SUBMERGED: A hacker thriller by John Wilander
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Most books I read about hackers rather skim over the ways and means, assuming the reader either doesn't care or has a twitter attention span. I'm glad this one doesn't. It has that in common with the first book in the series.

And in case I'm not clear on this, I LOVE the fact that it geeks out on real hacking with all the ways and means. It's very informative, even if I can't confirm or deny that it's real. It FEELS real, and that's kinda the point.

But that isn't the real point of this particular novel. This is a true technological thriller. A crack team doing a more realistic mission impossible, complete with real consequences, massively researched Russian locales, and a quite plausible--and indeed likely--look at the real scope of cyber-warfare between nations.

Updated to today. Which is, as you know, messed up. As in, totally out of control. Misinformation central. But hey, being lied to has now become normal.

My only slight immersion break was the whole submarine part, but despite the cover, it's only a small portion of the goodies. No matter how it might bill itself as a mission impossible, it felt just a bit too mission impossible when dealing with the nitty gritty realism that the book does so well everywhere else.

But then, that may be just me. I really enjoyed the book, otherwise.

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Providence by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay. This book is kinda a hot mess. And while it DOES have enough good stuff to keep it afloat and cool and definitely worth reading, the bad stuff is still truly annoying.

Like the broken, broken again, broken yet again magic ass-pulls. This makes me think we're going back to the truly mysterious magic system days where it's all built on "if you just believe hard enough, you'll get it", but without faith. Just the plain old somehow Palpatine came back, but for magic rules. Like Cecilia. Or rather, all Cecilia. And while the whole fate mastery bit was cool on the surface and a bit deeper, it's still TOTALLY an ass-pull.

So yeah, between that and just a tad too many PoVs that I didn't care about--sorry, Nate--I just kept hoping to get through the main plot for the sake of just MOVING ON at last.

But fortunately, we do. And it was pretty cool, despite all the annoying bits. And so I'm not QUITE done with this series since there's another one coming out. :)

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Retribution by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bigger scale conflict on the horizon, dragons versus the end of the world. Or rather, our favorite dragons causing it. And all the Lessers are going to have to step up, train, and break their choke-hold once and for all.

Good thing our hero is so damn OP for the normal troops.

But now, it's training time for everyone else. Yay!

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Reckoning by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great comeback, or rather follow-up comeback that includes #8 and #9, but more importantly, we really get to know the enemy--by being the enemy.

Of course, it's kinda sly doing it this way, getting in good with some nobles, wiping out some others, and most importantly--BECOMING A TEACHER for young brats.

Just gotta make sure nobody finds out what you REALLY are. Right?

Right?

Muahahahahahaha this stuff can sometimes be so damn delicious.

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Ascension by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book changed the entire direction of the series, but I have to admit that was a good thing.

A reset of sorts. Of course, that's something that happens fairly often in these, be it Isekai or LitRPG or Progression. Sometimes there has to be a major setback after being utterly broken to break through to a new power plateau.

And that's exactly what we get here. Thrown across the world, core broken, a new awakening and a new friend, lost in a deadly dungeon.

It is pretty classic. And I enjoyed it quite a bit. I always like new skills in these kinds of books.

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Divergence by TurtleMe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So here I am, flying through these books and still wanting to continue on as hard as before, but I'm now reading it out of a sense of hopelessness and dread. Or rubbernecking an accident.

Sure, war is horrible, but this just goes all out of its way to show all the betrayal and stupidity and yet more betrayal it can.

It's pretty hard to stomach. I can't say this will ever be anything but the worst book in the series, but is it because of the storytelling or what happens?

Probably the latter.

Alas. At this point, I just have to hope it gets better.


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Radiant Star by Ann Leckie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The good: Large cast of characters supporting this fairly standalone tale in the Ancillary universe. It picks up on the consequences of the original trilogy.

More than anything, it shows the true consequences, the tragedies, and specifically, starvation. Religion and politics be damned.


