This is a prequel novella for the Avalon duology, and it does a decent job of introducing the set up and the main characters. I'm not sure it's compleThis is a prequel novella for the Avalon duology, and it does a decent job of introducing the set up and the main characters. I'm not sure it's completely essential, though it's sometimes hard to say in advance with prequels....more
A lovely character driven story, with a nice mix of literary fiction and light magical realism. Nothing too depressing except for one particularly sadA lovely character driven story, with a nice mix of literary fiction and light magical realism. Nothing too depressing except for one particularly sad event early in the story, so it's good choice if you're in the mood for something on the lighter side.
I've been called magic, but I wouldn't use that term exactly. I like to think of myself as always being in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place at the wrong time. Very rarely am I simply in an acceptable place at a generally convenient time. That said, I find those rare occasions pleasant, mostly because they give me time to work on my crosswords. ...more
Wow, this was a really excellent and engaging book. It went so many unexpected places, and was very satisfying to read. Themes of family and 4.5 stars
Wow, this was a really excellent and engaging book. It went so many unexpected places, and was very satisfying to read. Themes of family and self identity are nicely woven into a mystery adventure tale in the speculative fiction genre. The writing flows nicely, complimented by humorous dialogue and multi-dimensional characters. The kids are very much kids, and all the more interesting for it.
There was a lot about this book that reminded me of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and also When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, so if you liked either of those you should definitely check out Weave a Circle Round. This would be a great book for middle grade readers as well as older kids and adults who enjoy YA. A lovely and impressive debut novel that was worth the time it took to come to publication....more
A nice little piece of ocean-going horror from Mira Grant. I preferred this to her other recent horror novella Final Girls. I'm definitely interested A nice little piece of ocean-going horror from Mira Grant. I preferred this to her other recent horror novella Final Girls. I'm definitely interested in reading the upcoming novel, Into the Drowning Deep....more
Excellent. I loved the worldbuilding with all the built-in tech that people have for "genehacking". It was both brilliant and scary. The stor4.5 stars
Excellent. I loved the worldbuilding with all the built-in tech that people have for "genehacking". It was both brilliant and scary. The story was exciting and fast-paced, and I didn't see the ending coming. I'm absolutely in for the next book....more
I'm still really sick, but this was a nice pick-me-up read over Christmas:) Just what I needed.I'm still really sick, but this was a nice pick-me-up read over Christmas:) Just what I needed....more
This is a really hard book to rate. The writing is very good. The characters, although for the most part unlikeable, are nicely fleshed out a3.5 stars
This is a really hard book to rate. The writing is very good. The characters, although for the most part unlikeable, are nicely fleshed out and balance each other well in the story. The story itself is a real doozy though.
The summary isn't really a very accurate description of what the story is actually about. This is a dark and descriptive narrative of a teenager who is severely unstable, dangerously so, and her mental illness has apparently gone completely unnoticed up to now. There are some very disturbing scenes, and yes, I can see why some people would have difficulty reading this.
That said, it is an engrossing read, and Sasha Stone is a complicated and frightening character - a bit like Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction - interesting and normal looking from afar, but toxic and dangerous up close....more
I listened to the audiobook version of this with my kids and I really enjoyed it. I think I probably liked it more than they did! As usual, the Star WI listened to the audiobook version of this with my kids and I really enjoyed it. I think I probably liked it more than they did! As usual, the Star Wars books have excellent production quality for audio, so that was great. But I also thought the story itself was quite good.
This is very much a YA coming of age story, but it was meaningful and fulfilling to learn about how Leia grows into the kind of person we see her to be when she appears in the films. I thought it read consistently with how she ultimately develops into the iconic character I grew up with and love so much. Recommended for people who love Leia, obviously, but a generally solid addition to the new canon books....more
An amazing sequel to River of Teeth, A Taste of Marrow deals with the physical and emotional fallout each of the characters must deal with i4.5 stars
An amazing sequel to River of Teeth, A Taste of Marrow deals with the physical and emotional fallout each of the characters must deal with in the aftermath of the devastating events of the first book.
Sarah Gailey shows her true strength as a writer as she explores the emotional depths of her characters with incredible skill and finesse. If you have access to these books on audio, I would definitely recommend listening to them, as the voice acting adds an additional layer to an already rich story....more
It turns out that existential angst isn't limited to a human post-apocalyptic world--even after they kill off their human creators, the robot victors It turns out that existential angst isn't limited to a human post-apocalyptic world--even after they kill off their human creators, the robot victors have lots room for their own personal crises and continued search for meaning. Also, and perhaps not surprisingly, survival and power grabs are still the name of the game, so in a lot of ways, everything has stayed the same even as it has radically changed.
