Category: Reviewed

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

Last Beautiful — Robin Sloan

By 5t4n5

Last Beautiful -- Robin SloanWhat if today was the last beautiful day ever?

Tomorrow would turn out to be dreary and dismal, overcast weather and the sun would never shine again.

Is there any hope?

This is how i feel in our current UK summer.   We had a lovely May and early July and then the weather turn crap.   And everyday since it’s been more crap weather.   Will the sun ever come back?

Anyway, it’s a good little tiny short story that you can read for free on Robin’s website.

Bye for now.

Robin’s Page

#robinsloan

Detonation Boulevard — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Detonation Boulevard -- Alastair ReynoldsAlastair is back with one of his great little stories.

This time Alastair has conjured up a racing league where the races circumnavigate small moons and such within the solar system.   This is about one race, the race around Io, one of Jupiter’s moons.   Super geologically active, you’d have to be insane to be racing around this.   It kind of reminds me of all the old stories of early motor racing, before actual race tracks and before the FIA came along and sanitized everything.

So if you like a good motor racing story, or like Alastair’s short fiction, you’ll enjoy this one.

Now i go back to eagerly awaiting Alastair’s next book.

Bye for now.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

The Crew Who Came in From the Cold — Kathleen McClure and Kelley McKinnon

By 5t4n5
The Crew Who Came in From the Cold -- Kathleen McClure and Kelley McKinnon

To begin, i would just like to mention that i received a free copy of this book from Kathleen and Kelley to read and review.

I’ve always been a total fan of the Fortune series, always great writing, great characters, interesting relationships, with lots of action and shenanigans, and this story was more of the same.

This story follows on from Outrageous Fortune, so do read that first.

In this story Kathleen teams up with Kelley McKinnon once again and what the reader gets is another wonderful adventure with the crew of the Errant when they get a passenger job to carry some doctors to another part of Fortune (they’re like Fortune’s vesion of “Doctors Without Borders), but one of these passengers isn’t who he says he is.   Anyway, when this passenger goes to meet up with an old friend all hell breaks loose and, once again, trouble soon finds the crew of the Errant and shenanigans ensue.   Plus, we get an update on John and Jagati’s budding romance . . . awwww!

All in all, while not a big long book, it’s a very good little adventure within which we learn a lot more about our favourite airship crew and, also, a very good little adventure that’ll keep you awake reading at bedtime when you should be going to sleep.   But who needs sleep, right?

A must read for all Fortune fans and if you’re not a Fortune fan yet then i would humbly suggest that you go to Outrageous Fiction and get a free copy of Soldier of Fortune and give it a read.   Yes, the first book in the series is free to try, so what’s stopping you?   The planet Fortune is a wonderful stage setting for these really good, character driven adventures that Kathleen and Kelly take us on.   If you like lots of action with great characters and great writing you won’t be disappointed.

Bye for now.

Kathleen’s Page Kelley’s Page

#steampunk #kathleenmcclure #kelleymckinnon

Quantum Shift — Joseph R. Lallo

By 5t4n5

Quantum Shift -- Joseph R. LalloFairly good, but this series is getting rather repetitive.   I really think Joseph needs to go off on a different tangent with this story line.   Lex really doesn’t need to be saving every universe in existence in every story, surely there’s something else he’d rather be doing?

I like the crazy Karter stuff with lots of Ma, just not saving the universes every time Lex gets in a space ship.

Bye for now.

Joseph’s Page

#scifi #josephrlallo

Home Again, Home Again — Cory Doctorow

By 5t4n5

Home Again, Home Again -- Cory DoctorowAvailable in the collection, A Place So Foreign and Eight More.

A fun little story about coming home.

A human councillor on an alien world goes home to watch his childhood home be demolished.   Along the way he reminisces about his childhood there.

It’s different and i quite enjoyed this: you might also enjoy it.

Next up will be Visit the Sins.

Bye for now.

Cory’s Page

#scifi #corydoctorow

Eddy’s Little Day — Joseph R. Lallo

By 5t4n5

Eddy's Little Day -- Joseph R. LalloIf you enjoyed Joseph’s Book of Deacon side story The Adventures of Rustle and Eddy then you’ll love this little story.

Eddy borrows a few spells from his sister and goes off on an adventure to find Rustle, who hasn’t turned up for his latest visit.

Yes, those naughty fairy catchers are at it again, but they didn’t factor Eddy into their accounts.

I really enjoy the Rustle and Eddy stuff, so this was a very welcome sequel which i also really enjoyed.

Bye for now.

Joseph’s Page

#fantasy #josephrlallo

An Ivy Tale — Joseph R. Lallo

By 5t4n5

An Ivy Tale -- Joseph R. LalloA nice little side story for all you fans of Joseph’s Book of Deacon series.