The bad: I was frankly bored in the first half of the novel. The small amounts of intrigue and social injustice was rather just a small portion and the rest just circled religious politics. As for the characters, I felt rather disconnected and just kept praying for something exciting to happen.

It does, later, kinda, but starvation is hard to read about, let alone experience, and it was hard.

Others might get more out of this, but for me? I started imagining that Leckie was going through some hard times and it really shone through the text. I wanted to help her more than I wanted to get through the novel.

Maybe that's just me, but it is what I felt.

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Transcendence by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

War, and more war. All the proxies for dragon gods are chess pieces, but what else is new?

Simple setup and some betrayals, but the best parts are the training montages. Yes. More of them. It really underscores what's important and what's worth fighting for.

Not bad. Not the best in the series, but not bad.

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Convergence by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a whole lot of training montages among the "gods" and it was fun.

Not much else happened except the start of the war and coming back after a few years, but that's okay. It's a progression fantasy. They all progressed. :)

Always need to keep that OP lead, right?

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Horizon's Edge by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ooops. I guess the dark academia phase of this tale is done. Done hard. Still, it was pretty satisfying to see a certain individual's fall. Too bad it came with such a high cost. And, you know, the whole destruction of the academy. But then, wars do what wars do.

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Beckoning Fates by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At the school days section of the tale. And Arthur is so OP at this point he has to forcibly reduce his magic capability to 20% his normal AND he defeats a criminally negligent teacher mage in battle--which obviously lands him the admittedly funny right to take over his class. You know, on the first day of school. As a 12 year old. Because that happens. (And, to be fair, the headmistress thought it was perfectly reasonable. And probably funny.)

Honestly? It's good except for one little detail: it's rushed. I probably would have loved to get to know the other teachers, but as it is, we barely got to know one or two and almost all of them are pretty one-dimensional. Alas.

Still, the over-story and the progression elements are still fun and there are lots of other great characters.

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New Heights by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Toddlerhood over, it's time to adventure and kill S level beasts before he becomes a teen. :)

Yep. Still fun. OP, but fun.



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Early Years by TurtleMe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After beginning this, I was struck by how similar it was to Jobless Reincarnation. Hell, it read almost exactly LIKE Jobless Reincarnation except for a few key details and shuffled names/roles. And after my curiosity got the best of me, I realized this came out two years AFTER Jobless Reincarnation, so it's either a love letter for the original or it's a criticism and advancement of the other. Either way, it's damn close enough to be way more than canny.

Not that I mind. I'm enjoying it and curious to see how it diverges and grows. It IS a progression fantasy, after all, and most of them generally stick pretty close to the template and get wild from there anyway.

I'm flying through it, either way.

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Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a surprisingly excellent retelling of Heracles's trials, complete with a much-expanded look into Hera's deeds. But most interesting is how Heracles deals with his madness by befriending all the monsters in his "trials".

It's almost like a wholesome cartoon. Disney could easily pick this up (ahem) even if it would have to gloss the whole of Hera's hate, Heracles's killing of his family thanks to the Furies (and Hera specifically), or the real monster (Hera) doubling down by loading more and more trials on this poor man.

It's kinda weird, though. Retellings usually have an agenda, and this one seems rather--balanced. It's worth the read.

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Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a comfortable and nostalgic tale that serves as a fascinating quasi-autobiography. Part fantasy, all tribute to SF, the imagination, and wonder.

It takes us back to 1968 when pulp fiction was pulp fiction dreaming about being something so much more, and alongside that, an 11 year old boy embodying it. The dust that so few people could see could be a magical element or imagination itself, and that's where we, the reader need to be.

It's absolutely a Jeff Noon book. Not nearly as weird as his other works, but still firmly wondrous.

I got a lot out of it. But then, the old classics are books I appreciate a lot. The nostalgia, even for works well before my own time, is real.

I'm very happy with this work.

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The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Space opera for pets. Or rather, a collection of aliens and humans off to explore the galaxy, find new planets and intelligent species, and do all the things that Star Trek warned about, but apparently not as good as we might have hoped.

