I'm not the biggest dystopian fan and find that it's all a bit repetitive. If I'd read this before other similar books I suspect I'd hold it in higher regard. The characterisation, their interactions, and the discussion of how to create a new world certainly elevate it above a book simply about the state of the world and a journey to (relative) safety.
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tgt rated Bag of Bones: 4 stars
Bag of Bones by Stephen King, King, Stephen
DERRY, MAINE. Mike Noonan's wife dies unexpectedly. After this tragic loss, the bestselling writer suffers acute writer's block, unable even …
tgt rated Utopia Avenue: 4 stars
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967 and fronted …
tgt rated The Word for World is Forest: 4 stars
The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. Le Guin, Howard Hughes
Centuries in the future, Terrans have established a logging colony & military base named “New Tahiti” on a tree-covered planet …
tgt rated First Among Sequels: 4 stars
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
Literary sleuth Thursday Next is out to save literature in the fifth installment of Jasper Fforde's wildly popular seriesBeloved for …
Shift by Hugh Howey
Wool by Hugh Howey
Stephen King: 11.22.63 (2011)
11.22.63 by Stephen King
11/22/63 is a novel by Stephen King about a time traveller who attempts to prevent the assassination of United States …
tgt rated Parable of the Talents: 4 stars
Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
Environmental devastation and economic chaos have turned America into a land of depravity. Taking advantage of the situation, a zealous …
tgt rated Down and out in Paris and London: 4 stars
George Orwell: Down and out in Paris and London (1989, Penguin in association with Secker & Warburg)
Down and out in Paris and London by George Orwell (Penguin twentieth century classics)
'You have talked so often of going to the dogs – and well, here are the dogs, and you have …
tgt reviewed Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
"We are coming apart. We're a rope, breaking, a single strand at a time.
America …
Review of 'Parable of the Sower: A powerful tale of a dark and dystopian future' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
I'm not the biggest dystopian fan and find that it's all a bit repetitive. If I'd read this before other similar books I suspect I'd hold it in higher regard. The characterisation, their interactions, and the discussion of how to create a new world certainly elevate it above a book simply about the state of the world and a journey to (relative) safety.
tgt rated Something Rotten: 4 stars
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde, Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next, Part 4)
tgt reviewed The galaxy, and the ground within by Becky Chambers
With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The …
Review of 'The Galaxy, and the Ground Within' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Like a warm hug. Sometimes it's nice to read something that isn't filled with major conflict or intrigue. This was the perfect book to read given the world right now.
It was mostly various people being nice to each other and discussing the differences between their cultures, but with enough tension and drama to avoid it being overly sweet. There were a lot of historical details hinted at, but sadly not explored. I'd have liked a little more of the Pei/Speaker conflict, but on the other hand I wouldn't have wanted more of it. More people (me included) need to be like Ouloo and be able to admit when they don't know enough about a situation to weigh in on it. The same is true of each character's handling of the others' difficulties.
The cheese bit was not good.
Whilst I preferred the more subtle treatment in To Be Taught, …
Like a warm hug. Sometimes it's nice to read something that isn't filled with major conflict or intrigue. This was the perfect book to read given the world right now.
It was mostly various people being nice to each other and discussing the differences between their cultures, but with enough tension and drama to avoid it being overly sweet. There were a lot of historical details hinted at, but sadly not explored. I'd have liked a little more of the Pei/Speaker conflict, but on the other hand I wouldn't have wanted more of it. More people (me included) need to be like Ouloo and be able to admit when they don't know enough about a situation to weigh in on it. The same is true of each character's handling of the others' difficulties.
The cheese bit was not good.
Whilst I preferred the more subtle treatment in To Be Taught, If Fortunate, I appreciate the exploration of gender and pronouns, but the use of “xe” and “xyr”, although perhaps necessary to get the idea across, is just as jarring as it was in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
There's nothing groundbreaking here, but not everything needs to be.