Books read in 2019 📚 log(book)

DNF: The writing style was grating for me, and the book opened with such strong tech pessimism ("kids these days don't know how to talk to each other", phrased more nicely) that I disengaged very soon. Later she goes on to say that she only objects to commercial social networks, and that she's sure that decentralised communal ones are perfectly nice, but she had already lost me.

Unnatural Death

by Dorothy L. Sayers · published 1927 · read 2019-12-25

A Lord Peter Wimsey mystery about lesbians, mostly. The mystery itself wasn't very compelling, with a solution so obvious I kept expecting a twist. The lesbian couples were a nice touch, though applied with their fair share of misogyny. Then there's the racism, which … could've been worse, considering the time. Is implicitly criticised, vaguely? There were some good characters to this book, but not much else.

On the Manner of Negotiating with Princes

by François de Callières · published 1983 · read 2019-12-19

I enjoyed this book a lot, because it gives insight into the thoughts and everyday work of diplomats three hundred years ago. It's not a subject I've thought about in detail before, so this was fascinating. The approach to the matter is broad enough that the book could with very little editing work as a self-help or management book today. Plenty of good advice, too, such as insisting that secrecy is harmful and transparency builds trust, or that when an employee fails their task, the person managing and hiring (here: appointing) them carries their share of the responsibility. A lot of other advice is applicable still, too, such as the detailed approaches to negotiations, depending on one's own power and advantage. I added some quotes here on goodreads, and I'll add some more once I get them off my phone. Short, enjoyable, I'm happy I chose to read this book.

Thus Was Adonis Murdered

by Sarah Caudwell · published 1981 · read 2019-12-19

This book sports a dry humour that's a lot of fun to read. The self-important unreliable narrator is incredibly well done, and makes for an unusual and fun narrative arc. I'm not a big fan of mysteries, so I wasn't all that interested in who murdered whom, and more with the snark in the meantime (which, I suppose, is just as intended). At times, the intentional tediousness of the narrator grated, because I had been dealing with people who were somewhat similar while reading the book – which also made me appreciate the dry meta commentary a lot.

Annihilation

by Jeff VanderMeer · published 2014 · read 2019-12-17

Horror is not my genre, and this one just didn't have an effect on me? Not a bad book, just book-reader-mismatch, I think. The protagonist had a good distinct voice, and Area X was weird in a good way, but it never clicked for me.

Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration

by Bryan Caplan · published 2019 · read 2019-12-12

I can't really judge the content, not being an economist. But the presentation was very well done: The arguments were clear, with good rhethoric lines and arc, and the illustrations were good, too. There was a fair bit of stereotyping going on, but I think that's more than fair on this topic: People's fears and concerns are based on stereotypes, so they are part of the discussion already, and need to be addressed.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

by Mackenzi Lee · published 2017 · read 2019-12-09

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee is fun, but not outstanding. I was very tolerant of its flaws because it's very queer. The protagonist is an English aristocratic ass on his Grand Tour, which is a fine narrative device … until it gets tiring. Even a mistreated entitled idiot is still an entitled idiot, who in this case is surrounded by way cooler people. Especially his sister, who was the most competent person involved, would've made the book much better if it had been multi-POV, I think. Also, less of a euphoric "we ride into the sunset" ending – I had been hoping against hope for a better ending, and was disgruntled at this.

Record of a Spaceborn Few

by Becky Chambers · published 2018 · read 2019-12-04

I'm never really sure what to make of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers. I usually enjoy reading the books, because I only start them when I'm in the right frame of mind, for instance after reading a couple of complicated or dark books. The slice-of-life space fluff is nice. Becky Chambers is good at describing small realistic scenes, be it angry teens, toddler tantrums, stubbornness, or romance. But at the same time, things always seemed so smoothed out and sanded down that I can't help but miss some substance, or plot, or … less obvious moralising, in the end. There's a bunch of poetic passages in there that touched me – but at the same time they felt like a cheap grab for my feelings. Just because the grab is successful, it's not good. I'm going to continue reading for the poetic prose and fluff, but I'm not quite convinced.

Pale Fire

by Vladimir Nabokov · published 1962 · read 2019-12-02

Pale Fire was my second book by Vladimir Nabokov, and it curiously resembled the first one (Lolita, naturally): An unreliable narrator, who felt incredibly off-putting, full of himself, and mentally ill. I do want to note that the narrator is gay and there is no obvious stigmatisation associated with the fact.

Circe

by Madeline Miller · published 2018 · read 2019-11-24

Circe by Madeline Miller is solid antiquity fanfiction – which means to say good things about "Circe" and about fanfiction. It manages to convey how everybody in Greek myths is cruel or stupid or both in some way – not the most uplifting book, but a good take on Circe, to be sure.

Starship’s Mage: Omnibus

by Glynn Stewart · published 2014 · read 2019-11-22

I really liked the premise of Glynn Stewart's Starship Mage, but the execution was meh enough to get me to drop the book two thirds in. A world with magic for space travel, with defined rules and organisations and governance? Super cool, sign me up!

The Last Sun

by K.D. Edwards · published 2018 · read 2019-11-20

The Last Sun was somewhat generic urban Fantasy, set in a modern Atlantis – that is, if generic urban Fantasy was usually queer. I appreciated the queer cast, and the worldbuilding, and the hints at larger, deeper things. But since hints was all we got, I think I'll jot this down as a very pleasant reading experience, but not something I need to follow up on.

The English Patient

by Michael Ondaatje · published 1992 · read 2019-11-20

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje is a lyrical, slow, pain-ridden book about the trauma and separation and surreal life of people in and after WW2. It's not really for me, but it wasn't an unpleasant read, either.

Ravencry

by Ed McDonald · published 2018 · read 2019-11-20

I did not finish Ravencry by Ed McDonald. It's not bad Fantasy, but it's not outstanding either, and I noticed I just didn't care about the story or the characters, and didn't even notice when I stopped reading for several weeks. Life is too short for books I'm not interested in.

