I mostly read Science Fiction and Fantasy AudioBooks
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This is fan service for Royce and Hadrian groupies.
But it's mostly Royce, Hadrian and Gwen go on vacation and work on getting Royce to get over his teen angst and kiss Gwen.
Of course, where Rayira go trouble follows, but the action sequences are few and far between.
The Stardust Grail is both simple and complex.
There is no subtlety, everything is spelled out, the world and characters are skin deep.
However, the lines between good and evil are blurred, and that is where it shines.
I consider this novel to be for a YA audience.
It was to blatant for me.
Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell. There are wrongs that echo through …
Rakesfall is a work of art, it requires experience in order to appreciate it. This is not a novel I will gift to friends that are not deep into Sci-Fi.
I was able to grasp that I was looking at something beautiful, but I needed the final chapter to understand much of what Vajra Chandrasekera was aiming at.
Rakesfall proposes a cosmology that integrates mythology and technology. It involves possession, gods, demons, time travel and a multiverse, and it takes us all the way from colonial history to the heat death of the universe.
Yet, it is very much a novel of our time, of the powerful, the greedy and corrupt who wish to attain godhood and those who will oppose them.
In an opulent mansion at the borders of the Empire, an Imperial officer lies dead …
This Holms and Watson duo really captured me. The fact that the setting isn't London, but a province near the seawall that protects a biotech empire from seasonal attack by giant leviathans makes it much more appealing.
The biotech isn't mimicking current or future technology, it mainly enhances natural abilities. The augmentations have repercussions and unwanted side effects.
The story is toled in first person by Dinios Kol, an engraver, augmented to have perfect recall. He is very competent but suffers from imposter syndrome as he tries to hide his dyslexia from his superiors.
Kol is assigned to assist the eccentric genius investigator Ana Dolabra, an over sensitive woman that has to blindfold herself in order to manage the amount of information assaulting her brain. Kol assits her by going out into the world and recalling what he's seen and heard.
As the plot thickens, we learn more about the …
This Holms and Watson duo really captured me. The fact that the setting isn't London, but a province near the seawall that protects a biotech empire from seasonal attack by giant leviathans makes it much more appealing.
The biotech isn't mimicking current or future technology, it mainly enhances natural abilities. The augmentations have repercussions and unwanted side effects.
The story is toled in first person by Dinios Kol, an engraver, augmented to have perfect recall. He is very competent but suffers from imposter syndrome as he tries to hide his dyslexia from his superiors.
Kol is assigned to assist the eccentric genius investigator Ana Dolabra, an over sensitive woman that has to blindfold herself in order to manage the amount of information assaulting her brain. Kol assits her by going out into the world and recalling what he's seen and heard.
As the plot thickens, we learn more about the empire and its ills.
As mysteries go, our attention is pointed towards many clues, the satisfaction is more in watching competent people do a good job in the face of adversity.
The Tainted Cup is a real page-turner and I found it hard to put down.
Scythe is a 2016 young-adult novel by Neal Shusterman and is the first in the Arc of a Scythe series. …
Aurinkokunta on ihmisen valtakunta, jonka kaivokset, tehtaat ja viljelmät hyödyntävät taivaankappaleita uuraasti ja järjestelmällisesti. Siirtokuntien …
Despite being set in space, this is a story about social justice, about the environment and the prosperous colonies abandoning the third world.
But first of all this is the story of a woman trying to find out why her spouse has disappeared and what he's been doing behind her back. Will she be able to reconnect with them and is their relationship salvageable?
Lumi is a healer, but she is a vulnerable soul, she is tested to the limit as her world crashes around her.
It is also an interesting mix of hard science and shamanism.
Bientôt, Chernon prononcera le voeu des braves comme tous les adolescents de son âge. Il …
On one hand, The Gate to Woman's Country is a product of its time. Dealing with the aftermath of world war III. On the other hand, toxic masculinity is as relevant as ever.
In dialogue with the Iliad, Tepper Imagines a woman lead society that segregates men to a military garrison limited to Trojan War technology and confining war to formal battlefields set outside the walls where women, children and men who have renounced military life, live.