Pretty fun. Lots of new places and a couple of species to kill or trade with. It scratches that Trekkie itch with a different base. Kinda reminds me of Chambers, but this is prior to her work.



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Family Law by Mackey Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had a lot of different expectations before and during this read. Honestly, without reading the actual blurb, I thought I was going to get a space opera lawyer fiction. After reading the blurb, I almost didn't even want to read it at all. But AS I started reading it, I was wondering where the law was until we started dealing with alien cultural differences and the complications of securing wealth and keeping your claim on discovering a green world. I was hooked then.

But instead of being a fascinating space-faring courtroom drama with intrigue of many kinds, it pivoted to being an ALL-OUT INTERSTELLAR WAR?

Whut? In a title called Family Law? Well, that's explained by a simplified cultural system of law for aliens. But I totally felt bait-and-switched. Not that it didn't turn out pretty good anyway. But you know what's funny? I still WANT A SF LAW PRACTICE SERIES. Silly me.

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Cinder House by Freya Marske
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had some expectations--and reservations--but it turns out that this retelling of Cinderella was actually rather unique. Divorcing itself from the Grimm or Disney versions quite nicely, it also doesn't go totally grimdark. Instead, it revels in having truth and trust become dominant, almost as the core.

Wild, right? When the original is about abuse and trying to break free and lies, lies, lies, this one also has the first bit, but gives both Ella AND the Prince a way to break their curses. And misunderstandings are quickly fixed by being honest.

WEIRD.

I love it.

There's still plenty of conflict in other ways, but having true accommodation be a core in this one is rather damn refreshing and healing.

This is probably one of my favorites out of this year's Hugo noms.

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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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Uncanny Magazine Issue 65: July/August 2025 by Michael Damian Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For clarity, I'm reading this issue for Valente's When He Calls Your Name.

She always pulls through with some of the wildest stories I've ever read. Clever, weird, always creative, and twisty, twisty, twisty.

In this case, a woman always needs to cover all her angles when it comes to her man. :) Loved it.

Nommed for this year's Hugo for best short story. Right now, for me, it's a toss up between this and the Kaiju.

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Uncanny Magazine Issue 67: November/December 2025 by Michael Damian Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For clarity, I'm reading only Sarah Pinsker's The Millay Illusion from this issue. It's been nominated for the Hugo short this year.

It was refreshing to get a tribute to illusionists in this one. I felt it very appropriate in light of Christopher Priest's death the year prior. (The Prestige author.)

Now, that may or may not have had anything to do with this story, but it certainly felt right. All things considered. :)

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Uncanny Magazine Issue 62: January/February 2025 by Scott Lynch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

To clarify, I'm reading just Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch in this collection.

Muahahahahahaha I LOVED this.

Sure, it's another Kaiju story, but it's damn clever. A good deal of it comes from the Kaiju's perspective, but what really makes this a stand-out is the full alternate history of the world after the first atomic bomb and the... interesting things that could very well have gone on with real public policies and national politics.

But that's not even the best part. It's who the Kaiju uses to take over this damnably wayward species. :)

Hugo nom for short story this year. So far, it's easily my top pick.

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Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy by Martha Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nommed for short Hugo this year.

I must be honest. As an in-betweener for the Murderbot series, it's short and sweet in only the way two machine intelligences can be when revealing their feelings.

But as a nom for the Hugo?

It's nothing groundbreaking. It's literally more of the same that we've always been getting with the series. No big ideas or imaginative sequences or a total alteration of perspective.

It's not a bad story, but it isn't a standout.

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The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For by Cameron Reed
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nommed for this year's Hugo.

It's a pretty interesting story as far as it goes, but I'll have to admit I've seen a lot almost exactly like it. Young love, identity focused, rebellion. Normal stuff that has corpos, clones, and that age old-desire to just live a life.

Decent, but not THAT stand-out as a Hugo-nom. Just a good read.

