Jimmy Brewster
I wanted to read The Film You Are About to See by Haley Newlin because I love old and campy horror movies.
The novella delivers exactly what I expected based on the description. It is an action packed and gory teen horror movie, in novella form, that could have been screened at the same drive-in theater I remember visiting as a kid.
I recommend this novella to anybody who loves horror movies, old and new.
I wanted to read Gas Giant Gambit by E.S. Raye because it sounded like an interesting mix of a western movie set in space. It fully lived up to this expectation.
The novel follows "Gus" essentially a nameless bounty hunter who comes to a poor mining town, on the edge of human civilization, in the atmosphere of a gas giant planet. Spaghetti western tropes are numerous, and the author has managed to pack every single one into this novel. If you are familiar with spaghetti western movies, you will most likely be able to predict the general direction of the plot. However, the plot is full of action, and I was never bored while reading this novel. Additionally, the hero characters are passionate and lovable. The villains are dark and easy to despise. I was pleased with the story elements of community defense and standing up to prejudice, exploitation, and oppression, even when the stakes are high. There is plenty of space, aliens, & future technology to satisfy a science fiction reader.
I had some dissatisfaction with the Mexican characters’ dialogue being speckled with "pendejo", "hombre", "mi amigo", et cetera. I felt it sometimes gave the impression of cartoon characters rather than an authentic representation. It is a classic western trope, to be sure, but I think it could have been explored differently.
I recommend this novel to anybody who has fond memories of old Clint Eastwood movies or anybody who likes non-stop action-packed science fiction. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
I wanted to read this book because the premise sounded like the kind of weird science fiction that I would enjoy.
On the surface level, it's an interesting set-up and I was intrigued to find out more about the mysterious creatures presented in the story. I wanted to know more about the world which unfolds through the point of view of one of these creatures.
However, the story bogs down in a moral message that boils down to having empathy for "the other side". This idea sounds appealing at first glance, but as an antifascist in an era of rising fascism, I find this allegory is not sound. I have deep empathy for the oppressed, but I have none for the oppressors.
Overall, I would not recommend this book.
In the fall of 2023 after watching the second season of the Foundation show on Apple+, I began reading Asimov's books (robot/empire/foundation) in the order which he suggested in an author's note in Prelude to Foundation.
Finally, after almost 2 years I have finished the titular book.
I enjoy the overall story of Foundation, however, the writing is not my favorite from Asimov. The entire book is essentially men having conversations about ruling the galaxy and how to manipulate the future for the good of mankind. Using dialogue to advance the plot is a device that Asimov uses a lot in his writing, and Foundation is the quintessential example. For the most part, nothing really happens, but there are a lot of conversations about things that have happened or are happening.
Also, where are the women? Asimov's women characters are sparse and often poorly written stereotypes. The single woman who gets a few lines of dialogue in Foundation would rank high as one of the worst examples.
If you want to read a single Asimov book, I would not recommend Foundation. If you are trying to complete the entire Foundation series, well, I guess you have no choice.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata is about fitting into society, and the struggles that accompany living with childhood trauma and other mental health issues.
I wanted to read this book because I previously enjoyed The Convenience Store Woman by the same author. I am sure that everyone who enjoyed TCSW will not enjoy Earthlings. Earthlings is like the dark, twisted, horrific cousin of The Convenience Store Woman.
I liked this book a lot because of the elements of darkness and the absurdity of the characters. I also found the questions about society and the pressure to fit in to be relatable.
If you enjoy authors like Chuck Palahniuk you will probably like this book.
Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold is the omnibus collection of two books, Shards of Honor and Barrayar, the first and the seventh books in the Vorkosigan series. I had not read anything from Lois McMaster Bujold but I have heard good things about her novels. I wanted to read Barrayar, however, it was easier to find the omnibus.
Firstly, there should be trigger warnings for rape, sexual violence, and birthing trauma. None of the scenes are very graphic, however, the topics do come up multiple times.
I enjoyed the mix of fantasy and space opera. At times, the novel could easily be considered a fantasy novel. Long sections of the story pass without much or any mention of space or sci-fi technology. In fact, there is very little space, especially in the second portion Barrayar.
The entire story focuses on Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan. First on a mostly unexplored wilderness planet, then on Barrayar, an older imperial planet with birthright nobility, emperors, and councilmen. Barrayar has all the tropes of a fantasy or historical fiction including patriarchy, schemes, betrayals, and tests of loyalty.
It is implied that there is a larger multi-planetary universe beyond the narrow scope of these characters, but it never gets explored very deeply. I was left wondering about the history of Earth at the point of this story, how Barrayar and the other planets came to be colonized, and more of the interplanetary politics. Perhaps some of this is explored in the other books in this huge series.
Overall, the first part of the omnibus, Shards of Honor, was the less interesting portion of the book. I would give the second portion, Barrayar, a higher rating on it's own.
If you enjoy authors like Isaac Asimov or Ursula Le Guin you will probably enjoy this. If you are a fantasy reader who wants to add a dash of science fiction and technology to your reading list, you will probably enjoy this.
I am always interested to read more women sci-fi authors and especially books that question gender & patriarchy, so I was interested in this book when I heard about it.
This book was a fairly quick read. Despite being over 300 pages, the pages are small and the chapters are very bite-sized.
I enjoyed the diverse cast of women and other characters. The book examines many ideas about gender and gives some insight into the ways that patriarchy shapes each characters views.
The sci-fi elements were interesting, though they are not explored to the fullest extent. There are just enough details to pique your interest but plenty of room for your imagination to fill in the details. The focus of the story is more on gender, patriarchy, and community, with the sci-fi elements being used to create interesting setting.
Overall, I think that fans of Ursula Le Guin's Hanish Cycle or the book I Who Haver Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman will find this book equally enjoyable.
I enjoyed this book for many of the reasons people dislike it; it is a pretentious slice of life story that can be confusing at times. I really like this author's style of writing. The world building is deep without ever being fully explained. The main character often accepts the illogicality of his situations without question which forces the reader to do the same. There are elements of magical realism, family drama, fascism, revolution, and philosophy. I am sure that I don't "get it" fully and I don't care.
This book is truly awful. Unlikable characters with dialogue and action scenes that seem like they are straight out of a low budget sci-fi movie. There's some kind of dystopian political situation written by someone with no understanding of politics. It's like if Philip Dick and Robert Heinlein combined and then wrote the worst book you can imagine.
The only reason I finished it was because it's very easy to read and I was fascinated by how bad it was. At times it's so bad it's funny, but I don't think that was intentional.