Doomsday Book

by Connie Willis · published 1992 · read 2019-11-20

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis is the best book about time travel that I know of, with the notable exception of "This is how you lose the time war". It's started out good, and then proceeded to kick me in the feelings. Repeatedly.

The Door Into Fire

by Diane Duane · published 1979 · read 2019-11-15

I loved The Door Into Fire by Diane Duane a whole lot. It's incredibly character-focused fantasy, to the point of reminding me strongly of Lois McMaster Bujold for its strong characters and Ursula Le Guin for its sensitive, almost lyrical descriptions of magic and nature and the relationship between everything. It's set in a fascinating world that clearly follows a set of rules of magic and mythology (gods! Excellent gods, and all kinds of other beings), but the rules are sufficiently mysterious to feel consistent, yet not clinical. I'm writing this review more than a month after reading the book, and the characters are still very vivid in my mind, which is probably the highest praise I can pay the book.

Children of Time

by Adrian Tchaikovsky · published 2015 · read 2019-11-15

With Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time I've finally come upon a book that most of my friends liked or loved, and that I couldn't get into, for … complex reasons.

Gifts

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2004 · read 2019-11-15

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin is one of the books that I will be able to remember clearly for its atmosphere for a long time, but I didn't actually particularly like it. It's good Fantasy, with a ton of character building and world building. The atmosphere is oppressive at times. Wish I could say more, but the slow pace of the book would turn most things into spoilers. I think I'll switch to Le Guin's nonfiction at this point.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

by N.K. Jemisin · published 2010 · read 2019-11-15

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K.Jemisin is solid Fantasy, with cool mythology, a decent protagonist and good other characters, and absolutely nothing wrong with it – it just didn't really come to life for me. Huge bonus points for a very cool ending, though! Not sure I'll continue the series, though, to be honest.

The Student Prince

by FayJay · published 2010 · read 2019-11-15

The Student Prince is very well-written Merlin (the TV show) fanfiction. You don't need to know the show to enjoy it: It transplants the characters of Merlin, Arthur, Morgana, Lancelot et al into pre-Brexit UK, where they go to college and deal with school and magic. Also national security. Also LGBT issues. I liked it a lot.

Trouble with Time

by Arthur C. Clarke · published 1960 · read 2019-10-13

Trouble with Time is a nice enough short story by Arthur C. Clarke. My impression is good idea, okay-ish execution, nothing special.

Rewriting the Rules: An Integrative Guide to Love, Sex and Relationships

by Meg Barker · published 2012 · read 2019-10-05

Many if not most books on relationships out there are not good. Sometimes the author had a spot of luck and generalises. Sometimes it's just stuffed with common knowledge, or advice meant to make people feel in control. Of course, most of them are also horribly gendered, and subscribe to differences between men and women at ridiculous levels, and/or assume relationships to be heterosexual.

Three Parts Dead

by Max Gladstone · published 2012 · last read 2022-01-09

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone was just straight up enjoyable Fantasy. We get magic, and gods, and … magic lawyers? Dabbling in magic means dabbling in contracts, so our protagonist has clients (or, well, her employer does), and there is a lot of quibbling going on – of the kind that can cost you your mind, or your life. And the God of Fire (and therefore steam) has an engine room and priests that are more techies than anything else – except that their maintenance and debugging cycles include prayers and worship as well as fixing pipes and monitoring heat output. Yessss. Take the phrase "theological engineering" and go read.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

by Brené Brown · published 2012 · read 2019-10-01

Daring Greatly by Brené Brown is a book on vulnerability, and touches on many emotional and structural concepts that influence how we can or cannot be vulnerable in our current societes, such as hero worship, scarcity culture, disengagement, perfectionism, and above everything else, guilt and shame.

Scythe

by Neal Shusterman · published 2016 · read 2019-09-29

Scythe by Neal Shusterman is YA scifi, and as such I am not the target group. I read YA occasionally, though, so I am familiar with both good and bad examples. This one, to me, fell in the latter group. Shusterman built a utopia somehow founded on an all-knowing machine, which leads to humans being somewhat directionless immortals – who still go for jobs and make money. Imagine my raised eyebrows. Everything about this future is utterly boring – except, of course, the titular Scythes, which are more nonsensical than everything.

Whose Body?

by Dorothy L. Sayers · published 1923 · read 2019-09-29

I read and re-read a lot of Dorothy L. Sayers in German when I was a kid, around 10. I loved those books to bits, so I started wondering if they were as good as I remembered. I started my re-read in the beginning, with Whose Body?, and it turns out: yes. The books are as good as I remembered, or even better, now that I get to read them in English and have an Internet at my fingertips to look up all the more and less obscure literary allusions – which there are many of. The writing style is charming, and has a very distinctive voice of its own, and lends very realistic, nearly audible voices to each and every character on cast.

My Real Children

by Jo Walton · published 2014 · read 2019-09-29

This review is biased. Of course, all my reviews are biased, what else are they there for? But this one is more biased than most. My Real Children by Jo Walton came recommended by a friend who said “if you ever feel the need to bawl your eyes out”, when I mentioned that I had planned to read something by Jo Walton.

The Wind Singer

by William Nicholson · published 2000 · read 2019-09-29

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson is somewhere between Fantasy for kids and YA. As I'm not the target audience, my opinion can't serve as a good recommendation.

Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1971 · read 2019-09-29

I think, despite all its brilliance and cleverness, the best thing about Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones by Samuel R. Delany is the playfulness. It's a short story that's won both the Hugo and the Nebula Awards back in the day, and rightfully so. The story is a good example of why I seem to like every Delany book I come across: brilliant, lyrical and association heavy style. In Space. Very human and tongue-in-cheek.

Anti-Ice

by Stephen Baxter · published 1993 · read 2019-09-25

I finally read a book by Stephen Baxter! Anti-Ice seems like it should be very much down my road: Victorians! In space! Science! Alternate history!

