An eerie novella with an evocative premise. Spare writing with a compelling and flawed protagonist meant it put its hooks in easily and kept me turninAn eerie novella with an evocative premise. Spare writing with a compelling and flawed protagonist meant it put its hooks in easily and kept me turning the pages. I blazed through it in a single sitting. ...more
A solid book, decent by the standards of a lot of writers but not my favorite entry in the Beagle bibliography. Which feels weird to say, because I loA solid book, decent by the standards of a lot of writers but not my favorite entry in the Beagle bibliography. Which feels weird to say, because I love Beagle's work, and two of his novels (The Last Unicorn and The Innkeeper's Song) are in my list of All Time Favorites. But despite the interesting premise and thoughtfully-created characters, and an abundance of dragons (always a plus in my book), the writing itself left a little to be desired. There were times it was unclear, or relied too heavily on an abundance of adverbs, or tonally inconsistent. The villain seemed to come out of nowhere. And the fact that the title suggested a more comic approach made the sudden dive into shocking, traumatizing violence created a tonal clash I couldn't quite resolve. Overall, it felt like this book needed one more edit/polish to really smooth over some of the kinks.
Still, I liked the world and plot and characters! And the book definitely kept me reading to find out what happened next, so clearly Beagle was doing something right....more
Listened to the audiobook in one day, after receiving many recommendations. I really enjoyed this book! Murderbot's voice is deliciously antisocial anListened to the audiobook in one day, after receiving many recommendations. I really enjoyed this book! Murderbot's voice is deliciously antisocial and funny, and I particularly loved its relationship with Dr. Mensah. The narration by Kevin R. Free was wonderfully done. I look forward to continuing the series....more
A mysterious, surreal road trip across the west Texas landscape, done with Tillie Walden's signature interest in nuanced and complex relationships, heA mysterious, surreal road trip across the west Texas landscape, done with Tillie Walden's signature interest in nuanced and complex relationships, heavy topics, and strange landscapes and architecture. And of course, a mysterious cat =^.^= It's a good story, and really my only complaint is that the dark colors combined with twisting landscapes sometimes made it hard to parse some of what I was looking at. Perhaps that was part of the point, but it sure was a lot of squinting....more
A lovely story with some poignant writing in it. When I first picked this up, I thought it would be like many "humans bonded to magical animals that tA lovely story with some poignant writing in it. When I first picked this up, I thought it would be like many "humans bonded to magical animals that they ride" stories, but instead it was much more like falconing - except the "falcon" in this case is larger than a person. And no matter how well trained, there is no magical bond that holds the roc to its trainer. Zahra is first and foremost a wild animal, a force of nature that can never be fully owned or mastered, and Ester knows this. Still, Ester loves her "with the gravity of a stone sinking into a pool" (a line which shook me when I read it and absolutely set the tone for the entire story).
It's an excellent character study of a book, exploring what it means to love something that will never love you back....more
So, I came at this from an interesting place: I'd read the original Seraphina, many many years ago, long enough to have forgotten much of it. I never So, I came at this from an interesting place: I'd read the original Seraphina, many many years ago, long enough to have forgotten much of it. I never got around to reading the sequel. I had assumed that this was an unrelated story set in the same world, a prequel perhaps, so I'd thought that having skipped a book wouldn't be an issue. Turns out, it's a sequel series so perhaps I should go back and read book 2!
