Nate
Very hit and miss.
For every seminal work ala ‘The Gernsback Continuum' or the aggressively imaginative powerfictions of ‘Solstice' and ‘Mozart in Mirrorshades' there are piles of forgettable poorly written copycats that are properly relegated to banal obscurity.
Fun read though, probably a great choice for a book-club who wants to hate-read some corny cyberpunk.
There is a lot to love and a lot of brilliance in this book. From meditations on the slow sadness of entropy and the pain of distance (temporal, relational, and geographical) to the masterful use of stacking themes (memories and videotapes and generational PoVs) to the unfalteringly gorgeous prose (no one can in good conscience say the John Darnielle/The Mountain Goats aren't poetic geniuses), but the whole thing rang pretty hollow to me. I get what he was trying for and think it's an amazing attempt at real art, but he kinda lost the thread in making it a good book first. I really wanted to like it more than I actually did. It's got me more than interested in reading his other stuff though.
Some really great ideas in a lot of these, but aside from a few notable exceptions, the writing quality across the board is pretty atrocious.
‘Down in the Library Basement' by Rona Vaselaar, ‘When Dusk Falls on Hadley Township' by T.W. Grim and ‘A Trick of Perspective' by Matt Dymerski are the clear standouts imo and worth the price of admission alone.
The entire last ~30% of the book is a 1/5 slog.
Really good! Super fun! Right up my alley.
Picked this up in a small bookstore in Old San Juan while on vacation last month and read through most of it there. Seeing that Akashic Books has an entire series of city based noir collections has got me very interested in grabbing a copies to take with me on trips to the title cities.
Very quick read, more a flash fiction collection than a short story collection which made it perfect for bumming around with.
Like all collections quality varies pretty dramatically with some absolute bangers (Two Deaths for Angela by Ana Maria Fuster Lavin and Death on the Scaffold by Janette Bacerra in particular) scattered throughout.
Great collection and a brilliant idea for a series.
Master class in short fiction.
While the stories themselves were pretty hit or miss for me, the skill on display was readily apparent. Alastair Reynolds crafts his stories with an artisan's touch, gently shaping and polishing his works to nearly radiant perfection.
The main reason this is 4-stars instead of 5 is because I noticed he tends to focus hyper-specifically on one main facet while letting others fall to the wayside. For example, incredible characterization (Minla's Flowers, Zima Blue, Thousandth Night), outstanding worldbuilding (Beyond the Aquila Rift, Diamond Dogs), intense and wonderful storytelling (Vainglory, Trauma Pod)
Major standouts include Minla's Flowers (holy shit, the slowly changing meaning of the titular flowers? Top tier for that alone), Zima Blue (entire reason I read this was because of the LD&R adaptation of this story, the short story is even better, mind-blowingly incredible), Diamond Dogs (David Bowie reference in the title? Story about Math geniuses upgrading their mental capacity to ascend a tower of puzzles?? You can't get any more up my alley than this. Planning a TTRPG campaign based on this story, very high marks), and Thousandth Night (maybe my favorite in the collection? Love how Reynolds plays with massive timescales and he does it best here I think).
Badass book, wildly imaginative and thought provoking. Alastair Reynolds is one of the modern SF greats.
Back on my horror bullshit. Fucking love FPW.
Completely unpredictable, with an amazing final act. Grace's arc was a wild ride.
Really good book to end the year on. Definitely my favorite Blake Crouch so far.
Its got the same issues I've had with all of his other novels though. He can't seem to write a conflict that doesn't devolve into boring pewpew gunfights, and his protagonists all fetishize violence in a way that really turns me off. Their reactions to anything upsetting them is always to throw tantrums and stomp around and break shit or fantasize about hurting people. They revel in violence in a way that is gleeful and masturbatory and toxic in that absusive boomer-dad sort of way that makes my eyes roll so far back into my skull that I'm afraid I'm gonna give myself permanent damage.
The pathos in this one though is fucking outstanding. Crouch is so good at taking a mind-bending sci-fi concept and wrapping it around a tight relatable emotional core. Recursion did a great job of this too, but I think Dark Matter is where he crushes it. Still pretty awful at writing female characters though...
Blake Crouch really is just the Christopher Nolan of books and I'm here for it. As many issues as I have, he's the only author that'll keep me up til 3am finishing one of his books.
I almost never go into spoilers or plot details, but there ARE two things about this book I really need to talk about that I think were HUGE missed opportunities. I'm almost certain that in an earlier version of the manuscript that these were the original ideas and they didn't test well with beta-readers or something? (too nihilistic?)
