The Engineer by Will Wight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After book 1's impressive space opera setup, I had high hopes for the second book. Finding that engineer is super important, after all. And it really paid off.

Not only is she a mad scientist, but she's the main villain in a TON of protagonist's tales. A real thorn in their side. And being their maker, and all, there's tons of pathos, too. I almost want to say it's Dragonball Z Cell level mayhem. And maybe it's even worse.

Muahahahahaha

I'm so glad they're aiming for top-quality help.

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The Captain by Will Wight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know, I was a little cautious upon starting this. It just FELT like pulp SF schlock no matter how I looked at it.

And it absolutely f'n is.

It's not Star Wars. It's literally a collection of all the best, most OP magical tropes like collecting all the memories of re-lived lives, becoming versions of multiple arch-mages, and then setting off to right all the most horrible mistakes across the galaxy as an ultimate space-wizard--with the specific addition of a world-killing world-mind-powered intelligent spaceship that levels up based on the quality of the crew it... um... consumes.

So, yeah, adventure happens. On very, very schlocky scales. Legions of foes destroyed. Whole systems. And the captain and the ship still needs to find more crew.

Muahahahahahahaha

I admit I was a bit worried--at first.

But the balance of the narrative Force was maintained. :)

It absolutely helps that the author knows his genres and all the things he's borrowing and even nods at them as he makes one hell of cool SF pulp space opera his very own thing.

It's no high literature. But it IS very fun. OP fun. The good guys defeat the bad guys. Ahem. Reminds me of something someone said about how we should always fear the Hero. Heroes kill more than any villain ever could. :)

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A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok, so getting through this has left me a bit shell shocked.

The humor and the bonkers imagination is still going full force. (I'm looking at you, Satan's Water Slide, lovely Penelope, chicken tendies, and countless little f-d up details throughout the novel (or novels) that make every reader shake with either rage or chaotic glee.)

But this novel in particular has crossed the line from deep gallows humor and insane killer clown territory to a deep kneecap-chopping horror rage that can only end with utter and terrible destruction.

Mind you, I love myself some good horror, and it's even better when it's so twisted it just becomes funny, but Dinniman just went----overboard. Or rather, he's pushing all new envelopes. And those envelopes are made up of more than magical barely-sentient farts.

It's people. The true horror is people. So many people.

I feel it here, even more than all the previous books where we had to get used to genocide-for-entertainment on a universal scale. As they make it this far, it becomes ever more obvious just how f-d up it all is.

And I'm on Carl's side. Donut, too.

At this point, being an utter agent of chaos might be the sanest thing left.



Honestly, this book might just scar you. Be forewarned. It's great. It's also the world's last, greatest death-race that's part Mad Max, Deadpool, Joker, and karaoke. But I'm also tearing up.

We're getting really close to the end.



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Andy in the Apocalypse: A LitRPG Adventure by Plum Parrot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Pitch-perfect progression fantasy. This LitRPG borrows beautifully from both settlement building and tower defense while giving that full Dungeon Crawler Carl vibe.

Maybe not with the absurdist elements, but definitely the system interference.

Suffice to say, I'm immediately drawn in and I'm here to stay. I can't wait for the next. But then, I've been devouring all of Plum Parrot's series and I feel the same way about Victor of Tuscon.

I feel like I'm eating very well. :)

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Master Alvin: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Book Seven by Orson Scott Card
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Now, while I can't say I liked this nearly as much as the rest of the Alvin Maker series, I can say that it has a lot going for it. Specifically, it remains true to the crunchy granola ideals it began with.

That is: true Christian ideals where you love your neighbor, help your neighbor, and protect your neighbor even if they are out to hurt you. It's good. Of course, when you get to Alvin by this point in the series, after he created the Crystal City and brought together all those with magical knacks to protect them from assholes who'd burn them for witches in frontier-era America, you know he's pretty beast. Almost godlike.

So now we have the conclusion of his legend, and I guess my only complaint is that it came so many years after the previous book.

I will specifically point out that there's nothing objectionable in this novel. The good guys protect the downtrodden and protect women, blacks, and anyone that is considered different. One can easily read into the text that those with knacks could very well be lgbtq, and how they are treated, and Alvin could be a true martyr for them.

Indeed, if one knew nothing of the author and just went by the novels, one might start raving about just how DECENT and GOOD all the messages are, and how interesting the story is, and how satisfying it turned out--even as a semi-tragedy.

But that's mythos for you. And I suppose I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the whole series because it truly was magical and a clever twist on historical fantasy. Seventh Son through Master Alvin was right up there for me along with Ender's Game.

For those who criticize, I just want to reiterate: separate the art from the artist. The art may have dropped off some, but the message is still true--irrespective of the artist.

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Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well now. This was surprisingly pretty great. And while I don't know the actual science or biology nearly as well as this author seems to, I couldn't find anything wrong with any of it.

And that is terrifying.

Just to imagine getting swallowed by a sperm whale. Surviving.

Of course, there's a lot more story here, and it's a good horror in all the old traditions. As body horror, it ought to reign pretty supreme. Whose body, though? Muahahahahahaha

Definitely worth the read.

I definitely do NOT know how they'll adapt this to a movie where you can get all the internal stuff from the page onto the screen, but I'm pretty sure they'll get the other internals pretty well.

Don't eat before seeing this movie. I'm sure this will be reasonable advice.



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Couriers Outbound by Pirateaba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My favorite endless tale continues. And when I mean endless, it's merely a wish, because even though it's a truly enormous tale, with each book being huuuuugeeee, it's still one of the most enjoyable, heart-warming, edge-of-seat, anger-enducing, honorable, well-rounded, and amusing novels (or novel series) out there.

At least, I can't believe how invested I am in it. Or just how much sleep I'm willing to eschew in order to keep reading. Or how excited I am for each new novel. Or how invasive the thought is that I should want to start re-reading this monstrous series from the start again for the sheer joy of it.


In particular, I'd say that this novel and the one directly preceding it are heavily entwined, but that's not quite true. All of the characters have wonderfully huge story arcs that are epic and fantastic in their own rights and are heavily interwoven in each and every novel that comes out. It's impossible to separate them directly and I wouldn't want to, even if they generally have little to do with other arcs except as glancing blows. But that doesn't mean much when it builds such a huge amount of worldbuilding that lives and breathes and gives heart and beauty even to those who would be endless enemies to other characters.

The point is, it's all people. Even when they're different races. drakes, gnolls, stitch people, witches, insects, goblins, dragons, humans. Those from this world or from Earth. Each with their own load of baggage. And yet... strange, beautiful intersections between them all. Endlessly fascinating. And NOT derivative. :)

There's a reason why I love the series. And it's mostly due to its heart.

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