Justin Grays

Winning Colors by Elizabeth Moon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I rather enjoyed Winning Colors; not quite as much as I did Hunting Party, but more than I did Sporting Chance. I still give it 5 stars - just a lesser 5 stars than I gave Hunting Party.

I really enjoyed how much Elizabeth Moon developed the galaxy, giving a sense that people exist in the galaxy outside of the aristocracy (and those in their employ) and the military. The Familias Regnant is struggling to hold together, showing real consequences from the previous book. Another thing I enjoyed was the fact that the lead characters are older people, especially older women; books with such lead characters do not frequently cross my path in sci-fi.

There was less talk about horses in this book as well, but it was still there. I imagine that this will be a constant throughout The Serrano Legacy, or at least in the books with Heris Serrano and Cecelia de Marktos as leading characters. I don’t find the horse stuff overly interesting, but I do appreciate the consistency and how it is a point of difference between Heris & Cecelia.

The weakest part of the book was in its scene transitions. There were times where I would have to reread paragraphs to try to figure out if I just missed the change or if it really just shifted without notice. Each time, it just shifted without notice.

Though it wasn’t the point of the book, it would have been interesting to discuss the ethics and consequences of rejuvenation; especially in a society where only the rich can afford it while the rest of us have to face mortality. Cecelia was initially against becoming a Rejuvenant, and now that she is one, she doesn’t plan on undergoing the life-extension procedure again; however, Heris is not a Rejuvenant, and though she is younger than Cecelia, she is physically older. Not only would exploring the class divide with rejuvenation, but also exploring the divide between those who would and would not seek immortality would be interesting.

I don’t think I would become a Rejuvenant (if I could ever afford it). But that’s for a different post.

View all my reviews

Creep: Accusations and Confessions by Myriam Gurba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve been trying to write this review for months. I couldn’t possibly keep all of my thoughts aligned while reviewing this book. I found myself going back to sections of each essay to think about them further. The first time I had to stop was almost right away, on page 4: "When was the last time you played a death game? Were you alone or did you play with others? How much did you trust them?" I don’t know for sure when the last time I played a death game was, but it was probably the last time I played StarCraft II - I don’t actually remember when I played it last. If it was, I was alone, for sure.

Creep is a powerful collection of essays addressing racism, sexism, racial violence, heterosexism, domestic violence, and sexual assault. The intersection of toxic masculinity and assault is put on full display in these essays. Myriam Gurba does an excellent job of weaving personal experiences, family stories, and stories from the media together into a compelling narrative. The abuses she has survived and the abuses that others did not survive are heart-wrenching, devastating, and all-too-real.

Creep is a very tough, very hard read in the best way. I highly recommend it. 5 stars.

View all my reviews

Sporting Chance by Elizabeth Moon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not as well put-together as Hunting Party. 3 Stars.

Sporting Chance was good, but not great. I am not certain if it is an artifact of 90s sci-fi, but the story seemed to frequently change tracks without warning, making for a somewhat confusing read. The book was fast-paced, which can be exciting; however, it was a little too fast-paced, creating undeveloped areas.

The ending felt very rushed as well, with many loose threads to pick up. If different plot points were given the chance to breathe and develop, and if the ending wrapped up the story, I could see this easily being an excellent duology of its own, instead of an adequate individual book. However, I still am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Ultimately, it’s okay.

View all my reviews

Naked at Church by K.C. Silkwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book reminds me of the adage “there’s no hate like Christian love.”

When I purchased this book, I was hoping for a continuation of the Naked at Work series; at least a spiritual continuation, if not an actual continuation. However, what we got was the misadventure of someone who was trying to fit in at her local church and was so overwhelmed by the cruelty of the local congregation where she ended up making one bad choice after another. The entirety of the situation that the protagonist, Ashley Greer, found herself in could have been avoided if only the congregation was kind and loving - instead, she was so focused on fitting in and appeasing a hostile community that she lived in constant fear and was unable to even consider asking for help. The one person she asked for help from proved to her that she was right to not trust the community.

