Cataclysm by James A. Hunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pretty standard LitRPG with a standard setup. Get online to escape a cataclysm, die, and be reborn. Find a class and level up. Quests.

While it isn't bad, it doesn't stand out much yet. Shadow skills. Very Skyrim-like. I just hope it gets better, story-wise, but it's not bad. Just average.

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Last of the First by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I generally look forward to these Saga of Recluse books for one thing in particular: Slow and Steady Rational Thought and Action. The characters almost always wind up being truly excellent individuals excelling where everyone else gets muddle-headed or mired in their old momentum.

It's REFRESHING to see rational people get ahead so easily. It warms my heart. And this one is no different from ANY of the others. Indeed, it feels almost exactly like all the others. How many characters started out from lowly beginnings only to learn to harness order magic or chaos magic, join the military, learn they have a knack, only to trounce over everyone and rise in the ranks only to trounce all the old guard magicians at their own game and come out on top?

Um, really, it's a massive trend. Massive. Anyway. I enjoyed this a LOT right until the point nearing the end where we just up and upended EVERYTHING. Or rather, the author did. As if it was just too much bother to do the slow build and slow grind as usual. And just... decapitate the progress.

I GUESS that's an end? Most of the previous books were set pieces so this kind of blowout is kinda expected and then it all wraps up for another look at another time period with another set of suspiciously similar MC's. But this was kinda special because we've stuck with THIS character for much longer than expected. And, indeed, after reaching the capitol and JUST NOW getting his bearings on the intrigues, I fully expected it to go on at least another book or two.

And you know what? I would have had a good time.
It's a COMFORTING read. They always had been.

So, I guess I'm just scratching my head. I hope the author is okay.


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Exo: A Novel by Colin Brush
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a lot of ways, this is exactly the novel I get most excited to read when I'm hunting for SF. Big ideas intersecting with normal life, even if in unique settings such as across the solar system after an exodus from Earth.

I love this kind of thing. When the truly awe-some needs to be understood by normal people under a lot of hardship. And when the Caul is introduced... a hyperdimensional topography that tends to make people go mad or run into it or eventually commit suicide... it certainly seems to be something wicked.

I kept thinking to myself that this could easily have been a book by Reynolds. High class hard SF that isn't all space opera, but edging the boundaries of all that we actually know.

Later on, however, it kinda went away from that. Becoming a murder mystery was fun, of course, as was the whole weird religious angle that totally scans for humanity in truly odd situations like this, but I think there was a little too much emphasis on it and less on the story and the awe, which is what I was geared to enjoy from the start.



Not bad, mind you. And the conclusion was very Arthur C. Clarke. Either way, I'm going to keep a close eye on this author. I want more.

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The Regicide Report by Charles Stross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Laundry Files is now done.

I feel sad. But there is one thing that will outlast even several Lovecraftian Apocalypses: Bureaucracy.

Truly, the Excalibur sword of any math-based demon trying to tear a hole in reality or your mind or her Majesty the Queen. Red Tape is stronger than the Sword.

The humor is right in line with the core of the whole series, of course, but here's something I loved the most: a return to Bob and Mo. It's only fitting. The Eater of Souls and the Invisible Woman doing all they can for Queen and Country.

Very satisfying. And it's extremely interesting to see how the royalty always tend to need a bit more sunscreen in the end. Not surprising, of course, but you know how it goes. Needs must and all. No need to bring up regicide or anything. Think of the public relations nightmare!

I think it's a fine sendoff to an old-time favorite series. We even get a massive magical showdown, but those are always so paltry to the tape, in the end.



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Platform Decay by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Back to action and adventure and emotional damage.

That is its defining feature, after all. Robots and emotional damage.

At least this did have some pretty decent SF adventuring. Retrieval, hacking, escape, and decent atmosphere.

I won't say it's the best SF I've ever read, but it's entertaining enough.

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The Primal Hunter 14 by Zogarth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Decent ramp up and finale for the whole Yip of Yore war. A lot of random slow progression story bits steadily leading us forward, too.

But all in all? Pretty much a simple and unsurprising plot. Enjoyable as a cog in the overall structure, but nothing to write home about in the particulars.

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The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I really wanted to like this more than I actually did. It's a slow moving corporate/samurai kind of novel, quite cyberpunk in some aspects, but kinda lacking in the hacking.

By all rights, I should have fallen in love with it. I didn't even mind the older swordswoman trope doing the lethal weapon gambit while trying to solve the mystery of her boss's corporate suicide and the fate of her old protege.

For the most part, I even liked the future-corporate vibes. It's ugly and backstabby, but that's the old cyberpunk trope, too.

So what happened? The setup was okay, the characters, such as Isako herself, were fairly decent. But honestly? The story was kinda bland. The reveals were low-key. The surprises weren't very surprising. I kept waiting and wanting for more.

I probably wouldn't have had a problem with this had I felt more in tune with the characters, or felt more kinship with Isako. Hell, if she had had more noir cliches attached to her, I probably would have just treated this like a fun cyberpunk romp that uncovered and recovered from some nastiness. Or not. As long as the vibe was there, it would have been fine.

As it was, it just felt a bit off to me. Not bad, just not ... there. Alas.

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