System Collapse by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
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Thursday, December 21, 2023
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Review: Network Effect
Network Effect by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through. After using #1 for paint it Black, I'm putting #2 and #3 together for one Halloween Bingo square, and then #4 and #4.5 for one, and then #5 on its own. There's less snark and more about the universe, lots of complexity.
Personal copy
Read for Dystopian Hellscape
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Friday, December 15, 2023
Review: Network Effect
Network Effect by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through. After using #1 for paint it Black, I'm putting #2 and #3 together for one Halloween Bingo square, and then #4 and #4.5 for one, and then #5 on its own. There's less snark and more about the universe, lots of complexity.
Personal copy
Read for Dystopian Hellscape
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Review: Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through. After using #1 for paint it Black, I'm putting #2 and #3 together for one Halloween Bingo square, and then #4 and #4.5 for one, and then #5 on its own
Read it at https://www.tor.com/2021/04/19/home-h...
Read for In the Dark, Dark Woods using Wild Card for Martha Wells
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Review: Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory
Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through. After using #1 for paint it Black, I'm putting #2 and #3 together for one Halloween Bingo square, and then #4 and #4.5 for one, and then #5 on its own
Read it at https://www.tor.com/2021/04/19/home-h...
Read for In the Dark, Dark Woods using Wild Card for Martha Wells
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Thursday, December 14, 2023
Review: Exit Strategy
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through. After using #1 for paint it Black, I'm putting #2 and #3 together for one Halloween Bingo square, and then #4 and #4.5 for one, and then #5 on its own
Personal copy
Read for In the Dark, Dark Woods using Wild Card for Martha Wells
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Review: Skunk on a String
Skunk on a String by Thao Lam
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Skunk on a String - Lam, Thao One of two library books with zoo gates featuring elephants, and, for that matter, rather old-fashioned looking zoos.
The paper collages are so lovely, I encourage you to pick it up.
Library copy
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Review: Armadillo Tattletale
Armadillo Tattletale by Helen Ketteman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Armadillo is made into a tasty tamale by the enraged subjects of his malicious gossip. Well, no. But that would have been a great book, huh? No when I grew up, a tattletale was a whistle-blower, and kids being tiny mafiosi hit men, ratting someone out was BAD. In this story, Armadillo is an eavesdropper playing Telephone. Pleh.
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Review: Rogue Protocol
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through. After using #1 for paint it Black, I'm putting #2 and #3 together for one Halloween Bingo square, and then #4 and #4.5 for one, and then #5 on its own
Personal copy
Read for Creepy Crawlies using Wild Card for Martha Wells
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Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Review: Artificial Condition
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
7 October 2021
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through.
Personal copy
Read for Creepy Crawlies using Wild Card for Martha Wells
View all my reviews
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Review: Artificial Condition
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Last week was a conference that left me totally burned out by the end of each day. So I caught up on Murderbot. The first four books are novellas, then there's an interstitial short story and then a full length novel. I recommend reading them in order at least the first time through.
Personal copy
Read for Creepy Crawlies using Wild Card for Martha Wells
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Review: All Systems Red
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Gotta love an android who has modded theirself, and, in the traditional method, consumed all the media necessary to give theirself more empathy than most humans. Even if they call theirself Murderbot.
Pronouns are such a bother.
Okay, now I get all the enthusiasm. Back in the day I used to really enjoy Asimov's space mysteries. Not enough to actually go back and read because Asimov's sexism has kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Happy is the woman who can have her space mysteries without the sexism.
Library copy
This is good for plenty of squares, but since I already had Project Hail Mary on deck for the Lost in Space Square, I took advantage of the cover and used it for the Paint It Black square.
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Review: The Celery Stalks at Midnight
The Celery Stalks at Midnight by James Howe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I love Chester. When I read these books, Chester gets my Wallace Shawn voice. Harold just gets my mostly normal voice.
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Review: Attack of the 50-Foot Fluffy
Attack of the 50-Foot Fluffy by Mike Boldt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Attack of the 50-Foot Fluffy - Mike Boldt We wanted more destruction and laying waste. It would have been better for us if it had been way over the top.