That being said, the book--like its protagonist--is doing its own thing, even if it's coming hot off the heels of the book I skipped. There were some places where I was a little confused, but less than I'd feared. All you really need to know to understand Tess's journey, the emotional core of it, is in the book itself. And it is a very strong core. Hartman writes an emotionally nuanced and complex story with care and thoughtfulness. I admit I struggled at the beginning, because Tess's headspace was so bad that she acted spiteful, cruel, petty, and stupid. Not necessarily something I enjoy reading, so it was hard to empathize with her. But once she really started growing as a character, the story grew on me. I enjoyed watching how each encounter on the road shaped her and helped her grow. I appreciated what the book had to say about life and the nature of personal journeys. I loved many of the characters we met along the road, and I'm excited to see where this is going....more
So...I'm not usually into gothic horror, but I picked this up because this advertised itself as a retelling of the Juniper Tree, one of my favorite leSo...I'm not usually into gothic horror, but I picked this up because this advertised itself as a retelling of the Juniper Tree, one of my favorite lesser-known Grimms tales. But, uh...this is not a retelling of the Juniper Tree. The main thing this has in common with that story is that both contain a juniper tree. A couple other minor elements make cameos, but in completely different contexts. That's like writing a werewolf romance where the werewolf lives on, I dunno, Red Street, and then advertising the story as a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
Of course, that's not the fault of the author. But I did feel disappointed that I didn't quite get what I was looking for. As for the story itself, it was decent. The main character's self-loathing started getting frustrating by the end of it, and I think the author was trying too hard to use poetic imagery whenever possible, leading to some really forced metaphors. But otherwise, a solid book if gothic horror is your thing....more
Solid, unpretentious fun that reminded me that modern SFF can also be...just fun. A good pick-up beach read, if you just want giant monsters and some Solid, unpretentious fun that reminded me that modern SFF can also be...just fun. A good pick-up beach read, if you just want giant monsters and some good old-fashioned, unsubtle dunking on billionaire tech bro venture capitalists. I also appreciated the end-matter, where Scalzi talks about his creative struggles during the height of the pandemic, which I could definitely relate to....more
A sweet, gentle story from K. O'Neill. I love diving into O'Neill's worlds, which are delightfully populated by whimsical animal people and engaging, A sweet, gentle story from K. O'Neill. I love diving into O'Neill's worlds, which are delightfully populated by whimsical animal people and engaging, lovingly-drawn lore....more
A sweet, lovely, and chill book. As the back cover proclaims, it's "High Fantasy and Low Stakes." Sometimes all you want is a Coffee Shop AU-style booA sweet, lovely, and chill book. As the back cover proclaims, it's "High Fantasy and Low Stakes." Sometimes all you want is a Coffee Shop AU-style book, and this delivers exactly that....more
A decent story on the edge between middle-grade & YA. A story about a young boy living in a literal bubble city to protect against the harsh environmeA decent story on the edge between middle-grade & YA. A story about a young boy living in a literal bubble city to protect against the harsh environment of a dying Earth, it's not subtle in its environmental messaging and corporate dystopia. It's a solid story, but not particularly stand-out. But then again, I'm not the target audience, so take this with a grain of salt.
My only major critique/surprise/confusion is that the privileged, corporate-driven world that the main character hails from is populated/employed seemingly entirely by other kids. The higher-up power players are adults, but the rank-and-file worker population are all somewhere between 12 and maybe 18, tops. Which gives the world an odd flavor. Is this supposed to be a statement on child labor? Were most of the adults killed off in the plague? It's never explained, and it's a strange choice because most stories with young protagonists have them pushing back against a world of adults. I had no idea what the author was trying to imply/suggest with this, or how it added to the story....more
With Nona the Ninth, the Locked Tomb series continues to be the most annoying book series I can't put down. It compels me despite its many frustrationWith Nona the Ninth, the Locked Tomb series continues to be the most annoying book series I can't put down. It compels me despite its many frustrations, and I continue to look forward to each new installment just to see what happens after the train crashes into the canyon and the smoke finally clears.
I was a little wary going into this one, because the impression I got (which may have been inaccurate) was that reader responses were mixed and hinged largely on whether you found Nona, the main character, annoying. I didn't find her annoying in the least. I found it kind of soft and refreshing to see this little domestic world she lived in, even as I was terrified of how it was all going to end. I loved all the characters we got to meet, I loved the time we got to spend with Cam and Palamedes and Pyrrah, I loved Nona's innocent viewpoint on a very dark and complex world, I loved her determination to love people even when she worried she didn't know what that word actually meant. Which, weirdly enough, is pretty good proof that she did.
The story was not without its frustrations. Nona's perspective meant that we only got fragments of the larger picture. So as with previous books, there's a lot put on the reader to fit things together. (view spoiler)[And how/why exactly Nona and Harrow and even Gideon ended up where they were is never fully explained, and I fear that might remain a mystery. How did the emperor get Gideon's body from BoE? Were the John segments dreams or a River bubble or something else? Why did John keep talking to Harrow as if she was both Harrow and Alecto? And Gideon's apparent face-heel turn was surprising, and I kinda wish we had a little more insight into how she got to this point. Even if we can surmise a lot, it still would have been interesting to explore. (hide spoiler)] But as with a lot of elements in this series, we're left to fill in a lot of blanks.
Still, there was a lot here that I enjoyed--like, ninety percent of it. John's backstory and the insights into his character were fascinating in the way a slow-moving 50-car pileup is fascinating, full of anticipatory horror and mass death. And the relationship between Camilla and Palamedes wrung my heart. And of course, the silly memes and jokes continue to delight me.
Looking forward to Book Four, and the end of this journey....more
Arguably my favorite book out of the series. It has Fenchurch, dolphins, rare moments of beauty, and my favorite moment in the entire series.
I decidedArguably my favorite book out of the series. It has Fenchurch, dolphins, rare moments of beauty, and my favorite moment in the entire series.
I decided to do a re-read of this series to celebrate my 42nd year. Didn't quite finish this before I turned 43, but oh well! I'm glad I went for it. Also, I decided not to reread the final book....more
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