Category: Reviewed

Free-Wrench Collection: Volume 1 — Joseph R. Lallo

By 5t4n5

Free-Wrench Collection: Volume 1 -- Joseph R. LalloTotally enjoyable!

Having become a fan of Joseph’s writing with The Book of Deacon series, i was pleasantly surprised when this turned up in my Bookbub alerts at 99p, and curious as to how he would get on in the Steampunk genre — i simply couldn’t resist.

And i’m glad i didn’t resist.   Joseph’s writing is as good in this series as it is in The Book of Deacon series, the characters are excellent, nothing is ever too far fetched, etc..

And i simply had no choice but to immediately buy the 4th book in the series, The Calderan Problem, and jump straight into that when i finished this.

Anyways, for anyone into Steampunk, or even anyone who is Steampunk curious, or even you’ve never heard of Steampunk, you can’t really go wrong with this trilogy in one cover.   Start reading today!

Joseph’s Page

#steampunk #josephrlallo

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories — Ken Liu

By 5t4n5

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories -- Ken LiuA wonderful, thought provoking collection of short stories from someone who knows how to write short stories.   All i have to say about it is … just read it.

I’m practising keeping my reviews succinct and to the point: i think i’ve got that mastered!

Well worth the 5 star rating i gave it on goodreads.

Ken made a bunch of notes on this book, which you can also read over at goodreads.

Ken’s Page

#kenliu

Less – Andrew Sean Greer

By 5t4n5

Less - Andrew Sean GreerAround the world in 80-ish days with a turning 50, gay, struggling writer, recently dumped by his much younger lover, having a mid life crisis: that about is what is at this book’s heart.

Another Kindle 99 pence book that just drew me to give it a go and while gay fiction is not my normal kind of literature i really enjoyed it.

If i had to compare it to anything i would say it’s like a gay version of The Little Paris Bookshop, but instead of our protagonist sailing off down the waterways of France, Arthur Less goes on a merry go round trip around the world as an excuse not to go to his ex-lover’s wedding.   Well written, really enjoyable, with a good ending to finish it off nicely.

Oh, and it even won the “2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction”: if that don’t convince you its a good book then probably nothing will.

Andrew’s Page

#lgbtq #andrewseangreer

Chasing Excellence — Ben Bergeron

By 5t4n5

Chasing Excellence -- Ben BergeronA very interesting book for those into achieving extreme levels of performance in their lives.

Although it’s based in the world of Crossfit (which i have no interest in whatsoever) and written by a top Crossfit coach, this book is suitable for all kinds of people who want to achieve excellence in their chosen path.

I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 on goodreads because i feel it could have gone deeper, but then that might just be me wanting more of this kind of thing.

Anyways, a great book for the bookshelves of everyone who doesn’t want to live a mediocre life and is willing to actually put some work into their goals instead of looking for shortcuts and life hacks.

Ben’s Page

#benbergeron

Dark Matter — Blake Crouch

By 5t4n5

Dark Matter -- Blake CrouchWow!   That was a total head trip and a half.

Admittedly, i’m not a subscriber to the multiverse theory, but that didn’t detract from the story at all.   I was just totally swept along at an amazing pace, i just didn’t want to stop reading.   Every spare moment i had for 2 days had my face glued to my Kindle screen reading this — and that’s quite rare for me as i normally only read at bedtime for an hour or so.   Very unputdownable!

Definitely a must read for anyone who likes good sci-fi: even if just a little bit.   You won’t be disappointed.

Well worth the 99p i got this for as a “Kindle Deal”. 

Blake’s Page

#scifi #blakecrouch

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance — Robert M. Pirsig

By 5t4n5

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- Robert M. PirsigIt’s one of those ubiquitous books that’s kept turning up on library shelves, charity shop shelves and bookshop shelves throughout my life and yet i’ve always walked away from it, until now.

I’ve always had quite a deep interest in Zen and it always seemed to me that putting it with motorcycle maintenance just wasn’t something i wanted to know about.   But now i have a motorbike that needs some maintenance, and this book turned up in a “Kindle Deal” for 99p, i thought the time was right.

But oh, how wrong i’ve been all these years.   It’s not a book about Zen, or how to fix a motorbike while practising Zen, it’s a wholly different thing altogether.