The writing started to come apart towards the end of the story; the entirety of the book was from the perspective of Ashley Greer, and then suddenly we were reading from Chad Mayfield’s perspective without any sort of break to indicate the change of perspective. The same thing happened again a few pages later, when we suddenly slipped into Missy Mayfield’s perspective without any sort of transition. With a little more time and editing, I think that this would have been rectified.

Ultimately, I felt sad for Ashley Greer. She tried so hard to fit in, and was met with thinly veiled hostility until it turned into open abuse. Would I call it erotic? No. Would I call it a criticism of modern christianity? Yes.


View all my reviews

Hunting Party by Elizabeth Moon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had been considering reading Elizabeth Moon for most of my life, but I somehow never got around to reading any until now. Hunting Party was first published in 1993, when I was turning 10. I acquired the copy I read from a friend of mine, and every part of the reading experience, from the cover art to the Baen Books advertisements in the back, brought me back to the 90s in a good way. I probably would not have enjoyed it when it was first published, but I would have loved it when it was published again in 1999.

Hunting Party was an interesting romp in space. While I’m fairly certain that fox hunting in space has been done before, this is my first time reading such a story. I loved the characters and how they were all unique and yet believable, and found the concept of how rich peers would play at being Old Earth nobles and mix “traditional” names with “modern” names. George Starbridge Mahoney was a particular favorite name of mine, taking a name that one could conceivably encounter today and having a middle name that makes sense in the setting (though it makes me wonder if one of his ancestors built star bridges, as his father’s name is Kevil Starbridge Mahoney - is Starbridge a family name? I want to know).

It was also great to read “older” heroines being in the center of action. Not that Herris Serrano or Lady Cecilia are actually old - they’re described as being older than the young people who are on the ship, but aside from having to deal with societal expectations, their age is not a major plot point. I do not believe that we actually get to find out their ages. Or if they even use the Gregorian calendar or something more practical for a post-fusion society.

The one criticism I had was the love interest that was introduced at the end of the book. That seemed to totally come out of nowhere, added as an afterthought. While I’m not opposed to romance, this one felt very sudden, with no buildup - almost as if it was written as a way to give Herris Serrano a plausible reason to stay out of the Regular Space Service without losing face.

Moon’s writing left me wanting to know more about the galaxy that the story resides in. How did a monarchy take hold of their region of space? Why is there a Regular Space Service and a Royal Astro-Space Service? Does Earth still exist? Will we find out in future books? I’m intrigued and look forward to reading the next book in the series.

View all my reviews

Naked at Work 2 by K.C. Silkwood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Much better than its predecessor, Naked at Work. 3 stars.
This story is a sequel in that it uses the same reality show and producer; otherwise the setting, circumstances, and outcomes are completely different. It feels more realistic, especially because there are naked reality shows already (Naked and Afraid, Dating Naked, etc) and because there’s actual interpersonal conflict outside of the leering and jeering that was in the first one.

There is also racism in this story, which is part of the interpersonal conflict - Puerto Rican vs Mexican, however, which is something that I personally haven’t seen in books and movies, but have read academic papers about. There is also a character who is a lesbian, and the writing appears to be taking a male character and doing a gender swap but keeping all the characteristics the same.

Not the worst I’ve read, but also not the best. Middle of the road. 3 stars.

View all my reviews

Naked at Work by K.C. Silkwood
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Swing and a miss. 1 star.

The reason why I stuck with the ENF stories is because I like to see people use their wit and intelligence to get out of or get through situations. Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those stories; this wasn’t even comical shenanigans. Though the reality show concept was interesting, the entire situation from beginning to end was one long sexual assault. It was cruel, and cruelty is not something that I am looking for.

View all my reviews

Bare at the Beach: Two Girls Have Their Clothes Stolen by K.C. Silkwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can see something like this happening. Four stars.

