time and place where this is set: Earth in the far future. Maybe because he is doubly removed from my own experience, then, his reactions and opinions make sense to me, and he feels like a well-rounded character, rather than an “ordinary” guy whose point-of-view I can't completely sympathize with.

The New York City of the future (again, I see that it was probably the inspiration for the New New York of Futurama) is a dystopia, but we don't instantly see how bad it really is. At first, I also thought the spacers' lives were utopian, but it turns out there's quite a dark side to their society also. So, the hopeful ending makes a lot of sense. I know there are more stories set in this world and I'm curious to learn what happens next to this version of the human race and its robot buddies.

I read that there's going to be a new TV or movie adaptation of this book soon, and I'm really looking forward to how that turns out. While reading, I was drawing mental parallels to the modern world, and to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, with the bit about city-dwellers having to use a separate bathroom from the spacers, for example. There has probably been a lot written about how the book portrays prejudice, but my own initial thinking about it was a bit off the mark. Baley, the medievalists, and the spacers all have some type of bigotry towards some other group or groups, but it isn't really the same thing as real-world prejudices. Baley and the other city-dwellers see robots as less than human, and I'm coming to this book already thinking robots are people. But I only think that because of the fictional robots I'm familiar with, who were written to seem human. Daneel doesn't really feel like a person, just a really good copy, with serious shortcomings. It makes sense that the city-dwellers don't see robots as people. I'm not sure that the spacers do either, which is more troubling, but this story doesn't explore that concept.

There's a lot more talking and thinking than action, but the writing style is sharp; I was never bored. It's also not very long and doesn't feel like it has any unnecessary parts, in the manner of the best classic short stories. I don't think it will be too long before I pick up something else by Asimov.

I feel all warm inside after reading this adorable original fairy tale. Sir Violet is the lone knight of an isolated village, responsible for investigating local crimes. A dragon moves into the area and keeps nicking small items from the villagers, which brings him to Violet's attention. Eventually, Violet (who is aro-ace), the dragon, and a trans lesbian go on a quest to find her wife. Then, they all carry out a plan to improve their world, in a manner that both fits a fairy tale and is a metaphor for real life. This is a short work, but it tells a complete story. I'd even say it's epic in scope, just in a subtle way. It's told from Violet's point of view only, but all of the major characters have distinct voices and personalities. There aren't a lot of physical descriptions, but I have very clear mental images of all of them. I also appreciate that all of the characters have some flaws; for example, Snap cares a lot about humans, but he can be a bit inconsiderate, because he has such different everyday concerns from theirs, while Violet often worries about food and safety and really does prefer solitude, although he does appreciate his new friends. This is a fairy tale, and every character gets a happy ending, but they aren't romantic or even friendship-based happy endings. Rather, every character finds acceptance and/or a fulfilling purpose. It's really nice to read a story that includes not only lots of familiar fairy tale elements, but also a variety of characters, who all achieve different types of happiness.While I definitely enjoyed the story immensely, this would also be a great book for kids, with its gentle humor and positive lessons about acceptance and being true to oneself. There's no violence or strong language of any kind. Really, I would recommend it to anyone. I was eager to read this book because of how much I enjoyed the author's short story (which also features an aro-ace protagonist) in the lovely anthology [b:Unburied Fables 32326669 Unburied Fables Tiffany Rose https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475347178s/32326669.jpg 52960536]. I look forward to her next release.

I absolutely loved this. I also loved The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, but this is the better book, in my opinion. They both stand alone, but a major character appears in both; it would be better to read Watchmaker first.

I would call this a queerplatonic relationship, but there's much more to the story also. Because the book has elements from a few genres and doesn't follow many genre conventions, I never really knew what would happen next, which was exciting and unsettling. I was especially anxious when Keita showed up in the first flashback, because when Merrick first mentioned him, it seemed like he was afraid of Keita. But that all made sense in the end.

The fantasy aspects of the story are woven cleverly into the story, and seem reasonable in context, although they're all very strange. I guessed at what was going on with some of the book's mysteries, but I totally underestimated the emotional impact of everything as it unfolded in the story, because the relationship between the main characters is so subtle. I cried a lot, which I rarely do over books. But the actual ending is not unhappy.

My review definitely does not do justice to this beautiful book. It's going to be really difficult for me to wait until the author releases the sequel to Watchmaker next year.