In fact, it’s a road trip book where our narrator takes his son on a road trip on an old motorbike across the USA.   But it’s a road trip with a difference.

At it’s heart it’s a book about insanity, the condition of society and its relationship to technology, and a fair bit of Greek philosophy as well; and it’s all broken up with the story of the road trip.   And it’s simply, awesome.

With hindsight, i’m happy that i’ve never read it until now as i’m much older and it really blended nicely with my own life experiences: having dropped out of a Philosophy degree course for much the same reasons and now many years later i can look back and see things more clearly.

This is the 40th Anniversary Edition and the ending in the “Afterword” is what truly completes this book.   It really is a masterpiece of writing, so make sure you buy this edition.

Robert’s Page

#philosophy #robertmpirsig

Dangerous Gifts — Gaie Sebold

By 5t4n5

Dangerous Gifts -- Gaie SeboldThis book follows on perfectly from Babylon Steel, with all the usual characters we were introduced to in that book.   And it’s much the same kind of fantasy stuff that really isn’t for children as there’s a fair amount of sex and some quite graphic descriptions of interspecies relationships: Babylon is a whore house madam after all is said an done.

I have to say, Gaie has created a really interesting universe with The Planes and there’s obviously a much bigger story going on in the background concerning the rifts between The Planes, which i seriously hope Gaie is going to slowly uncover in further books in this series.

Please, please, please, Gaie, get writing more about Babylon and Co’.

So if you’re not offended by adult stuff mixed in with your fantasy stories the “Babylon Steel” series is definitely a place to visit on your reading list.   Enjoy!

If you want a bit more of Babylon Steel, you can go to her personal website, Scalentine, where she has a blog.

Gaie’s Page

#fantasy #gaiesebold

Babylon Steel — Gaie Sebold

By 5t4n5

Babylon Steel -- Gaie SeboldWow, what a great story.   I really enjoyed this book.   After reading some YA fantasy lately it was definitely time for some grown-up’s fantasy and this really fit the bill.

The only thing i’m unhappy about is that i’m utterly skint until i get paid on Tuesday so i can’t buy the second book until then, but rest assured, as soon as i wake up my computer on Tuesday morning i’ll be on Amazon buying it.

Great writing, great story, great book, what more can a reader ask for?

If you like fantasy that isn’t afraid of getting it’s hands dirty then i’m sure you’ll like this.   If, on the other hand, you like the nice fluffy fantasy stuff then just don’t look.

Next in the series is Dangerous Gifts.

If you want a bit more of Babylon Steel, you can go to her personal website, Scalentine, where she has a blog.

Gaie’s Page

#fantasy #gaiesebold

Other Minds — Peter Godfrey-Smith

By 5t4n5

Other Minds -- Peter Godfrey-SmithOne incredibly interesting book for anyone who enjoys learning about evolution — and cephalopods, of course.

Written by a philosopher, the writing is really accessible and really engages the reader: unlike a lot of scientists’ approach to this subject.   It dives deep into the world of the evolution of large brains and intelligence and how they have evolved along completely different evolutionary paths.

It also explores the world and habits of cephalopods, particularly octopuses, but a fair bit about cuttlefish as well.   These really are the most incredible creatures.

Well worth a read.

And here’s something that’s worth a watch:

Peter’s Page

#philosophy #petergodfreysmith

The Twilight Kingdom — Anthea Sharp

By 5t4n5

The Twilight Kingdom -- Anthea SharpI quite enjoyed that. As i said about the first book in this trilogy, if you can get over the YA thing and just focus on the Faerie mixed up with VR thing then these books are really good.

As i also said, the worse thing about this trilogy was Tam’s back story and family issues that really detracted from the story in book 1, were a much lesser distraction in book 2 and actually worked with the story in book 3.   But the annoying thing was that in order for them to work with the story in book 3 there really was no need whatsoever to make it such an annoying part of book 1, or to be so depressing about it all.

I think that in these days of publishers cutting costs, editors are doing a worse job than ever. A good editor would have made sure that Tam’s family stuff was tidied up and tied in better with the overall story.   But it is what it is, and the trilogy is still really worth a read if you’re into Faerie stuff and like the idea of the Faerie realm using a super advanced VR system to bridge to our realm.

There is a second trilogy in this series, which i may come back to in the future, but for now i’m having a break and reading some other things.

Anthea’s Page

#fantasy #antheasharp