This series of unfortunate events is something I can picture happening in real life, especially to United States citizens traveling internationally. There are two things that make me believe that something like this being possible: 1) the puritan prudishness that is a part of the US sociological norms; and, 2) the number of US citizens who give the rest of the populace the reputation of having an inflated sense of entitlement, especially when traveling internationally. I am not saying that the latter applies to the main characters, but enough people are like this where it is easy to presume that any US citizen would be like that.

One simple mistake made due to an excited overreaction is the pebble that starts the avalanche, and that is well described here as Abby and Jennifer try to get back to their hotel. I feel for them; but the story ends where it does because of the genre of these short stories, and the ending is quite believable.

View all my reviews

Stripped on the Softball Field by K.C. Silkwood
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Two Stars.

This adventure was less fun than Naked at School ; the protagonist, Christy, is a bully, and what she and her cohorts do to set up the series of events is assault. None of that was fun. And the revenge placed upon Christy was extreme and potentially dangerous.

I can tolerate secondhand embarrassment, and I am a fan of seeing people use their intellect to work their way through tough and unusual situations. But this adventure had minimal use of wits and was the result of hazing.

View all my reviews

Naked at School by K.C. Silkwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Overall, I give this 4 stars.

When I picked this up, I was expecting to read a short fluff piece about a sorority initiation and somebody embracing the joy of being naked; what I didn’t expect was to learn that there is an entire subgenre of erotica called “embarrassed nude female”. Well, now I know!

This was a fun romp. I enjoyed the creativity of the protagonist, attempting to overcome all the challenges placed before her and using her wits to get through the initiation. I have no experiences with college initiations myself, as I never went to a university with dorms or fraternities/sororities, and so I cannot say how realistic it is; but I can say that the protagonist’s feelings were well expressed.

If you are looking for a light, quick, fun read, and can tolerate secondhand embarrassment, I would recommend this.

View all my reviews

Tiamat's Wrath by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like Persepolis Rising, I give Tiamat’s Wrath 5 stars.

Though I haven’t written reviews for all 8 of the novels to date, I have rated them. Here’s a quick recap:
Leviathan Wakes - 4 stars
Caliban’s War - 4 stars
Abaddon’s Gate - 4 stars
Cibola Burn - 4 stars
Nemesis Games - 4 stars
Babylon’s Ashes - 4 stars
Persepolis Rising - 5 stars
Tiamat’s Wrath - 5 stars
Average Rating: 4.25 stars

I think that one of the things that helps this book is that James fucking Holden is not the protagonist. He’s barely even in this book, which gives the other characters room to grow and have character development. The authors did a magnificent job of giving a feeling to what each character was experiencing, making us care about what happened to everybody, for good or for ill. For example, Dr. Cortázar reminded me of a TERF; his smugness and ability to dehumanize others because they didn’t fit his essentialist definition of “human” felt incredibly real. And then the shock that the others felt when he met his fate was stunning - I could see myself reacting in the same fashion. Brilliant.

Figuring out what the aliens are doing to humans is one of the joys of reading this book, in my opinion. The speed of light changing, consciousness being altered, neutron stars being weaponized - it’s all fascinating to think about. The impossible can become possible with enough imagination, patience, and knowledge. I love it.

Also, one of the greatest lines came from a scientific advancement: “BEEN READING THE SAFETY GUIDELINES. TURNS OUT MALES ARE SPECIFICALLY DISCOURAGED FROM MASTURBATING IN THE GEL WHILE UNDER BURN. WONDER WHAT THAT TEST PROTOCOL LOOKED LIKE.” I’ll leave you to read where that came up, but I will tell you that Fayez said it. I mentioned that line to a good friend of mine, and she said, “I guarantee if they invent anything someone will try to masterbate or have sex in it”.

I did have a qualm with something that Naomi said: “Wars never ended because one side was defeated. They ended because the enemies were reconciled. Anything else was just a postponement of the next round of violence.” White liberal idealism - realistically, wars usually end when one side wins or the parties experience significant war weariness. Bobbie said, “but pacifism only works when your enemy has a conscience”; that holds to be more true. The best way to stop a war is to prevent it from starting, to make it more profitable for there to be a lasting peace.