#1 (minor spoilers)There is a scene at around the midpoint with Jason1 and Amanda where the box they've been using to travel between parallel universes is buried by a snowstorm. Their tracks are gone, they have no food, and will freeze to death if they don't find the box. They mention that if they go out without a plan their chances to find the box are miniscule. In a scene directly before, they have a discussion about Jason2 and the creation of the box. Their conversation centers on the fact that even if the odds were desparately miniscule, Jason2's creation of the box was 100% certain because alongside infinite parallel universes where he failed there would inevitably be a universe where he succeeded. This is obvious mirroring right?? Jason2 sacrificed unknowable billions of alternate versions of himself to failure at the tiny chance that one of them would be able to remedy his ultimate regret. The set-up is RIGHT THERE. The solution is for Jason1 and Amanda to go digging randomly right? Jason1 sacrificing unknowably huge numbers of his parallel selves to freeze to death in the cold because random chance dictates that one of them (obviously the protagonist version) walks to the exact right spot and digs straight down to the box. It reinforces the themes perfectly and sets up mirror characterizations between Jason1 and Jason2.Instead they just deus ex machina themselves to the box because they remember it's super magnetic and they have a compass. Dumb.#2 (MAJOR SPOILERS)At the end of the book, the big twist is that universe has obviously kept on branching and that dozens of Jasons have shown up to the original reality. Each one is a version of Jason who made a slightly different choice since the novel began and each one wants his life back. Then they start fighting and fucking shit up for each other in increasingly dumb ways. Protag Jason eventually steals Daniela away and convinces other Jasons to let him escape with her into another universe. This doesn't really work for me, and I think the original ending planned was set-up and is actually the one I'm about to describe. Right before the final showdown, protagonist Jason gets in contact with the parallel Jasons and suggests a lottery. He suggests they all meet up, use random chance to decide which Jason can have his old life back and then destroy the box and go their separate ways. Earlier in the book Crouch makes a big point to talk about Schrodinger's cat and how Jason's box is Schrodinger's box where a person can be the cat. Can you see where I'm going with this? I see a super philosophically interesting and tidy way to tie up all these loose ends without resorting to a pewpew gun violence action scene. One that uses his established characterization as a brilliant quantum physicist to solve the problem and also tie it together with all of the overarching themes set up. Meet up for the lottery. Use the box to set up some sort of quantum random number generator. Hook all the Jasons up to it ala Schrodinger's cat. When the box opens, the random number is read and the suicide machine they built kills every Jason except one. The thing is though, we're running on multiverse rules. When the box opens, the universe splits into every possible outcome. So every single Jason dies and every single Jason lives. Schrodinger's Jason. Every Jason lives on in their own splinter universe where they were the only surviving Jason. That Jason (obviously our protagonist version) destroys the box so no other Jasons can show up (shit, or maybe he even leaves it undestroyed so he can give any stragglers their own happy endings??) and goes out into the world and reclaims his old life. I like my ending better.
I found out they're turning this one into a TV series and I would be kind of surprised if this isn't the direction they take it... It's right there right? I'm not missing something?
I really really wanted to give this one 5 stars. It's an absolute page turner with tons of fun twists and turns.
Some of the plot points and events near the end felt super convenient and contrived, the climax was weirdly problematic and unsatisfying, and all the stuff involving one of the characters felt a lot more mean spirited and real-world hateful than necessary.
I'm surprised this book has never been adapted, it'd make a great miniseries.
Brian Evenson at his best is a transcendental blend of Lynch and Kafka by way of Ligotti, and there's a lot of that in this book (A Report, A Collapse of Horses, Seaside Town, Scour, Past Reno (best IMO), Click), but for every ‘A Report', there's a BearHeart(tm), and the collection suffers for it. All in all I really liked it, but it could use some serious pruning.
Not what I was expecting at all, but super pleasantly surprised. Found this one in an r/horrorlit thread asking for books similar to the film Event Horizon. What I was expecting? The Hellbound Heart in space. What I got? Thought provoking philosophical cosmic horror about God, organized religion, zealotry and the means of control, the unknown and the terror of the unknowable.
I can understand some of the reviewers who complained about nothing really happening. Going into this book thinking it's pulpy space horror about a spooky alien ship and then getting bait and switched into slow low-action creeping philosophical horror might not be everyone's cup of tea. It is mine though.
My biggest complaint is probably that it was a little bit too predictable. Not very twisty or revelatory, once it gets in swing there aren't a lot of surprises. The methods of how it gets to where it's going are fun and interesting, but where it's going doesn't veer too far off the map. Also the writing is a bit flat and boring. Procedural and perfunctory. Adequate and clean, but completely devoid of any sort of flourish or authorial voice.