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Leveling Up The World 6 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed the trip down south. That's a bit of worldbuilding that was pretty damn fascinating and just added so many more questions than it answered.

And dragons? Hell yeah. :)

All told, really enjoying this series to the hilt. And if you know what's been happening, you'll know EXACTLY what I mean by that. Ah yes, those world-swords. :)

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Leveling Up The World 5 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is more of an open-ended novel after the tight plotting and wrap up of the previous. Not that that is a bad thing at all, of course. Open world exploration and working toward being a full time hunter had been the goal for a while, after all.

And it was very entertaining. And somewhat sad, too, but more importantly, we got to see some rather interesting places.

And of course, I had to pick up the next book immediately because I'm hook as hell.

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Leveling Up The World 4 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, this one had me on the edge of my seat. Especially after the last reveal/plot resolution, it just added tons of new questions and problems--all of which were resolved in this one. And beautifully so.

You know that sword that has a whole damn world in it? Yeah, we get to spend a lot of perfect-length time in it. It was great. So many tough battles and alternative ways to defeat things.

Smart. I have to admit this has exceeded my expectations now.



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Leveling Up The World 3 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm deep in the addicted territory now. Book 3 just gives me that much more of what book 2 delivered, and more. Only now, not only do we get guild stuff and leveling in all these personal awakening areas, but we get old frenemies from the old town showing up and being popular with all his new friends, too.

Of course, that's hardly surprising in a novel like this. But as always, skills, skills, skills and how you use them is everything. Bard? Yep. Beast tamer? Yep. Naruto clones and/or mental clones? Yep.

And it's all still just getting started. Barely to level 20.

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Leveling Up The World 2 by L. Eclaire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is what you call a slow-starting series. The first book was simply okay, at least to me, but the second really got going well and finished very strong.

Off on his own, heading to a real town, he makes some pretty decent friends and joins a guild. But it's the training montages, working for a living, a bit of socializing, and especially getting strong that makes this a good one. Some pretty great milestones. Some very excellent companions.

Honestly? I'm hooked to see how far this goes. I'm really enjoying the little corruptions in the world and want to see just how deep it goes.

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Leveling Up The World by L. Eclaire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I honestly started to believe this might have been kinda Disgaea for its leveling up trope, without the demons, of course, but I was pretty wrong on that count.

Sure, you can level some items by entering them but there's no real tactics, just a few minor challenges and/or fights.

What this particular LitRPG seems to have going for it is a slow grind. It literally took the entire book and the ousting of the village elder to get to level 5. Skill-ups are limited, too. Perhaps even more limited than actually LEARNING a skill in reality.

That being said, I didn't hate it. It may still have promise, especially since the core mechanic seems to have been rather un-tapped.



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The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century by Olga Ravn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A novella about artificial humans waking up to their sub-par existential-crisis lives aboard a spacecraft? Or about the meaninglessness and humiliation of our modern workforce?

Who knows? It works both ways to the Nth degree.

Very snarky in a subdued way. As you might guess by the premise.

Employees of the world, unite! lol

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Sub-Majer's Challenge by L.E. Modesitt Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It continually shocks me just how ... steadying ... these books are for a reader. That's probably the best description I can make about it. There's continuous and steady pressure, calm outlooks, reliance on competence, careful thought, overwhelming force when necessary, and an always delightful magic system that is balanced perfectly with ordered military life.

These books are a repudiation of incompetence and chaos for chaos's sake.

This particular book sucked me right in and no matter what happened (taking over another post, succeeding against all odds, getting married, learning a few big surprises along the way, getting promoted SEVERAL times) it all felt inevitable and inexorable.

Rational Stars, it's good. The style and the (to be frank) perfectly mass-produced plotting is not even a detriment to the story. It's a medium to carry the FEEL we want from these books. Of course, that doesn't mean it can't surprise or take us by storm, but in general, we're meant to feel immense COMFORT.

I cannot stress how good this is. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. And I generally DON'T love military novels.