Ultimately, Tiamat’s Wrath is the best book of the series yet. 5/5, highly recommended.

View all my reviews

Teammates: Take Shots by Alison Sommer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I give Take Shots 5 stars. That gives the Teammates Series an average rating of 5 stars from me so far.

This book perfectly builds off of Teammates: On Ice , further exploring the relationships that the teammates have individually and collectively. I said in my review of On Ice that the characters are well-developed, empathetic, and true - this remains true in Take Shots. Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character, which adds to the story by giving us deeper insight into the main character’s interpersonal dynamics.

And this book is very real. Not only do we face friendship and toxic relationships, but we also live through coming out as an adult and dealing with “gold star” lesbians, unpacking trauma, healing from loss, and confronting unrequited love. I am looking forward to reading the third book in the series, Teammates: Full Strength . And be certain to read the bonus scenes that take place during Take Shots:
Fitz: November 21st, 2018
Tessa: November 23rd, 2018

View all my reviews

Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Breaking the 4-star trend, I give Persepolis Rising 5 stars.

Breaking the 4-star trend, I give Persepolis Rising 5 stars. I honestly liked it better than the previous books in the Expanse series (I never got around to reviewing Babylon’s Ashes, but know that I gave it 4 stars). Minor spoilers ahead.

It’s been 32ish years since the Ilus incident (Cibola Burn). I had to look the timeline up on the wiki - the incident happened around 14 or 15 XTE (depending on which page of the wiki one looks at), and Persepolis Rising takes place in approximately 47 XTE (about 38 or 39 years since the series started). Time certainly is moving on for everybody, and it shows. James S. A. Corey is able to express the effects of aging on the cast and crew, even with the anti-aging medications provided by the technology of the future. But even anti-aging medicine can only go so far, and all good things must come to an end. “It’s the reward of old age. You live long enough, and you can watch everything you worked for become irrelevant.”

This certainly reads like it is To Be Continued - which it is. Tiamat’s Wrath is next in the series, after all. Which is good, because a small part of me felt like this could have been taken as a Libertarian's wet dream about how best to show the "evils of centralized government". But considering that the Governor of Freehold was the ultimate Libertarian who fetishized “radical personal autonomy” to such a degree that he was willing to kill himself and others to protect his “right” to endanger the lives of himself and others, I’m fairly certain that that wasn’t the message either. The message seemed to be more about, to quote a friend of mine, “the evils of shitty human leaders.” I’ve gotta agree with that. Holden actually made good points throughout the book - he may have poor wisdom, but he does have a high intelligence. James fucking Holden.

On a related note, Bobbie Draper is a better captain than James Holden. All Holden has going for him is luck and name recognition. Bobbie actually plans ahead for her people, knows to file paperwork for incidents and end-of-life situations, and will stand up to the problematic elements of her crew to make certain that her crew functions. Like, if Amos is going to partake in an assisted suicide, then you need that on file so that he doesn’t get arrested for murder. Seriously. Holden is just holding it together (pun intended) like patchwork, and Draper is planning and ready.

Also, Libertarians are hypocrites, and that was made very clear at the beginning of the book. A note to people who are not from the United States: American Libertarianism is not libertarianism - that is, American Libertarianism is about being against state control, is pro-corporation, and is a form of ultra-rightism; while libertarianism is a collection of political philosophies that upholds liberty and anti-state socialism.

Every so often, I found myself in agreement with the Laconians for only a second before they fucked it up again. Treat the other planets as equals, stop fetishizing Earth and Mars. I can dig it. But then they fuck it up again, between the fanaticism that the Laconians have and their tendency to mess with forces that they don’t understand and can’t possibly control in the end. Also, the final scene between Governor Singh and Major Overstreet? I should have seen that coming. All the clues were there, and it still caught me off-guard. Well played.

Was “Charles Boyle Gas Transport” a Brooklyn Nine-Nine reference?