Ivy goes on a wander to cheer herself up when she gets a bored after saving the world and becoming an ambassador.   One day, during her wander, she walks into an inn where Malthropes aren’t exactly made welcome.

A sweet little story.

Bye for now.

Joseph’s Page

#fantasy #josephrlallo

Eversion — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Eversion -- Alastair ReynoldsHave you ever fell asleep in a dream and in that sleep you start dreaming, only to fall asleep in that dream and start dreaming again.   But then you wake up from that final dream and a new day begins, but it’s just soooo fucked up you can’t understand what’s going wrong with the world: because you thought you’d actually woken up because you forgot you fell asleep within a dream within a dream and you haven’t actually woke up, woke up, you just woke up within the next dream level up, you’re still dreaming.   And it takes a while to realise what the fuck is going on.   If that’s never happened to you then you’re really missing out a wonderful mind fuck.

It’s just like what happens in the film Inception, they go to sleep and dream, then go to sleep and dream and then go to sleep and dream, in order to get so far down the rabbit hole in order to get the thing they want.

And yes, you can fall asleep in dreams and then dream in that sleep and so on.   It’s freaky!

Why am i telling you this?   Because Silas Coade, our protagonist within Eversion, appears to be doing the same thing.   So if you liked that idea in Inception you might just really like this one as well, because this is just as good but in a much different way.   I can’t tell you why it’s different because it would totally ruin the story, you just have to believe me that it’s really good and read it for yourself.

This is currently Alastair’s last published novel and i’ve read everything else he’s written apart from the young adult, nonsensical, Revenger trilogy, which i just couldn’t cope with.   So now i sit eagerly awaiting the next great story from this master of science fiction: let’s hope it’s not too long in appearing.

Bye for now.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

Plague Music — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Plague Music -- Alastair ReynoldsAvailable in Belladonna Nights and Other Stories.

And here’s me thinking that i’d read all the Revelation Space stories, and then i find this one.   Admittedly, it was published after i had read most of the Revelation Space series, so i’ll forgive myself for not reading it in the chronological order of Revelation Space.

But, anyway, it’s always nice to get another Revelation Space story thrown into ones life now and again.

This one takes us back to Chasm City, after the plague has mangled it, following a clean up crew on the lower levels.   I really enjoyed it.   Once again, as most things by Alastair, extremely well written and brilliant sci-fi.

Now all i have to do is wait for the next Revelation Space story, which i hope won’t be too long in coming.   I love this series.

If you haven’t read Revelation Space then i suggest you follow it in chronological order and read everything — it’s really, really good.

Bye for now.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

Permafrost — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Permafrost -- Alastair ReynoldsA super good time travel novel without all the annoying paradoxes within which some writers seem to get themselves messily tie up in knots.

I can’t really say much more without ruining the story.   So i’ll just say, even if you don’t usually enjoy the temporal sci-fi stuff, read this, it’s good.

Next up in Alastair’s literary journey is Polished Performance.

Bye for now.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

Polished Performance — Alastair Reynolds

By 5t4n5

Polished Performance -- Alastair ReynoldsAvailable in Made to Order: Robots and Revolution — Anthology.

A really good story set aboard a sleeper ship that is flown and managed by robots while all the wealthy humans sleep the long cold sleep.

But something goes wrong with the cooling system for the sleepers and the robots become worried that they’ll be core wiped to cover up the mess when they get to their destination.   Thus begins the cunning plans of the robots to avoid annihilation.

Next up in Alastair’s literary journey is Plague Music, which is actually a Revelation Space story set in Chasm City.

Bye for now.

Alastair’s Page

#scifi #alastairreynolds

What Lot’s Wife Saw — Ioanna Bourazopoulou

By 5t4n5

What Lot's Wife Saw -- Ioanna BourazopoulouI read this soooo many years ago and decided to put it away for a few years before reading it again.   But the years came and went and finally i jumped in and did it.

And yes, i enjoyed it totally again.

It’s a rather strange book dealing with authoritarian rulers and their lackeys, but what happens if the lackeys decide to do something unexpected?

Set in a colony on where the Dead Sea used to be before it overflowed and flooded all the Mediterranean’s surrounding countries.   The colony now mines the special, addictive, purple salt that was sealed down beneath the ground and sells it to the rest of the world.

The authoritarian 75, based in Paris, own the colony and have a global monopoly on the salt it produces.   They have sealed it off from the outside world and only keep in contact with the governor via a green box delivered by a special ship. the governor, in turn, instructs his 6 lackeys to do his bidding.

