User Profile

Christo

Christo@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years, 4 months ago

Reading is my escape, my empowerment, and one of my preferred ways of learning about the world. While I primarily seem to be reading speculative fiction these days, there will be a smattering of other things.

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Christo's books

To Read

2024 Reading Goal

16% complete! Christo has read 2 of 12 books.

David Benioff: City of Thieves: A Novel (2009) 4 stars

During the Nazis’ brutal siege of Leningrad, Lev Beniov is arrested for looting and thrown …

Gritty, grim, funny, and a stark commentary on Soviet Life

5 stars

The siege of Leningrad is always heavy. The suffering, the black market sale of everything, the dictatorship, and the heroic efforts of people to survive and help each other are all in this tale. Dark humor abounds, as does stark reality of people dying. Despite this, the book is a tale of how people become heroes and has a spark of hope that grows throughout the book.

The ending highlights the coldness of the Soviet government, the randomness of events that can turn a victory to ash, and vice versa.

Steve Farber: The Radical Leap (Hardcover, 2004, Kaplan Business) 4 stars

Leadership guidance presented as a story

4 stars

Learning from stories is definitely much better for retention. I had my doubts about this book, as I'm skeptical of most leadership books. Even when you realize LEAP is an acronym for Love generates Energy to Inspire Audacity and Provide Proof, it sounds very New Age cultish. The thing, is, in many ways it's combining the ideas of Dan Pink's Drive (purpose) with the product management idea that you have to have a why for what you are building because this will be your north star, keeping you on track to get where you need to go. When you lose your purpose, a job becomes a grind. LEAP and the questions in the back could help you reinvigorate your belief in what you are doing, or help you find what you want to do, so that your love for that will make you wake up happy to go to work. …

reviewed Solo Gamemaster's Guide by Geek Gamers

Geek Gamers: Solo Gamemaster's Guide (EBook, Modiphius Entertainment) 4 stars

Create immersive solo RPG experiences with this dedicated guide from the acclaimed host of the …

Delivers on its promise to help make solo gaming compelling

5 stars

#SoloClub #TTRPG

I've been an avid tabletop roleplaying gamer since the Satanic Panic, and while I'd played with using random tables or oracles to try to run solo games to feed my thirst to play, they didn't flow well or reproduce the thrill of "playing to find out". The closest I came to solo roleplaying success might have been old Traveller's character generation, where as I rolled the career that the character went through, I imagined what each roll of the dice meant. What happened during that period of service to get the character that +1 in Bribery? Of course, the fact that a character could die during character creation added some of the surprise or thrill that seemed to be missing from other attempts at solo play. Fast forward to the pandemic in 2020, and even though I had been playing games online for years, I found that because …

reviewed A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)

P. Djèlí Clark: A Master of Djinn (Hardcover, 2021, Tor) 4 stars

Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns to his popular alternate Cairo universe …

Inspired world-building, excellent murder mystery set in an alternate djinn-punk Cairo

5 stars

As others have noted, this is an alternate steampunk universe set in the 1910's. A world changed by a single man piercing the veil, and bringing Djinn and magic back into our world. Since that happened about 40 years ago, the djinn have transformed Cairo with their amazing mechanical creations, including robots, flying gliders and trams, and mechanical brains in buildings.

The main character, Fatma, is a respected, if youngest female, investigator in the Ministry of Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities. She is definitely a maverick, dressing in suits, hats, and carrying a sword cane.

The descriptions of clothing and locations feed the imagination, breathing life into the world and putting it all in your mind's eye. The gradually revealing of the consequences of the mass murder in a secret brotherhood in honor of al-Jahiz, the man who brought back magic to the world, is gripping. The impostor …

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reviewed A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark (Dead Djinn Universe, #0.1)

P. Djèlí Clark: A Dead Djinn in Cairo (EBook, 2016, Tom Doherty Associates) 4 stars

Egypt, 1912. In Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between …

A good read and intro to the author's version of a Steampunk Egypt with Djinn

4 stars

A fascinating story about an investigator looking into the death of a djinn in a steampunk version of Cairo. The investigation would lead her to conversations with an 'angel', fighting off ghouls and eventually meeting the old gods that the djinn worship from the beginning.

In this story, Cairo has become the heart of its own empire, made possible when a connection was formed with another dimension where djinn and various other spiritual denizens live. Through it, the djinn came, repelled the English and helped set up Cairo as the centre of a steampunk-ish nation with technology and magic.

But as in all tales involving djinn and magic, there is a darker side that is explored by the investigator, but it is only with the help of her wits can she possibly save the world from the hunger of old gods eager to devour mortals.

reviewed A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark (Dead Djinn Universe, #0.1)

P. Djèlí Clark: A Dead Djinn in Cairo (EBook, 2016, Tom Doherty Associates) 4 stars

Egypt, 1912. In Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between …

A quick, entertaining read.

4 stars

Love the alternate universe revealed here, with Cairo and Egypt becoming a major world power, likely due to the discovery of Djinn leading to a boom in innovation. Granted, this is a short story, so much of the how Cairo got to where it is, is not discussed. That said, the murder of the Djinn of course leads to a major conspiracy that our intrepid police detective must unravel. The book is filled with strong female protagonists and characters and a world that has had the breath of life and magic breathed into it. Definitely recommend if you like speculative fiction of this type.