I enjoyed the whole Warrior Bards series tremendously. This final book closes various plot lines that were woven through the first two books, in partiI enjoyed the whole Warrior Bards series tremendously. This final book closes various plot lines that were woven through the first two books, in particular, the nature and ultimate fate of the Crow Folk. I keep thinking what an excellent TV series this would make. I love the whole idea of Swan Island, its people, and the various missions that come up.
My only critique is that there were quite a few different people to focus on, and although the stories of Brocc and Aolu are ultimately connected, Aolu didn't get very much page time. Overall though, an entertaining series with lots of interesting details and intersecting plotlines. I'm such a fan of Marillier's work that even though this wasn't my favourite book of hers, I still loved reading it....more
A very good sequel to Axiom's End. I think I actually preferred this to the first book, but...there were some things that I found a bit troubling.
CoraA very good sequel to Axiom's End. I think I actually preferred this to the first book, but...there were some things that I found a bit troubling.
Cora's story and her involvement with the aliens and various government bodies continues pretty much from where it left off in Axiom's End. We get a new POV character, Kaveh, who is a delightful addition, although (of course) he has problems too. Also new aliens, which are always interesting.
But the story did make for some uncomfortable reading. Cora is overwhelmed, her mental and physical health deteriorating at an alarming rate, and it's hard to mutely follow a character who is so obviously falling apart at the seams. The world of politics is also in turmoil, which I have seriously had enough of in real life already. Plus, the aliens? Still lots of issues there, the main one usually being death. While I loved Kaveh's character, I also felt extremely conflicted about his relationship with Cora, for so many reasons.
All of this unrelenting conflict and turmoil created a feeling that there was no escape, and an overwhelming sense of drowning. As a reader, too much despair can be an exhausting experience. It's not that I expected this to be a feel-good book, it's just dangerously close to feeling totally hopeless.
Maybe there will be some hope sprinkled into book 3?...more
An excellent sequel which provides the continuation of and conclusion to the story begun in Parable of the Sower. For this reason, I definite4.5 stars
An excellent sequel which provides the continuation of and conclusion to the story begun in Parable of the Sower. For this reason, I definitely recommend reading both. If you enjoyed one, you will equally appreciate the other.
Interesting that in this book, published back in 1998, the campaign slogan of the fascist neo-Christian right-wing Presidential candidate is "help make America great again." ...more
I've read lots of survival on the road books, and still I really enjoyed this one. The story is expectedly tense but*2021 Philip K. Dick award winner*
I've read lots of survival on the road books, and still I really enjoyed this one. The story is expectedly tense but the danger encountered doesn't quite descend into outright horror like it does in some books of this subgenre. It's more about the narrator, Wil, discovering herself and understanding that she has the strength to make her own choices and to carry them through.
Most climate change collapse stories are set in deserts, but this is set in an area beset by an apparently unending winter season. Neither sounds good, but the essential message in both is the same, that the things we have come to take for granted to provide the means of survival have radically changed. The question is always whether we can adapt quickly enough and still maintain who we are inside.
Wil has a talent that will serve her well any place she chooses to go: she's a talented gardener who know how to make plants grow. She's strong and competent, but lacks both confidence in herself and any real idea of what she wants from her own life. Although she starts her journey from a place where she's leaving what she doesn't want and simply chasing someone else, throughout the story Wil's experiences cause her to look closely at herself and to understand what she is really looking for....more
I recently read Stine's first novel, the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award winner Road Out of Winter, and really liked it. I liked Trashlands slightly less, bI recently read Stine's first novel, the 2021 Philip K. Dick Award winner Road Out of Winter, and really liked it. I liked Trashlands slightly less, but still found it to be an immersive read.
The book is set in the near future world ravaged by climate change, in an area of extreme poverty. Scavenging for plastic forms the basis of the survival-driven economy of the poor. But even while people spend most of their energy just trying to survive, they also try to find ways to live - through art, relationships, and sharing with others their memories and their stories.
The book is not plot driven, but instead features a more experiential slice of life. The characters, their feelings and experiences, hopes and fears, their interactions with each other and their surrounding environment, are the real feature here. The picture being painted is of a difficult life of poverty (always universally and exponentially worse for women and children), the daily struggle to survive, and the little things that make life "a life." There is no real beginning and no real end, just a segment of time where the reader gets to drop into the lives of the characters.
