Category: Reviewed

Ancillary Mercy — Ann Leckie

By 5t4n5

The final episode in the Imperial Radch Trilogy, and quite a good page turner it was.

We;re still at the space station and planet system but “She” has turned up, and it’s one of those “She’s” that really doesn’t like Breq.

So all kinds of chaos and fun ensues with some great new characters thrown in to spice things up.

I did feel the ending was a bit lacking, as in it didn’t finish the trilogy off neatly, leaving lots of openings for further stories — which is a good thing because there’s four more books in this universe to read next.   Hopefully we’ll get to find out what happens next during one of those stories.

So that’s exactly what i’m going to do now, start reading those four stories, beginning with Night’s Slow Poison.

Bye for now.

Ann’s Page

#scifi #annleckie

Ancillary Sword — Ann Leckie

By 5t4n5

Ancillary Sword -- Ann LeckieI just finished this second book in the trilogy, and it was good.

The story has evolved and now the Lord of the Radche is at open war with herself with Breq, our favourite ancillary, caught in between her various parts.

And so it’s off to another planet and a space station for more wonderful shenanigans within this fantastic universe that Ann has created for us all to enjoy immensely.

If you’re into sci-fi and you haven’t started reading this series already then just drop whatever you’re reading and pick this up instead, you won’t be disappointed.

I’m now diving straight into the third book, Ancillary Mercy.

Bye for now.

Ann’s Page

#scifi #annleckie

Ancillary Justice — Ann Leckie

By 5t4n5

Ancillary Justice -- Ann LeckieThis is a super good read.   An AI spaceship’s mind ends up in the body of one person named Breq, one of its ancillaries.   The AI mind is out for a bit of revenge after its spaceship, all it’s crew and the rest of its ancillaries are destroyed.

Really well written with a great protagonist, it’s a real page turner.

But don’t just take my word for it being a great story: Ancillary Justice won the following awards:

Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction novel of the year, 2014.
British Science Fiction Association BSFA Award for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel from the World Science Fiction Society, 2014.
Kitschies Golden Tentacle for best debut novel, 2013.
Locus Award for Best First Novel, 2014.
Nebula Award for Best Novel from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2013.
Seiun Award for Best Translated Novel, 2016.

The novel was also nominated for the following awards:

Finalist for the Compton Crook Award for best first science fiction/fantasy/horror novel from the Baltimore Science Fiction Society.
Named to the James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List, for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.
Shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick Award for distinguished original science fiction paperback.

It does kind of remind me of Murderbot by Martha Wells, so if you liked those books you’ll probably like this, and vice versa.

And now i’m diving straight into Ancillary Sword:   #excited

Bye for now.

Ann’s Page

#scifi #annleckie

The Counselor — Robin Sloan

By 5t4n5

The Counselor -- Robin SloanA look to the future when everyone has access to talk therapy with a counselor, for their whole lives.

But the only way this has become possible is because everyone’s free lifelong counselor is an AI.

And how does the counselor council the terminally ill who can stay alive on life support equipment for decades?

An interesting view of the future of health care, which isn’t too far fetched when we consider that health care providers are already putting chat bots in old people’s homes to talk to them and old people are already heavily medicated and looked after for decades to keep them alive without any real quality of life.

Another interesting little story from Robin.

Bye for now.

Robin’s Page

#scifi #robinsloan

The Truth About the East Wind — Robin Sloan

By 5t4n5

The Truth About the East Wind -- Robin SloanA good little story based on Greek mythology.   So if you enjoy Greek mythology then i would suggest that you might really enjoy this, and even if you’re just looking for something short and quick to read you’ll probably enjoy it as well.

Robin is a really good writer and if you haven’t read any of his novels yet then i really suggest you do.

Bye for now.

Robin’s Page

#robinsloan

The Little Breton Bistro — Nina George

By 5t4n5

The Little Breton Bistro -- Nina GeorgeIf you enjoyed The Little Paris Bookshop then you’ll enjoy this book just as much.

But, if you’re one of those miserable people who didn’t like The Little Paris Bookshop, or just want to hate on every piece of uplit ever written then you’ll probably be better off just passing it by.

What struck me most about this story is how much Marianne’s life with her gaslighting husband reminds me of my own mother.   Like Lothar, my father was also a sergeant-major in the army, and although it was the British Army they spent most of the first 15 years of their marriage living in Germany.   Sadly, my mother never left my father, instead she chose a life of benzodiazepines and any other crazy medication she could get off her quacks.

Reading this book made me think what might have been possible for my mother and her two children if she’d only had the courage to leave and get away.   If you are being gaslighted, then be aware that the person doing it is a sociopath and the only way you deal with sociopaths is to run away, far away, and never look back.

Bye for now.

Nina’s Page

#ninageorge

The Red Scholar’s Wake — Aliette de Bodard

By 5t4n5

The Red Scholar's Wake -- Aliette de BodardIt had certainly been a while since i read any Xuya stories when i finally got this in my Kindle’s memory bank, but i soon fell back into the universe like i’d never been away.

‘The Red Scholar is dead.’   So begins the story.   And left behind in her wake is her wife, the mindship Rice Fish.

The Red Scholar was the head of the Red Banner of the pirates and Rice Fish wants to stake her claim as banner head, but to do so she needs to find out who arranged the death of her wife.   In order to do so she enlists the help of a captured scavenger, Xich Si.   And so begins a story of intrigue, deception, betrayals, love, and all kinds of crazy pirates’ political machinations.

Super good stuff, as are all the Xuya Stories i’ve read.

Next in the Xuya universe is A Fire Born of Exile.

Bye for now.

Aliette’s Page

#5t4n5 #fantasy #scifi #aliettedebodard

The Art of Possible — Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

By 5t4n5

The Art of Possible -- Yudhanjaya WijeratneAvailable in the anthology Kalicalypse

An interesting little story about the coming apocalypse and how the world is mired in policy and nothing is more important than following the policy.

At least that what i got from it.

Like all of Yudhanjaya’s stories, it’s interesting and enjoyable.

Bye for now.

Yudhanjaya’s Page

#scifi #yudhanjayawijeratne