Anyway. Best book of the series so far. 5/5.

View all my reviews

Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There’s only so many times I can say “I give this book 4 stars. The world is still very gendered, and that is annoying.”

Minor spoilers ahead.

I actually finished reading this book a couple weeks ago. I’ve been thinking about how to write this review since then - there’s only so many times I can say “I give this book 4 stars. The world is still very gendered, and that is annoying.” I somehow doubt that I’ll be changing that stance as I review future Expanse books.

The story has an otherwise interesting premise: what happens when humans enter an alien ecosystem for the first time? How would we interact with it? What would a corporation do to get their hands on a piece of land that refugees already made a home on when there are hundreds of potential other worlds to investigate? How would the United States… I mean, the United Nations *cough*United States*cough* be complicit in colonialism and corporate greed over the rights and liberties of refugees and the homeless.

The scene with Bobbi and the homeless person on the subway was hella insulting. It’s very reminiscent of the how our veterans here fall through the cracks while tough white boys shout “take off my uniform” at them. That entire scene was a patriotic lampshade, serving no purpose except maybe to remind us that Bobbi was a marine. That time would have been better used to analyze the population issues that got alluded to in the epilogue. Now that is interesting.

I found myself sympathizing with the scientists and the refugees. Corporations can suck vacuum. I’m worried about the Martian population. And the authors need to stop with the sex and gender normativity - it’s done poorly.

View all my reviews

Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rocky start, but a worthwhile read.

Caution: This review contains spoilers. Proceed with caution.

I gave this novel 4 out of 5 stars, just like the previous books. Early into it, I wanted to throw the book across the room, but I resisted because I cannot afford a new iPad (and the one that I own was a gift, which makes it a treasured possession). But I was instantly disgusted by Manéo Jung-Espinoza and his fantasies towards his first cousin. That’s just gross.
I wasn’t sad in the least when he died.

In fact, the novel started losing points from me immediately because of how the patriarchy still exists in the future. Everything is still so hetero and cis, women are still objectified, and the pornography at casinos is still violent. It’s approximately the year 2355 – how have we not moved past this?
Fortunately, we only see that in the casino in a single early chapter of the book. But all of my buttons were getting pushed quickly and hard. I almost gave up on the book because of this – once we got away from that and got to the meat of the story, I was interested.

The action is interesting, seeing people from various cultures come together was great, having a queer character not die was refreshing, and now I’m interested in finding out how the UN, the MCR, and the OPA will fuck things up again.

Character progression in this book was great overall, but there were spots that just didn’t make any sense; buildups that didn’t pay off. A friend of mine said that if Amos gives you a nickname, you shouldn’t be allowed to die. I have to agree with her – fortunately, we don’t see Peaches die in this book, so there is a chance that she’ll live. A small chance, but still a chance.
I think that this is the first time that Fred Johnson is described as being Black. His “White Savior” complex is at a minimum in this book, but I think that is because he isn’t really in this book.
As for Serge, I feel that his death was stupid. He was on the level the entire time, knew what was going on, and then seemed surprised when armed insurgents shot him after he had already been talking about that possibility with Bull. Like, what did you expect? It seemed out of touch.
Clarissa took much longer to switch sides and help Anna than anticipated. When she got in the turbolift, she gave Anna a knowing look before she, Ashford, Cortez, and the rest of the insurgents went to take the bridge. And then she half-heartedly helped Ashford out anyway even though she had given the implication that she was there to foul up their plans. It was very odd.

The greatest thing about this book is when it makes one think about humanity. Being a decent human once doesn’t mean that you owe someone something. Why are we supposed to be more okay with what Clarissa did than what her dad did? Why are we supposed to be more okay with what Amos did in his past than with what Clarissa did? Is it a numbers game? The trolley problem? Circumstances? Chris told us that he was getting a medal for falling into a pressure hatch, where he lost and arm and leg to keep seven sailors from being trapped in a compromised are of the Thomas Prince; it didn’t matter that he was unconscious at the time and didn’t know that he was doing it – if he were drunk and fell into a harvesting combine, he’s be called an idiot.