There is more to it than that, the arrangement isn't stable and must be maintained. The segregation isn't hermetic and women interact with the warriors outside Carnival Time. This is where the drama and the characters weaknesses and strengths come into play.
One place Where Women's Country really feels dated is that in a society where the sexes are mostly confined to their own camps and where marriage has been abolished, there is …
On one hand, The Gate to Woman's Country is a product of its time. Dealing with the aftermath of world war III. On the other hand, toxic masculinity is as relevant as ever.
In dialogue with the Iliad, Tepper Imagines a woman lead society that segregates men to a military garrison limited to Trojan War technology and confining war to formal battlefields set outside the walls where women, children and men who have renounced military life, live.
There is more to it than that, the arrangement isn't stable and must be maintained. The segregation isn't hermetic and women interact with the warriors outside Carnival Time. This is where the drama and the characters weaknesses and strengths come into play.
One place Where Women's Country really feels dated is that in a society where the sexes are mostly confined to their own camps and where marriage has been abolished, there is no mention of lgbtq sex.
A thought experiment with depth and compelling characters.
Thirteen short stories from Naomi Novik including:
In Shroud, Tchaikovsky imagines evolution on a world where visible light is not available.
As a legally blind person I'm both disappointed and glad that this novel is not about blindness. I would have liked to see Tchaikovsky describe the challenges of dealing with blindness, but wouldn't have liked to see him fail at it, like too many other sighted authors.
This is a first contact story. Quite uniquely, establishing communication isn't the first priority.
It contrasts a human capitalist strip mining project with an alien intelligence that has it's own history, constraints and priorities.
But first of all, it is a trek across a dangerous alien environment and survival against the odds.
The future of storytelling is here.
Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, …
This Okorafor novel is set in the US with glimpses of contemporary and future Nigeria. It is rooted in Sci-Fi and technology, rather than her previous novels that are closer to fantasy and magic.
Zellu is an interesting disabled character; she is both vulnerable and oppressed and fiercely independent and privileged.
It is interesting to see the parallels between diasporas. Much of what defines Zellu and her family as Nigerian Americans could have been written about a Jewish family.
But the most important thing about Death of the Author is that it deals with humanity as a story telling species and addresses how this effects AI. However, it takes a very long time to get there.
Tackling slavery in French Haiti, prostitution in 19th century Paris and slavery and prostitution in late Roman Empire Egypt, as well as other marginalized people, The Salt Roads doesn't do grand Deus Ex Machina, it nudges, just enough to give some hope and closure to these black and colored woman's lives.
I love Bahni Turpin's narration, I'm used to hearing her in zany YA and even middle grade content. It was interesting hearing her tackling dark and adult content.
Short-listed for the Whitbread Award, this remarkable book defies categorisation. Under the Skin introduces Isserley, …
An incredible mix of social commentary, empathy and horror that manages to be both accessible to none sci-fi readers and novel to sci-fi readers.
I really appreciated that all of the characters are vulnerable or damaged in some way, especially Isserley.
“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in …
This is one Sarah Gailey novel I didn't think I'd finish.
I put it down a while ago, but a prompt in a reading challenge made me give it another go.
"9. Domestic Horror
Focuses on horrors within the family or home, often subverting safety and comfort."
https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/d6d1f275-b9a6-4d2c-b154-c1b3ddc46a32
Toxic relationships are a significant aspect of Gailey's work. However, the levels of horror and generational trauma in Just Like Home were challenging.
It is a powerful story and I'm glad I made the effort to experience it to its conclusion.
The story begins with Agnes Nitt leaving Lancre to seek a career at the Opera …
Maskerade is one of the top Discworld witches novels. With Nannie and Grannie going to Ankh-Morpork, Nannie's cook book, the Opera and Agnes's coming of age story.
This reread was of the new Penguin audiobook edition.
Indira Varma's Grannie and Nannie where very good. But yet again I prefer the less subtle performance by Nigel Planer. Walter Plinge, Enriko Basilica and others are stereotypes and are better suited for an overt performance.
