The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A lot has happened since last year. I started this little series called the Wandering Inn by Pirateaba and thought I'd just fly though some cotton candy fantasy with a heavy focus on characters and slow burn developments sprinkled with tons of good humor, friendship punctuated by devastating blows and war crimes.

At least, that's how it started. I was amused at first.

And then I kept reading, slowing down my reading speed because I discovered that I was having a genuinely good time and I wanted to stretch it out. And then, all of a sudden, I read the twentieth book this month and cried. And cried. And finally decided to check out the web serial and how far in the published books are compared to the web version. Only to realize I'd gotten to the end of only Volume 7. And the volumes are currently in the middle of 12. And then I cried for another reason. And started reading from there.

But what does that have to do with the first book?

Well, I decided to give myself a treat for when I am exercising. I decided to only exercise while reading this story from the start. And all of a sudden, I've been working out a bit more than usual. And I keep doing other things that could be considered working out because I just wanted to get back to Erin and the Inn. And I just happened to get through the first audiobook again. On accident.

But I'm not upset. This series successfully upgraded itself in my consciousness to the top ten stories of ... everything. It's currently my main and ultimate obsession for the foreseeable future. I even convinced my young daughter to start it. You know. To give it a little chance. And I won't mind if she gives up by chapter 20. If she can.

She's now walking into traffic while reading it. I'm feeling like a bad parent now. And she's hooked well before chapter 20. I'm glad to know that it's not just me.

The thing is... I NEVER would have guessed how much of an impact these books would have on me at the beginning. These characters are genuine FAMILY to me now. All of them. Including the ones that take turns on my shit list. They're still family.

I hate this author for the utterly magical way I've been tied into knots.
And I can't get enough.



Original Review:

I'm reading this mainly because I wanted something COMFORTABLE. It SOUNDS comfortable. It SMELLS comfortable. It's also LitRPG with an absolutely humongous page count, between this volume and all the rest. So, if I play my cards right, I'll have an ENDLESS COMFORTABLE adventure.

That was my expectations.

So how did it pan out?


I got exactly what I wanted. Tons of absolute low level isekai, getting a class of Inkeeper, and generally making friends among everyone, even low level mobs that should have been despised. And let's face it, making everyone welcome IS very nice. Add chess, adventurer's stories, and even a necromancer or two either mooching off the Inn or killing countless people, and we get a nice, broad swath of a new fantasy.

And this being just the first book, and knowing from other readers that it gets a LOT better, I think I'm going to have a nice, FINE time. Now, if only I could get the scent of acid out of my nostrils. It's not unpleasant, but damn, as I read this, it sure got EVERYWHERE. (If only in my mind)

Damn synesthesia. At least it's rather citrusy. Like cleaner.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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Breaking Rules by Erin Ampersand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A big escalation here. I really feel the endgame territory well before the end of this particular novel. The kids are strong, mommy is getting some insane help now, and even though she's NOT with the military types, the whole thing feels like some kind of polite fiction to give her peace of mind.

Because stay at home moms know WAR. Yep. I'm standing behind that one.

Not bad as a LitRPG but it's honestly a little weak when comparing it to the big guns. DCC pulls this plot off in a genuinely wild way in comparison. This one is rather tame. Not bad, not great. But definitely decent.

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Hide and Seek by Erin Ampersand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Either I'm relaxing into this series or I'm finally happy to see a wider range of abilities and opportunities to use them in overwhelming fashion. You know, power fantasy. The kind of thing that makes LitRPG rather shine.

The whole post-apoc feel is dampened a bit with so many people finally learning to work together, but it's probably a bit more interesting that our favorite mommy is truly getting the kind of props that she deserves, even if she wants none of it. Yet another reason why this is considered a fantasy, no? :)

More than everything, though, I'm just happy that the kids are a bit more powerful now, less likely to get killed off. The tension from before was kinda unwelcome when I just wanted some light fluff. But, of course, that's a personal issue, lol.


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Making Friends by Erin Ampersand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's decent, but I need to stress one little fact: these are more like post-apocalypse novels than LitRPGs. The few chosen abilities as you gain experience are absolutely LitRPG, but the total feel of this is a lot more Walking Dead than DCC, and none of this is even close to my initial thought that this would be a bit more humorous, with the whole idea of super powerful young kids saving their mom or something along those lines.

Making Friends, as a title, is more about getting along in a new, angry community. Not quite the tongue-in-cheek I wanted. Alas.

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Azarinth Healer Book Seven: A LitRPG Adventure by Rhaegar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Exploration and alliances, one adventure at a time.

This is pretty much a cozy adventure that just happens to feature a lot of bodily damage quickly regenerated and a bunch of hidden god-like powers among unsuspecting strangers. But the cozy bit is what makes it really nice. After all, it's the friends you make after beating the shit out of them that really matter. :)

Still a fun series. Relaxing, strangely enough, with a friendly elder god tree, a pissed nature dragon, insane pixie Shadows, mech-loving dwarves, shy 4* arch lichs, and a god-like brawler with truly easygoing nature.

