John

An interesting speculation on the nature of individual freedom and literal investment in each other. This is more of a political thought experiment than political thriller. Some of the big events occur off screen. But the interaction between the two main characters, Justin Cord, the “Unincorporated Man”, and his nemesis Hektor Sambianco, champion of self-incorporation, made this book worth the read. It's not often that I wind up torn between the two characters, both of whom have virtues and flaws. I know I'm supposed to be on the side of Cord, since he's the “hero” of the piece, but Sambianco makes a number of very strong points. In the end, I found this to be a stronger book than expected, and much less of a libertarian fantasy than other reviews had led me to believe. I'm not sure I'll continue the series, but I did wind up enjoying this book.

I have read the entire series of chapters released in “The Human Division”. I have to say that by the end, I was somewhat disappointed. The book ended before some crucial questions were resolved, and while the characters wound up resolving one situation (not necessarily for the best), it wound up having an incomplete feel to it. Very much looking forward to the newly promised follow-up book.

When I picked up this book, I was expecting light-hearted fantasy fare. That's not what I got. Instead, this book is an action-packed fun ride filled with an interesting magical system, lots of entertaining literary references, and not a few very interesting philosophical quandaries. It resembled a Dresden Files book in pacing and theme, but with it's own voice that set it apart. The ending sets the story up for follow-up books (and has an amusing twist), so I'll be looking forward to sequels.

I think this novella is what happens when Brandon Sanderson tries to write a short story... ;-)

I quite enjoyed this novella. It's a much smaller stage than he usually writes on, a story involving a small handful of people (three main characters, and three minor named characters) and a very limited scope of time. It's an in-depth exploration of a kind of magic that allows the practitioner to re-write the history of a thing and change it's current nature by use of intricately carved stamps. The main character is a master of this magic who gets caught in the midst of the swap of an original item for the forgery she made (though this particular part of the story evolves quite a bit during the telling), and how people who find her magic repugnant discover to their disgust they need her talents. But it's also the story of learning so much about a person that you thoroughly understand them, and how this is the real magic.

It was a short read – it took me a couple of hours – but a compelling one. It would be a great introduction to Sanderson's writing for anyone who isn't already familiar with this epic fantasist. It's also a showcase for something Brandon does amazingly well: the exploration of a thoroughly imaginative magic system. And, of course, if you are already a Sanderson fan, pick this one up to read while you're (patiently) waiting for his next epic tome to be published.

I've been a fan of the “Jon and Lobo” books since finding the first one. As others have said, this one wasn't as action-packed as others in the series, but it does dive much more deeply into Jon's background, and explores what drives Jon the way that he's driven. It doesn't give all the answers, but the way in which his background parallels the story of the child soldiers in the book was very illuminating. If you've been following the series for a while, this is a must-read. But if you're new to the series, go back and start at book one. This books presumes you know enough of the background of the setting, and probably won't make as much sense without that grounding.

What happens when a very conservative Christian decides to spend a year as a gay man in order to understand the enemy? Not unexpectedly, he gains a great deal of insight and becomes a strong ally in favor of equality. That's the story told by Tim Kurek in “The Cross in the Closet”, a book I recommend highly.

Tim grew up in a very religiously conservative family in Nashville, Tennessee. While attending Liberty University, the largest, private, Conservative Christian college in the US (if not the world), Tim encountered someone from SoulForce, a liberal religious organization dedicated to non-violent and peaceful demonstrations in favor of equality. Tim's faith was shaken when the SoulForce representative said that despite their differences, he loved Tim. Some short time later, Tim was set back on his heels when a friend of his came out as lesbian and was summarily kicked out of her home by her conservative religious parents. Tim knew that his Christian responsibility at that time was to condemn her “choice” to be lesbian and to counsel her to return to Christ, give up the lesbian nonsense, and all would be right. But he found he could not. He found himself wondering what kind of parent would do that to someone like his friend, a person he cared for deeply.

Tim had a crazy idea that seized him entirely. He needed to know how life would be different if he had the label “gay” applied to himself. So, he decided to “go gay” for a year. No, not fully gay, but to tell people he was, including his friends and family. On New Year's Day, he “came out” to his brother (though lying to his brother caused him to be physically ill all over their back porch). Word spread quickly, and Tim's mom heard before Tim had a chance to talk with her. Then his church friends learned. It started easily enough, but kinds spun out of control. Tim says that the worst part was having so many of his friends just turn their back on him, not even attempt to change him back. He was dead to them.