[b:All Systems Red 32758901 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) Martha Wells https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484171189s/32758901.jpg 53349516] was one of my favorite reads last year, and somehow, I enjoyed this book even more! I read the first book but listened to this one on audio, narrated by Kevin R. Free, and he did an excellent job. To me, he really captured Murderbot's sense of humor.There are several interesting new characters introduced, most importantly ART, an AI who runs a transport ship. Their friendship has a shaky start, which is pretty funny. Here's Murderbot's reasoning for accepting ART's request for them to watch TV together:“If it needed me to watch the show it wanted, then it couldn't get angry and destroy my brain.” I still strongly identify with Murderbot, especially its social anxiety (or the AI equivalent) and its complete devotion to its favorite show, Sanctuary Moon, which comes up often in this book. The plot is very good, with several exciting action scenes. Murderbot is pretty introspective, but the story always moves along at a good pace. There's a complete story here, but also, Murderbot investigates the defining incident of its life. That plot is not wrapped up here. I love this series, and I probably should not have devoured the second book as soon as it came out, because I'm already impatient for book 3.

I mostly enjoyed this slightly unusual fantasy novel, although I do have some criticisms. The audiobook kept my attention pretty easily for nearly 18 hours. Since I don't have a copy of the ebook or paperback, I apologize for my inevitable spelling mistakes with proper nouns. I'm going to try to avoid spoilers.

This book would make a great movie or TV show. It has a good amount of humor; although some of it is dated cultural references like “the cake is a lie,” some of the in-universe jokes made me laugh. Beyond that, it's very cinematic. The author is talented at creating original metaphors, though, which would be lost in a different format. I didn't find the book as funny as Terry Pratchett, nor are there insightful observations about human nature. But Eames's writing style is generally clever and I liked it.

The story moves along at a fast pace, and the characters have a lot of adventures. There's a primary plot and then side plots, mostly dealing with each character's family and/or backstory. For the first third of this book, I was on the fence about continuing. But somewhere around the time when they had to fight in the arena, I started caring a lot about the characters.

All of the main characters are male, although there are some important female characters. I really didn't like the plotline of the most prominent female character, Larkspur. Part of her power is a sexual allure that makes men (I noticed no lesbian/bi women in this world) do her bidding. She's also a fabulous fighter, so I don't think the sexual allure ability was even necessary. But it needed more exploration than it got, because it's such a sexist trope. Or she could've had a mind-control power that had nothing to do with sexual attraction, like the ability to convince people to help her in whatever way she needed. I had problems with some of the other female characters, also, and with the male-gaze-y way they were always introduced.

In general, I think I would've liked this book better with multiple points of view. I don't often read books narrated by lone cishet white male characters because I personally have trouble immersing myself in that PoV. I'm not saying these books have no value or even that there should be fewer books of this kind, just that it's not my personal preference as a reader, particularly when I'm supposed to identify only with that character. But this book has more depth than that; Clay is not meant to be a generic “everyman,” although I do think the reader is usually supposed to sympathize with his reactions. He has his own problems, though, and his own character arc. The author is also very good at showing us all the characters' reactions to different situations.

Minor spoiler Here's Clay's description of a different important female character:"...and the fact that she fought like a Cascar berserker who'd walked in on her husband in bed with her sister."I think it shows a lot that Clay and/or the author described a female warrior's strength this way.

I wanted to read this book partly because I saw some one-star reviews complaining about the existence of a gay character. So I was primed to like that character, Moog, and I did! He's not flawless, either, although he is a completely good man. He is immature and nerdy, and he's the character out of this bunch I'd most want to adventure with myself. I also really liked his close friendship with Matrick. Kit was my second-favorite character, and I would've liked to see more of him.

Overall, I think if I were a different person, this would be one of my all-time favorite books. I did like it, though, and I will read the next book, which the author says will be about Rose. I'm really curious to see how that works out and if some of the qualities that make me uncomfortable about this book will still be present.

If you like RPGs, especially Bioware-type games, I think you'd probably like this. It isn't really in the same vein as Terry Pratchett, although I see why Pratchett fans might like it. I'll definitely recommend it to epic fantasy readers.

I enjoyed reading this a lot. Ery, a side character from the first two Bones novels, has his own paranormal romance, with a water spirit. Dylan and Chris are important in this book also, a bit more than I expected, actually. But I really like them, so I didn't mind.