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It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over by Anne de Marcken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I consider this an intellectual exercise. A conceptual, sometimes emotional reflection on loss and self-sacrifice to an idea wrapped up in post-zombie-apocalypse wrapping paper.

It's a poem. It's an epigraph.

It's also like a last gasp nod to traditional literary fiction and all its pretentiousness and deep depression as seen through a literal embodied zombie metaphor.



Of course, I could be taking it way too seriously.
This novella could ACTUALLY be a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for literary fiction, itself, as a zombie falling apart because its own center cannot hold.

You know what? I like that take even better.

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Time to Play by Erin Ampersand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a LitRPG, it's middle of the road solid for strict game mechanics interposed over a newly overturned life.

When I picked it up, I had the irrational idea that it was going to be hilarious as a mom slowly becoming unhinged as her kids of 9, 6, and 3 pick up powers in the attempt to survive the apocalypse. It just HAS that feel, or so I thought. Like Adventures in Babysitting. Or something similar.

But, alas, it isn't one for humor. Aside for the plushie AI, it's almost entirely a realistic-build with all the family-oriented stakes and normal neighborhood BS along with the up-scaling of threats and running out of resources.

Not bad, but I feel like it could have been brilliant... and wasn't. Alas. I'll still continue on for at least one more book, however, because who knows? It might get unhinged yet.

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Taipei Story by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Place this story where it truly belongs: an examination of culture and growing up with an attempt to show Taipei (In Taiwan, for those who wonder,) in as real a light as can be attempted in a work of fiction.

It's very earnest. It's also full of educational woes as an American trying to learn Chinese and having a hard time of it, getting into very normal drama with friends there, feeling isolated and depressed, and just trying to survive as a fish out of water... all the while highlighting culture.

And it does a pretty good job as a cultural piece.

But overall? My enjoyment was fairly lacking. This, in particular, was all pretty universal, but this kind of traditional fiction character piece with an agenda is generally not my cup of tea. I can respect it from a remove, but alas, that's all I can do.



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Judicator Jane 8: A LitRPG Adventure by Brian Rouleau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm almost done with this. In general it had a few smirk-worthy plays on the LitRPG genre and I admit I enjoyed the whole luck exploit and over the top stuff, but after the last book, I was getting tired of the whole steamroller aspect. And then this one was more than a little meandering and without real stakes... with just a handful of interesting ideas I would have loved to see developed, including the system-related stuff.

But it was just a bit too little, with not enough to keep my full interest. Alas.

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To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a fascinating book on revisit. There's truly a ton of great things about it... and an extraordinary amount of culturally and probably ethically and morally problematic things about it in equal measure.

If you know, you know.

But if you accept the book as a truly groundbreaking SF that fills its pages with joy, acceptance, fearlessness, and a truly excellent amount of World As Myth worldbuilding that elevates stories to reality and jumps beyond the plain discovery stage of exploration and right into the heart of childlike wonder when it comes to time-and-worldline joy of discovery, this really IS the best of all novels.

It's healing, utterly charming, and a great capstone to Heinlein's career... and his last book before his death.


So, what's actually problematic?

That's just it. I'm my own Mrs. Grundy. My own hang-ups and opinions, biases, and they are in direct opposition with the insistence of Maureen Johnson, AKA Lazarus Long's mom. Or Lazarus, himself. But the fact that it is a true cultural norm and everyone is perfectly happy with the actuality of what is happening, it's hard for me to outright condemn it.

And that's kinda the whole thing, right? You show a society where it is truly natural and not a medical or cultural issue, where each and every individual is perfectly happy to go on like this, and they all have perfect freedom to be whatever they wish, and it really IS a true SF novel in every respect. Because it shows us an idea... and the real conflict is between the reader's preconceptions and the existence of a HAPPY PEOPLE.

Of course, our actual world keeps showing us the really dark sides of sex, power imbalance, slavery, injustice. And we keep getting enraged by pedophiles and molestation, for very good reasons. And the damage being done cannot even be quantified.

But then we have a novel of healthy people. The conflict is very real, very fascinating, and absolutely disturbing.

It's problematic to actually recommend this novel at all. But strangely, that's perhaps the best reason to recommend it. Not because it apologizes for the assholes of our timeline, but because it shows us that good people can do some very DIFFERENT things that is hard for us to approve of.

Does this say more about me than the author? Perhaps. I have a strong sense of justice and I draw very strict lines about what I think is right and wrong. I don't generally plop THAT bag of worms on a book review tho, because books are their own beasts and I have a great imagination and I am generally able to let them be what they intend to be. Like To Sail Beyond the Sunset.

I'll just say one thing. For an old man, Heinlein is TRULY one of the most SEXED UP PEOPLE in history.

Fascinating, no matter how you stretch it.

And now that I've gone through a re-read of all his novels, from the first to the last, I am quite satisfied. Some got better with time, some less so, but what a great writer. Challenging, but always super readable.

Bravo, Dean.

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Memory's Flame by Pirateaba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

.........