He started spending time in the local gayborhood, presenting himself as gay. To keep himself safe, and to learn how to give a more convincing act, he entrusted a gay friend of his with his secret, and they became “boyfriends” for the duration of the experiment. (Ultimately, that didn't go as well as it could be hoped.) He took a job as a barista at a predominately gay coffeeshop, went to gay karaoke, joined a gay softball league, and spent a lot of time reading books with gay themes, very much like many gay men just out of the closet.

It didn't take him too long to realize that most of his stereotypical views of gay people were entirely wrong. Gay people led normal lives, formed stable relationships, supported each other in times of crisis, and made deep friendships.

The experiment went in some interesting directions, and the section of the memoir where Tim joined up with SoulForce for a peaceful demonstration at the Vatican Embassy in New York was a powerful message of redemption. He also ran into devastating problems with his brother and other family members. Along the way, he discovered that he had transferred the hate he used to have for gays onto conservative Christians, and went through a process of reconciliation so that he could truly love all people despite their differences.

I found the book to be truly compelling. I am not Christian, but I am gay. I know what life is like in the closet and as an oppressed minority. I have a LOT of respect for someone like Tim willing to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. He came out of the process a changed man, still a Christian, but a truly loving one. If I ever meet him, there's no way he's not getting a big hug. I highly recommend reading this book about a journey from ignorance to understanding, from hatred to embrace, from a fear of “other” to a more universal love.

Book five of the ongoing supernatural spy series, and a good read. In this outing, the Drood family faces a resurgent Satanist conspiracy. Yes, Satanist, as in devil worshippers who revel in human sacrifices. Ongoing traitors in the Drood family continually hamper Eddie and his family as they try to wipe out this new conspiracy, and their mysterious Grand Sacrifice. A lot of twists and turns along the way, including some unexpected and terribly poignant sacrifices among the Drood. Along the way, Eddie comes face-to-face with the realization that sometimes his motives are not amongst the purest, and put his own soul in jeopardy. My only disappointment is that one of the betrayers is telegraphed fairly early and obviously, and I wanted to hit Eddie upside the head to warn him of the impending knife in the back. And just as in the previous book, the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, leading directly (one hopes) into the next book. I guess I'll find out for sure soon.Book five of the ongoing supernatural spy series, and a good read. In this outing, the Drood family faces a resurgent Satanist conspiracy. Yes, Satanist, as in devil worshippers who revel in human sacrifices. Ongoing traitors in the Drood family continually hamper Eddie and his family as they try to wipe out this new conspiracy, and their mysterious Grand Sacrifice. A lot of twists and turns along the way, includ ...

I have an inherent fondness for Scalzi books. He and I share a similar sense of humor and of drama. Redshirts is a great example of what I'm talking about here. This is a darkly humorous book, somewhat of a send-up of Star Trek, but told from the point of view of the “redshirts” of the crew, those extras whose sole job it is to die horrible deaths so that we know our heroes are in danger. In this case, the protagonists of the book are newly graduated cadets of a Universal Union who all score the most prestigious posting in the Fleet, the Intrepid. As far as they know, they live in a normal universe, leading relatively normal lives. They bond over drinks in the space station bar before the shuttle takes them to their new home. Once aboard the Intrepid, they start to notice that things are very odd there. Whenever the Captain, the Science Officer, the Engineer, or any of the other “main cast” crew members are walking down the corridor, all of the other crew members suddenly find reasons not to be found. Our protagonists discover why, as they go on “away missions” and barely survive. As they talk with other crew members (once they survive their “initiation”), they discover that for some reason, the rules of physics and statistics are severely bent out of shape in the presence of the “main cast” officers.

The book is full of very dry and dark humor. This is especially true as the characters come to terms with the fact that they are each likely to be killed off soon in some pointless and meaningless way. Cliches abound, but they work for this kind of a story, as they become the recognizable tropes that signal imminent danger for the characters that they are completely oblivious to, but which are obvious to readers. Even the ultimate solution to the problem is a huge cliche, but I found I didn't mind in the least because it was so appropriate to the setting. It was almost inevitable, and it was done well.

I do have some complaints with the novel. There were a few editorial oversights with mixed up names and such. I can generally overlook that, but it was jarring this time. Also, some of the names of the protagonists are visually similar and it took me a while to sort out which backstory belonged to which character. But the biggest complaint I had with the novel was that it seemed to end too soon. I don't mean the book was short; I mean that it felt like one of those TV shows where everything looks like it's wrapped up neatly but you still have fifteen minutes to go, so you expect that there's some big twist that's just about to happen to make the story that much more interesting. This novel seems to set up such a big twist, but then suddenly ends. It was disappointing because that apparent big twist had such potential.