Perhaps that’s the best part of the book. Thinking about humanity. That’s what brought it back up to 4 stars for me.

Get rid of the gendered crime and male gaze, and it would have been five stars.

View all my reviews

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with Leviathan Wakes, I found Caliban’s War to be most enjoyable. 4 out of 5 stars, once again. And once again, this review comes with spoilers.

There are many great things in this book that is missing in a lot of science fiction stories. At least, in the stories that I have read so far. The science and technology in this book are exemplary, and the plot is very interesting. However, there are also a few issues that I find to be quite jarring. I’ll talk about the jarring things first, and then talk about what is great after.

This book, and I feel certain that this will be an issue throughout the entire series, has the scope of Americentrism. Granted, James S. A. Corey (the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) is an American. White, and I presume cisgender and heterosexual. Every so often, this comes through in the story in unnecessary or disturbing ways. Race and language comes up a number of times as if it is odd for humans to be diverse and adaptive in the future:

“The Mariner Valley had originally been settled by Chinese, East Indians, and Texans. Alex had the dark complexion and jet-black hair of an East Indian. Coming as he did from Earth, Holden always found it strangely disconcerting when an exaggerated Texas drawl came from someone his brain said should be speaking with Punjabi accents” (pages 20 - 21). We’re still early in the book, and for some reason this Earther is put off by a dark-skinned Martian who has a Texan drawl. Here in the 20th century, Texas is already 4% Asian and 3% two or more races, and this story takes place in the far future (according to the Expanse Wiki, though not confirmed, this book should take place around 2353CE). By then, the world should be much more mixed and diverse racially, especially in the Americas.

“Her personal assistant—a European boy named Soren Cottwald—detached himself from the back wall and followed her” (page 47). A European boy. Like, is he from all of Europe? Or is the EU now a nation and all those interior nations are just states? Also, why do we need to know that he’s European?

“Sadavir Errinwright was darker skinned than she was, his face round and soft. It would have been in place anywhere in the Punjab, but his voice affected the cool, analytic amusement of Britain,” (pages 50 - 51). Someone needs to check out the resource “Writing With Color”.

“He had a European accent that would have melted butter” (page 93). What is an ‘European accent’?

For some reason, sex and gender are still very hetero and binary, with some armchair psychology thrown in:

“Bobbie nodded. She’d noticed it too. Some men had a large-woman fetish, and Bobbie had gotten the hair-raising sense that he might be a member of that tribe. They tended to have unresolved mommy issues, so she generally steered clear” (page 335). Um, okay. That is making me wonder why the author is thinking that.

““Good, because I don’t use sex as a weapon,” Bobbie said. “I use weapons as weapons”” (page 335). I would imagine so - she is a Marine. How quickly the men in this book forget that Bobbie is a member of the Martian Congressional Republic Marine Corps is both startling and depressing, as if social mores have stagnated over the 3 centuries between now and then.

“He had the kind of handsome face that made Bobbie instinctively want to like him, and medically untreated male-pattern hair loss that said he didn’t care whether she did. Choosing not to use his wealth to fix a problem as treatable as thinning hair actually made him seem even more in control” (page 335). One of the reasons why I like Star Trek is because Picard is bald. Society doesn’t care about hair loss - it is a natural part of life.

“He didn’t hold their ingrained prejudices against them, because he knew that meeting Naomi would be the cure for it” (page 578). Yeah, no - that’s not how racism works. I mean, sure, they may see Naomi as one of the good ones, if they take the time to get to know her, but that doesn’t instantly undo systemic racism overnight. It takes years of learning and actively trying to be a better person. It just doesn’t work that way. Granted, Holden wouldn’t know that - like the writers (probably), he’s never had to be on the receiving end of it.

As I said in my review of Leviathan Wakes, it’s obvious that (white) men wrote this.

But it’s not all bad. Actions have consequences, characters are aware of each others’ strengths and flaws, and there is science. SCIENCE!

