A truly clever and interesting concept, mired by a style heavy in gratuitous exposition and explanation, yet bereft of characterisation.
Reviews and Comments
Aussie in Singas.
Writer. Code dabbler. Former TV/film/commercial video producer/director/actor.
Married. Two bratty sons.
One of my novels (read it for free): www.royalroad.com/fiction/56204/coils-of-the-serpent
Mastodon: aus.social/@skribe Friendica: friendica.world/profile/skribe Pixelfed: pixelfed.social/@skribe Piefed: piefed.au/u/skribe Blog: skribeworks.com/
This link opens in a pop-up window
skribe rated Alien Clay: 3 stars

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
From Arthur C. Clarke and Hugo Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky comes a far-future epic that confirms his place as a …
skribe finished reading Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
skribe stopped reading Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Service Model, #1)
skribe stopped reading Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
skribe rated Oathbreakers: 3 stars
skribe reviewed Zero 22 by Chris Ryan
skribe stopped reading A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
skribe commented on The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
While I enjoyed moments, I only got half-way through this. I wanted to finish it, but I kept finding excuses to not read it. Maybe, if I had fewer library books piled on my bedside table, I might have continued a little longer with this one.
skribe rated Special Forces Cadets 1: 3 stars
skribe stopped reading Network Effect by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
skribe finished reading Black Ops by Chris Ryan (Danny Black, #7)

Black Ops by Chris Ryan (Danny Black, #7)
After someone brutally murders three former SAS soldiers, Danny Black is ordered to find and eliminate the culprit.
skribe reviewed Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
The very-respectable Colonel and Mrs Bantry have awakened to discover the body of a young …
Review: Body in Library
3 stars
Despite reading a fair bit of Christie, this is my first Miss Marple. I can't say I'm impressed. The plot feels overly contrived, especially the lengths Christie goes to in order to manufacture the titular aspect (i.e. the body in the library). The fact that she needs to add a foreword explaining it says that there are problems with the concept.
For me, the biggest problem is that Miss Marple is barely in it. I'm not sure if this is typical or not for Miss Marple mysteries, but I found it annoying, especially in comparison to the Hercule Poirot stories. Poirot is central to the plot, leading the reader through the various discoveries and twists, and then POW, at the end, the grand reveal. In this, Miss Marple sits on the sidelines sipping tea with a smug look on her face because she solved the mystery half-way through the book, …
Despite reading a fair bit of Christie, this is my first Miss Marple. I can't say I'm impressed. The plot feels overly contrived, especially the lengths Christie goes to in order to manufacture the titular aspect (i.e. the body in the library). The fact that she needs to add a foreword explaining it says that there are problems with the concept.
For me, the biggest problem is that Miss Marple is barely in it. I'm not sure if this is typical or not for Miss Marple mysteries, but I found it annoying, especially in comparison to the Hercule Poirot stories. Poirot is central to the plot, leading the reader through the various discoveries and twists, and then POW, at the end, the grand reveal. In this, Miss Marple sits on the sidelines sipping tea with a smug look on her face because she solved the mystery half-way through the book, and she's waiting for you to catch up. As I said, annoying.