Ery spends most of the book confused about what he really wants, but his journey to a happy ending feels realistic. However, his love interest, Karl, is immediately loyal, and somehow it seems a little sad to me, maybe because Karl does not have much depth (ha). But seriously, he comes across as very innocent and pure - not virginal, but lacking in knowledge about the world. I would've preferred it if we had seen his point-of-view.

But overall, I like this story. This one links to others by Kim Fielding, including Speechless, which I have not read yet. I think it's clever how she subtly sets her stories in the same universe. I'm having a great time reading her books!

This book is pretty good, but I didn't love it. One of the leads, Peter, really irritated me, with his constant one-liners. I think that's my problem, though; I'm sure many readers would like his style of humor, but I don't usually like smart-ass characters.

I like the point-of-view character, Ante, much more. He's a vampire with principles, and a lot of his introspection in this book has to do with his own moral code. Peter's abilities make him a bit morally gray, too. But somehow, I never really fell in love with either of these characters, although they're never difficult to sympathize with.

The world this is set in is really great, with lots of supernatural beings. I've been reading this author's Bones series, which this book alludes to a couple times, but the supernatural stuff is much more in the forefront here than in that series. I really liked the part with the ghosts, and I wish they had played a bigger role in this story.

I appreciate that Kim Fielding often includes background queer characters in addition to the main pairing. I also like that even her villains usually have interesting backstories and reasonable motivations.

This was my first time reading a Dreamspun Beyond title and I'm willing to try another, but I'm not super enthusiastic about it. I would gladly read more stories set in this world, though!

This is a sweet and short friends-to-lovers contemporary romance. The angst level is very low, although both characters have issues they're struggling with in life. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by KC Kelly, and really enjoyed it. There's a little humor, as well as appealing side characters.

Overall, this is very nice, without a ton of depth, but it did tug on my heartstrings a bit, with the quiet theme of finding a place to belong.

This is a very nice story, somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. It's a contemporary romance between two men their 50s, which I really enjoyed reading for a change. It's pretty much pure fluff, with no conflict between the main characters and lots of sweet domestic moments.

The first part is about the two of them dating, with a lot of sexual tension. They decide to wait a little while to have sex for the first time. Then there are a lot of sex scenes. They aren't kinky but they're slightly unusual, in terms of what usually happens in m/m romance novels, which is great. I also really like that the characters communicate so clearly about sex.

There's a plot having to do with Mitch's bad retail job which gets resolved partly because of how supportive Karl is, which I thought was very romantic. Karl has two dogs who have their own personalities, and of course I enjoyed everything about them. Both men have had hard times in their lives, but the story doesn't dwell on their pasts. The ending is very happy.

A mild criticism: in general, the dialogue in this book doesn't feel realistic to me. The characters use each other's first names all the time, and they rarely use contractions. I think the book needed a little bit more editing.

Overall, I liked this, and I'll read this author again.

This is my favorite of Scalzi's books so far, and I enjoyed it more than Lock In. Head On is sharp, witty, and fast-paced, with a gripping plot and lots of unexpected turns. I laughed out loud often, especially at Chris and Agent Vann's banter. And I am now madly in love with Agent Vann, who is an amazing and abrasive badass at every moment. If she ever changes her mind about living in suburbia, I'm available!

So, we don't know Chris's gender, which I love, but I also appreciate the fact that gender seems incidental in this world. The only differences between people that are important are wealth and Haden status. There's very little traditionally gendered behavior at all; pretty much any of the characters could be any gender. This is slightly relevant to the plot, in that one Haden character's perception of his own gender probably contributed to his marital problems.

There's a decent amount of character exploration - not a lot, but more than I expect from a plot-driven book. I feel like I know all the characters better than I did at the end of Lock In, especially Chris, Vann, and Chris's flatmates. We also see several characters' personal spaces within the Agora, and how those spaces influence Chris's perceptions of social class, which is interesting.

The mystery is very good. It's a fairly cynical vision of human nature, in that there's quite a lot of murder and exploitation for profit going on, but the actual heroes are definitely ethical themselves. I might not have enjoyed it as much a couple of years ago, but recent political events have made me somewhat more cynical than I used to be.

Overall, I recommend these two books highly, and I hope that there will be more books in this series. I wish the book were twice as long; the story was completely wrapped up, but I didn't want my time in this world and with these characters to come to an end.