The Manual: A Philosopher’s Guide to Life

by Epictetus · published 2017 · read 2019-09-24

I had a couple of stressful weeks, with both positive and negative experiences with wonderful people. When I start losing my equilibrium (ok, no, when I have irrevocably lost my equilibrium), I sometimes go back and read The Manual, a very short, 50-pages-at-most read of the Stoic principles by Epictetus.

In an Absent Dream

by Seanan McGuire · published 2019 · read 2019-09-23

As with every book by Seanan McGuire, In an Absent Dream is full of charm and wit and very real observations about how children work. As a part of the Wayward Children series, we follow yet another child into a Door to a place that fits them very well. This time it is Lundy, who gets to see the Goblin Market. I liked a lot of it, because the characters are real and charming as ever, with some character growth and some failings that are painful to see, yet relatable.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

by Amal El-Mohtar · published 2019 · read 2019-09-21

This Is How You Lose the Time War was written by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. They must be magic. They can't just write like this without magic. Trust me.

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing: Proven Professional Techniques for Writing Ith Style and Power

by Gary Provost · published 1985 · read 2019-09-21

100 Ways to Improve Your Writing by Gary Provost is from 1985 and has aged remarkably well. It's a set of rules, short and to the point. Some advice is dated and not relevant any longer – a couple of hints on how to acquire information and in which format to submit your work, mostly. Apart from that, the book talks about how to prepare for writing, how to structure texts, and goes down to details of grammar and punctuation. All of these things are well-structured, to the point, and come with plenty of examples and as much entertaining writing as you can fit in a paragraph or two per topic. I enjoyed the short form and the sensible advice – some of which is very common, but especially the sections on editing contained new advice for me.

Black Box

by Jennifer Egan · published 2012 · read 2019-09-20

Twitter literature! Black Box by Jennifer Egan is a neat experiment – a story that was tweeted out, back in the old days, when Twitter was still at 140 characters. I found the distinctive style and the rhythm of the tweet boundaries interesting, and the primary storytelling device if not brilliant, then at least refreshing.

Anathem

by Neal Stephenson · published 2008 · read 2019-09-20

Anathem by Neal Stephenson kept me busy. Between a bunch of conferences, the sufficient concentration was a bit hard to come by. What's worse: Now that I have read it, I can't tell you if it is a good book or not.

Forge Your Future with Open Source

by VM (Vicky) Brasseur · published 2018 · read 2019-09-20

Forge Your Future with Open Source by VM Brasseur was a book I started with incorrect expectations: I thought I was the target group, and it would explain different things from its actual content. Bummer.

Asches to Asches

by Scott Alexander · published 2014 · read 2019-09-20

What is truth, quoth Pontius Pilate. Asches to Asches is one of those witty stories by Scott Alexander. It illustrates precisely the source of my anxiety when reading non-fiction: I think I can be conned into believing anything if you just dress it up correctly. Good read, good ending.

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis

by Scott Alexander · published 2017 · read 2019-09-20

What is it with rationalist fiction and that stilted style? Can't people make an argument without sounding like badly written robot hybrids? Ars Longa, Vita Brevis is not one of Scott Alexander's best stories. Skippable, to me, because the content lost out against the style.

It Was You Who Made My Blue Eyes Blue

by Scott Alexander · published 2015 · read 2019-09-20

Speak about writing to a narrow target demographic: This is a rationalist short story by Scott Alexander, exploring the impact of logic and colonialisation on an island tribe. KIDDING! While technically correct, it is also false, and I can't tell you more than that without giving away the best part of the punch line. Go read it! It's not long, and a lot of fun, particularly the first half, before the smug rationalist author breaks through.

The Hydrogen Sonata

by Iain M. Banks · published 2012 · read 2019-08-07

With Hydrogen Sonata, I have now finished the Culture series by Iain Banks. It's been a ride.

The Calculating Stars

by Mary Robinette Kowal · published 2018 · read 2019-08-07

The Calculating Stars by Marie Robinette Kowal is a book I enjoyed tremendously, and I have started recommending it to a bunch of friends. It is set in the US in the 50s, just shortly after a meteorite drops into the sea next to Washington, kills millions, and starts what might be an extinction level event. Our protagonist is a woman with a PhD in maths, who flew planes in WW2 for WASP (officially never saw combat, but, y'know …), and whose husband is lead engineer for the NACA/IAC.

Memory

by Lois McMaster Bujold · published 1996 · read 2019-08-07

In Memory, part of the Vorkosigan saga, Lois McMaster Bujold shows off what character development can look like. Talk about emotional payoff! Without spoiling too much, we see Miles, our somewhat-hero, change his life in many ways, and go through the dark passages, darker thoughts, and inevitable pains this change brings. My only criticism might have been that ignoring the somewhat obvious(?) solution to the whodunnit is not very Miles like, but when I thought about it, I realized that this blind spot has a perfect explanation in Miles' character, so there is that. A very impressive book, that let me keep my high opinion of the Vorkosigan series (because improving it would be close to impossible).

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

by Theodora Goss · published 2017 · read 2019-08-06

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss was an absolute delight. It takes place in Victorian London, and we see the daughters of Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde, Dr Moreau, and other classics of Victorian literature trying to unravel the mystery of their creation (in absence of their creators, who mostly died gruesome deaths, perfectly appropriate). It's a lovely book, perfectly well-written, utterly charming and entertaining, featuring a lot of well-researched facts. References are abound. If this is not the age or type of literature you feel comfortable with, it might not be the book for you, but otherwise, it's the very best of books for a relaxing read.

Dread Nation

by Justina Ireland · published 2018 · read 2019-07-26

Zombie Western. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland had the potential to be a book I liked a lot, but … I didn't. Its premise is that zombies rise in the US during the confederate wars, and so history changes. Slavery is abolished, but black people and Indians have to go to fighting schools and fight zombies. our protagonist is a black teenage girl in exactly that situation. She's sassy, self-reliant, and generally has the potential to be a delightful nuisance.

Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of The Hound of the Baskervilles

by Pierre Bayard · published 2008 · read 2019-07-20

I'm really very much not a fan of Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Pierre Bayard. Spoilers ahead, though I won't spoil the proposed solution to the Baskerville case.