But when they serve to bring order and wisdom to the world?
Brilliant.

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Vainglory 2: A LitRPG Adventure by Plum Parrot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I honestly probably wouldn't have picked this up if it hadn't been Plum Parrot's name on it. Fortunately, I had a great time anyway. The slippery slope for this Isekai'd cop is getting more and more slippery. I mean, what's with a little lycanthropy to spice up your day? Soul stealing? Horse mutilation?

He's a good man! Good friends. Law abiding and law aiding. Who cares if he rarely takes in prisoners now? They were all coming for him and his buds!

Ah, the glory still awaits. Take just another step.

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Vainglory by Plum Parrot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is definitely a different kind of LitRPG from the others. It may still have a much milder skill system even if it's still very much there, but the FEEL is very much a western. Cop in our modern world just about to retire get's isekai'd, a demon riding him as he's thrown into another world. And if that isn't bad enough, it's all just choices, worse choices, and gaslighting, throwing him into more darkness.

Of course, it FEELS like a buddy-buddy novel. It FEELS like the good guys are winning. But yeah... yeah.

In that respect, it's VERY much a western.

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Your name. 1 by Ranmaru Kotone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a shockingly good romance. This light novel is, like the movie I saw first, alas, is simple, beautifully complex, and heartbreakingly tense and sweet all the same time.

It's deceptively relaxed. Girl finds boy, boy loses girl, both wish... but it IS fantasy and fate and memory loss and tragedy wrapped all in one, like all the best stories are.

It's beautiful. Nuff said. :)

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Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This one is wonderfully atmospheric, consistently strange, and rather heart-felt. Above all, it's the details that really got to me. The action figures, the sleepwalking, the traditional dance, even the headbands. All things that could have gone the way of stereotypes but didn't.

A truly good horror novella that plumbs the depths of selfishness and what lies within a person. :)

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The Unincorporated War by Dani Kollin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I went through several evolutions as I read this.

At first, I was rather... put upon... when I realized this wasn't a solid continuation of a Heinlein-like societal discourse with an enormous dose of courtroom drama but a straight-out LONG mil-SF that reminded me tons of the second book in the Red Rising series but without quite as many memorable characters, I honestly thought about quitting.

Hell, if it wasn't for the solid first book, I probably would have. And that didn't address the fact that I felt bait-and-switched. This is, despite the fact that the title SAYS war. I should have known, right? But I honestly believed it would have been more of a BUILD up to war, not just a slap and tickle saying that time passed after the hero ran to space and HERE WE GO with a fleet and did you know he's the leader?

*sigh*

Okay. That's on me. I still continued and finished it, however. And... it's fairly solid and for all ya'll who love a good civil war spaceship yarn across the solar system, there's much worse out there. This might be perfect for you.

I had my own issues, however. I WANTED my Heinlein-like story.

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Void Forged by Plum Parrot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very enjoyable. But it's important to realize that not much in the way of plot progresses in this particular book. Sure, we're poised to take over a whole world through duels and perhaps an all-out war, but very little page space is devoted to that. Instead, it's training montages and other kinds of progressions.

Which is, in itself, very enjoyable. :)

Plus, we get a ton of overall power jumps that make Victor truly beast after suffering a particularly nasty curse. Pure payoff.

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Weathering With You by Makoto Shinkai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sad, heart-wrenching, magical. And I also thought the anime was pretty special. But then, I probably wouldn't have picked up the light novel if I hadn't loved it first. :)

Poor runaway. So much longing. Yep. Good stuff.

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The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The one thing that really struck me from the beginning was the echoes of other recent big award winners--specifically the focus on translations and language in general. But even more than that, was how this setting (aboard a generation ship) really revolved around the divisions made by language and how embodied this novel felt.

Not easy, mind you, but definitely lived-in. I think I liked that the most.

But I should say I didn't truly vibe with it until much later, when the revolution really got underway--but that's a double edged sword right there, too.

