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Will

whami@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 6 months ago

A numbers geek reading SFF to maintain some hope in this world.

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The This (2022, Orion Publishing Group, Limited) 4 stars

Imaginative

4 stars

This is incredibly imaginative, but sometime maybe too smart for its own good. There are parts that don't make a lot of sense and are occasionally a slog to get through, but they all weave together by the end. There is a lot of insightful commentary on the current state of social media, and this was published before Musk took over Twitter. This is likely to be one of the 6 novels I nominate for the 2023 Hugo (assuming nominations ever open).

Terraformers (2023, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 3 stars

From science fiction visionary Annalee Newitz comes The Terraformers, a sweeping, uplifting, and illuminating exploration …

Great Ideas, Uninspired Execution

3 stars

As always, Annalee Newitz is astoundingly smart. She fills this book with many interesting ideas. Unfortunately, the story she writes around the ideas in this book is a little weak. The most notable example is in the first section where two factions have little reason to trust each other, yet they do so in only a couple pages.

Terraformers is still worth reading for the concepts, but Newitz's previous two works of fiction are easily superior.

Tress of the Emerald Sea (EBook, Tor Books) 4 stars

1 New York Times Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings us deeper into the Cosmere universe …

Nothing Special

3 stars

There is nothing wrong with this book, but there is nothing especially interesting or memorable about it either. It feels like it was written as a side project, which it was. It does get extra consideration since, like all Sanderson fantasy, it has a well thought out magic system instead of one that evolves to fit whatever corner the author writes themself into.

How to Keep House While Drowning (AudiobookFormat, 2022, Blackstone Pub) 3 stars

How to Keep House While Drowning will introduce you to six life-changing principles that will …

I was not the target audience

3 stars

This book is far less about helpful tips for actually doing the cleaning, and more about giving yourself permission not to be perfect. I cleared that hurdle long ago. I am sure there are many people who will gain a lot from this book, but I wasn't one of them.

The Kaiju Preservation Society (Hardcover, 2022, Tor Books) 4 stars

When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver …

Standard Scalzi, as expected

4 stars

Is this a fun ride with lots of satisfaction, a good story and a quick pace. Definitely. Is this a good book? No, not really. Scalzi is an amazing storyteller, but not a particularly good writer. (Having said that, he is far better than he used to be, and he's even commented on problems with his writing that he has tried to correct.) I started this as a light vacation read and it performed exactly as expected.

reviewed The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo

The Core of the Sun (2016) 5 stars

Set in an alternative historical present, in a "eusistocracy"--An extreme welfare state -- that holds …

Totally weird, yet very satisfying

5 stars

Content warning no details, but some plot concepts are touched on.