Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Vol. 2 by Umi .
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm hooked immediately. Not only is it a reverse Isekai done smart, but it's also directly addressing the ethics of murder and culpability right away.

This isn't an easy-going fantasy manhwa at all.

I'm very impressed. Let's goooo.

View all my reviews

전지적 독자 시점 1 [Jeonjijeog Dogja Sijeom 1] by Umi .
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Omniscient Reader webtoon.

Honestly, I just read it on a recommendation without much in the way of expectation, but DAMN, that artwork was beautiful. And the setup, while fairly standard for Isekai, just flipped the script to have all the fictional webtoon become OUR reality.

Ding, ding, ding. The dinner bell has rung. Fun characters so far, but the artwork? The best part. From what I hear, it'll have some similarities to Solo Leveling, at least for gore. I really like the hook of this guy being a 10-year fan of the webtoon, knowing all that will happen before it actually happens for real.

View all my reviews

Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As always, Tchaikovsky delivers. All kinds of genres get represented, and this one is no different. Noir. But with a downright dark take on SolarPunk, where animals are uplifted with the aid of drugs and employed to take care of the menial labors of human cities. Rule number one is to stay out of eyeshot of the humans.

But the dark, seedy underbelly of the city is just as dark as any crime novel. And Tchaikovsky's penchant for intelligent animals and insects really shine.

And who DOESN'T like a Racoon sob story, his drug addiction, his being played as a pawn, a patsy, a throwaway soldier? Beautiful. And the SF's worldbuilding is great.

Definitely a fun time here.

Not for the animals, of course. But the reader? Hell yeah.

View all my reviews

Field of Dishonor by David Weber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit I kinda avoided these for various reasons, and when I finally got around to reading them a few years ago, I got really annoyed with book 3 and decided to take a break. Since then, I've read a bunch of other female-SF-Military Officer novels and for other various reasons liked them well enough.

And yet, Weber was always considered some of the best. So, I came back.

Strangely enough, it didn't go in any of the directions I thought it was going to go and I enjoyed it. Joining the peerage, Honor went through a great number of changes and most of them had nothing to do with being on a spaceship. In particular, the amount of time spent in duels and reasons for duels was actually a breath of fresh air.

I guess I'm going to have to continue on, no?

View all my reviews

Heretical Fishing 5 by Haylock Jobson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Everything is great and all people love the god king, and what's more, he loves them back. With scritches, coffee, and croissants.

There's so many people he loves and who loves him that we even had to bring in another god-queen with serious mental issues to show him a little challenge or die a horrible death trying it or there would be practically no point to this series anymore.

He got too OP. And I think the story ideas ran out.

That's not to say OP can't get interesting again, but in this case, the total-cozy feel is starting to wear itself out. I'll probably read the next, but unless it does a 180 and get more clever, it'll be the last.

This is despite the fact that I love the cozy. But everything is just going TOO right.

View all my reviews

Exodus: The Helium Sea by Peter F Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I may be exactly the right person for these two books. Far future space opera with extensively-developed worldbuilding, many characters, wild transhumanism, interesting quasi-immortality, and scope and scale to choke a horse.

It's taking Peter Hamilton's previous scales and scopes and making them look paltry in comparison.

And me? I read this and feel immense sadness that I can hardly find any new SF these days that GO THERE. Maybe a few here and there, but in general, it's all pretty tame. This one has ties to the near future but sends us as far into the future as anything Stephen Baxter did.

I can't help but be immensely impressed.

Manage your expectations. If you want war and the very spirit of humanity represented in the far future, and don't want Warhammer, then this is definitely worth your time.

View all my reviews

Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Good conceptual SF, in that it goes down a strange path and explores all the instances that might come from it.

Or rather, a specific kind of instance. And I use that term intentionally, for that's what happens to some people who cross borders in this alternate Earth. They split, become two people living lives, one on each side of that border.

The consequences are fascinating. But don't expect a thriller or a geopolitical SF out of this. It's very much an interpersonal novel. One that delves into national identity, cultural identity, and while that isn't set up to explore politics or nationalism, it is perfectly situated for the massive consequences of simple life choices and the vast differences you'll find between staying and leaving loved ones.

I can't help but focus on anyone who is and isn't native born, no matter where they wind up, and how it really messes with you.

The SF portion goes one step further, however. What happens when you repatriate your two selves? Two lives, as one? Fun stuff.

Definitely worth your time.

View all my reviews