An interesting and fast-paced story about a future that doesn't seem too hard to imagine....more
Really good. I picked this up because it was on Alex Brown's best YA SFF list for 2017 over at Tor.com and it was one of a few on there I hadn't yet rReally good. I picked this up because it was on Alex Brown's best YA SFF list for 2017 over at Tor.com and it was one of a few on there I hadn't yet read. Also the author is Canadian:)
This alien invasion book focuses on character development and lots of inner dialogue about emotion rather than action scenes, so if that's your thing, you might enjoy it. The ending was great, and has me looking forward to the sequel....more
A very good novella that provides some of the missing story of what happened to Bettany after she was separated from her family. Also, it gives much mA very good novella that provides some of the missing story of what happened to Bettany after she was separated from her family. Also, it gives much more insight into the whole relationship between her and Lord Agalar. Definitely worth reading....more
Finished! Overall this was really more educational than enjoyable, but I'm glad I read it.
The Star by H.G. Wells -"...how small the vastest of human cFinished! Overall this was really more educational than enjoyable, but I'm glad I read it.
The Star by H.G. Wells -"...how small the vastest of human catastrophes may seem, at a distance of a few million miles."
Sultana's Dream by Rokheya Shekhawat Hossain -"You have neglected the duty you owe to yourselves and you have lost your natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own interests."
The Triumph of Mechanics by Karl Hans Strobl - apparently Strobl spent a good portion of his career producing pro-Nazi propaganda.
The New Overworld by Paul Scheerbart - fur covered turtles learn to live happily together on Venus. Not sure about much more than that.
Elements of Pataphysics by Alfred Jarry - Hmmm...no idea.
Mechanopolis by Miguel de Unamuno - My favourite story so far! "My loneliness began to be filled with ghosts. That is the worst thing about loneliness, how easily it becomes filled."
The Doom of Principal City by Yefim Zozulya -"Bitter confusion and spiritual devastation were universal now. Even serious-minded and governmental newspapers started dedicating a lot of space to personal polemics that were not free of spiteful accusations, vindictive attacks, and intent to offend and humiliate rather than establish the truth."
The Comet by W.E.B. DuBois - Distinctions of race and class mean little without a world full of people to perpetuate them.
The Fate of the Poseidonia by Clare Winger Harris -"How little we then realized that the relative importance of gold and water was destined to be reversed, and that man was to have forced upon him a new conception of values which would bring to him a complete realization of his former erroneous ideas."
The Star Stealers by Edmond Hamilton - I was happily surprised to see that the pilot was a woman who fought alongside the men...up until the end when she seeks a beauty parlour as her only reward for helping to save the world from sure destruction.
The Conquest of Gola by Leslie F. Stone - The matriarchy of Venus crushes the invasion of their planet by the weakling men of Earth using the superior power of their minds!
A Martian Odyssey by Stanley G. Weinbaum - Finally the SF short story evolves to include more intricate worldbuilding in the development of a variety of well described alien species.
The Last Poet and the Robots by A. Merritt - "Now and then, out of the sea of lunatic mediocrity, a wave uplifted that beheld for a moment a light from the sun of truth-but soon it sank back and the light was gone. Quenched in the sea of stupidity."
The Microscopic Giants by Paul Ernst - Written in 1936, this is the first story where the writing style, to me, has the feel of a more modern SF thriller. "Cold anger shone from the soulless eyes. Chill outrage, such as might shine from the eyes of a man whose home has been invaded. The little men palpably considered us trespassers in these depths, and were glacially infuriated by our presence."
Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges - The collective consciousness of the world is changed by means of a book."[A]lready a fictitious past has supplanted in men's memories that other past, of which we now know nothing certain--not even that it is false."
Desertion by Clifford D. Simak - Altering humans to survive the off-world environment! This story was much more to my taste than anything we have read up to now. "Maybe the brains of Earth things naturally are slow and foggy. Maybe we are the morons of the universe. Maybe we are fixed so we have to do things the hard way."
September 2005: The Martian by Ray Bradbury - This story has an enduring quality representative of Bradbury's writing generally. "Who is this, he thought, in need of love as much as we? Who is he and what is he that, out of loneliness, he comes into the alien camp and assumes the voice and face of memory and stands among us, accepted and happy at last?"
