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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The Primal Hunter 13 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This universe's System-wide event has begun! Time to kill the planet killers and go planet hopping in (some) style!

Great battles, great new worlds, lots of power-ups (and one insanely stupid one), and several tragedies.

All told, I loved this book. It was great fun and a huge step forward in plot and action and even a bit of character development--but mostly great action. :)

My only complaint? I HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE. GAaaaaaahhhHHHH!

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The Primal Hunter 12 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Out of the megadungeon at last. Or rather, after 2/3rds of this novel.

FORTUNATELY, it was still fun and the finale was pretty epic in several ways. A good fight, sure, but the aftermath? Epic.

And then, the rest was getting caught up with everyone else. And a few new people. Demons. A wyvern. Smart races. :)

Loving it all.

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The Primal Hunter 11 by Zogarth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I won't say this was a bad installment in the Primal Hunter series, it DOES rely rather heavily still on the mega-dungeon, and especially 4 of the 5 challenge dungeons, each of which last a very long time. (The whole dungeon lasting 50 years)

There ARE some really great parts, however, and while I might quibble about the overall arc, which is nothing more than a big data-gathering simulation in its heart, I really need to point out that my quibble is ONLY a relative downgrade to the rest of the books, and not an overall quality ding. The whole thing belongs in its own category.

That being said, I laughed my ass off in the (redacted) portion of the dungeon. And other various bullying of gods. Each scene like that was of Unique quality on creation.

I particularly liked the end of the zero-level challenges and the crafting dungeon as a whole.

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The Primal Hunter 10 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mega-dungeon time. Or rather, endless-dungeon time for C grades.

I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this QUITE as much as the previous books, but there's plenty to love about it. Cheesing levels? Awesome. Hard-fought custom levels created by gods? Awesome.

Learning to truly work together as a real team after many time-compressed years of effort, especially for loners, iconoclasts, prideful monsters, and idiots? Epic.

Whatever I'd deduct for weak plot and cheese in a novel is made up for nicely in true progression of interpersonal growth and skill-enhancement.

Very enjoyable.

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The Primal Hunter 9 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So very fun. Not just a new evolution and a murder-spree, but insanely great success in records evolution for one specific craft. And if that isn't enough, a certain secret is now officially out in the open and a certain statue that had been promised for half the book series has FINALLY been revealed.

And that last one is the BEST part of the whole damn series.

I chortled for a good half hour.

Loving this. Very much.

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The Primal Hunter 8 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ah Sandy. How I love to travel with you, my favorite cosmic worm that isn't Leto II.

I'm still having a hell of a fun time with this series. It's not just the animal friends one makes along the way. Sometimes it's the human, demon, god, and perhaps even an upcoming bee friend, too!

Quite a respectable list for someone whose whole bloodline is centered on killing ever more powerful beasts. Is a god on the future menu?

Oh, yeah. Probably. Most likely. Because it's fun. No other reason needed.

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The Primal Hunter 7 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Too fun. Varied fun, too. From school to helping a friend to completing a special system event that was rather surprising and original to going back to school, I never stopped having a great time.

And it's true, by the way. Nobody's a better teacher than yourself. :)

Here's to being an autodidact!

Muahahahahaha

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CHAOTIK by T. Crissey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll be clear here: I really did love a few things about this. Great transpositions of descriptions, especially for the weird stuff. It sat just right where it needed to be, being creative and funny at the same time. I also loved the chaos... in places. In dialogue especially.

But for everything else, I felt un-grounded, lost in "who is this and why do I care" space.

If I could name one precise thing I wish this had, it would be that grounding. That full feeling you get when you've immersed yourself in characters before they get thrown into the shit.

And there's plenty of shit here. Nasty stuff. That could have been truly glorious if we were getting deep in revenge or survival mode for real with characters that I loved.

But I didn't love them. Indeed, at least just for me, this novelette felt more like a snippet of extremely social weirdos enmeshed in an admittedly awesome cyberpunk/magic setting. I just wanted more... much more... grounding.

I may be a bit more critical than usual, but I feel INVESTED in this kind of setting. I want more. Alas.

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The Primal Hunter 6 by Zogarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Totally addictive. Still.

The aftermath was very amusing--what, with visiting family (assassins) and an auction and starting termite genocide with a world-ending cursed weapon that makes people hungry.

It's fun.

And if that wasn't amusing enough, it's just about SCHOOL TIME. You know, in a hell dimension. :)

Great LitRPG.

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