Alison Stine is a poet whose writing is suffused with imagery and emotion, but also at times somewhat fluid with respect to anchoring events in time. It all does come together, the events accreting in an organic fashion, unfolding in the mind of the reader to form a layered whole. This is a book to experience and to soak in, to think about about the people in it and their efforts to live and to persist despite the difficult world they live in.
It's not a book for everyone, I don't think, but it was good for me.
People had thought there would be no more time, but there was. Just different time. Time moving slower. Time after disaster, when they still had to live.
. . . But once you left a place, it was hard to come back. Mr. Fall knew that. You forgot the way. Or the way was blocked by debris, floods that washed away the path, fire that cut a new path. You ran out of money, plastic, food. You were needed in a new place. You needed other places, other people, more.
. . . Letting go—that was how you lived. Holding on too hard, too long, could end you, sure as an animal stuck in mud....more
My second time reading this, the first time being back in the 90s. It's a solidly entertaining story, with lots to say about the use of scientific powMy second time reading this, the first time being back in the 90s. It's a solidly entertaining story, with lots to say about the use of scientific power and knowledge that continues to feel relevant decades after it was first published.
This time around I listened to the audiobook, and I thought the narrator did a great job! It's quite different from the film, but having seen the film makes it easy to fill in the visuals in your head.
Worth a read if you haven't read it, and worth a reread if you have, because it holds up fine....more
I put this down at the end of October and just never felt like picking it up again. The story and the writing are fine, but didn't engage meDNF at 29%
I put this down at the end of October and just never felt like picking it up again. The story and the writing are fine, but didn't engage me enough to keep going. I've read and liked other books by Duyvis, but I just didn't click with this one....more
This third book of The Last Herald-Mage trilogy was my favourite of the three, although I have to say I enjoyed all of them.
Unlike many of my4.5 stars
This third book of The Last Herald-Mage trilogy was my favourite of the three, although I have to say I enjoyed all of them.
Unlike many of my friends who read this series when they were much younger, and whose revisitations are now permanently elevated by nostalgia, this was a first reading for me. There is something eminently comfortable about these books, which provides even new readers like myself a sense of ease and satisfaction with the story.
Among many things I liked about it was the casual inclusion of everyday affection and expressions of love between characters. The importance of close relationships, whether friendship or romantic, is integral to the story in a way that didn’t feel forced, but is rather presented as a kind of ideal anyone would want in their lives.
As much time is spent on feelings as on action, making it just the thing for a comfort read. The action is fraught with intensity, the targets emotional as well as physical, and the hurts equally of the spirit as well as the body. If you like your fantasy more technical, it won't be for you. But if you like exploration of the heart to be included in the journey, this is probably closer to your style....more
This book is loooong, and actually felt twice as long while I was reading it.
So many of my friends absolutely loved this, and while I wouldn'2.5 stars
This book is loooong, and actually felt twice as long while I was reading it.
So many of my friends absolutely loved this, and while I wouldn't go so far as to say I hated it, it's a bit of a stretch to say I liked it. Many of the reviewers have commented on the narrative style. I didn't care for it mostly because it felt unnecessarily complicated.
I did hate the footnotes/endnotes. Mostly they were snarky commentary that didn't add to the story, or asides that didn’t add to the story. The main point being, they were universally annoying and didn't add to the story.
The dialogue sometimes felt off to me, and reading my friend Mathew's review I have to agree with his observation about how it tended to lapse into modern cultural expressions which jarred me out of the fantasy world of the story. Actually, I pretty much agree with everything Mathew says in his review.
The story became increasingly confused towards the end, and there seemed to be a lot of hand waving going on to successfully navigate otherwise dire and seemingly unwinnable circumstances. This, combined with the fact that in many cases people can apparently be returned to life after they are killed, meant that the stakes never felt very high.
Another comfortable read, and one I really enjoyed. This is a great book about feelings, and especially about repairing relationships with friends, wiAnother comfortable read, and one I really enjoyed. This is a great book about feelings, and especially about repairing relationships with friends, with family, and also within yourself.
