Reviews and Comments

I don't read a lot of memoirs (or long-form non-fiction for that matter), but Cristela's book is just too awesome to avoid. While she's a bit younger than I, her connection to music as touchstones through life (and chapter titles) is very familiar.

And the final line echoes nicely this second week in November, 2020: "We, the people, got it from here."

Oh, Murderbot, how I have missed you!

Wells explores what it means to be human while also giving the reader a fantastic action adventure. Rogue elements of possibly alien-contaminated abandoned colonies, indestructible alien armor, impossible physics, and cloning a machine intelligence - the story has no shortage of incredible ideas, and yet it remains very touching and human in the end.

I certainly hope another novel is forthcoming, because while the story told here is complete, there are clearly more stories to be told as Murderbot explores the galaxy.

While I am of the generation that first saw home consoles, owning both the Atari 2600 and an Intellivision as a child, I skipped the later console wars. I was in the Army during the biggest Nintendo/Sega battles, and stuck with my computer games. But, this narrative, as lengthy and detailed as it is, made me pick up some old games and play them, and reminded me of the joy of play.

Also, how did Sega of Japan consistently choose the WRONG thing to do, after the success of the Genesis? Truly one of the enduring mysteries of the 1990s.