The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins My rating: 4 of 5 stars I listened to the audiobook narrated by Greg from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend as I drove the 900-something miles from Maryland to Florida and it was better than I thought it would be. Ms Collins has avoided most of the annoying tropes …
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The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi My rating: 4 of 5 stars I can’t believe I waited so long to read this book, it’s so great. The quick summary: Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series meets the family competition dynamics of Frank Herbert’s Dune. Interesting to read at the same time as The Ballad of Songbirds and …
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the perfect ending to the original Murderbot novella quartet. All the threads from the previous three books finally line up in a way that sets Murderbot up for its debut novel. Murderbot takes everything its learned and developed in order to solve …
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another great entry in the Murderbot novellas! Our favorite SecUnit is once again involved in a mystery while working on the overarching plot of the novellas to figure out what happened during the incident that led it to override its governor as well as …
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells My rating: 4 of 5 stars After reading the second entry in The Murderbot Diaries, I’m sold on why this is such a hit with everyone. Martha Wells takes what was great about the first one – an android who just barely understands human irrationality (although suffering from some himself …
All Systems Red by Martha Wells My rating: 4 of 5 stars I got this book for free from the Tor.com eBook club. Also, would have gotten it for free from the Hugos 2021 I know I’m late to everyone’s favorite genderless, somewhat on the autism spectrum, Murderbot but I really loved this book a …
Necessity by Jo Walton My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book was the perfect cap on the trilogy. Told in a series of POV chapters that shuttle back and forth through time, the book forms the perfect meta-analogy to the way the gods experience time. Their personal time is moving forward even as they …
Black Powder War by Naomi Novik My rating: 4 of 5 stars Black Powder War is another great entry by Ms. Novik in the Temeraire series. It picks up almost immediately after the previous book ended. Now Temeraire and crew must head to the Ottoman Empire. Oh, and for variety, Ms Novik has their ship …
Crimson Son by Russ Linton My rating: 3 of 5 stars I got this book from a Story Bundle called “Immerse or Die”. The editor of the bundle had a process that went something like, “I got on the treadmill and started reading. If the book wasn’t pulling me in by the time I finished …
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is my second read. I have dropped the rating from 4 stars to 3 stars I love Discworld’s Death. He makes any book better by his presence and so I especially love the books that feature Death. In this book Death is the …
The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell My rating: 4 of 5 stars My enjoyment of this short story (or was it long enough to be a novella?) was only marred by the fact that the story is so famous that I’ve seen it referenced and parodied a million times. Of course, that’s part of …
Final Fantasy VI by Sebastian Deken My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was a kickstarter backer on the campaign for this book I’ve been waiting for this book for a while. This game, along with Chrono Trigger, was very formative in my early gaming years. The book decides to focus on one of the …
Auberon by James S.A. Corey My rating: 4 of 5 stars As the back of the book (so to speak…this is only available as an ebook at the moment) says, this novella is a chance to see what Amos’ old colleague Erich is up to. The novella starts off with a quote about a changing …
Death Masks by Jim Butcher My rating: 4 of 5 stars If Goodreads had half-stars, I’d definitely give this one 4.5 stars. Butcher has taken everything I like about the Dresden files and eliminated a lot of what was annoying. Dresden has FINALLY earned the trust of Murphy on the SI unit at the Chicago …
Lightspeed Magazine, April 2014 by John Joseph Adams My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was a GREAT issue. I don’t think there was one story that wasn’t top-notch. My favorite SF stories were Codename: Delphi and Exhalation. My favorite fantasy was The Only Death in the City. The Afterparty excerpt was great and I …
