Finna introduced the sardonic-yet-lighthearted world of LitenVärld, an IKEA-like corporation rife with wormholes and other multi-dimensional oddities. While Finna was a delightful adventure, rich with emotion and sarcastic, relatable characters, it felt like it was just the beginning of something, opening a wormhole to a broader literary world of potential. Now, with Defekt, the potential established in Finn takes a big step forward into the multiverse, in every possible way. And at its core is the one character from Finn that I never thought I would connect with: the hardworking and dedicated (albeit lonely and emotionally lost) Derek. Fucking Derek…
Science Fiction
Review: Fermi’s Progress: Dyson’s Fear (Fermi’s Progress #1) by Chris Farnell
Dyson’s Fear puts us on a brand new planet. A strange, inexplicable place brimming with intelligent life, and a city that floats on the river (which I’m fascinated by). Complete with its own religion and philosophies Chris has a flair for creating new worlds that are rich in culture. Honestly I could read a whole series set on this planet and still want to know more!
Review: Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Synopsis Finding work as an artist is hard. Working for a shady government ministry while falling in love with your watcher, who just so happened to kill your sister’s wife, is even harder, not to mention when you’re tasked with rewriting a dragon automaton warmachine that happens to be a pacifist! Jebi is an aspiring […]
Review: In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu
I found In the Watchful City to be a whimsical, almost poetic account of the relationship between Anima et al, technology, and the humans that inhabit Ora. For a novella, I think this book does a great job of demonstrating how complicated and interconnected these interactions can be.
Review: Twenty-Five to Life by R.W.W. Greene
The wasteland is stark but wonderful. The road is long, it’s unforgiving, but there’s a lot of beauty we can find along the way. Welcome to the park!
Review: A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan #2) by Arkady Martine
A Desolation Called Peace is the second and last (for now, at least – the author has been quoted as wanting to return to this Universe, but this book does conclude the current storyline) installment in Arkady Martine’s award-winning Teixcalaani series. It resumes the story soon after the events of book 1, A Memory Called Empire, and continues following Mahit et al after the crowning of a new Emperor in Teixcalaan.
Review: A Strange and Brilliant Light by Eli Lee
A Strange and Brilliant Light in the political, thought-provoking debut from Eli Lee that poses the question of AI in a dystopia where humans are losing their jobs in tech advancement and puts it to several vastly different but interconnected POVs that answer in the way they move through the novel and navigate this new world.
Review: A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan #1) by Arkady Martine
A Memory Called Empire is Arkady Martine’s debut novel and first the author’s Teixcalaan series. I am here to tell you this book is a phenomenal read! There are so many aspects of it that are enjoyable that I cannot wait to rant them all. Let’s go!
Review: Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine
Alison Stine’s Road Out of Winter is one of those rare books that hits the serendipitous sweet spot of right time, right place, right mood—right everything. Almost. It’s a fairly short read, so I fired up my Kindle and went for it, pulled the trigger, ‘cause why not? A couple of days blurred past, and Stine pulled me through a story of rural landscapes full of climate-wrought confusion and dread, human nature’s ugliest sides, heartfelt friendships, physical and mental adversity, and, to my pleasant surprise, genuine hope.
Review: Skyward (Skyward #1) by Brandon Sanderson
Some reviews or taglines in the covers mention the non-stop action and amazing plotting of the book and yes, there is that too! But the characters and the growth (and losses) they experience through this book made me put the novel at the top of my favorites. Sanderson nailed the human part of going through such a crisis as an impending alien invasion, and enhanced it with crazy spaceship fights, crazy-yet-funny AI and a world of characters and a planet we truly want to know more beyond this first novel. I literally had to take a breather after I finished this book, something that never happened before. It touched me deeply, as if I knew Spensa and lived Detritus’ struggles against the Krell with her, as a friend. For me, Skyward opened a door to the possibility of living a book on a deeply emotional plane, something I’ve never experienced before.
Review: Nophek Gloss (The Graven #1) by Essa Hansen
Nophek Gloss is Essa Hansen’s debut and the first in the author’s The Graven series. I have seen some categorize this book as Space Opera, but I do not see the sweeping elements one normally finds in a book characterized as such. In my opinion, this is just good Science Fiction. The caveat to this statement is twofold: 1) I am not very good at labeling sub-genres, and 2) Sometimes with SciFi it is the second book in the series that really develops the epic scope that can broaden the horizons to push the series into Space Opera territory. So, I will reserve final judgement for now, but know that this is the context into which my review is framed.
Review: The Gottingen Accident by James F. Mordechai
The Gottingen Accident is a novella that I absolutely flew through. Coming in at under 150 pages you get thrown into the action from page one.
Maths is not my strong suit, and it never has been. So starting a book that talks about Non-Euclidian Geometry had me a little worried, I had even googled the term before I started the book. Thankfully, you are in safe hands and I shouldn’t have worried at all. Over the course of the start of the book Mordechai finds ways to weave in the meaning, and demonstrates it without using overly-complicated explanations. Once you get to the weirder portions of the book you’ll be going right along with it. For me, I ended up picturing the Oldest House from Control (the super crazy sections) but with way less sharp edges.