And then, one night, things all change.   The governor’s 6 lackeys send 6 letters to the 75 explaining what happened and they in turn bring in Phileas Book, a constructor of strange crosswords for The Times to decipher the chaotic letters and to work out what the truth is and what really happened in the colony.

It’s a really strange story and quite unlike anything else i’ve read, but it is totally enjoyable and has a great ending.

Bye for now.

Ioanna’s Page

#fantasy #ioannabourazopoulou

Quicksand — Junichiro Tanizaki

By 5t4n5

Quicksand -- Junichiro TanizakiThis is written by the author as though a desperate housewife is telling him personally about her affairs and marriage problems.

I gave up about a third of the way in, i couldn’t take it any more.

If you’re the kind of person that likes reading about chaos in other people’s relationships then it might just suit you, but that’s not my thing at all.

Awful main character.

Bye for now.

Junichiro’s Page

#5t4n5 #japan #junichirotanizaki

Before Your Memory Fades — Toshikazu Kawaguchi

By 5t4n5

Before Your Memory Fades -- Toshikazu KawaguchiThe third book in the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series, and what a great book.

If you haven’t read any of this series yet then i really, whole heartedly, suggest you get back to the beginning and give them a go.   The time-travelling-chair-in-a-cafe really is such a great story telling device, especially with the rules that come along with it.

And it’s in those rules that the stories shine.   The main one being that you cannot change anything in the present by going back to the past.   This rule really does sort the wheat from the chaff and creates stories that are deep and meaningful for all of us.

This third book takes us away from the first cafe to another cafe in Japan with it’s own chair and ghost.   The owner has gone away so some of the crew from Tokyo have taken over because only a female over the age of 7 years, from their family, can pour the coffee.

A lot of this book is about death, and how we all deal with the death of a loved one, and the ending is incredible: Toshikazu really nailed the ending, it’s so perfect and so moving.   It’s not often that my eyes get soggy at the end of a book, but this one did it perfectly.   While the whole book is really good, it’s only when you get to the ending that you realise that it’s all been about building up the ending, where Toshikazu brings everything to a perfectly sharp focus.

And don’t forget, the next book in the series, Before We Say Goodbye, is coming out in September 2023, so be sure to put that in your diary.

Bye for now.

Toshikazu’s Page

#scifi #japan #toshikazukawaguchi

The Midnight Library — Matt Haig

By 5t4n5

The Midnight Library -- Matt HaigA bit of a strange book.   I like the idea of being stuck in limbo, just on the edge of death, and going through all your regrets and considering what you could have done differently; how it might have all worked out if only you’d gone for that cup of coffee, or hadn’t quit the band, etc..   But what i don’t like at all is why it had to be dumped into the parallel/multiple universe twaddle.   Parallel/multiple universe twaddle is just twaddle and it really doesn’t need promoting.

Scientists who bang on about god being nonsense who then claim that every time we make a decision a whole new universe if formed are obviously more deluded that people who believe in god – and that’s pretty deluded.

Schroedinger’s cat is not neither alive nor dead, it’s not stuck in a quantum state in between.   It’s either dead or alive, one or the other, you can’t have both.   Locking it in a toxic box and pretending that it’s neither of either until you open the box is just the most ridiculous thing to come out of science.   Yes, if a tree falls in the woods and you don’t hear it does still make a rather big noise, ask the fox.

That said, if you just read the book as about someone stuck in limbo, in that timeless moment just before death, then it’s a really good book.   It just doesn’t need the twaddle.

Bye for now.

Matt’s Page

#fantasy #matthaig

Born to Run — Christopher McDougall

By 5t4n5

Born to Run -- Christopher McDougallAs a bare foot runner myself i’ve been meaning to read this book for a very long time, but it just kept on sitting in my to-read pile always being overlooked for some exciting fiction to read instead.   But now, finally, i dived in and got it read.

And it’s really good.   Christopher has a way of writing that is just captivating and really takes the reader into the depths of the Copper Canyons to meet the Tarahumara and to experience a world that was left behind a long time ago.

To be able to look back in time in this way with the Tarahumara and to see just what super healthy, wonderful, running machines, Natural humans truly are when they’re not pampered by modern appliances and poisoned by modern diets.

This book is a must for anyone who runs, especially for anyone who is even thinking about taking up running, and also for anyone remotely interested in Human evolution and what makes a Homo sapien so special amongst all other animals.

So if you haven’t read it yet, just do so.   It’s wonderfully written and a super page turning read meeting some really interesting characters (all true life characters) along the way.   It’s not only a great read but a great journey.

And, having enjoyed his writing soooo much, i’m now very much looking forward to reading Christopher’s other books.

Bye for now.

Christopher’s Page

#running #christophermcdougall