Library copy
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Saturday, December 09, 2023
Review: The Gentleman's Gambit
The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Splendid. It started on such a melancholy note, that I was quite relieved in the end.
Library copy
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Thursday, December 07, 2023
Saturday, December 02, 2023
Review: Guards! Guards!
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
2009 January 1
2014 August 16
In his first Watch book Pratchett introduces the old school noir police officer. Sam Vimes most notable characteristic at the outset is how much he drinks, and how the opened bottles are always present in his desk drawer, but he never remembers buying them. There is a dame, of course, but she's notable not for her looks, but for her good works. Sybil breeds the little dragons that people keep as pets for lighting fires.
The Night Watch is a minimal force: Vimes, Colon, Nobbs, and the new volunteer from the dwarves, Carrot. They aren't particularly competent, but no one expects them to do anything except walk the streets each night, saying "all's well" on the hour.
Interesting note: Carrot memorizes the lawbook of Anhk-Morpork, many of the laws within date to the 1500 and 1600s. Not a lot of "century of the fruitbat" stuff here. This is a medievilish fantasy setting: the weapons are halberds, pikes, morningstars, bows. By the end Pratchett has brought the Watch into more-or-less modern policing.
I'm having an insanely good time reading through the Discworld in arcs, rather than the more random order I read them in first. Now that I know all the characters it is much more fun to go back and see how the Watch as an institution and as characters have evolved. I'm still laughing at all the jokes I got the first time, but I'm also enjoying the grand changes over time. The early books were mostly about a bunch of guys, and then there are a few female characters, and then there are characters who aren't human, and the ecosystem keeps revealing more and more the closer one looks.
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Thursday, November 23, 2023
Review: When You Reach Me
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Probably much cooler to people who haven't read many time-travel stories, I like it as a story about a girl's sixth-grade year, more than for the mystery.
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Sunday, November 19, 2023
Saturday, November 18, 2023
Monday, November 13, 2023
Review: The Importance of Being Ernestine
The Importance of Being Ernestine by Dorothy Cannell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cannell hits the same sweet spot Wodehouse did, only with more female characters.
Personal copy
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Sunday, November 12, 2023
Friday, November 10, 2023
Review: Chicken Little
Chicken Little by Cory Doctorow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh, my , YES. Doctorow extrapolates from present trends to give the reader a future where tremendous wealth and limitless power reside in the hands of a select group of individuals, who are, essentially, eternal. Our hero, Leon, works for a company who's only goal is to come up with something to sell to one of those wealthy people in a vat.
It's a plausible future, not quite dystopian, richly detailed. Doctorow tells his story with warmth, and humor that reminds me of Vonnegut. Without going into laborious detail, we get a good look at how things work, politically, as well as how it feels, the food, the housing, the jetpacks. (Yay, jetpacks!) I may like this even more than For The Win, and I loved that. I'm only sorry I didn't get around to it sooner.
Review copy from 40K
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Thursday, November 09, 2023
Wednesday, November 08, 2023
Review: Knockout
Knockout by Sarah MacLean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I respect MacLean and would happily have bought this, but honestly money is tight this year, because rich people need tax breaks in order to fund horrible people who hate books, education, and reproductive rights. Not that I am bitter.
But honestly, I deeply dislike this cover. First orange pigments aren't my faves outside of actual pumpkins and fall leaves. And although I love the cover model photos (Yay, women with heads on their shoulders!) the paler background becomes red violet on the back cover. While this is a pretty color, it clashes like anything against that dress. The TMJ is bad enough without gritting my teeth for the duration.
And yes, I have sensitivities to colors and clashing ones are nails on chalkboards to me. My respect goes out to cover artists forced to work with stock images (hell, marketing may have insisted onth chaise) too often though, they just have too many elements in uneasy juxtaposition. They make me imagine endless emails yammering away, and a slide deck from purgatory.
To me, this is a literal hot mess. The book, I expect, will be awesome.
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Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Monday, October 30, 2023
Sunday, October 29, 2023
Sunday, October 22, 2023
Saturday, October 07, 2023
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