I might be getting rather annoyed with this particular subgenre of generation ships + AI always defaulting with destroying the AIs either immediately or almost right away (across so many authors) and seeing a totally hapless and idiotic crew try to deal with an untenable life afterward.

It just feels like yet another example people always electing to make a horrible situation worse for all of the stupidest reasons and then doubling down when things get so much worse.

Sometimes I just want escapism. Not yet another mirror showing the same thing I see every day. But alas. That's a me problem.

This book is still pretty fascinating and interesting both culturally and thematically. Well worth a read.

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The Unincorporated Man by Dani Kollin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a surprisingly good SF built upon some even better what-ifs, and presented as a near-homage to Heinlein.

Specifically, I rather focused on the whole near-Stranger in a Strange Land feel at the beginning. A rich industrialist freezes himself, only to wake up hundreds of years later and needs to get acclimated to a strange new world--that happens to be one of an insidious slavery. Insidious because everyone is happy. All needs are met, but everyone is incorporated as a business model. Sell off shares of yourself for opportunities or wealth, buy them back to be less beholden to other shareholders. The government and your family begin with a standard tithe.

It actually sounded like a pretty horrific setup, but the SF comes to the rescue with advanced tech (nanotech) and automated systems.

Fast forward through a number of ideological conflicts and more than just a few courtroom dramas, assassination attempts, full cultural upheavals, and by the end, I'm hooked on this rip-roaring yarn.

It's not for nothing that we can compare it favorably to Heinlein at his best. Social commentary is second only to a fun tale. You know, the proper order of things.

But I *will* say that it still manages to be a proper horror/dystopia even in the face of so many social ills resolved. :)

Definitely worth reading.

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Masters of the Vortex by E.E. "Doc" Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is both a mix of the classic Lensman space-opera stuff and a better side-story that gets rid of the super-standard superman stage 4 Lensman to lets us reboot it with a singular, highly-specialized super-man who can nuke wild self-sustaining nukes.

Of course, this man levels up in power through the novel, learning that he is so much more capable of being a hero than just a nuke nuker, to gaining a crew that reminded me a TON of TOS Star Trek it's not funny, to mental gymnastics that put most power-creep stories to shame.

That is to say--it's classic space opera. :)

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Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one is an interesting bag. I think I wanted to have a harder-hitting horror retelling of bluebeard, one that straddles the line between extravagance and the delicious reveal, but while this does have some pretty great emotion and resonance -- look at what you made me do -- it eventually rubbed me in rather the wrong way.

Not horribly so, mind you, but in an ugly, disturbed way that isn't gleeful the way good horror can often be.

My real problem?

The erasure of innocence. Not the obvious opening of a door erasure, either, but the complicity and romanticism of JOINING in the horror, of ignoring the tragedy, of being one with it.

Maybe that's the real horror? The acceptance, the reveling in the rot?

Well, it's even worse when you read this novel not as a romantic and evil tale of discovery, but as a tale of complicity with the rot.

I think I disliked it precisely because I couldn't agree with the premise. Either I fight or die... not embrace.

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The Radiant Dark by Alexandra Oliva
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Okay. So. I suppose I'm just not the right audience for this SF. If, indeed, we can call it SF.

I mean, sure, there is the whole, ostensible first-contact scenario starting back in the 70's and we follow the slow communication cycle for the next 50 years, but I need to be honest. This is pretty much just a family drama novel. Mothers and daughters. Generational abuse, mental health, family stuff.

It's another general fiction novel with a handful of SF trappings. And let me be clear: the first third of the novel is just about a new mom with post-partum depression hating her life and missed chances and latching onto the big announcements while she grows bitter and destroys her relationships.

Yay.

Later on, it feels like a very drawn-out and worse version of Sagan's Contact. But longer. With less happening. But what I can I say? I LOVE my SF. If it wasn't quite pitched for the SF market, I probably would be less critical of it. But this is SF-lite-lite.

But what about the writing? Is it good? I'd say it's fine for the market it's aiming for. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

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