2BR02B

by Kurt Vonnegut · published 1968 · read 2019-07-16

2BR02B is a very Kurt Vonnegut short story about a future with immortal people and very quid-pro-quo population control. Think Futurama's suicide booth. It's gruesome in this Vonnegut style that shows you reality, but in a very specific detached angle. I read it when I was feeling down, and it did a good job kicking me back into a more grounded view, as ill-fitting as that sounds.

Focusing

by Eugene T. Gendlin · published 1978 · read 2019-07-15

Focusing by Eugene T. Gendlin was my first book I really wanted to give up on this year. I'm always very hesitant to pick up non-fiction books, especially those that touch on self-help or psychology in any way. There's so much misinformation and only mildly informed, untested theory out there, and I'm just not qualified to judge what is good and what isn't. It's frustrating.

The Well of Ascension

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2007 · read 2019-07-15

I'm pampered by more recent Brandon Sanderson novels, and so I thought that the writing in The Well of Ascension (part two of Mistborn) was disappointing. Both the story arcs and character arcs were decent (and while patterns Sanderson likes are very noticeable, and he has gotten better at their execution, that wasn't so bad), but the writing made clear why people say they read Sanderson "for the plot, not for the writing". Had the plot been less plausible or the characters less likeable, I might have just stopped reading this book after the first couple of chapters. But I liked how Vin and her friends have agency and some development (even if it would've been great if it hadn't been slapped in my face repeatedly). Let's just see this book as a testament of how far Sanderson has come as a writer since then.

Dhalgren

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1975 · read 2019-07-11

Asking me to rate Dhalgren by Samuel Delany is like asking me to rate Kafka's Process. I'm sure that they are both good books, objectively. I'm sure they are good books to many people out there. I can recognize their excellent language, their meta storytelling, their intense settings and the skilled ways they use language to provoke feelings (which they do!).

The Bear and the Nightingale

by Katherine Arden · published 2017 · read 2019-07-07

In The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden tells a Russian fairytale, and she does it with a lot of feeling. The atmosphere is wonderful and a great mix of fairytale logic: everything is slightly off, belief and patterns carry more weight than logic, and if you're clever, you'll pick the right one of the two.

The Thief

by Megan Whalen Turner · published 1996 · last read 2022-06-29

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner is a short fantasy novel placed in a fictional Mediterranean-medieval world. We follow a young thief, who is retrieved from prison to steal something for (and with) the King's Magus. The world is fleshed out in an organic way when you read it – the author takes occasions like passing a certain field or tree to tell us about the general state of the country, agriculture, etc. Evening meals are vehicles to tell us about legends and the general state of mind of people. But looking back, I know only bits and pieces of the world, and that's not a satisfying feeling. On my first read, I didn't enjoy the journey, for the most part: All characters struck me as annoying, and the big ending didn't hit, so I put the series aside. However, after seeing people praise the series over and over, I decided to give at least the first book another go, and: much better the second time around. Might be a mood thing, or I just needed warming up to the characters. Hoping I'll get around to the second book after a while!

Senlin Ascends

by Josiah Bancroft · published 2013 · read 2019-07-07

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft is unexpected in many ways, and at least some of them are charming. It takes place in the Tower of Babel, so that's one. We are definitely in a fantastic world, because we have trains, and airships, and guns, so that's another. The book never really discusses the world outside the tower too much, except as a character backdrop, which worked extremely well.

A Memory Called Empire

by Arkady Martine · published 2019 · last read 2021-03-26

A junior ambassador from one alien nation and planet to another, which boasts of a highly complex language and culture? Finding herself scrambling to catch up with her predecessor (rudely murdered, instead of being in her brain as would be appropriate), trying not to share his fate? Sudden conspiracies, even more complex cultural games, plus an assistent she's very much into? Hell yes.

Red, White & Royal Blue

by Casey McQuiston · published 2019 · read 2019-07-07

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is a rom-com, pure and simple. It's light-hearted, it's witty, it doesn't feel like "Hello, fellow kids" – what more do you want?

The Tea Master and the Detective

by Aliette de Bodard · published 2018 · read 2019-07-07

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard is a nie short scifi novella in a world where different sorts of teas can have a profound impact on how the human brain works, there is deep space that behaves entirely different from normal space, and we have sentient ships.

Foundryside

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2018 · read 2019-05-31

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is a hard book for me to rate. In the beginning it was lackluster, because it felt like very system-heavy Fantasy: Fantasy where the author cares more about the magic system than about the characters, or the worldbuilding, or anything else. After about a third of the book, it came close to hitting its stride, drawing me in and letting me feel with the thief-protagonist and her life and quandries. But then, towards the end, the book seemed to turn into a very heavy-handed metaphor on the dangers of artificial intelligence (and, to a lesser degree, computer science in general).

Godsgrave

by Jay Kristoff · published 2017 · read 2019-05-26

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff is the second part of The Nevernight Chronicle, and it felt underwhelming. I'll try to tell you why: In Godsgrave, we continue to follow Mia, who is now a trained assassin and still hell-bent on revenge. To make this generic plot less generic, we get snarky footnotes with background info dumps (hi, Bartimeus), and a same-sex relationship (of course fraught with deceit and passion), where more traditional fantasy would've had a hetero relationship. Aaaand, that's it.

The Victorian Internet

by Tom Standage · published 1998 · read 2019-05-24

My first non-fiction book in quite some time, The Victorian Internet is a nice introduction into the rise and fall of the electrical telegraph, and all its implications. Tom Standage shows us in an easy, meandering style how the world changed due to the telegraph, and how people changed (and/or didn't). While he's often very direct (or on the nose) about his theories, and some minor facts looked not quite well researched (Karlsruhe was never part of Prussia, thank you very much), I liked both the very human approach to history, and his final – if simplistic – comparison between telegraph an internet evolution.