Unsurprisingly given what I've said above, the story makes use of one of my favourite tropes, the rehabilitation of previously unpleasant characters. So satisfying!...more
Another month, and another read with my dear SK Readers ❤
Unlike many of my friends, I've not read The Dark Tower before. This first book is an interesAnother month, and another read with my dear SK Readers ❤
Unlike many of my friends, I've not read The Dark Tower before. This first book is an interesting start to a story that neatly combines various genres to create something that feels different and unique.
It also feels like the introduction that it is, so I'll be interested to see how the story moves forward as we proceed through the series....more
My first time reading this, along with my lovely Stephen King Readers buddies, most of whom have read this one before.
Honestly, it wasn't my favouritMy first time reading this, along with my lovely Stephen King Readers buddies, most of whom have read this one before.
Honestly, it wasn't my favourite King. That said, there were a few very high points for me in the story. Foremost among these was the character of Sheriff Alan Pangborn, who we last spent not nearly enough time with in The Dark Half. He was a minor, although standout, character in that one, but in Needful Things Pangborn gets his chance to shine.
I listened to the audiobook version of this, and it was excellent, although very long. I love Stephen King's narration of his own books! Not every author should necessarily narrate his own work, but King has done an exceptional job in every audiobook of his I have listened to. His narration is actually a selling point for the audio....more
Imagine the excellent film* Nomadland set in the near future as the environment continues to collapse, and society inevitablyWow. I really liked this.
Imagine the excellent film* Nomadland set in the near future as the environment continues to collapse, and society inevitably follows along, stumbling and unwinding. It's not a nice thought, but it's also already here if you choose to look.
So, what does a young person do in such times? Take a moderately comfortable if restricted lifestyle, live online and turn inward because the view outward is just too much to deal with? Or do you go on the road and see what there is still left to see, dangerous, polluted, decaying though it may be?
Twenty-Five to Life is the new kind of coming of age story, where growing up means deciding how you fit into a world where everything is crumbling fast.
Despite the obviously depressing and oh so realistic vision of our near future, there is still an air of hopefulness in the story. The notion that there will always be something you can do to help those around you, and you can choose to live that truth rather than fall away with the rest.
Unfortunately, things did not go quite as planned. Oh well...
DNF at 24%
I'm not giving this a star rating because I did*My 1000th review on Goodreads!*
Unfortunately, things did not go quite as planned. Oh well...
DNF at 24%
I'm not giving this a star rating because I didn't finish, and the reasons are purely personal.
I absolutely loved Hollow Kingdom and so I was really excited about a sequel. Unfortunately for me, some of the things that happen (and to one animal character in particular) were just a bit too painful for me to read about, and so I decided I couldn't finish this right now.
That said, the other reviews for this book show I'm in the minority, and so anyone who enjoyed the first book should absolutely give this a try. I think Buxton is a very talented writer, and I will absolutely read her next book....more
1987! Instead of plagues, climate change and AI uprisings, we have that old chestnut, nuclear holocaust. The story wasn't bad as far as apocalypse tal1987! Instead of plagues, climate change and AI uprisings, we have that old chestnut, nuclear holocaust. The story wasn't bad as far as apocalypse tales go, although I'm not sure quite so many people would have survived. ...more
The Langoliers - 4 stars Mysteries of time and reality on are explored in this intense piece. I loved the ensem4.5 stars for the collection as a whole
The Langoliers - 4 stars Mysteries of time and reality on are explored in this intense piece. I loved the ensemble of unrelated characters who are thrown together into a terrifying situation they don't understand.
The "locked room" setup of a red-eye flight shares similarities with King's well known supermarket confinement horror story, The Mist, which appears in the collection Skeleton Crew. Although the threat in The Langoliers, is less overt at the start, it proves itself to be complete, and it's existential nature is every bit as effective as the cosmic horror of The Mist. Once again, we see how the different characters react and change under pressure, and that's where the real meat of the story lies.
Secret Window, Secret Garden - 4 stars King does stories about writers going off the deep end like no one else. One of the great things about his repeated use of this particular theme is that he does it differently each time. You never know if the writer is sane or not, if the antagonist is real or not, and if the perception of reader is true or not.
Secret Window, Secret Garden starts with the known and the true tightly wrapped, and then slowly unfurls it, building the truth behind story piece by piece. The result is both expected and not, but always tense and discomforting. My only issue might be with the ending. The Epilogue spells out the closure to the story, but honestly, the less defined place we are left without it is perhaps even better.