Baby HP by Juan Jose Arreola - "To the Lady of the House: Convert your children’s vitality into an energy force. We now have on sale the marvelous Baby HP, a device that is set to revolutionize the domestic economy."
Surface Tension by James Blish - An excellent story about humans altered to microscopic size and adapted for an aquatic environment, yet still retain the desire to explore "space" and travel to "other worlds." "Come, my friend; join me at my table. We will plan our journey to the stars."
Beyond Lies the Wub by Philip K. Dick - I always like Dick's short stories, and this is no exception. A short, clear, and wonderfully self-contained story.
The Snowball Effect by Katherine McLean - This is an interesting story about what happens when people conducting an experiment forget about the inherent unpredictability of social systems. MacLean is a writer I hadn't heard of before, and I found her style very readable.
Prott by Margaret St. Clair - In the introductory notes to this story the editors describe it as "one of the most original collected in this anthology." Reading this story I can see the genesis of Jeff VanderMeer's own brilliantly creative and original book, Annihilation.
The Liberation of Earth by William Tenn - Deeply political and therefore controversial in its time, this 1953 tale makes it clear that the "liberated" are the last thing so-called liberators actually care about.
Let Me Live in a House by Chad Oliver - A tightly written and tense psychological story; probably my favourite in the collection so far. "Starburn leaves scars on the soul. Some men could not give up. Some men knew that man could not turn back. Starburned men knew that dreams never really die."
The Star by Arthur C. Clarke - An example of how humans can't help but try to integrate the new and unknown into existing narrative.
Grandpa by James H. Schmitz - Relying on policy and regulations rather than observation and common sense can get you killed.
The Game of Rat and Dragon by Cordwainer Smith - "Only partners could fight this deadliest of wars--and the one way to dissolve the partnership was to be personally dissolved!"
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov - Everything truly does come full circle.
Stranger Station by Damon Knight - to be honest I'm not exactly sure what happened at the end there, but I know it wasn't good.
Sector General by James White - a very interesting and readable space hospital story. I was sorry when the end came!
The Visitors by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - "Imagine yourself in the bowels of an alien spaceship, surrounded by unliving mechanisms, imagine yourself flying over an icy desert--without any hope, unsure where you are going--flying for days, months, maybe even years, imagine all of this and you can see what I'm thinking." A great premise that never played out in the execution.
Pelt by Carol Emshwiller - A kind of creepy environmental story where it becomes clear that the distinction between "furs" and hunter is somewhat murky.
The Monster by Gérard Klein - Quietly chilling and exquisitely written. "A memory came suddenly into her mind. A sentence read or heard, an idea harvested and stored away, to be milled and tasted now. It was something like this: men are nothing but empty shells, sometimes cold and deserted like abandoned houses, and sometimes inhabited, haunted by the beings we call life, jealousy, joy, fear, hope, and so many others. Then there was no more loneliness."
The Man Who Lost the Sea by Theodore Sturgeon - "For no farmer who fingers the soil with love and knowledge, no poet who sings of it, artist, contractor, engineer, even child bursting into tears at the inexpressible beauty of a field of daffodils--none of these is as intimate with Earth as those who live on, live with, breathe, and drift in its seas."
The Waves by Silvina Ocampo - "Science" can always be used to justify "progress." "But there is always someone who tells the truth, and if the truth sets some people free, then it condemns others."
Plenitude by Will Worthington - A father and son confront their family's choices in a tale that could easily be the inspiration for some elements of The Matrix. "You look for ugliness and senselessness. It is that simple. Look for places that have been overlaid with mortar so that nothing can grow or change at its will. Look for things which have been fashioned at great expense of time and energy and then discarded."
The Voices of Time by J.G. Ballard - Not for me. Pondering and philosophical without much structured plot and not really even enjoyable in terms of writing style.
The Astronaut by Valentina Zhuravlyova - a moving and wistful account of the actions of a crew on a mission of exploration. "I enjoy...no, I have a love, a great love for Earth, for life on Earth, for the people who live there."
The Squid Chooses Its Own Ink by Adolfo Bioy Casaeres - political critique observing the failed and dangerous state of those in power and and lamenting the lack of will most people ultimately possess to effect real change.
2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - a typically grim tale about population control. "The painter pondered the mournful puzzle of life demanding to be born and, once born, demanding to be fruitful...to multiply and to live as long as possible--to do all that on a very small planet that would have to last forever."
A Modest Genius by Vadim Shefner -a wonderful story about an underappreciated inventor and the love that finds its way to him.