Kings of the Wyld

by Nicholas Eames · published 2017 · read 2019-05-18

Ever wanted to read a self-aware Expendables in a Fantasy world? Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is for you. I wasn't a fan for the first half (it was solid, but annoying, and Getting The Band Back Together isn't a story I enjoy), but it shaped up massively in the second half, and I really enjoyed the ending! The first half of the book does a lot of work to establish the characters and the humor, and took its sweet time about it. It seemed as if the book was only ha-ha-funny, but the second half tugged on some serious heartstrings, and found a good compromise between humour and serious character building/experiences.

Beneath the Sugar Sky

by Seanan McGuire · published 2018 · read 2019-05-10

While Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire was yet another pleasant entry in the Wayward Children series, it didn't grab me nearly as much as the previous novellas. I'm not into Candyland in the first place, or that of the troupe of children on the rescue mission I only really liked half (and felt for those two or three). The whole story just felt flat, and I felt that the main character was more told than shown, and due to this and her tendency to inaction, she felt rather pale.

Exit Strategy

by Martha Wells · published 2018 · read 2019-05-10

The (currently) last part of The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells is aptly called Exit Strategy. I liked it, just as I liked all the Murderbot Diaries. It's not quite slice-of-life, but it's got a protagonist that dearly wishes to live in a slice-of-life novella instead. Think Rincewind, only here it's filled with competence and charming snark, and touching not-quite-humanity (we're still talking about a hybrid life form with dominant artificial intelligence!). Murderbot acts with human levels of procrastination and self-deception, super-human hacking and combat skills, and adorable coming-of-age behaviour in this novella: It disovers that its humans are in danger and need saving (yes, yes, this is the complete plot). Murderbot charms, and while it's a novella and I'm not sure the full book price is justified, I enjoyed reading it, I felt for the main character, and if the story wasn't terribly deep, or the language wasn't particularly overwhelming: so what.

The Monster Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson · published 2018 · read 2019-05-08

I really liked The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. It was provided to me as a review copy by the publisher. Some parts were weaker than the first part of the series, which was rich due to its time skips and introduction into the world, but other parts were just as good and better – we see Baru through other eyes, and even when people misjudge her, it's quite telling. Baru remains a very flawed, sometimes horrible, but always compelling protagonist. I mean, she explains how people are like hash functions, in a non-computerised fantasy world, of course I'd like her. Regrettably, the ending is quite open and we'll all have to wait for the last volume to come in. Drat.

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel · published 2014 · read 2019-05-08

Sometimes, you find books that are good books, and you notice how they are good books, and you like the parts that make them good books, but you don't like them. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is such a book for me. It's not the characters – they are vivid, and real, and neither horrible nor brilliant people. It's not the plot – the story wanders, and is mostly slice-of-apocalyptic-life, but it's a good story. It's not the writing – the language is precise and beautiful and conjures up images and feelings in your mind.

The Stars My Destination

by Alfred Bester · published 1955 · read 2019-05-05

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester is a scifi classic, and most of those don't work for me. This one was better than average, but I still felt like I was in a weird dream. I have a low tolerance for people behaving horribly and/or stupidly at the moment, which is certainly part of it. I enjoyed the exploration of what the power of personal teleportation at a whim would do to society, and I laughed at the outrageously absurd parts of the novel, but the middle part felt like a drag, not due to lack of action, but due to the characters being weird/horrible/stupid or alternating between those three in rapid succession.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson · published 2015 · read 2019-05-05

I loved The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. I don't even know where to start. Our protagonist is a young girl in a "primitive" country when the story starts. Her country is annexed by the big empire next door by economic and cultural means. The Masquerade promptly sets about destroying local culture (which involves polyamory and homosexuality, which doesn't go well with the Masquerade's straight repressive culture and eugenic views). The protagonist is educated in the school, recognized as a genius, and on fast track to rise high in the professed meritocracy. Her talents are mostly in economy and related areas, and the book follows her first posting, complete with intrigue (well, mostly that), love (both homo- and heteroromantic), hate, betrayal, loyalty, some fighting, all that. The book moves very fast, which was a delight to me. Every sentence counts, and years can pass in one page, while still hinting at the important things left out. The ending is a very brutal payoff, and I was happy that I had the second book at hand.

Blackwing

by Ed McDonald · published 2017 · read 2019-05-05

Blackwing by Ed McDonald is classed as grimdark fantasy. I'm usually careful about those – much of the genre strikes me as ~edgy~ woe-is-me drivel that just delights in being as cynical as possible. Looking at the facts, Blackwing seems similar: middle-aged first-person character with a hard, depressing life, competent but always in difficulties, drinks too much, brutality all around, now the world (which is already gruesome) seems to be ending. Add in higher beings using humans as playthings in their ineffable games, and … yeah.

The Wolf in the Whale

by Jordanna Max Brodsky · published 2019 · read 2019-05-05

The Wolf in the Whale is delightful fantasy, centered around a small group of Inuit during the phase of christianisation of the vikings. Jordanna Max Brodsky, the author, is a dedicated historian, and it shows – the book is never dry or boring, but the amount of research makes for a very solid base on which the book builds wonderfully (for the nerds, there are appendices that are highly interesting, too!)

Beware of the Dog

by Roald Dahl · published 1944 · read 2019-04-23

Short stories are tricky: when they rely on a twist and you see it coming, it's not all that much fun. Beware of the Dog is a short story by Roald Dahl about a WW2 pilot who loses his leg – it was alright, but (at least for me), the timing for the reveal and ending felt way off.

Lud-in-the-Mist

by Hope Mirrlees · published 1926 · read 2019-04-22

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees is a fantasy novel from 1926, which means it reads a bit aged – but not only that, it also subverts all kinds of implicit genre expectations, having been published before Tolkien and his larger-than-life influence started and defined half a century of a new literary genre. For instance, I found it delightful to see how much inspiration of the fantastic comes more from the general voice and pattern of European fairytales compared to the general Fantasy tendency to go with myths instead. Her combination of fairytale antics with good, solid, stout (and so British) real life has a lot of similarities to Tolkien's hobbits, but I liked how the explicit contrast between the fantastic and the Law (and everything related to it) was a focal point in the story.