After the main story ends, the book has three “codas”, extensions of the main story with characters that were featured in the main story but were not the main characters. Each of these codas were interesting additions to the story in very unique ways. The first coda is a first-person narrative told in blog/epistolary form. The second coda is written in second-person, a very unusual and difficult style that rarely works. This time I thought it did, exploring the thoughts and feelings of someone who has been told he was in a terrible accident with severe brain damage, and is trying to account for a couple of weeks missing from his memory. Finally, the third coda is in... you guessed it, third person, which tells the story of an actor who learns how profoundly and positively affected someone was by her portrayal of a bit part character, someone who had all of a couple of minutes of screen time. It's sweet and perfectly caps a story line from the main story.

I'd say, if you like Scalzi's stuff, this is a no brainer. Pick it up and enjoy it. It's not his best work, but it's a fun read. If you're in to Star Trek, or other weekly SF TV shows that sometimes just don't make a whole lot of sense, you might find this darkly humorous take on the entire genre to be entertaining. If neither of those are the case, you might still like it for the humor and the character interactions, which Scalzi always handles well. This is not a deep book, there are no life-altering revelations for the reader, but it is a fun read and a quick read.

A good book to read if you're considering adoption. A lot of anecdotal information about open adoption and how it plays out in the real world.

I was somewhat disappointed that there was no mention of how open adoption might be different in families headed by same-sex couples, and was somewhat turned off by the book's insistence that all adoptive parents must deal with the grief that arises from infertility. Not all families start because the adopters are infertile.

I generally do not like anthologies. Most of them are very uneven, and stories that don't catch my interest often cause me to put the book aside. So, I was skeptical when a friend recommended this anthology to me. “Trust me,” he said.

I'm glad I did. There wasn't a single story in this book that failed to catch my interest. Even though the stories had wildly different genres, settings, and styles, they all were captivating. Some were funny, some were thought-provoking, and some were kind of just “out there” yet still entertaining.

If you enjoy thoughtful, well-written, science-fiction and fantasy stories, add this book to your collection.

Moist Von Lipwig is back, and still working hard to keep his neck free from Vetinari's noose. This time he is made responsible for the public safety (and the city's financial stake) regarding a radically new form of transportation: steam powered locomotives. Along the way he has to manage the growing ingenuousness of goblins, help stave off a Dwarfish civil war, and keep an increasing amount of, well, change from getting out of hand. And at it's heart it is “change” that is the subject of this novel, and how people deal with change. Some embrace it, some fear it, and some see it as a way to profit. It's not a “laugh out loud” Discworld book, which will be a disappointment for some, but I quite enjoyed it.

I decided to read this book due to my enjoyment of “The Expanse” on SyFy. I rather enjoyed the book, and while there are some major differences between the show and the book, I thought the show really captured the major themes of the book. If anything, the show downplayed some of the stronger sequences of the novel. I'm very much looking forward to both the next season of the show, and to reading the rest of the series. I think I'll start the next book now, as a matter of fact.

I mostly enjoyed this book. Having read the Black Mage trilogy a few years back, I enjoyed stepping back into the world, and seeing how some of the details in that trilogy were originally instituted. The story was satisfactorily concluded.

That said, there was one area that greatly disappointed me. And here begin some significant spoilers! In the last third of the book, a minor character is revealed to be homosexual. Kachiro is handled in a compassionate way despite living in a culture that is very hostile to homosexuality. Though married to a more prominent female character, he has a younger male lover who the wife knows about and accepts. Then the story veers directly into the distasteful “bury your gays” trope when the young lover is murdered with absolutely no reason or perpetrator revealed. It's tragic for no purpose and does nothing for the story. Worse, in his moment of ultimate grief, his loving wife chooses that moment to lead a group of women to safety from the war that had arrived in the city. And then he is not seen again. It left me feeling disturbingly cold after warming to the revelation that queer folk actually exist in this fantasy world. And it makes me hesitant to read later works by Ms. Canavan.

Continuing the adventures of the cast from Dauntless, so if you liked the first book, you'll like this one. The main character grows in nuance, some antagonistic characters get their comeuppance, yet the enemy remains relatively monolithic and faceless.

A pretty basic military space opera with some nice hooks and believable characters. Definitely a quick and fun read.