Old white cishet suburban male. Software engineer.
Mostly interested in sci-fi (fiction) and anti-racism (non-fiction), but, wow, is that stuff Hard To Read. (Mostly because it's all my fault.)
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The follow-up to T. Kingfisher’s bestselling gothic novella, What Moves the Dead .
Retired …
I probably can't add anything that hasn't already been said, but here is my 5-star rating to jack up the average.
I probably can't add anything that hasn't already been said, but here is my 5-star rating to jack up the average.
The follow-up to T. Kingfisher’s bestselling gothic novella, What Moves the Dead .
Retired soldier Alex Easton returns in …
The follow-up to T. Kingfisher’s bestselling gothic novella, What Moves the Dead .
Retired soldier Alex Easton returns in …
What Moves the Dead is a 2022 horror novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the …
Stumbled across this because bookshop.org recommended a later book in this series, and it is GOOD. I read it pretty much in one night. (Sorry, T. Kingfisher, I know it took a lot longer to write it.)
The character of Alex Easton is pretty cool, and I like the fact that ka has a touch of PTSD the same as Dr. Denton, although the sources might be a bit different (both acquired in war, though, so maybe some commonalities?).
Seems like Halloween season is a good time to be reading this.
T. Kingfisher: What Moves the Dead (2022)
What Moves the Dead is a 2022 horror novella by Ursula Vernon, writing under the pen name T. Kingfisher. It …
The Girl in the Creek by Hugo Award winner Wendy N. Wagner is an atmospheric and eerie story about a …
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So …
«“What can I do for you, Mr. Sounder?”
I play dull on instinct.
“There’s been a problem in the building, the official police are investigating, but they’ve asked me to step in and advise on some technical issues. I need to ask you a few background questions.”
“What kind of a problem?”
“I’m a specialist in socio-medical criminal investigations.”
Which sounds very white-collar, pushes everyone to think of liability and doctors making side money selling oxy, and they get happy and forthcoming. That is not what happens if you say there is a corpse on the other side of the hall.»
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So when he’s called in to …
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So …
I loved it, but I think it's pretty male, honestly. Wasn't particularly surprised by the twists (although it didn't exactly turn out how I thought it would).
I loved it, but I think it's pretty male, honestly. Wasn't particularly surprised by the twists (although it didn't exactly turn out how I thought it would).
Ten thousand city-state habitats orbit the planet Yellowstone, forming a near-perfect democratic human paradise.
…
Meh. Had a hard time believing the world the author built. Where do all these people get their money, because what a lot of them do with their days doesn't seem productive (i.e., not money-making). A lot of idle rich, it seems. I mean... like... EVERYBODY, almost.
Meh. Had a hard time believing the world the author built. Where do all these people get their money, because what a lot of them do with their days doesn't seem productive (i.e., not money-making). A lot of idle rich, it seems. I mean... like... EVERYBODY, almost.
Ten thousand city-state habitats orbit the planet Yellowstone, forming a near-perfect democratic human paradise.
…
Having a harder time getting in to this one. The (apparent) technolibertarian world building is a little harder to swallow.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
I enjoyed the world-building, the plot progression, and the reveals about the characters.
It felt incredible to me that this book was written in 2007 but, in a way, feels like it could have been inspired by today's current events. The concept that people in positions of power could destroy the government and that the voting public might actually be ok with that just kind of rocked my head. Another aspect that made this book a little difficult to read, frankly.
I enjoyed the world-building, the plot progression, and the reveals about the characters.
It felt incredible to me that this book was written in 2007 but, in a way, feels like it could have been inspired by today's current events. The concept that people in positions of power could destroy the government and that the voting public might actually be ok with that just kind of rocked my head. Another aspect that made this book a little difficult to read, frankly.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
Content warning spoiler
«“I see where you’re going. You think we should leave the coma cases to die.”
“It’s not as if they’ll know what hit them.”
“All those citizens went into voluntary coma on the understanding that the PVS would be looking after them, and that Panoply would be standing by if the PVS failed in its care. That was a promise we made to those people.”
Clearmountain looked exasperated. “You’re worried about breaking a promise to a citizen with the brain functions of a cabbage?”
“I’m just wondering where this ends. So the coma cases are inconvenient to us. Fine, we lose them. Who’s next? Citizens who can’t move as fast as the rest? Citizens we just don’t like the look of? Citizens who maybe didn’t vote the right way the last time there was a poll on Panoply’s right to arms?”
“I think you’re being needlessly melodramatic,” Clearmountain said.»
This book was written in 2007. 2007
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
«Dreyfus examined his thoughts. It startled him to realise that he was less shocked by Aumonier’s planned use of nuclear weapons than he was by the idea of blacking out the entire Glitter Band. But the fact of the matter was that for most of the ten thousand habitats, life was continuing more or less as normally. Some of the citizens would be aware of the crisis, but many would be completely insulated from it, snug in the hermetic cocoons of their private fantasy universes.»
Shut off my smart phone??? NOOOOOO!
Moar "accidental" political commentary.
«Dreyfus examined his thoughts. It startled him to realise that he was less shocked by Aumonier’s planned use of nuclear weapons than he was by the idea of blacking out the entire Glitter Band. But the fact of the matter was that for most of the ten thousand habitats, life was continuing more or less as normally. Some of the citizens would be aware of the crisis, but many would be completely insulated from it, snug in the hermetic cocoons of their private fantasy universes.»
Shut off my smart phone??? NOOOOOO!
Moar "accidental" political commentary.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
42% in. I have decided, at this point, that I am super enjoying this.