Bridesicle

by Will McIntosh · published 2009 · read 2019-04-22

Good title. Sadly, Bridesicle by Will McIntosh is not as good as its title – cryo facilities where people can be revived by prospective partners. He tries to capture the horror of it all, but it fell flat for me.

Song of Sacrifice

by Janell Rhiannon · published 2018 · read 2019-04-16

I'm a Greek mythology geek, and Song of Sacrifice by Janell Rhiannon (as an ARC via NetGalley) should've been right up my alley. Alas, it wasn't – while it showed human perspectives on all the big players in the myths leading up to the Trojan war, the stories were as fragmented as the real myths, even if ordered by history. The novel thing I'd hope to see from a book such as this would be fleshed out characters and story arcs, but sadly, both the characters and the story stayed flat. The final annoyance was that roughly every time any couple had any type of sex, it had to be discussed and described in-depth, and not in great quality, either. While I like the frankness of the Greek myths, these scenes often served no reason. Sadly, I cannot recommend this book.

Tournament of Losers

by Megan Derr · published 2016 · read 2019-04-10

Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr was surprisingly good for a fantasy romance novel, but it was still utterly predictable (and fairytale sounding in the ritual situations that lead to its predictability, actually). A nice enough read, especially since semi-realistic fantasy with m/m relationships isn't common, but definitely more of a guilty pleasure than anything else.

The Library at Mount Char

by Scott Hawkins · published 2015 · read 2019-04-09

It's always fun finding out that everything you assumed about a book is wrong – I had this pleasure with The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. It was beyond not what I expected (shame on me for having preconceived notions of what a library is), and it was a lot of fun at that. The middle parts felt a bit drab, what with the gore and blood and war, but everything came together for a really satisfying endgame, which I liked a lot. Seeing the protagonist Carolyn grow (via flashbacks and other narrative devices, but also due to the plot) from a regular girl, to a traumatised girl, to … here lie spoilers, to experiencing true character growth was wonderful. Side characters feel fleshed out instead of being reduced to a single character trait, or just propping up the protagonist. If you're not terribly touchy about violence in your books, Library of Mount Char is a great read.

Walking to Aldebaran

by Adrian Tchaikovsky · published 2019 · read 2019-04-08

Walking to Aldebaran was my first book by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and it certainly was a good book. The story itself was a bit on the shallow side, I felt, but the writing, and the protagonist exploring weird alien catacombs, both were well done, so it was a good read. I think all things considered, the protagonist's narration voice was the best part of the book – without it, it would've been generic grim scifi, but this way it was quite a bit better than that. (A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review by the publisher, via NetGalley.)

The Unicorn Anthology

by Peter S. Beagle · published 2017 · read 2019-04-08

Rating anthologies is always hard. The Unicorn Anthology, fittingly edited by Peter S. Beagle contained stories that touched me, and stories that just passed some time. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. Most stories tended to be dark and tragic, unsurprisingly enough. There are a couple of very good stories in there, so if the whole mythical realism thing interests you, check it out. (An ARC in exchange for a review was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.)

How to Move Spheres and Influence People

by Marko Kloos · published 2019 · read 2019-04-04

Unfair rating, because: I'm sick of generic superhero origin stories. How to Move Spheres and Influence People by Marko Kloos is a superhero origin story. It's about a teenager who discovers that she can move any spherical object with her mind. Very slice-of-life, not really going anywhere.

Elanus

by Ursula Poznanski · published 2016 · read 2019-04-04

Elanus by Ursula Poznanski is an alright YA thriller/mystery. (Keep in mind that I'm not the intended audience anymore, though). She writes a very good unreliable/unsympathetic protagonist – a way too smart 17-year old boy, who by way of his self-built illicit drone stumbles into a dangerous secret at his new school. Very solid writing. It's very clear from the start that the protagonist is an asshole, but with YA you'd want to make this clear to encourage engagement with the book (and to prevent any kids from finding him too much of a role model). Well-researched in terms of technical capacity, well-written, and while the twist is a bit predictable, the book is still solid.

Grey Sister

by Mark Lawrence · published 2018 · read 2019-04-04

I liked Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. Grey Sister was an appropriate second volume – It was a good-ish second part to Red Sister, but I felt it lacked a sense of cohesiveness. For a long time it just moved from one action after the other, switching to a bit heavy-handed character development from time to time. The protagonist is also too successful with most things she does, and then there's some torture/pain/loss thrown in for balance. Language felt a bit inconsistent, too: mostly very good standard storytelling (think Sanderson), then suddenly flowery.

The Telling

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2000 · read 2019-04-02

And yet again, Ursula K. Le Guin makes me happy. In The Telling she explores a society changing following first contact with a wider galactical (pan-human) civilisation. Part of her Hainish Cycle, we see a world desparate to catch up with other civilisation in the galaxy, and to this end abandons all of its culture in favor of a burocracy, ruthlessly suppression its previous religion for its culturally dangerous superstition and conservative love for the past. It's clear from the get-go that this isn't a good thing, but through the eyes of our protagonist, who escaped an Earth dominated by religious fanatics, the story explains the motivations of all parties concerned, and humanises this decision (all the while building on glimpses into the previous/repressed culture).

Ninefox Gambit

by Yoon Ha Lee · published 2016 · read 2019-03-31

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee was a lot of fun, but at the same time frustrating. It's high fantasy in space, and comes with all the usually frustrating parts of high fantasy (minus the racism).

Ink

by Sabrina Vourvoulias · published 2012 · read 2019-03-31

Ink by Sabrina Vourvoulias is okay urban dystopic fantasy with a critical stance towards important issues within the US, mostly concerning latinx population and immigration. It touches on these issues beautifully, but came off a bit heavy-handed in many regards – people felt magical, yet one-dimensional. It may just be that I'm at least one major ocean and culture shift removed from the intended audience, though.