I've been crying more during the reading of this book than any of the others. Indeed, I've lost sleep. I've been pacing. I've been feeling the full gamut of emotions and some much, much more than others for a much longer time that any book has any right to invoke in me. And I love books.

This is a brilliant book. The whole series is one absolutely batshit insane brilliant story.

And it has killed me.

Just in this one alone, I never would have guessed that I'd see Saliss of Lights be anything more than a sometimes nuts battle alchemist or a shameless nudist. At the beginning of this book, I never would have guessed I'd see Saliss's whole tale and cry so damn much, especially when we got to the Lady of Flame and Ryoka's massive arc... and everything around that being too brilliant for words. I laughed and I cried and I laughed some more and it tore me to shreds at certain points and then healed me and then tore me to shreds again.

And yet, if that was it, it would have been enough. Enough to cement this mini-arc and the whole long tale as one of the very best, most satisfying tales ever. And this is coming from someone who has read a LOT.

But then... something else happened. And I don't think I'm going to get over this for a while.

Even as I'm strung along and given something truly wonderful and wild and epic to give me that one little fire of hope, I'm still in.... grief.

This is a grief that is just as real as anything. And I'm raging. In denial. Not even close to acceptance. And not even numbness can save me. Not with this author.



This is not hyperbole. This is not a simple overstatement of facts. This author is... should I say it?

Evil.

Or pure good.

But either way, it, and the stitch witch, has sunk its threads into my soul. And it is making me pay all the prices.


Recommended? Oh, you have no idea. It may be a long tale, but life is long, too. And just as painful.

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The Path of Ascension 12: A LitRPG Adventure by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I personally think this is a major step up from the previous two books. Why? The war is over. We're back to living a life without war.

It's a major breath of relief for me.

That being said, wow, to be a true Duke of the empire, bringing a world almost exactly like Earth into the fold, was VERY amusing. And just as frustrating as it might seem.

And I love the establishment of Matt's long-time dream of a guild. I even love their new home world.

All in all, I had a great time with this particular novel.

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The Path of Ascension 11 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this a ton, especially because the ramp up and expectation of a full war had been building for many books, but the majority of this novel just felt grueling, dark, depressing, and way too monotonous to be particularly thrilling or interesting.

That's not to say it was actually bad. It's just a topic that depresses me and I can't quite ever get into it. Not without some major side plots and/or character development that spins it into beautiful fancies that keep its head above the war-water.

But anyway, there WERE some pretty great fights, so there really was a lot of good in it anyway.

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The Path of Ascension Book 10.5: A LitRPG Adventure by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honestly, I think this would have been even better in book 10 proper. Sure, it makes it much longer and keeps diverging into PoVs of friends and enemies across all the realms, pinpointed on the moment when the trio finally finished the 25th Tier path, but it really DOES deepen the moment.

And for that, I am glad I picked this up, too.

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The Path of Ascension 10 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For as much as I was enjoying this series BEFORE the war officially kicked off, it was something of a difficult thing to enjoy AFTER it got well under way.

Why?

Because our monsters ARE actually monsters. Challenges aren't challenges. It's just progression, getting everything they want, getting all the support they want, and trouncing any combatant that gets in their way.

Don't get me wrong, I DO like that aspect a lot more than the alternative, where nothing ever goes their way and they're constantly beset with hell and no success, but the balance is still off.

Most of the best tales that go this direction also tend to divert our attention to new goals, new highs, with genuine challenges to go along all the satisfying trouncing.

I hope we get something more than "Oh, the empire is going bankrupt and the poor are all going to get hit the hardest," including some nice genuine challenges that require a LOT of purposeful effort from our monsters. Of course, I DO see that on the horizon, but I think there should have been more of a focus on that rather than just seeing the Tier 25 talent in play.

And maybe I'm grousing for no real reason. The issue, to me, is just one of balance in the storytelling, and it's no worse than many others I genuinely enjoy. And I'm really looking at it from the PoV that I've been seeing the author manage some great balance tricks between novels already, so I'm tisking at the bit of what I would consider laziness on the author's part.

Still fun, especially if you like a long war campaign where you're on the winning side.

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The Path of Ascension 9 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Speed run through Tiers, all the way to the big milestone.

I can't say I mind. There were a few deep focuses and plenty of little milestones, but for the most part, I'm quite happy to jump right to the good stuff when all the masks will finally come off.

The aftermath will be in later books. But this one? I'm very satisfied. Good payoff. And if I didn't know any better, I'd call it a good ending-point. But that ignores the war, no?

War, onward!

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The Path of Ascension 8 by C. Mantis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one might not be everyone's favorite kind of change of direction, but it tickled me no end. The big immortality Tier 15 milestone has arrived, bringing a wedding, a tearful goodbye to a certain chilly fox, and a start of a mini-career as a pair of cocky rookie galactic space cops in the Empire.

Seriously. It went there. And it was delightful for all we are prepared for all out galactic war on our doorstep. It was nice. Relaxing. Adventuresome. Space Opera.

