Avery

Was more of a casual coffee-table book than I was expecting but still served as a decent intro to the topic with lots of visual aids. I also felt that it curiously never fully explained the reference/joke of the title — they mention letterspacing as a noun but not a verb..

Similar enough to the first that I'll keep going. Felt a bit.. themed but at least it was somewhat justified by the plot.

They're reminding me of Charles Stross' Atrocity Archives in format and pacing, though I will say those get bonus points for the computery lovecraft vibes.

I continue to enjoy the series. Halfway through this book, I swapped to the audiobooks, read by James Marsters, which I'm also happy about. I'll probably continue listening rather than reading.

I really liked Michael as a character in this, though found the way he (and the plot) were introduced pretty jarring. I second guessed myself several times, thinking I had skipped a book.

Some of the writing is a little weird (idk how many times he mentions “the tips” of some character's “firm breasts” but it's definitely several times in the space of a few hundred pages..)

Felt like it took a bit for this one to get rolling after the last-book-induced moping. It ended up being an interesting enough little detective story, though for some reason I couldn't keep any of the faerie characters straight.

I was into the setup and first quarter or so, with the old residents trying to fight against the invading billionaire trying to buy up the land. Unfortunately then it ended up going more gory than creepy, with an emphasis on describing dissolving body parts. I was hoping for a different ending but felt like it pretty much ran on rails, and ended up relatively predictable.

Lots of interesting ideas without getting bogged down or feeling difficult to read. Everything feels woven into a plot that moves relatively quickly.
I especially liked the creative depictions of “alien” technology. It felt believably different and something I hadn't seen before.
I didn't mind the frequent reuse of character names. Sometimes it made it hard to keep track of how much time has passed, but it was nice not to spend time “getting to know” each new character, if they're only going to be around for a couple chapters. Just a “This Bianca was a scientist” and we move on with the story. Refreshing.
I will say that the switch in perspective every chapter drove me up a wall, but that probably just means I was very invested in the story.

Kind of like Peter Watts's Starfish, but after they get back home, if it was less about what actually happened and more about the state of their relationship. Which is to say, I guess, not very similar. It was a bit more “lit” than I prefer, with a focus on somewhat dysfunctional relationships.

The premise going in was excitingly eerie but it didn't develop much past that.

That said, the writing itself was not bad, and I found myself enjoying and noting down several lines that were particularly clever, cool or funny. I also suspect some of the greater themes went over my head.

Anyway, if you want creepy deep sea people but hard sci-fi, try Starfish.

> “He's written a quine,” she murmurs

While it took a few chapters to get going and at first I wasn't sure, when I got to this line I knew I was reading the right book.

But that was FAR from the biggest reveal in this book that is practically constructed out of galaxy brained twists.

There are quite a a few narrative discontinuities, which can be pretty disorienting. I imagine that's the intended effect but it definitely made it a trickier read.

Part of me hoped it would spend more time developing the magic system itself rather than escalating to blow my mind several times. If anyone has recommendations for “Magic as a programming language” books, please share because I'm a big nerd.

All is forgiven though, after I managed to hold on through the rest of that insane rollercoaster ride.

Probably the coolest Sci-Fi bit of this book is the premise itself. It gets developed a bit but not a whole lot. The content of the book itself ends up being more about the (in)humanity of living in the real world. All the characters are imperfect, rough around the edges people and the book is mostly about them bumping into each other while trying to survive.

I read the “new translation” of this book, which has some interesting extra bits describing the circumstances of the book's publication. Hard to imagine what the version with all the “gunk” removed would have looked like – it feels like that's the whole book!

Been looking forward to this one for a while so high expectations going in. It bogged down a bit in the middle due to the sheer number of factions, characters, and interest groups. After a bit of “thinning out”, it started to feel more like the other books, which was nice. Loved the action and plotting, especially around the core characters/plot, just couldn't keep all the faction stuff straight in my head at all.
PS Jamal - new favorite character

Felt like a satisfying enough ending point to the series that I was surprised to learn that a sixth book is in the works.
Main character gets a little overpowered, but still ends up in plenty of seemingly unwinnable situations, so it stayed plenty entertaining :)

Quality content. Continues to get me excited about doubly fictional items and abilities. I enjoyed this one branching out into some different game styles with the tournament mechanics.