Day of Wrath by Sever Gansovsky - intelligent story with a focus on biotech experimentation and the aftermath that is left to the ordinary person to live with. A critique of the danger of intelligence untempered by compassion. Well, they take them all, the talented people, and lock them away in a closed space. And they coddle them. And they don't know anything about life. And that's why they have no compassion for people. . .You need to be a person first of all. And only then a scientist."
The Hands by John Baxter - Creepy SF dealing with bodily takeover: "No thought had any real permanence. They were all vague and shadowy. He felt nothing sharply, with real emotion. He seemed always to be watching pictures of thoughts rather than the thoughts themselves." ... "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Tictockman by Harlan Ellison - a great story about one man's nonviolent attempts at disrupting authority: "...you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and in every revolution a few die who shouldn't, but they have to, because that's the way it happens, and if you make only a little change, then it seems to be worthwhile."
Nine Hundred Grandmothers by R.A. Lafferty - "If they die, they not be here to say they do not die. Oh, I joke, I joke. No, we do not die. It is a foolish alien custom which we see no reason to imitate." ... When it Changed by Joanna Russ - Men come to Themyscira and they aren't Chris Pine. "Where are all the people?" said that monomaniac.
I realized then that he did not mean people, he meant men, and he was giving the word the meaning it had not had on Whileaway for six centuries."
And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side by James Tiptree Jr. - The biological imperative to seek out the new and the exotic becomes untenable and destructive when it comes to relations between humans and aliens.
Where Two Paths Cross by Dmitri Bilenkin - A really interesting contact story where the humans and aliens are each completely beyond the initial understanding and experience of the other. I read Semiosis by Sue Burke shortly after this story and it made for a great pairing.
Standing Woman by Yasutaka Tsutsui - a very creepy dystopian where government dissenters and troublemakers aren't killed, but planted and slowly turn into trees. Tsutsui also wrote the novel upon which the very interesting anime film, The Girl Who Leaped Through Time, was based.
The IWM 1000 by Alicia Yanez Cossio - Imagine having a device at your fingertips that could supply any knowledge required: "Its operation was so simple that children spent time playing with it. It was an extension of the human brain. Many people would not be separated from it even during the most personal, intimate acts."
The House of Compassionate Sharers by Michael Bishop - interesting and clever idea, but so sad and depressing to read too.
Sporting with the Chid by Barrington J. Bayley - Tightly written and no less dark and creepy for the inevitable ending: "And life, he remembered dimly, was worth hanging on to at any cost."
Sandkings by George R.R. Martin - Excellent SF horror by a master writer. It's easy to see why this won both the Hugo and the Nebula in 1979.
Wives by Lisa Tuttle - feminist and anti-colonialist, this was utterly depressing and more impactful than Joanna Russ' story, When it Changed.
The Snake Who Had Read Chomsky by Josephine Saxton - lab scientists seeking glory and social status turn on each other with predictably disastrous results. A nicely written and well-developed story.
Reiko's Universe Box by Kajio Shinji - A really tidy little story that I liked quite a bit except for the very end, which felt a bit...incomplete somehow.
Swarm by Bruce Sterling - a great, complete-feeling story, with a fantastic organic setting that reminded me of Kameron Hurley's books. ... Bloodchild by Octavia Butler - in a masterful combination of the sensual and the horrifying, Butler demonstrates she can write excellent short stories as well as novels. One of the best selections in the book.
Variation on a Man by Pat Cadigan - I didn't completely understand what happened, but I liked the writing. If we prize our illusions, we are even that much more jealous of our delusions because they're so patently untrue.
Passing as a Flower in the City of the Dead by S.N. Dyer - I suppose this story is about the decay of relationship in a new environment and dramatic life changes. Not much more to say about the story although I did like the writing itself.
New Rose Hotel by William Gibson - Hmmm. I didn't like this much. I wasn't a fan of the use of second person here. It made the story feel even more vague.
Pots by C.J. Cherryh - Sort of the opposite problem that I had with the story by S.N. Dyer. I liked the idea here but not the way it was written. It didn't feel tight enough to me, although that really is a matter of taste.
Snow by John Crowley - A story about the nature of memory. In this case, rediscovering something you didn't know you lost and then seeing it disappear again.
The Lake Was Full of Artificial Things by Karen Joy Fowler - Another story about memory, this time constructs of events that never happened. I liked this one a lot. It read a bit like an episode of Black Mirror.