And THEN we switched over to the chilly fox and the novel just made me cry tears of fun joy because she went to Beast Hogwarts. I loved every second of it. And again, it is a wonderful aside before war starts.

Good stuff. :)

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The Path of Ascension 7 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Concluding the Forge, I have to admit I rather enjoyed the live-another-life sequences. Good benefits, but poor Liz. The near free-for-all at the end was particularly harrowing and fun.

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The Path of Ascension 6 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The more challenge, the more reward. A special area that chews up pre-15's at an amazing rate, with real deaths on the line.

It's great training. A forge. And better yet, lots of variety and rewards the further you go.

And instead of keeping it as one very long arc, it's obviously going to be cut up into two books. Yay... ish.

I think the best part is the Seasons section, but I honestly had a pretty good time with all of it.

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The Path of Ascension 5 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love a good tournament and extended contest with young stars. I especially love it when our young heroes have to voluntarily self-limit their skills, pretending to be other contestants, using all new ranges.

And still dominate. :)

Fun, fun stuff. All the action is rank 10 here, but that's nothing, since it's all fair.

Some great new characters, too.

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Worm by Wildbow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There's practically nothing I can say in a review that would do this work justice.

For one, it's only one review for a work that spans 1.7 million words. Serialized, finished in 2011, I'm frankly flabbergasted it was never given a more serious treatment, complete with many, many volumes for sale in all the major bookstores. It absolutely deserves it. It's frankly a rather monumental work of imagination.

But what is it? It's a superhero/supervillain tale on par with a super long-running comic of the independent vein. It's grimdark, it's super grounded, it's multidimensional, mind-bending, epic and scary in scale and emotionally wrenching.

If I was to to put it in its proper place, I'd be comparing it directly to the Invincible comic that came out at roughly the same time. If I was to compare it to later works that got very popular later, I'd point to some of the best parts of My Hero Academia and The Boys. Specifically the deep dive into the villains, the grey ground, how crappy heroes can be.

But here's the real deal. This work has so many arcs it might as well be a FULL IP all by itself on the SAME level of Spiderman or Superman. And the end is... frankly mind-blowing. Amazing.


Again, there's no way to encapsulate the feelings I have for Skitter/Weaver as a character. She's very complicated. And in my heart, she's a real hero. Even if she went full-out nuts. I'm a real fan.

And I'm actually very afraid that this work will be forgotten or slip through the cracks. It really shouldn't be. It should have a heroes seat. Hopefully something more than the one Skitter/Weaver sits on.


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Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First, I'll just nitpick a few things. Terms and sayings that have been said ad nauseam in previous King novels. Shitting in one hand, etc, was perhaps slightly overdone. Same for a few other old sayings that may get pulled off if we're being a stickler for correct time periods, but personally, if they should have come back in a book like this, I would have preferred new ones from those periods instead of just these glorious returns from already published works in the same series.

That's pretty much all I have to say about this that is bad.

As for what is good?

MUAHAHAHAHAHAH let me tell you the ways. This is not just a novel that goes full circle to the Talisman, one of my favorite early King novels and one that really turned me onto Straub in the first place, but it fully strengthens and deepens all three novels completely. I loved the second much more than the Shining's sequel, for example.

But more than any of that, this novel is a pitch-perfect companion, perhaps a coda, or definitely a different pitch to the Dark Tower series. The whole shades upon shades aspect was brilliant. As was the shadows of words and worlds and people. Roland and company didn't show up, but Mid World absolutely did. In spades and spades.

Chef's kiss.

And as for the red heads? I'm one, but I'm neither a teenager nor someone who fakes it by dying my hair in blood, so I guess I've saved myself from being a nasty red-headed stepchild and servant of Discordia. Thankee sai. Mauahahahaha

Who is this book for?

Any fan of King's wide universe and especially of the Beams, the Dark Tower, and the Wheel. Period.

It is a great capstone, if you will, and a beautiful tribute to Straub's investment. (Will be missed. 2022.)



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The Path of Ascension 4 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely a slower book, but that's fine. A few side quests, a lot of it surrounding crafting and a bit of magical-science work, and even a consolidation sequence where he goes back to where he began.

A lot of actual time passes, but as readers, we see it fly right by. Which is fine. Real progression happens. And we get a little depth in the universe. But now, I do kinda hope we have a big plot coming up. (War.)

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The Path of Ascension 3 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one firmly stuck us in only one tier and no kind of direct essence gathering, but all for the grand purpose of a worldwide mock war. No deaths allowed, but damn, everyone is allowed to try. The more you contribute the war, the more you can get out of the war chest.

It sounds like a great training exercise in a powerhouse universe, of course, but people will be people. Nothing ever goes smoothly. Fun stuff, seeing everyone actually improve their real skills and use their real brains to accomplish all their goals.

I consider this a very successful veering off the path. :)

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The Path of Ascension 2 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting but slow progression despite a tense golem outbreak decimating a planet. It was actually fairly interesting focused solely on the rift creation experimentation.