The Raven Tower

by Ann Leckie · published 2019 · read 2019-03-22

I'm not quite sure where I stand on The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. On the plus side: a fantasy story told from the perspective of a god (and with a fascinating definition of 'god', to boot), in a consistent voice (good thing I was used to second person narration from Ms Jemisin), with a not-quite predictable plot. But while I'm a fan of unusual story arcs, I found myself wanting more. The story was good, but not enough! I think this is not just me being used to Sanderson-length epic fantasy. Raven Tower has great world building and narration (and a unique take on "gods speak the truth"!), but the plot seemed a bit underdeveloped.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

by Shirley Jackson · published 1962 · read 2019-03-21

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson is very "what did I just read"? It's a weird horror short story, in a way, that makes vrey good use of the first-person narrator. Soft and slow horror, coupled with very good information revelations by implication, and use of very Gaiman/Rothfuss-like thinking about magic. I can't even talk about the setting too much without spoiling the wonderfully slow storytelling, but I can tell you this: While it wasn't for me, I know many people who loved this story very much, and I get why. If you liked The Ocean at the End of the Lane for it's horror aspects, this book might very well be great for you.

The Hierophant’s Daughter

by M.F. Sullivan · published 2019 · read 2019-03-17

The Hierophant's Daughter by MF Sullivan was an advance reading copy provided to me by NetGalley. It's … dystopian cannibal vampires? I have to confess that I aborted reading the book about a third of the way in. Its mix of unsympathetic characters, bleak dystopia, random info dumps, and random remeniscing about the past did not work for me at all. Dystopian cannibal vampire empire churches take a lot to be believable – Charlie Stross could do it, MF Sullivan couldn't.

Mirror Dance

by Lois McMaster Bujold · published 1994 · read 2019-03-17

Mirror Dance was yet another really good entry in the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. I disliked the protagonist (mildly at first, strongly in the middle, barely at the end), and yet the book worked wonderfully for me. I felt afraid for Miles, scorn, compassion, and pity for his brother, and a whole range of things for everybody else. We get to see new and brilliant parts of Cordelia, and seeing the world from the eyes of Miles brother definitely shows a good perspective on our favourite hero (and reflects well on Miles' growth over the series so far!).

Embassytown

by China Miéville · published 2011 · read 2019-03-12

Embassytown by China Miéville starts out as okay-if-weird scifi, with decent characters, plausibly weird worldbuilding, and appropriately weird aliens, so everything you'd expect from Miéville. It starts by following a good if generic feeling story arc, and continues like that for quite a while. Miéville continues to be great at writing about cities (Perdido Street Station!), so I felt comfortable, once I had spent the first ~20% of the book figuring out how the world worked.

The Borders of Infinity

by Lois McMaster Bujold · published 1987 · read 2019-03-12

In The Borders of Infinity, Lois McMaster Bujold shows her series protagonist Miles Vorkosigan as a prisoner of war. It's Miles distilled to his essence.

Labyrinth

by Lois McMaster Bujold · published 1989 · read 2019-03-12

Labyrinth is a scifi take on the legend of the Minotaur by Lois McMaster Bujold in her Vorkosigan saga. The novella really carries it off.

A Closed and Common Orbit

by Becky Chambers · published 2016 · read 2019-03-07

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers is the second part of the Wayfarers series. It's a good match for the first part: expanding different parts of the world, and worldbuilding, and starring characters that were not quite central to the first book. It delves into the pan-alien world and implications of sentient AI with a sense of wonder, and it's well-written, certainly. It's also … fluff, to use a fanfiction term. It's very much giving us a slice-of-life view of the world, with few to none real confrontations. It can be very calming and healing to see a world where most people just try to live their lives and be good to each other, but I'm happy that I'm only reading books like this very occasionally, as I was missing any tension or overarching … thing. But as a once-in-a-while relaxation read, it performs very well.

A Fire Upon the Deep

by Vernor Vinge · published 1992 · read 2019-03-03

A Fire Upon the Deep was very impressive scifi! The scope ranges across the complete universe, complete with medieval worlds, advanced civilisations, up to god-like transcended entities, their interactions, and wildly alien races. And at the same time, the story gets up close to humans and aliens alike, and lets the reader live epic events at a comprehendable scale.

The Final Empire

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2006 · read 2019-02-22

The Final Empire is good Fantasy, no more, no less. In comparison with Sanderson's Stormlight Archives it's much more YA-y (not in a bad way, though). I enjoyed that I wasn't able to predict the plot too far ahead, aside of generalities. This book didn't shake my perception of the world – it's too generic for that, but it's genuinely touching in enough places to keep it from feeling boring/overly generic/as if I had read it already.

Persepolis Rising

by James S.A. Corey · published 2017 · read 2019-02-19

In many ways, Persepolis Rising was a gamble. How do we react to our heros having grown older together, all of a sudden? How do we treat non-standard story arcs? How do we react when we don't have a whole lot of movement in this huge space opera 'verse, and the characters we get to see are … very human, and not always appealing?

The Nine Billion Names of God

by Arthur C. Clarke · published 1967 · read 2019-02-19

I appreciated the woo, but. The Nine Billion Names of God is a short story typical of the Arthur C. Clarke times of scifi. Doesn't hurt to read, but by now it's predictable, and the premise was new then, but is ehhh today.

A Marauder’s Plan

by CatsAreCool · published 2016 · read 2019-02-17

Good fanfic, in which Sirius is not an idiot.

The Stone Sky

by N.K. Jemisin · published 2017 · read 2019-02-13

The Stone Sky is a great ending to a great trilogy. I dislike books where the ending is clear ahead of time, but the amounts of good storytelling and additional context we got made up for it. Nassun's development felt a bit heavy-handed at times, but she still makes a good character, and contrasts well with her mother Essun. I enjoyed getting the true backstory for the breaking of the earth!

Alexandra Quick and the Thorn Circle

by Inverarity · published 2007 · read 2019-02-09

American Harry Potter spin-off.

