@Edelruth@mastodon.online Agreed. Pulls off the impressive achievement of a really satisfying conclusion to a trilogy.
User Profile
A mix of academic (philosophy, cognitive science, some science and technology studies) and science fiction or fantasy. A bit of pop science for giggles.
Academic tastes: Enactive approach, embodied cognitive science, ecological psychology, phenomenology Fiction: Iain M. Banks, Ursula le Guin, William Gibson, Nnedi Okorafor, China Miéville, N.K. Jemisin, Ann Leckie
Love space opera but mostly disappointed by what I read there. Somehow didn't read Pratchett until recently, and now methodically working my through in sequence (I know sequence is not necessary, but ...).
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Marek's books
2025 Reading Goal
25% complete! Marek has read 10 of 40 books.
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Marek rated The Golden Enclaves: 5 stars
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik (Scholomance, #3)
The one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll do when you get out. …
Marek rated The Last Graduate: 4 stars
The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik (The Scholomance, #2)
Return to the Scholomance - and face an even deadlier graduation - in the stunning sequel to the ground-breaking, Sunday …
Marek rated A Deadly Education: 4 stars
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik (The Scholomance, #1)
I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.
Everyone loves Orion Lake. …
Marek finished reading The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow
The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow
It’s thirty years from now. We’re making progress, mitigating climate change, slowly but surely. But what about all the angry …
Marek rated Men At Arms: 5 stars
Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett, Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #15)
‘What’s so hard about pulling a sword out of a stone? The real work’s already been done. You ought to …
Marek rated The Invention of Nature: 5 stars
The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf
"The Invention of Nature" reveals the extraordinary life of the visionary German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and how he …
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set …
Marek rated The Internet Con: 4 stars
The Internet Con by Cory Doctorow
When the tech platforms promised a future of "connection," they were lying. They said their "walled gardens" would keep us …
Marek reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (First Law World, #1)
Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too …
Solid Act 1, but it's just an Act 1
3 stars
It's a bugbear of mine to have half a story sold as a full book (and don't start me on television series). That's what we have here.
The fundamentals are really good. The characters are solid (if broadly unpleasant). The writing is atmospheric and immersive. The world building is good. I particularly like how magic is described from the perspectives of the non-magical characters.
But it took me a sprint to get through this without getting too frustrated. There are interesting things happening throughout, but no coherence to it, and it is only in the last 50 pages or so we really start to see what the contours of the plot will be. I'd prefer to see better construction than that - some kind of arc within each book not just across the whole series.
Still, I will be going back for seconds...
Marek rated The Blade Itself: 3 stars
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (First Law World, #1)
Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge …
Marek rated Network Effect: 4 stars
Network Effect by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel.
You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had …
Marek rated The Senses Considered As Perceptual Systems: 5 stars
Marek reviewed Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway
Cal Sounder is a detective working for the police on certain very sensitive cases. So …
Injecting a little weird into gene-punk, old school noir.
4 stars
Fun noir detective story. Interesting setting and nice characters. Had some of the tropes about noir stuff that I find grate after a while – everyone is cynical and wise, the reader implicitly naive and ignorant, as though it's our fault. Also set in a nearish future but left out mobile and surveillance tech just because it was convenient to do so/didn't fit the tropes. Felt like a wee bit of a cop out, would have liked to see some acknowledgement of it in some way. But a very enjoyable read.
Harkaway is usually pacy, but this one felt particularly brisk and to the point (certainly shorter than his usual).
Marek wants to read What a fish knows by Jonathan Balcombe
What a fish knows by Jonathan Balcombe
"The author of Second Nature challenges popular misconceptions to explore the complex lives of the planet's diverse fish species, drawing …