All said, it was pretty cool, and while a lot less varied things happened in this book compared to the first, it was still enjoyable and addictive as almost all of these LitRPGs are.

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The Path of Ascension by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this because of the somewhat generic title and just hoped it was going to have good characters at least. Fortunately, I had my heart warmed pretty early on by people being genuinely good sorts and helping out when they really didn't have to, and that just elevated the otherwise generic training and training-area montages into something more entertaining. It DID have the potential to be dark and depressing, mind you, but LitRPG is nothing if not devoted to self-improvement.

A nice hybrid cultivation tier system, and the MC has a requisite broken skill that gives him that glorious edge. Not truly unlocked yet, of course, but as he rises in those tiers, it's gonna be godly. Pretty standard stuff, but the characters are pretty cool, so no problem.

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D: Heavy Water by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a wild ride. I loved seeing Aurora again for a vast portion of this novel, but surprisingly enough, I really grew to love Owen, too.

But you know what really stands out for this, and Stephenson books in general? Brilliant attention to details. Rigorous attention to history. Crafty and genuinely crazy plotting. Nerdy nods to not just science, science history, but literature itself.

I'm frankly amazed how a book like this can be an interesting travelogue novel pre-WWII, with lots of adventure and insight... only to become a huge Hemingway nod that made me think almost entirely of For Whom the Bell Tolls... to a crazy romance that made me love the dynamic even though I kept wondering why the HELL Aurora fell for this guy. I mean, it's funny, and I GET it, but if I were him, I'd be wondering why the hell she fell for him, too. :)

But best of all, I love how it THEN turned into one hell of an espionage novel that's all about the D. Not about the scientists surrounding the creation of the nuclear bomb, directly, but about the feet-on-the-ground spycraft that secures the necessary medium to pull it off. Deuterium oxide, baby. Deuterium oxide.

I feel like I learned a lot even while I was immensely entertained. Highly recommended.

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The Infinite Extent by Dennis E. Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dude! THIS guy again? What the hell do we have to do to get rid of an immortal AI with an outmoded political agenda, anyway?

OH. Red-tape him. Ding ding ding! Muahahahahaha And no, I'm not talking about Bob. Bob has some issues, it's true, but that's why he has himself. And himself. And himself. And what's WITH all these biologicals, anyway? Maybe it IS time for a happy divorce. Let the monkeys, or at least, the pre-post-monkeys, get on with messing up their lives however they want. Sheesh.

Wait, am I just reviewing my reactions to this book? But what about the book? Solid continuation of the Bobbiverse and perhaps slightly better than the previous one. Minus THAT GUY. AGAIN. I think the singularity needs a bit of love. At least neighbors are knocking at last.



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Empire by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The great: Road tripping across a continent during the middle ages along the famous Silk Road, visiting and defeating every empire along the way with a rag-tag stranded army after a disastrous teleportation spell and trying to make his way home the hard way. Hello steep hoards, terra cotta army, Ottoman empire.

The so-so. Tons of action and troop movement and a spattering of other doppelganger improvements, which is great, but even meat needs the spice of interpersonal stuff, and that's pretty much missing in this book. It's also the end of the series. So everything IS wrapped up nicely, and it's pretty damn epic, but even tho I'm happy, I'm also a bit sad that we didn't also have a massive gathering of people I care about surrounding him at the end, warts and all. These are all simply commanders. Alas. But there's a reason why the novel is called Empire.

And it's a pretty damn epic one, LitRPG alternate history style. Great stuff!

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Player Manager by Ted Steel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What if a famous soccer video game became a novel? Well, yep. Instant stats, skills to buy with XP earned by watching games, using tactics, etc., but still a story about a kid with love for the game but low confidence, a bad job, and nothing more than the love (and the system).

It's pretty decent, but not fantastic. Above average, entertaining for exactly what it is, and that's football. Or soccer for you yanks. A description of this yells out to Ted Lasso, but it just doesn't have the same heart as that. But that's okay. It's a fun start.

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World Walker by Plum Parrot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one is pretty much a book establishing a beachhead on a vampire world with a few encounters plus a whole lot of catching up with peeps he's been neglecting. I won't say it wasn't entertaining, because it was, but for the amount of true meat it actually has, I think I would have preferred a novel twice as long with some actual inroads on the planet. I like good long books and a slow burn is fine as long as something epic happens at the end.

This one just happens to be a loose thread coming back to get snipped. Which is fine. But it's not that epic. Alas.

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He Who Fights with Monsters 13 by Shirtaloon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well worth the wait. I absolutely adore a good consolidation, personal healing, get your shit together book between massive conflicts. I especially love a book of conflict that pits your sense of rightness against the full ongoing idiocy of a whole planet. You know, Earth. And just because Jason is not a god, but kinda has those qualities, it doesn't mean there's no drama. And I cherish every single happy moment... because the stakes are STILL as high as they've ever been.

The gods are coming. Earth is not prepared. Cannot, frankly, be prepared, and Jason has been set up. Set up hard.

