Cold Water by Dave Hutchinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For anyone who has read the Fractured Europe series by Hutchinson, they'll feel right at home in this expansive near-future worldbuilding filled with great characterization.

Truly, we're all almost here, now, a dystopian near-cyberpunk complex future that focuses more on a detailed investigation than the espionage of the previous novels, plus we're headed into new territory with a completely different MC that we briefly saw in the third novel.

There are no issues in reading this first. It does dovetail wonderfully, however, and it gives me a rather awesomely complete picture of so many post-country countries, be it eastern or western Europe OR America.

Definitely a good novel for thriller lovers who like their settings extremely well thought-out and complex.

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The Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let's just call it the adventures of Echo the Crat. Because that's what it is.

Of course, that doesn't quite do the culinary genre justice, nor does the bargain to eat all he wants for the low, low price of being rendered into tallow for an evil old man quite do the stakes justice.

That's merely the appetizer.

There's a lot of great imagination in here, packed page by page, evoking a Goethian nightmare, an intellectual paradise, and a taste for tongue (not merely for the words it swirls) bar none.

The novel is worth a great, slow, lazy read. Don't worry if you get fat on words. I promise, the author won't process you for your fat. I promise.

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Pax by Sara Pennypacker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm reading this one with my girl. She was obviously captured by the cover and she loves foxes, so it was a rather no-brainer.

As for the read? Me, personally, I just had the feeling like I was watching a long episode of Lassie with a few minor changes: Lassie was actually a domesticated fox and Timmy found a philosophical woman mentor... while the rest of the world was going to war.

Peace and War, right? Well, it was cute enough. I probably wouldn't have read it without sufficient impetus from the outside, but I don't regret it. It was cute.

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A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How very, very odd. By all my personal standards, I wouldn't think I would have enjoyed this kind of novel. Between the insecurities, the little quirks, obsessions, and self-deprecatory humor, it mostly read like a contemporary. You know, relationship-laden, constant obsession, class consciousness, even a tragedy that never quite feels like a tragedy.

The obsession is real, however, and while this is officially a rather humorous horror novel, it never feels like a horror till near the end.

And me? I guess it just slipped in and made me interested despite everything. The end, however, was pretty great. Sick, but great.

Not bad at all. Simple premise, executed slowly. Kept me guessing until the end.

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Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the concept of this novel. Some far future creating-your-own-worlds stuff going on here. The premise is far from simple but easy to visualize: continents floating around in an enormous artificial balloon. Artificial suns inside.

The story, itself, however, feels nothing like hard-sf. Indeed, it feels like all the best features of a STEAMPUNK novel. Lots of airships, air battleships, airbikes, and a wild (but eerily familiar) plot of revenge, rebellion, piracy, treasure hunting, and discovery.

I really found both parts -- the premise and the swashbuckling adventure --rather charming. Maybe depth of characterization was lost in the overall plot, but really, it was a fascinating adventure. And make no mistake: it was a real steampunk adventure in all the best ways.

I absolutely recommend this for fans of either point. I know I'll be continuing. This is my first Schroeder and I'm loving the worldbuilding imagination.

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Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This might be a case of having read too many modern interpretations of classic Greek adventures. Or perhaps it's because I've read too many really good ones.

But as it is now, this particular PoV retelling of Atalanta, a devotee of Artemis and for a while, the only female who joined Jason and the Argonauts on their fateful quest (before Medea) IS filled with a good handful of great scenes and important messages, but it is also somewhat filler-y. I lost a bit of my patience with some of the scenes that should have been solid characterization WHILE propelling the plot, so in the end it was kinda watered down.

There ARE some good scenes in it. When she's fighting, she shines. Unfortunately, a lot of the other bits suffer from a lack of original sources, or rather, it's all whole cloth. Interpolation. Even the old legends relegate her to a token, and that's even addressed in this book, but honestly, it's like taking Arwen from LotR and giving her a full novel from her PoV and only from the records we have in the original text. The movies was already a huge extrapolation. In the end, it's all just a wild yarn that FEELS like fan fiction. Maybe it's good fan fiction and it pushes the right agenda for the day, but a lot of it just feels... off.

In my opinion, if it was shorter and sharper, like an arrow through a number of hearts, I'd be whooping and crying with joy and relief. Unfortunately, this wasn't that kind of novel.

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Around the World in 80 Birds by Mike Unwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Birds.

















Actually, there's a lot of cool and interesting details on 80 different impactful bird species written in an engaging way that really worth the gander.

I mean, seriously, don't be turkey. Finch this up and sing its praises like a nightingale.

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