Wild Cards by George R.R. Martin My rating: 4 of 5 stars With anthologies, I *usually* just present the status updates I made while reading, sometimes with some modifications since there are character limits on the updates. However, Wild Cards is a bit different. Like the Machine of Death anthology that Dan gave me, Wild…

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 124 by Neil Clarke My rating: 4 of 5 stars A great issue. As always Neil Clarke selects some pretty amazing stories for this issue. The Ghost Ship Anastasia – It’s the space trope no character is ever wise to – you DO NOT inspect a distress call on a space ship!…

Elantris, Part 3 of 3 by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Well, I’m done. That is one heckuva first-time novel for an author. I have a feeling this Sanderson kid is going places. Joking aside, it was a well-done novel that leaves the world open for a slew of books in the…

The Hope of Elantris by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 2 of 5 stars First of all, I listened to the Graphic Audio version and I don’t know why they switched narrators from the main book. The narrator is fine, but pronounces everything completely differently. Sometimes I didn’t realize the narrator was talking about a character…

Infomocracy by Malka Ann Older My rating: 4 of 5 stars Infomacracy is depressing to read. It’s fun to read. It’s a good political thriller, particularly if you happen to be an Internet junkie. I’d recommend it to anyone. But it’s depressing. Before we get there, let’s talk about the less depressing stuff. The book…

The Camelot Shadow by Sean Gibson My rating: 4 of 5 stars I got this book free for a review I never knew I wanted to read a Dan Brown-style thriller that takes place in Victorian England. But one day I became Goodreads friends with Anne Hannah because I love her review style. I especially…

Elantris, Part 2 of 3 by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars As the middle section of a novel, it was mostly concerned with expanding backstory and a few false starts at the climax. (Intentional false starts….more of a meta note) The three main thesis Sanderson seemed to have for this part of…

Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami by Nick Mamatas My rating: 3 of 5 stars It’s been over a decade since I read Battle Royale. It was a book that amazed me with its emotional resonance. It was the first book that ever made me tear up with the…

Uncanny Magazine Issue 1: November/December 2014 by Lynne M. Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars Yet another demonstration of authors who are doing great things with the short story format. I’ll definitely be buying other issues. As usual for magazines and anthologies, a collection of my status updates. “The Uncanny Valley” – An intro…

Warbreaker, Part 3 of 3 by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 5 of 5 stars First of all, let me say that the voice acting and foley/music is so great in this series. In this third installment as characters reveal their true natures we end up with different voice performances from the actors. Very good job.…

Uncanny Magazine Issue 1: November/December 2014 by Lynne M. Thomas My rating: 4 of 5 stars Yet another demonstration of authors who are doing great things with the short story format. I’ll definitely be buying other issues. As usual for magazines and anthologies, a collection of my status updates. “The Uncanny Valley” – An intro…

Put this in your brain by Stu Norvath My rating: 3 of 5 stars As usual, a collection of my status updates. Overall a good set of essays. Some deeper than others. Intro – Neat intro by a member of MCR about the role that games play in our lives “Backward Flow” – About Dune…

Warbreaker, Part 2 of 3 by Brandon Sanderson My rating: 4 of 5 stars Sanderson continues to weave together 3 narratives in a way that makes me really invested in each one. Well, to be fair, for most of this part of the book I viewed Vivena’s sections with resignation. Interestingly, both sisters are naive…

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 by John Tiffany My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’d like to start off by addressing the big thing I’ve noticed with this story – while it has 3.5ish stars on Goodreads, a quick scroll through the reviews reveals that’s mostly the average of 1…