Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Catching up on the Hugo noms for this year. This novella is good if all you're looking for is a paint-by-numbers murder mystery which just happens to cross over into upload-time.

It's definitely a Miss Marple SF adventure. Which is great for what it is.

But is it Hugo territory? Maybe, if we're low on choices. But that isn't exactly true. It's just that many never get the traction they deserve.

I miss wild abandon in creativity. This is just comfort territory.

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The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It just goes to show I shouldn't pay too much heed to the bookshelves certain books are put in. I honestly thought this was going to be a Dark Academia type novel. Spoiler. It isn't.

It IS, however, a fantasy court intrigue novel that sits firmly in the Ember in Ashes and Sarah Maas's YA categories.

It's a slow burn for well into half of the novel and I admit I wasn't all that into it at first. But later, when the Contenders and the trials and the magic finally started to kick in, I did have a good time.

It's solid. I can't say it's brilliant, but it follows its plays quite well and the Eight are pretty interesting in an Aesop and Chinese mythology kind of way.

But mostly, this novel follows a long tradition of female-centric Epic Fantasy. It was pretty good.

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Leveling Up The World 10 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's hard to believe this is the last book. Or how long it is compared to all the rest. But that's a good thing.

It's one thing to be at the pinnacle and to compete in a game of Risk and tower defense for the whole world against the Emperor himself and the Order and an insanely strong invader--but it's all there to earn the right to possibly become a Moon. Or at least challenge them and wipe out your entire race in failing to pull it off.

Great takes. Horrible war. Even worse for someone with high empathy skills. But what's necessary is still what's necessary, and your enemies are still trying to kill you and the ones you love.

And if THAT resolution AND a full-out battle against the gods (the moons) wasn't enough, there's a full novel's length of a RESOLUTION and a final awakening that really breaks the mold for LitRPGs in general which, I think, elevates the whole damn series.

Worth it. And it was a fun adventure all on its own, too, as a solid SF. :)

I'm very happy to have read this whole series. The first book wasn't nearly as good as the last nine, but oh well. Worth it.

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Leveling Up The World 9 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been on a roll with this series and I can't be happier. It started out a bit middling, but by now, reaching the 80's and 90's for levels, with a ton of interesting complications, reveals, and agency regaining, I have to say I'm truly loving it.

Indeed, it's driving me to a marathon of reading even more than usual.

Nobility is a tricky thing. But then, we knew that from the start. But adding new stars and the void itself to the mix, not to mention the nymph nation, the Order, and the Emperor himself, it's no wonder the world is in chaos.

This is a tight LitRPG. It always returns back to its origins in a very organic way and propels all past events into a stronger ongoing story. It's not like most LitRPGs in that way. No truly new realms to pit oneself against, but a fulfillment of all the previous promises.

That's sharp.

And I can't wait to jump into book 10.

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Farnham's Freehold by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There are few Heinleins that I can say I actively dislike. Indeed, even the most questionable is usually filled with interesting characters and great premises and that can-do attitude.

This one has ASPECTS of all that, and while the PREMISE of a whole racial slavery hierarchy being flipped on its head sounds GOOD on the surface, this one just comes off icky on every beat.

Which is very sad. I want to forgive it a lot of its faults. But reading it through today's lens, it's pretty indefensible.

Hugh is an asshole. A bully. Just because he did something decent, his power plays were just as ugly as any slave master in the past or (in this case) the future. White supremacy logic, but without the humor of a horror novel that flips all the horror on the person who might have perpetuated it.

The takeaways of whomever gets a taste of power will automatically defend the use of it, no matter what happens, may or may not be realistic, but how it is portrayed in this novel is almost cartoonish.

The fact that Hugh tries to pull the old hero role to escape the slavers with his girl is probably the only decent part of this novel, but by then, I'm not rooting for any of these people anyway.


So, why do I really dislike it? It's the assumptions. The assumption that previous slaves will easily take to being slavers, that a taste of comfort is more than enough to seduce someone despite the very worst practices.

I don't deny that anyone, of any race or socioeconomic status can be an asshole. But sweeping generalities really stink. Especially when they're this ham-fisted. I'll also not deny that this would not be that bad a novel IN ITS TIME. It is very critical of all these people and racism in general, in the story, itself. Hitting the mid 60's, it's timely, too.

But it's NOT a Planet of the Apes novel, no matter how close it seems to come.

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Leveling Up The World 8 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Due to the unique restrictions of magic leveling, our OP hero is forced to be a newbie once again. Which, all told, is funny as hell with the skills he already has. Hogwarts plus Solo Leveling. Or even Mashle if you prefer.

And yet, it's also a lot more than that. Truly good plot development and hooks for MANY side characters and new ones to boot.

Who'd think that becoming a mage after becoming a god-killer could be this amusing?

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Leveling Up The World 7 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one really stepped up to the plate. It started out about politics and impossible quests but it became a truly epic tale of ancient destruction, empathy reveals, familiars of gods, and not just one, but TWO showdowns with the Broken Star.

Damn.

Pretty damn amazing.

I kept thinking... where could it actually go from here? But no worries. Seven books, seven skills. Time to keep leveling.

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