Reviews and Comments

Courts

courts@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 7 months ago

Mostly Sci-fi and Fantasy, with a dash of "classic" literature sprinkled through.

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reviewed The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea Cycle, #2)

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Tombs of Atuan (Paperback, 2001, Aladdin Paperbacks) 4 stars

The Tombs of Atuan is a fantasy novel by the American author Ursula K. Le …

A Bit Slow

4 stars

After the Wizard oft Earthsea, this second book felt a bit slow. Since it is confined to one particular place in Earthsea, that might have added to the feeling. It is still a good book and I liked reading it, if only for the change of perspective.

reviewed A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (The Earthsea Cycle, #1)

Ursula K. Le Guin: A Wizard of Earthsea (2004) 4 stars

A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le …

Promising Start

4 stars

This was a nice, almost Tolkienesque read. I love the fact that Le Guin deliberately made the main characters non-white, because she despised the good=white, black=evil trope.

Looking forward to the next books from the cycle.

reviewed Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow (Martin Hench, #1)

Cory Doctorow: Red Team Blues (Paperback, 2024, Tor Books) 5 stars

A grabby next-Tuesday thriller about cryptocurrency shenanigans that will awaken you to how the world …

Quick Read

5 stars

This was an amusing and quick read. I guess it works best for the of us who are able to follow the tech jargon or even work in IT Sec, even though it is not necessary to follow the plot. I think you might find the book a bit lacking otherwise, because there are no big "what ifs" in this book like for example in Walkaway or Lost Cause. Still, for me it's five stars.

Walter Moers: Ensel Und Krete (German language, 2002, Wilhelm Goldmann Verlag GmbH) 3 stars

Ein weiteres Mythenmetzsches Meisterwerk

5 stars

Hildegunst von Mythenmetz beweist erneut, warum er der großartigste Literat aller Zeiten ist. Mit der Einführung der mythenmetzschen Abschweifung gelingt es ihm erneut, ein ganzes Stilmittel der Literatur einfach so nebenbei zu erfinden.

Ach ja, die Geschichte rund um Ensel und Krete ist ebenfalls stilsicher und faszinierend geschrieben und bleibt nicht hinter den Erwartungen zurück. Auch die von mir gelesene Übersetzung aus dem Zamonischen von Walter Moers lässt den Geist des Originals durchscheinen, auch wenn die Qualität naturgemäß unter der Übersetzung leiden muss.

reviewed Never Deal with a Dragon by Robert N. Charrette (Shadowrun: Secrets of Power, #1)

Robert N. Charrette: Never Deal with a Dragon (Paperback, 1990, Roc) 3 stars

The year is 2050. The power of magic and the creatures it brings have returned …

Decent Novel

3 stars

I never played the RPG, but I was always intrigued by it. Especially because it is so embedded in hacker culture.

So I decided to start with the novels to see what it's all about, since I don't plan to start with the game. I didn't have too many expectations.

The novel is decently written, with a fun but somehow unnecessarily convoluted plot. It is more or less exactly what I was expecting. What's not to like about a dystopian corporate-driven tech-world with magic?

I will read more of the novels, I'm pretty sure. It's fun.

Roger Zelazny: A Night in the Lonesome October (1994, Avon) 5 stars

Think you know the good guys from the bad? Think you understand the strange energy …

Simply Delightful

5 stars

I heard about this book from a colleague, since he mentioned it as a reading challenge for October. The book describes each day from October 1st to 31st in the life of Snuff, a dog involved in a mysterious "game" (that you will figure out more and more with each day) together with his master, Jack.

I loved reading a chapter each day. They are pretty short, so I always had to hold back not to read more. I might read this again next year!

China Miéville, Keanu Reeves, Random House Worlds: The Book of Elsewhere (Hardcover, 2024, Random House Worlds) 4 stars

The legendary Keanu Reeves and inimitable writer China Miéville team up on this genre-bending epic …

A Lot to Unpack

5 stars

If you have not read anything by Mieville yet, be warned: His style is an aquired taste. But after reading Perdido Street Station and knowing about it, I had a sense of what is coming for me. In typical Mieville fashion, the prose is a complicated, stream-of-conciousness mess sometimes.