The Library Policeman - 4 stars Childhood trauma reawakens to feed a real life, if completely supernatural, monster. Slaying the monster requires taking hold of repressed memory and fear and bringing it fully to life.
The imagery in this story is shocking and frightening (and possibly too graphic in parts for some readers), the characters rich and as real as any person you meet on the street. Among other things, a good reminder that we don't know the story of every person around us, the battles they fight, and the monsters they strive daily to vanquish.
The Sun Dog - 5 stars My favourite story of the four. There is something about mechanical recording devices, be they tapes or film or a Polaroid camera, that lends itself to the mysterious. The idea of a horror attaching itself to you and drawing itself into being is among the most basic and continually frightening precepts. As usual, King dresses this idea in the most ordinary of clothes and makes it uniquely terrifying.
The writing is particularly good here, capturing the very essence of small towns and big characters. The ending is perfection, and only makes this excellent story even better....more
This was just OK for me. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I did have a hard time summoning the will to finish, so it took me FOREVER. That said, I This was just OK for me. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. I did have a hard time summoning the will to finish, so it took me FOREVER. That said, I seem to be in the minority with my opinion. It is a retelling of the fairy tale "The Wild Swans," and my dissatisfaction probably isn't helped by the fact that that one of my favourite books is another (much better) retelling, Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.
I listened to the audiobook, and while I normally adore Emily Woo Zeller as a narrator, I didn't care for her performance here. Her narration style enhanced the already Disney-esque feel of the story, and just did not appeal to me....more
An amazing sequel to The Marrow Thieves, Hunting by Stars picks up immediately after the end of the first book. I don't know about you, but I had hopeAn amazing sequel to The Marrow Thieves, Hunting by Stars picks up immediately after the end of the first book. I don't know about you, but I had hoped that Frenchie and his family were done with their trials for awhile. That turns out not to be the case. If anything, their previous struggles pale in comparison to what lies ahead of them.
By turns brutal, emotional, raw, and hopeful, the story provides an unflinching look at what one would be willing to do for freedom and for family, and the heavy costs associated with those choices. As hard as parts of this book were to read, I can't say enough about the power of Dimaline's writing. She expertly captures the grittiness of living and dying, the existential horror at the intersection of reality and imagination, and the devastating legacy of Canadian residential and US Indian boarding schools that continues to reverberate from history and into the future.
For so long, we as a species were violent. Our violence was neglect; our violence was arrogance. The wasp sting of capitalism was left to grow malignant without proper care. And wasps can keep on stinging once they begin. They don’t die like bees, so they don’t have to be as committed to the damage. We as humans forgot our specific place and spread into every place instead. As if we were removed from consequence. As if we were untouchable. We couldn’t even imagine the Earth retaliating. And then it did....more
Not exactly horror, but more like mind bending with a dash or two of creeping dread? However you want to characterise it, We Have Always Been Here is Not exactly horror, but more like mind bending with a dash or two of creeping dread? However you want to characterise it, We Have Always Been Here is an interesting and slightly weird book. I liked it.
The story really takes place at the edge of synthetic consciousness, and the imagined moment when machines are finally able achieve that elusive state. I loved the way part of the story emerged through Park's memories of the past, and her always important rationships with the robots around her, leading her to be who she needed to be at the critical moment.
The mystery on the ship was a bit confusing at times, but looking back, I think that actually fit well with the confused state of mind that Park finds herself in most of the time.
I still have some thoughts to unpack about this one, but I love that it left me feeling content with the story and interested in continuing to think about it even after I finished it....more
Well I just really enjoyed this. I think I was needing an emotional and affirming story, and there is much of both to be had here.
Structurally, Magic'Well I just really enjoyed this. I think I was needing an emotional and affirming story, and there is much of both to be had here.
Structurally, Magic's Pawn reminded me a bit of the The Sword of Kaigen, in that there were a few different peaks and denouments, rather than one major event around which the tale revolves.
The characters were so lovely and hard to resist, plus, telepathic magical horses. Enough said :)
This I think I have learned: where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased. This I have observed: what occurs in nature, comes by the hand of nature, and if the gods did not approve, it would not be there....more
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