Dune is a book of contradictions.
For something written half a century ago, its style is visceral and modern.
For a book that barely passes the Bechdel test, the female characters are surprisingly strong and three-dimensional.
It revolves around a white messiah leading a native populace, but somehow deftly avoids pandering and falling into the noble savage trope. It's an incredibly progressive novel.
It's either the hardest soft sci-fi I've ever read, or the softest hard sci-fi.
For something so uniquely singular, its influences echo out through countless imitators. Everything about it has been rehashed and copied, but it still feels completely fresh.
It's easy to see why Dune is consistently ranked as the best science fiction novel of all time. Because it just might be.
This one didn't work for me at all. I really should've just dropped it near the beginning. The writing style grates. (Most of) the characters are completely flat. The police procedural style parts are flat out BAD, like the corniest and blandest episode of SVU you could think of.
It had a few great moments that pushed me through, maybe 3 or 4 total? I kept thinking it had to get better, if she could write something as clever and interesting as the scene where the jaded detective/gen-x mom has to have her underage daughter turn off the parental locks on her laptop so she could google crime scene pictures, she MUST be able to keep my interest when the plot threads all start to come together and the tension is at maximum right? Nah :/
Doesn't help that it's written in this style that feels like an old gen-x'er trying to speak like a zoomer. The internet and cultural references are painful. Plus some super unfortunate use of AAVE and a couple of weirdly uncomfortable n-bombs.
I have no idea who this book is for. Do not recommend.
A fun conclusion to the series, full of satisfying fan-service and Lovecraftian horrors.
While more predictable than the previous novels in the series, it was constantly entertaining.
Absolutely loved the interactions between all the unrelated characters from the previous novels.
Like most of Gaiman's stuff, charming, beautifully written, fantastical, and ultimately uneventful and boring.
Shit. I totally forgot to review this :(.
Finished it like 2 months ago at this point.
Really enjoyed it. Very fun take on vampire mythos. Loved all the characters, especially the creepy kids.
Definitely nowhere near as good as “Between Two Fires”, but it's basically the difference between “5-stars, one of the best books I read this year” and “5-stars, probably the best book I've ever read.” so it's not really fair to compare.
Biggest problem I had with it, and this is a personal, very minor gripe, is the repeated use of a specific stylistic element I kind of hate. I'm not sure if it has a name, but you know when a book has a line like... “She dashed across the room. Fast” or “He bit me on the arm. Hard” or “I scritched the kitty on the chin. Soft” or “I heard someone fart in the library. Loud” etc. etc. etc. It's a writing trope that annoys me. Lots. And it's used in this book. Constantly. Minor nitpick in an otherwise awesome book.
I need to check out “The Blacktongue Thief” soon
Not my favorite Zahler, but all that means is it's one of the best books I've read in years and not one of the best I've read in my entire life.
I think this is his best written, and probably most mainstream approachable work. In it his writing style has finally crystalized into what it feels like he's been trying to do all along. Everything is weighty and impactful. Mythic characters rip through with this immense gravitational wake that pulls and warps everything around them and when they collide it's cosmically devastating. Every act of violence is tragic and important.
It's also funny? Like legitimately. The voicemail in the denouement in particular is one of the most gonzo/amazing/hilarious things I've ever read, and the perfect tension-break/cherry-on-top after the titular ‘Mean Business'. I want a spinoff novella of just that character.
I loved it. Sad that I'm out of Zahler novels. Guess it's time to check out his comics.
I really hope we get some more of his movies again soon. How long have Brigands and Stone Grid been in development hell for? :/
Really good! There are some serious eye rolling bits, but I ate this shit up. Already preordered book 2. Closest contender yet to Dinneman's Kaiju:BS and the DCC litrpg throne.
There is no reason for this book to exist. It's barely a book.
It's basically just the ending of book 2. This series should not have been a trilogy. Absolutely no reason for it. A good edit could turn this series into an outstanding 500 page book, or a pair of really decent 300ish page books, but what we got is a mediocre trilogy that really outstays its welcome by the end.
The three quarters of this novel is just a bunch of bad military fetish action vignettes thinly stitched together. The ending is legitimately good though, which gives it a bonus point. 2 stars instead of 1...
So I guess I accidentally reread Worm?
I feel like that in and of itself is as massive an endorsement as I can give it. Almost 7 thousand pages versus my massive backlog of thing I need to read, and I couldn't stop myself.
Worm has something incredibly special going for it.
