Steve
Good, solid Sanderson fare (with excellent narration by Michael Kramer as always). Looking forward to the next in the trilogy.
This was great. A self-contained story that is relatively small-scale (for Sanderson), with some great characterization and a satisfying conclusion. One of the best tales set in the Cosmere.
This is a good novella that contains an interesting universe. The brevity of the story means that it leaves a lot of questions unanswered, however this just whets the appetite for a longer novel. I am not sure if there is meant to be a message in the story, other than maybe raising questions about blind observance of a religious doctorine. Having said that, this is not a Religious book although it makes good use of a religious themes; neither atheists or believers have anything to fear here.
An interesting companion read for this might be Terry Pratchett's Small Gods, which touches on (vaguely) similar themes, although from a far more humorous point of view.
A surprisingly quick read despite touching on some deep - but not too deep - issues related to communication and sentience.
I'm not sure how to describe this. Maybe: cozy found-family story, with body horror, that explores what it means to identify and be identified? The pronouns are a trip; I'm not sure I ever really got the bottom of what the difference is between them all. I guess it does a good job of driving home the message that, in a diverse universe, insisting on a binary choice is a little nonsensical.
Around the halfway point, the story seizes hold of you and pulls you swiftly toward the conclusion. A fantastic ending to an excellent trilogy.
A fast-paced fantasy that manages to balance light and dark. I am looking forward to any future continuation.
Very tropey and a bit too YA for my tastes (it feels like a very YA book that has had some explicit sex added to age it up a bit), but for all that it is still a good read for the most part - as long as you don't think about it in any depth (and the wheels do finally come off in the final climatic battle). So, it passed the time but I don't have a strong desire to read the next in the series (I am a bit perplexed as to why it is getting so many 5 star reviews).
A very satisfying read. The sort of book that leaves you feeling you spent your time in its presence well.
An engaging story full of found-family dynamics and vengeful gods (and humans). I went into this thinking it was a standalone, but as the ending approached, it became clear that several major plotlines were still unresolved. Despite this, the story still delivered a satisfying conclusion. I’m hopeful the next book will keep up the momentum.
Very much at the extreme of cozy fiction, but none the worse for it - as long as you don't expect more. An Orc opens a coffee shop, low stakes stuff happens, largely nice people are encountered. This is more about the destination than the journey.
This started off well, but then became (in my opinion) unnecessarily confusing from around the 50% mark. Granted the confusion is explained towards the end, but not before I had lost interest in trying to keep track of what was meant to be happening. Also, the final unsatisfactory explanation was effectively - and almost literally - a deus ex machina.
So, the first book in this series was brilliant, followed by two disappointing sequels. In the event there is yet another book in this series, note to future self: don't!
A fabulous collection of mostly great short stories (some truly excellent). Looking forward to the next edition...
This was ... fine. The story kept me sufficiently involved to get to the end, but I don't feel the need to continue the series.
Hmm; I'm in two minds about this one. This reads like the first act of a good book. I realize this is a trilogy, however I prefer each book of a trilogy to at least have a definite beginning, middle and end, whereas this one felt just like a beginning. If it hadn't been for this frustration, I might have given this 4 stars, since the world is well realised and reasonably pacey, however I am not sure I could recommend this to a friend (my criteria for 4 stars) without reading the entire series. Let's call this 3.5 stars.
A popcorny, sci-fi thriller. On the plus side, it is fast moving and manages to tie up its time-travel threads well. On the negative side, if you think about the virtually any of the key plot-drivers in any depth, it makes no sense whatsoever. So, your mileage will depend on how willing you are to suspend disbelief. Personally I made it to the end, but it was a close run thing.
If you're looking for a fast-paced time-travel story with a bunch of dinosaurs and a neatly tied up plot, you could do worse than this.
Sub-Becky Chambers musings on life and death, framed by a mission to discover clues to a mysterious world-ending terror. This felt very much driven by the musings, and less by the mission. A lot of the scenes were very under/badly described and I often found myself having to re-read sections in an attempt to picture what the author was trying to describe. Plus, the cat may be cute, but who the hell takes a cat on dangerous missions into uncharted territory? And let's not talk about the science (an asteroid is not a meteor, and an air tank being low on air does not leave you short of breath).
A bit more humour may have made this more satisfying, but towards the end I did start to read diagonally. Go read To Be Taught, if Fortunate instead.
Fast moving, fun but a little unsatisfying (very much the first act of a longer story).
I've no idea how to review this. The characters are great, but the plot requires you to work really hard. Even now, having finished, I am not entirely sure what happened. Tamsyn Muir doesn't like to make life easy for her readers. I very much want to read the next one however, if only in the hope that it finally provides some answers.
Another cosy/dramatic/mythical vignette, or series of vignettes, set in the world of Singing Hills.
An enjoyable 40s-set noir that mixes the hardboiled detective trope with a sprinkling of the supernatural.
Well, that was cheery. This is very much tell don’t show, so your enjoyment will depend on your tolerance for “And in X did Y slay Z” declamations. Personally, my tolerance has obviously dropped way off since the days when I had the patience to slog through The Silmarillion. At least it was relatively short. One for the completionists.