A great finish to an overall excellent series. I listened to the audio version and, again, I can't say enough about the superb quality of the voice acA great finish to an overall excellent series. I listened to the audio version and, again, I can't say enough about the superb quality of the voice acting by narrator MacLeod Andrews, who really brought the story to life. I listen to audiobooks regularly with my two kids (9 and 12), and this series was definitely a hit with both of them.
As a adult listening along I found it equally engaging. There is a nice balance of action and light humour, and for me the ancient Roman setting was a plus. The romance is very light handed and develops slowly and naturally, as seems to be Nielsen's preferred way, and I thought it worked very well and to the enhancement of the story. I loved the way the themes of family, friendship, loyalty, and love were interwoven in this exceptionally enjoyable middle grade tale of magic and the struggle for power.
Recommended for fans of middle grade fantasy, particularly the audio version....more
I had a pretty great time with this book. It's not deep or anything, but quite light and funny without being silly. The use of Chinese mythology and cI had a pretty great time with this book. It's not deep or anything, but quite light and funny without being silly. The use of Chinese mythology and characters was refreshing, and made it different and interesting. That said, it is still a pretty basic YA story, but well told and ultimately entertaining.
The audio is excellent, with the narrator doing a spot on job with accents and voices. A good choice if you enjoy contmporary YA fantasy and want a quick pick-me-up....more
Maybe it's because I have the flu, but I don't like any of the characters and they are all so rude to each other. I'm finding it quite grating DNF 45%
Maybe it's because I have the flu, but I don't like any of the characters and they are all so rude to each other. I'm finding it quite grating to read.
I really don't want to go through this business of choosing different paths on the same story over and over to see where they lead. Halfway through the second thread I decided that once through this story was enough for me....more
The summary for this book doesn't really prepare you for what is in reality a neat psychological thriller. As others have said, this is a book best reThe summary for this book doesn't really prepare you for what is in reality a neat psychological thriller. As others have said, this is a book best read blind, and is the perfect way to fill a rainy day or a chilly night....more
This is a book that you are either going to love or just not get. Newitz has painted a pretty grim picture of the future, similar to that portrayed inThis is a book that you are either going to love or just not get. Newitz has painted a pretty grim picture of the future, similar to that portrayed in Company Town by Madeline Ashby and in After Atlas by Emma Newman. What all three of these books have in common is a future where people are basically commodities, like everything else, and the division between the haves and have-nots has grown as much as we can imagine.
Newitz provides a wonderful story for exploring the nature of autonomy, or freedom. Freedom not only for the AIs, or sentient bots, in the story but also for the humans, who are equally subject to laws of indenture. I loved following Jack's tale, her evolution from idealist scientist, to attempted reformist within the law, moving ultimately to pharmaceutical piracy. It is such a timely question really - when faced with injustice, is it better to work within the bounds of the law, or to take matters into your own hands and do what is required to help people regardless of the consequences? Jack's story is one of a kind of vigilante justice, recognizing that even vigilantes have to make a living and pay the bills somehow.
The parallel story of the property police after her, a militant officer named Eliasz and his military grade bot Paladin, is equally compelling. Eliasz is clearly damaged, and filled with fervour for his cause, but the reason for this is initially unclear. Paladin is a newly created bot, filled with questions about his/her identity, feelings, role, future, and past. Following the two of them, watching their relationship deepen and develop, seeing their relentless pursuit of Jack, is strange and at times terrifying, but also ultimately hopeful.
I suppose I can see why some people would not like this book. It does pose some disturbing questions and paints a very grim picture of a future even more defined by property rights and corporate might than we have today. Despite some brutal and violent scenes, it also shows some people and sentient machines working together for a better and more hopeful future. If you liked the other two books I mentioned above, or are curious about them, then I would put this one on your reading list as well. For me, Autonomous is going on my favourites shelf for 2017....more
An excellent middle book in the series. I cannot say enough about how much the narrator, MacLeod Andrews, added to experience of listening t4.5 stars
An excellent middle book in the series. I cannot say enough about how much the narrator, MacLeod Andrews, added to experience of listening to the audiobook. He did a great job with accents, voices, and just overall emotive reading of the story.
The story itself was very well paced and, although there weren't any real surprises, it was thoroughly enjoyable. I listened to this with my kids (9 and 12) and they absolutely loved it....more
A really sweet and romantic story of how Jessamy's parents first met and fell in love. It let me see Ensladas in particular in a slightly different anA really sweet and romantic story of how Jessamy's parents first met and fell in love. It let me see Ensladas in particular in a slightly different and more generous light than he comes across in the early part of Court of Fives....more
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