I think it really helped that I read the BRZRKR comics before the book, although it is by no means a requirement.

Ursula K. Le Guin: The  Dispossessed (Hardcover, 1991, Harper Paperbacks) 4 stars

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, …

Wonderful Thought Experiment

5 stars

What would happen if people fed up with a capitalist society could start anew, on their own world, and implement a truly equal society? How would it compare? Is it really a better way of living? Or simply different?

All these questions are packed into this great novel. It was my favourite from the Hainish cycle, after The Left Hand of Darkness left me a bit disappointed. This one though was truly exciting.

reviewed Trading Game by Gary Stevenson

Gary Stevenson: Trading Game (2024, Crown Publishing Group, The) 5 stars

Highly Addictive Reading Material

5 stars

I have to admit: I could not put this book down. I got sucked right into the description of the world of trading, where rich, young, clueless people geht lead by rich, old, clueless people to make tons of money for their corporation and for themselves, destroying the world trade by trade. It's a mesmerizing, terrifying story by someone who got into the game without the "already being rich" background, who in the end realizes that inequality is a major problem. And makes a lot of money from this realization. Yeah, I know.

Read it. Be depressed a bit. And then move on, the world will end anyways.

Keine Macht für Niemand. Die Geschichte der Ton Steine Scherben (Paperback) 5 stars

Ton Steine Scherben – das ist mehr als nur der Name einer Band. Ton Steine …

Toller Überblick über eine prägende Band

5 stars

Was soll man noch zu Ton Steine Scherben schreiben, was nicht schon gesagt wurde. Die offizielle, "definitive" Biographie enthält jede Menge interessantes Material aus verschiedenen Sichtweisen zu dieser genialen, zerstrittenen, prägenden Band. Auch wenn das Buch schon in die Jahre gekommen ist, ist es weiter lesenswert.

Fredrik Backman: Ein Mann namens Ove (Hardcover, 2016, FISCHER Taschenbuch) 4 stars

A grumpy yet loveable man finds his solitary world turned on its head when a …

3-4 Sterne

4 stars

Ein grummeliger alter Prinzipienreiter entdeckt, das er doch so etwas wie ein Herz hat.

Es fällt mur unglaublich schwer dieses Buch zu bewerten. Auf der einen Seite habe ich es gern gelesen, so vorhersehbar wie es auch ist. Auf der anderen Seite kann ich Ove nicht wirklich in mein Herz schließen als jemanden, der eigentlich nur ein schweres Schicksal hinter sich hat und deswegen geworden ist wie er ist. Hat er nämlich nicht, er war schon immer so. Und viele seiner Aktionen sind einfach nicht in Ordnung, Kauzigkeit hin oder her. Für mich persönlich ist allein schon die Liebe zum Auto nicht nachvollziehbar, aber das mag für andere Leser besser funktionieren.

Deshalb: Aufgerundet auf 4 Sterne.

Christian Stöcker: Männer, die die Welt verbrennen (Hardcover, german language, 2024, Ullstein) 4 stars

Die Welt steckt in der Endphase eines Kulturkampfs: Gier gegen Gerechtigkeit, Zerstörung gegen Nachhaltigkeit, Zynismus …

Sehr guter Überblick

4 stars

Ein guter Überblick über die Lobby der Industrie für fossile Brennstoffe und den aktuellen Ausbau der Erneuerbaren. Ein Stern Abzug für die teilweise sehr polemische Ausdrucksart. Das lese ich gerne so in Blogbeiträgen oder Meinungsartikeln, gehört für mich aber nicht in ein Sachbuch. Da kann man sich einfach an die Fakten halten und sich sprachlich etwas mehr zurückhalten, die sprechen schon für sich. Trotzdem sehr empfehlenswert für jeden, der sich einen Überblick verschaffen will.