It's not the writing style, which is overly utilitarian and painfully direct.
It's not the story, which while it DOES have some incredible high points isn't the thing that gives Worm its spark.
It's the worldbuilding and characters that make Worm my ‘favorite' book.
The worldbuilding is incredible, Worm is REQUIRED reading for anyone interested in creating a superhero universe or writing in the genre.
The characters are where Worm breaks through to something transcendental for me. Taylor is my favorite character in any piece of fiction ever, full stop. Her journey, her struggles, her moral battles and mistakes, they're all are so painfully relatable. Her tentative first steps into friendship (LISA <3<3<3!! BRIAN! ALEC! RACHEEEELLL!!! T_T T_T ) and the greater world, the way every two steps in her growth triggers an unanticipated backwards step, her battle for agency in a world that wants to strip her of it, it all culminates in something so bittersweet and painful, beautiful and cruel, fulfilling and draining. Worm fucks me up, and I love it.
Delightfully Kafka-esque at times and wonderfully surreal. Plagued by frequent failures of execution. Great debut.
What I expected: Bomb ass classic SF
What I got: Cool alien fantasy treatise on the duality of man, the humanity that lies behind labels, and some badass second-wave feminism.
On paper I should have enjoyed this book more than I did though.
While Le Guin is a master of language, her word choice stunningly perfect, it seems she harbors an intense hatred for beauty in prose. The writing in TLHoD is utilitarian, spartan, and devoid of interesting dialogue or evocative description. The book is a giant exercise in telling and not showing, often completely glossing over potentially interesting scenes and hand waving past important plot points.
For a feminist author she sure loves to refer to (most) masculine traits as intrinsically desirable and (all) feminine traits as repulsive. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt and believe that it's because our reader surrogate is male. I would love to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she gives us no reason to. While Ai grows by the end, and sheds some of his intolerance, it's only for the ambisexuals. In fact near the end, after his trials, he complains again about the shrill sound women make when they speak. It feels tone-deaf.
Where she fails at weaving a well-paced cohesive narrative though, she succeeds in being inimitably quotable.
“The artist deals with what cannot be said in words.
The artist whose medium is fiction does this in words. The novelist says in words what cannot be said in words.”
Just straight plowed through this. I think I'm starting to get why Blake Crouch is so popular.
Definitely not the best, or deepest, or smartest, or anything-est book I've read this year, but there's something to be said about how incredibly readable these books are. Just pure popcorn entertainment.
I still really dislike Ethan as a protagonist though. Mentioned this in my review of the first one, but I can't stand his weird fetishization of violence. His internal reaction to everything and everyone upsetting him is to fantasize about throwing tantrums and breaking things and hurting people. If this trait was framed as a character flaw that he's aware of and actively suppressing I'd say he was a great three-dimensional character. Instead it's framed in this weird macho sort of way where I feel like the book is saying like “Hey look how cool Ethan is because he wants to punch people, isn't he so tough?”. It just feels kinda petulant and childish.
Either way though, I've got book 3 on hold at the library to pick up this weekend and am in the hugely long waitlist line for his 2 most recent novels (#36 in line for Upgrade and #10 for Recursion), so I'd say I guess I'm now a fan?
Not bad, kinda overrated.
I love Ryu Murakami's writing style and the surreality and dreaminess it evokes, but I feel his commentary and cultural critiques are kinda juvenile and shallow. Maybe because of the evolution of the discourse in the past 24 years since its publication, but also maybe because it's just actually shallow. (William Gibson and Paul Verhoeven had deeper reads a decade earlier)
The final 20ish pages are great and the afterglow almost makes me want to bump it to 4 stars, but then I remember how weirdly misogynistic a bunch of it feels and want to knock it down to 2.
Man. This book did not work for me at all.
There are 4(ish) things that I look for in books, and if even just one of them is well done I'll be happy.
Interesting character arcs - None. Control doesn't grow or change or do anything besides putz around and have things happen to him for 350 pages
Story - Just backstory for the next book? As soon as this book finally goes somewhere it ends on a cliffhanger for the next. No resolution, nothing. Wtf?
Plot - NOTHING HAPPENS. Control goes to the place. People are weird at him. He doesn't react. The end
Prose - WEAK ASS PASSIVE PROSE. It worked in Annihilation because the prose was in service to the character. The Biologist was distant and kinda weird, so distant detached kinda weird prose works. Control is supposed to be a cool spy-guy or whatever. Why is the prose still this weird wishy-washy passive voice nonsense??
Ugh. I hated this book.
Lets hope the third's better.