Jumpstarting the Raspberry Pi Zero W by Akkana Peck

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a great introduction to creating electronics projects with the smallest raspberry pi at this time. Seriously, it’s the same size as an Arduino MKR board - like a stick of gum. I wish I’d read it before starting my raspberry pi adventures, because I learned a few tips, particularly for running headless. The author spots a good job providing code examples and a decent variety of projects. The wearable project is the most impractical when you compared to an adafruit flora, but still provides important information. Overall a great resource if you want to go the raspberry pi route for electronics hacking.

The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This trilogy is definitely turning out to be one of those 1 book broken up into 3 trilogies than a series of stories following the main characters. The last book was a slightly cleaner break, but still ended with a lot still unresolved. This one, on the other hand, ends on a cliffhanger….well on a cliff….a mountain. Almost nothing is resolved in this book. Although one of the plots was, thankfully, resolved; that’s a good thing because I don’t think the protagonist involved in that plot could take much more.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 141 by Neil Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those issues where I liked every story and every non-fiction essay. Read below for my thoughts per story.

A space of one’s own: a whimsical dystopia that reminds me of the Terry Gilliam film Brazil. I’m a world of overcrowding buildings can be resized and reconfigured.

Vault: another dystopia. This time there is a bit of a video game metaphor (at least to me) in the fact that the protagonists gain energy based on how many athletic tricks they do while traversing a planet. Explained away as causing their suits to collect more sunlight. The climax comes late, but could be an interesting universe for more stories.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 141 by Neil Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is one of those issues where I liked every story and every non-fiction essay. Read below for my thoughts per story.

A space of one’s own: a whimsical dystopia that reminds me of the Terry Gilliam film Brazil. I’m a world of overcrowding buildings can be resized and reconfigured.

Vault: another dystopia. This time there is a bit of a video game metaphor (at least to me) in the fact that the protagonists gain energy based on how many athletic tricks they do while traversing a planet. Explained away as causing their suits to collect more sunlight. The climax comes late, but could be an interesting universe for more stories.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 140 by Neil Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice balanced collection. My favorite was Cold Comfort. Below are my per story reviews and/or thoughts.

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A Vastness: A very interesting story of what we do when we’re so driven, we are willing to risk everything. And a great ending that was very unexpected. It felt a bit shorter than these usually are, so it was extra neat to have it work so well.

Rave Master Vol. 9 by Hiro Mashima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While this continues the shonen tropes of the hero who can’t be beaten just because of his “can-do” attitude, Mr. Mashima increases the stakes and gives a compelling story behind the rise of Demon Card and the paths of the two Gales. It even has a silly joke to make up for the ridiculous name “Demon Card”. Apparently it was supposed to be “Demon Guard” and a typo messed it up. I wonder if it’s one of those katakana/kanji jokes or not.

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m a huge world-building junkie. It’s one of the reasons I love science fiction and fantasy. And, as I realized while writing the previous sentence, it’s also why I love history non-fiction books and podcasts. I love learning about the society and what drives people to act the way they act. Humans are all human and have always had the same desires, but how those manifest and how we react to them are defined within our cultural contexts. An insult that might have demanded a duel in 1800s America might now simply result in a screed on Twitter. So, I loved the first book’s building up of Radchai culture. In the first book, the plot was almost incidental. It was a TRUE trilogy in that it reads, in retrospect, as the beginning of an incredibly long book.

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 139 by Neil Clarke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A nice, solid collection this month. Here are my per-story thoughts:

Carouseling: An extremely sad and touching story about a couple and an experiment at a CERN-like lab. Wonder if the story was written/conceived back when everyone was afraid the collider would make a black hole. (That’s not what happens, but I could definitely see it as an inspiration).

Rave Master Vol. 8 by Hiro Mashima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

We learn a bit more about what’s going on with Rabarrier, but mostly it’s a volume that is the continuation of the fight started in the last volume. (And it doesn’t finish here, either) Manga is the master of decompressed storytelling.

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Rave Master, Vol. 07 by Hiro Mashima

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A nice mix of some silly chapters and finally getting a lot closer to the mystery of Haru’s dad. Actually, with where we are now in the story I’m curious how there are some 20 more volumes.

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