The end of this book gave me massive shivers. So yeah, it's a great book. I can't wait for the next.

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Monsters of Ohio by John Scalzi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Scalzi always kills it. Or rather, he doesn't kill unnecessarily. Or rather, he kills but he's fundamentally incapable of actually truly harming his fellow peeps in Ohio. Or maybe he is, but at least in NOVEL form he just goes all cryptid on the folks and carries off a truly neat commentary on how we really shouldn't be dicks.

I mean, seriously. Stop it. Just don't be a dick. Explosions might happen. Haven't you people taken sex-ed courses? Oh, wait, all the funding got cut. Oh, well, you're bound to figure out the facts of cryptid life sooner or later. May as well be in this book. Enjoy your tentacles.

Seriously tho, what did those poor Ohio people do to deserve Scalzi? They really ought to thank him.

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BuyMort: Closing Time: How I Crashed the Multiversal Market (BuyMort - The Shopocalypse Saga by Joseph Phelps
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What it does well: it shows capitalism to be the monster it truly is. And when violence is a way to cheat within it, it's going to be VERY popular.

Also, this is pretty fun as a space opera with lots of ships pew-pewing each other. A sharp departure from how it began, to be sure, but we love our power-scaling, no?

That being said, I loved the war but NOT the end. That kinda... sucked. Not enough to make me swear off the series if it ever continues or the author because of that decision, but damn. That sucked.

I wonder if I'll be saying the same thing about DCC when it ends. The similarities are very much there.

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Polostan by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-Read 10/6/26:

Getting myself prepped for the sequel with a re-read. Really enjoying Dawn/Aurora's tale, the tragedy and the sense of fun. But like Stephenson's other historical novels, I'm even more impressed by his sense of milieu. For example, young Patton and the early days of what tanks might become, side-by-side with horses and their continued cultural significance. Shown, not told.

And, of course, there are some really great cameos of the science world of the 1930's as a perfect mirror to Stephenson's other historicals.

I'm really excited for the new book.



Original Review:

Polostan is definitely one for Stepensonstans. While I'll never call this one a top 4 for his copious awesome-making bibliography, Neal definitely delivers on a wickedly wild alt-history ride taking us through great spycraft-grooming from the Lenin's revolution to the United States, from Bonnie and Clyde to Montana gunslingers to DC revolutionary activity to the Chicago Fair to the first glimmers of the science that will lead to the Atomic Bomb. Let's not forget the gangsters, the Gilded age, and Comrades, galore!

Seriously, this is a tour-de-force of funky fun, written like a cyberpunk (hello Stephensonstans) meets historical greatness. Of course, this just reminds me of Neal's other historical trilogy, but this hits closer to home, with all the great walk-ons of the age.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it's smart and wild and insanely political.

Not OUR political, mind you, but let's just say the 1920's and 1930's have a LOT in common with today.

Well worth the read!



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I first read this back in the day, I was REALLY enthusiastic in how it combined SO many different fascinating characters from all over his other books in a timey-wimey reality-breaking kind of way. It was something of a capstone to a long career of fascinating people. Especially after Number of the Beast and Stranger in a Strange Land and, of course, Time Enough For Love, and Moon is a Harsh Mistress, this one really revels in not only deep-seated nostalgia, but a love of pure adventure, easygoing sexuality, and the deepest love of all: for myth.

Not traditional myth, but the myth that we, as readers of the fantastic, bring to the table when we think about the things we truly love and geek out about. Which, if you are a fan of Heinlein, means that Lazarus and Hershaw and Manny ALL deserve a place in the pantheon not just for OUR love of them, but for the author's love of them. And that goes the same for the Oz books and Barsoom.

So who is the quantum cat who's walking through walls? None other than the World As Myth.

I will mention one thing: something like 5/6ths of the novel is pure adventure. The last bit is truly WILD, however. Wild the way Job was wild at the end. So, if you LOVE time travel craziness, becoming as free as the free love and turning into a true SF spaghettification of characters, you're going to go nuts for this.

Heinlein, that old courageous man that he became in his old life, really just put his writing chops on the line and let it ALL hang out. Damn, old, spry curmudgeon. To think he was right at the end of his life, dying at 80, and yet he was still this young at heart, too.

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Azarinth Healer: Book Six by Rhaegar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Still very fun. Is she massively overpowered at this point? Yep! But not god levels. Just able to trounce most of her enemies now with a few small exceptions which make for great conflict-resolution.

Her friends are fun as hell, too. I love that one particular dangling thread getting picked up again. And her friends are no slouches. That's a good thing, indeed, because she NEEDS peers. Badly.

One really notable fun bit: to think that SWIMMING IN LAVA is NURTURING and HEALING after a particular fight. I couldn't stop chortling.

It's quite easy for feel and see just how much more powerful she's getting. Solid as hell.

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Azarinth Healer: Book Five by Rhaegar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

One thing I'll give these books: for someone who likes to fight quite this hard, she sure as hell has absolutely no problems making friends with monsters of alllllll types. It's actually rather funny. Almost like the series is trying to teach me to pick fights with everyone I ever see just so I can get closer to them all.