Surface Detail

by Iain M. Banks · published 2010 · read 2019-02-08

Surface Detail is a true Culture novel. Complicated action, backstabbing actors, different civilisations, matters of life, death, and life beyond death, and witty Minds. Well. The beginning was a slow burn (but Culture novels tend to have weird pacing), but this was still very enjoyable. "Should hell be allowed to exist if it's up to us?" is … quite a question.

The Futile Facade

by murkybluematter · read 2019-02-08

More place-switching, but with people growing up and increasingly high stakes.

On the day you spend forever with your dog

by Adam R. Shannon · published 2018 · last read 2022-07-08

It must be because I never had a dog: On the Day You Spend Forever with your Dog is a short story that tries to roll heart-breaking dog love and (emotional) time travel into one, but fell flat for me.

The Ghoul Goes West

by Dale Bailey · published 2018 · read 2019-02-05

As the title suggests, The Ghoul Goes West may be nice if you're an Old Hollywood buff, but otherwise it falls flat.

The Ambiguous Artifice

by murkybluematter · published 2016 · read 2019-02-02

by murkybluematter · published 2012 · read 2019-02-02

Stakes rise further.

The Pureblood Pretense

Despite the Lemony Snickety naming, an interesting series. Female-Harry has grown up with both parents and her godfather and his son. Due to pureblood idiocy, the two decide to switch places.

The Serpentine Subterfuge

by murkybluematter · published 2013 · read 2019-02-01

The subterfuge works somewhat too well.

Sansûkh

by determamfidd · published 2017 · last read 2021-01-27

Sansûkh is an incredibly well-researched, detailed, well-written Lord of the Rings fanfiction, telling the whole story from the perspective of the dead dwarves keeping watch over their relatives. Its protagonist is Thorin Oakenshield, and in addition to all the plots told by the primary books, it also features Erebor and Mirkwood. The writing is very appropriate and well-done, and I enjoyed every part of it tremendously. It's funny, and it's epic, and it's very much as it should be.

The Egg

by Andy Weir · published 2009 · read 2019-01-26

Super-short, not exactly original, but well-done and strangely foundational: The Egg is a wonderful little, tiny, short story. I first read it some years back, but it always stayed with me, just in the back of my head. Now I came across it again, and I thought I should share the goodness with you.

The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir

by Karin Tidbeck · published 2019 · read 2019-01-24

Even though I'm a fan of sentient ships: The Last Voyage or Skidbladnir is just an okay scifi short story – too predictable for my tastes, and the switch between concrete scenes and dream-like time skips feel unfinished. But the concept of sentient space ships is always a nice one.

Wool Omnibus

by Hugh Howey · published 2012 · read 2019-01-23

The Wool Omnibus is a collection of truly good scifi – the old trope of isolated humans in a post-apocalyptic world, but without a huge predictable arc. You can predict some things some of the time, but not a lot, which I always appreciate. It's depressing, but drew me in by showing realistic worlds and characters, and posing some hard ethics questions.

You can make a dinosaur, but you can’t help me

by K.M. Szpara · published 2018 · read 2019-01-23

Crossing a trans guy's story with Jurassic Park. Occasionally sweet, but also unfocussed.

Tower Lord

by Anthony Ryan · published 2014 · read 2019-01-21

I thoroughly enjoyed Tower Lord (second volume of Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow series). It's good fantasy, with a careful mix of known elements (the weary hero who is always right, the young fighting gutter princess, the clever queen, superstitions everywhere, evil religion, good agnostics, magic coming true, prophecies, etc), but mixes it up sufficiently that the story arc is never completely clear. We get good character development on two major and a couple of minor fronts, and I enjoyed how the pieces came together in the end. Even though it's no high literature, I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

Nussia

by Michele Tracy Berger · published 2018 · read 2019-01-14

I'm just not one for exchange student stories. Nussia is a short story that describes the first alien exchange student, who comes to a black family in the Bronx. The writing felt very uneven, and the plot directionless, so even though the idea is nice, the story didn't capture me at all.

Blindsight

by Peter Watts · published 2006 · last read 2020-11-26

Re-read notes: I love a couple of things about this book. I love that it is well-written, particularly for sci-fi, particularly for hard sci-fi. It reads well, if you're into sci-fi in the first place. I love that it is clever, and that it is also not stupid. There is a lot of clever sci-fi that is also very stupid. I love the vampires.

Clay’s Ark

by Octavia E. Butler · published 1984 · read 2019-01-08

Man, Octavia Butler doesn't do nice – in the end, there's always violence/rape/horror. I'm starting to see a little too many parallels between her books in terms of characters involved, and the general feeling/direction, so I'll probably lay off them for a while. I still enjoyed Clay's Ark (which is part of the Patternmaster series, although VERY loosely connected), but it's not a book I'd care to read again.

Nevernight

by Jay Kristoff · published 2016 · read 2019-01-06

Nevernight is nice fantasy – setting-wise, it's confusingly similar to Red Sister, all about a young girl assassin going to a slightly religious assassin school, but it's different in style. I think I liked Red Sister more (seeing as it has less Chosen One and more realism), and the witty banter-y narrator of Nevernight was predictable sometimes. But the style was very Bartimaeus-esque, so this should be a book that fits many people's interests and likes.

Gardens of the Moon

by Steven Erikson · published 1999 · read 2019-01-05

I did not finish Gardens of the Moon – I gave up after a month, and that's saying something with 180+ read things in 2018. I just wasn't feeling it. It dragged on and on and on and – I'm sure this is a good book to many, and I have the feeling that the thing missing in Dune is also costing me Gardens of the Moon, but I won't even try this again.

Rogue Protocol

by Martha Wells · published 2018 · read 2019-01-04

In Rogue Protocol, the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells continue to be enjoyable – it's lighter on the character building and action than the previous two volumes, and some ticks of our protagonist start to feel worn-out, but I still liked it! I read it when I was feeling tired, and down, and easy and fun (but never too easy, or too fun) books like these are the best thing next to hot chocolate for moods like that.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

by Seanan McGuire · published 2017 · read 2019-01-03