It's soooo close to fantastic advice. Right? At least, the novel really proves the concept. So, that's good enough for me! Demons, necromancer kings, asshole elves, almost lovecraftian fae, ancient beings that snuff out suns, elementals... it just doesn't matter. If she can punch them, she can be a TRUE friend and they'll be TRUE friends to her.

So heartwarming.

And on top of that, we've got MASSIVE amounts of leveling and healing going on. Quite amusing.

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Azarinth Healer: Book Four by Rhaegar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's nice, if not being THE boss, then A boss. It's fun being stronger than all your friends and most of your enemies after being just barely able to handle them before.

It's a time to visit friends, touch grass, trounce low-level enemies that are plaguing her friends, and get voted in as not only the richest moneybags in a town she helped found, but people even give her veto rights. Like fools. Because she's gone in two seconds to be an insane battle maniac. But she's makes a huge name for herself. For being insane for resistance building.

You know, hurting yourself in the worst ways possible to level your skills. Like an insane person. And doing it everywhere that everyone fears.

Fun stuff.

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Azarinth Healer: Book Three by Rhaegar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After the admittedly dark dealings and tragedies of the previous novel, doing a good job with characterization and recouping and growing as a person, we now go back to the roots of the series and strike off solo again. All to level hard and fast. And make a few new friends on the way.

This is still a good LitRPG. Lots of skillups, undead bashing, and dungeon delving. Fun for exactly what it is.

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Azarinth Healer: Book Two by Rhaegar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm very impressed by how solid this LitRPG has become. The speed of development of powers and levels has really taken a drop after 200, but that's all for the benefit of actual story and character development.

It was great to see her joining the Shadow's Hand guild, getting training, learning to work as a team. And the big reversal was surprisingly epic in scope. No spoilers, but I was glued to my seat.

I won't say that the quality of writing improved since the first novel, but the pacing definitely did. I find it very easy to like every member of the team. And that includes our punchy-healer hero, of course. :)

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Azarinth Healer: Book One by Rhaegar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

With a premise of a "healer" that's really just a monk class that restores a ton, making them almost unkillable, it seems like a pretty simple and obvious kind of LitRPG.

But weirdly, it's the speed of the leveling (past level 200) in just the first novel that really makes it stick. Fast, fast, fast. Plotting, location, hell, even character development. She can only be a solo fighter for so long, flitting from place to place, before something snaps. Even introverts need something more.

Quite satisfying, all told. Maybe not the best I've read, but I'm enjoying it. And if any of these in the genre are anything to go by, I know it generally gets wild and strange from here on out. At least, the good ones do.

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The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound 14: A LitRPG Adventure by Noret Flood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is easily one of the very best books in the series.

Why? Its pacing, its humor, its plot progression were all excellent. I loved everything surrounding the dust storm back at home. I love the farming. I even loved the 42 pages of excel spreadsheet skills and progression. (Not even joking, it should have been annoying as hell, but they way it came out, it was just nerdy as hell. But a lot of this is just mood and quirk.)

The really good stuff is the weight of everything that came before and the re-integration into late-form Randidly. It's not just emotional growth, or the regression, but the balance between the self and the monolithic quest to protect his people and destroy the Nexus.

This novel really shows it. Not telling it. But showing it.

And for that, top props.

And damn this author for ending it right there. UUGGGGHHHH.

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There Are No Giant Crabs in This Novel: A Novel of Giant Crabs by Jason Pargin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wiiiiiiiild. MindF, nuts, chaotic, funny, batshit cray plotting, and yet, brilliant.

You'd think I'd be prepped for this kind of great mental abuse or the freaking fantastic one-liners that not only infest my tongue but sit rent free in my head, or the kind of plot shenanigans that would make good Doctor Who shit itself, but noooo, not even being used to the previous John Dies at the End novels quite prepared me for THIS JUMBO PANTY TWIST.

The title doesn't even do it justice. Trailer park idiots having plot armor doesn't come even close to justice. It could be read as a novel of one crazy thing happening after another, of course, but the idea set-ups really kinda transcend all that. Hell, I could say There Are NO Jumbo Straw Men Arguments in This Novel with as much honesty as the title gives us, but not even that does it justice, because we ARE dealing with idiots after all. Just smart enough to live, with luck enough for Stitch, and an inverse proportion of self-preservation.

But they care. They have a jumbo amount of care, you might say.

And a jumbo problem, too. Mountains of body parts, mind controlling super intelligences, scourges, time-accelerated colonies, portals, and yes, crabs. And pretty boys that like to set things on fire. Including Best Buy.

Muahahahahaha this novel was crazy fun. Way out there. Wacky. And even, oddly, rather hard-hitting in the feels. I didn't expect that.

Nuts.

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A Divided Duty by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

All right, I have to admit this is a LOT better than the previous Daye novel. I don't have to start screaming that Toby is acting like a completely befuddled moron again. Or that she's utterly ignoring the good advice of the people who love her.

This one just happens to be a pretty great tale about saving family. Or if not ACTUAL family, it's close enough as to make no odds. And if it comes with a bunch of baggage from 19 other novels, at least we have a moral compass to follow and some blood magic to keep the truly bad shit from getting that much worse.

But you know what I like most about this novel? We're returning to the land where we need a candle to light our way. And for those of you who still remember the series, that particular book is a true highlight.

Toby, with a ton-more Fae blood in her than before, with the authority of the Fae Court and a more loving position with the Sea Witch, is in a position to do a lot more good than before.

Now, if only the Fae would just stop the whole generational cycle of abuse. Please. Damn.

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Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The good: Auntie is always a breath of fresh air and claw. The mystery is fairly interesting, at least at first.

The so-so: Toby is... getting a bit annoying. Being pregnant doesn't explain how so very often she gaslights Tybalt. And no, wanting freedom after going stir crazy is not a valid excuse to throw good advice out the window, even IF it is a REALLY REALLY old trope for tv and movies and churned books.

I guess I'm a bit more than annoyed. Characters who have shown brains in the past and who have gone through a TON of crap and supposedly learned from past mistakes should NOT be doing such blatant stupidity not just once, but three times in one novel. Often specifically because her husband JUST wants to protect her and is worried about his wife who is 8 months pregnant. And is getting targeted by political crap. And has long-standing enemies still free and acting suspicious.

Okay. I guess I'm very annoyed. I know we're given Toby's PoV and reasons and they seem very valid and all but she keeps on getting captured and poisoned and threatened and gets her head bashed in but it's all OKAY because a Knight and she's important and the Queen expects her to be above and beyond so that's all the reason she needs to have to be stupid as hell.

Toby. Seriously. It IS okay to slow down for half a second and if you can't, GATHER YOUR TROOPS and STOP GETTING MIND-FUCKED. Again.


But the good? I'm still invested enough in the series that I can get this emotional over the stupid decisions instead of just dropping it.



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Home Sweet Home by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely beautiful. So much happens. I love Mathews' writing.

This concludes this particular series and while I was pretty much enthralled from the start, I was truly amused and thrilled by the utterly bonkers power levels we got to by the end. Sure, we get to god-levels in LitRPGs all the time, and MANY of these substitute for mental health manuals almost automatically, but not ALL of them pull it off.

We went from baby god to beastly in this book, but what was most amusing was the pure enjoyment the character (and I) had with all the different kinds of power-enhancement schools, be it card-making, divinity, cultivation, chaos magic, or even System-like adventuring. And being chased by hard-hitting gods the entire time, getting pissed off that you're screwing up all of history, was just great spice.

But really? The novels are about friendships. Letting people in. Letting go of your preconceptions and the past, or perhaps letting go of the future. Indeed, a lot of it was all about letting the present happen, letting those who love you be there for you.

But written large. Fantastical. Timey-wimey, illusion-heavy, phased reality, gorgeously diverse storytelling. With dimension-hopping spiders.

And the cutest mimic ever.



Truly great stuff. Rich as hell.


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A Trek Through Time by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wonderful. Very light timey-wimey stuff, but perfectly aligned to service a great story.

If the first novel was packed with great plot and progress, this one took a more steady turn to cultivation. It didn't go ALL OUT into the progression/regressor direction, but it had enough of both to keep us on our toes. Especially when it came to killing the gods that kept coming to kill him. :)

Yep. This is a light, easygoing, friendship-building novel that includes killing gods.

And I'm all for it. Stuck in the deep past, surrounded by old, doddering old gods and upstart new gods, and the cultivators that keep all the gods in check... a new power has come to the world. One with cards. :)

Muahahahahahahahaha what a delightful mess. And it's genuinely heartwarming, too. Jake's magical market is thriving.

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Jake's Magical Market by J.R. Mathews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was extremely impressed with Nova Roma, so picking up Mathews' other series was a no-brainer.

I was immediately impressed with the easygoing and laid-back personality and was amused by the card-based magic system I'd grown to love in All The Skills, but what really sticks with me is the amazing variety of plots, locations, characters, reversals, power-ups, and eventual massive last reversal.

I am used to something on the level of maybe half as much happening in another LitRPG of the same size.

But more than all of that, I have grown to truly love this guy and his overall positive attitude, not to mention his mostly positive choices. Sure, some really questionable actions and choices ARE here, but I'm loving the conflicts.


I DID imagine that this was going to be a truly laid-back LitRPG based on the title, and it has a ton of it, but amazingly enough, it also has the full works. And more, on top of that.

A definite recommend.

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The Second Expedition by Tao Wong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to say this is... decent. It still feels just like a long-running Kung Fu series, with a few enlightenment sequences to give us the true progression feel. The story is simple, with a few side adventures and reversals ending in the sub-arc that was the initial reason for the adventure in the first place.



I want to like this more than I do. It's ... decent. Not that exciting. Just solid. I may return to it sometime, but I keep wondering if it'll get truly interesting soon.

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