“Holden’s an idiot, but he’s not stupid” (page 99). “Holden thinks he’s a hero, power to the people, information wants to be free blah blah blah, but he’s a fucking moron” (page 386). And that’s true - he’s a fucking idiot. He doesn’t think about his actions, and when combined with his white knight complex, he goes and makes the worst choices possible. If he’s given time to think, or if Naomi is there to tell him that he’s being an idiot, he’ll make better choices. But his feelings of self-righteousness gets him fired eventually, as well as it should have. He’s not a plucky hero who can break the rules and come out smelling like roses, and if he fucks up, he has to pay for it.

One of my favorite things to happen in this book is to find out that people who aren’t from Earth get agoraphobia. That makes perfect sense - imagine coming from a place where the sky literally does not exist. You have a dome overhead or live in tunnels all your life. The only time you’re outside is when you’re suited up for EVA. The air you breathe is recycled with technology, there are no wide-open spaces, and the horizon is the end of the dome if you aren’t in a tunnel. It’s probably easier to adjust to being in a dome or underground than the other way around. And just imagine what it must be like for those born in an O’Neill Cylinder! The sky is the ground!

There is some wonderful talk about the reach of empires and how it always exceeds its grasp in chapter 47. I always get the feeling that it’s a criticism of empires. It is well said.

View all my reviews

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Most enjoyable.

Almost a perfect rating. I had a few qualms. Minor spoilers ahead.

I typically don’t look at who authors are when I start reading books. Granted, I read mostly science fiction and fantasy, which means that there is an over representation of male writers. After I got a couple of chapters into the book, I said to the friend who gifted it to me, “it’s obvious a man wrote it.”
“Well, two men did,” she said.
“Ah.”

Gendered crime is still a thing. It’s not surprising, but it is disappointing. And it is almost casually mentioned as a thing that happened.

Naked underaged girls are mentioned a number of times early in the book. Very Philip K. Dick. Very unsettling.

Miller falls in love with his idea of Naomi, which is gross and unprofessional.

Holden is an idiot. He has a white knight complex, which I don’t have a problem with, but he doesn’t think about his actions.

Lastly, how did they spin Eros without it coming apart? Unlike Ceres, it is not a planetoid - it is an asteroid. It should have shaken itself to rubble.

Otherwise, interesting plot, interesting story, interesting system building (see what I did there?). I liked it.

View all my reviews

Uncompromising Honor by David Weber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A satisfactory ending. I am pleased.

View all my reviews

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my second Heinlein book (the first being Starship Troopers). I found the world-building to be interesting and the use of Lunar language to be interesting (I had to look up some Russian and Australian words and slang now and then, which actually added to my enjoyment. Learning new things is fun).

This book is still filled with Heinlein's style of women being less capable than men, but taking into account when the book was published (1965-1966), the women in his book are more active than what I would have expected a male author to write in that time period.

The concept of marriage structures being born out of environmental needs is well described, noting the harshness of the environment and how to best make family structures and reproduction work.

View all my reviews

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A quick read, enjoyable. Not a book that I'd give to youngsters (anybody under ten, I think), but rather those old enough to understand satire. It is good to read books without happy endings; there are too many that provide happy endings that are so incongruent with the real world. The end solution felt kind of weak, but I wonder if I judge YA books too harshly.

View all my reviews

Rise of the Destroyer by A.R. Voss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting world, and I would have liked to see more of it. I understand that it was meant to kick off the series, and that is how it comes off. Also, the writing style makes it seem like it was intended for a young-adult audience (which may add to the difficulty for me to read it, as YA books are generally harder for me to read than adult books).

Unfortunately, I found the characters to be rather flat and the dialogue to be forced. Both the guards and the assassins were inefficient, and I found Aldrick's loyalty to Prince Brodan confusing. The court intrigue wasn't very intriguing, and the logic behind this system of government was dubious (at best). Personally, I desire to know more about Gilmoure; to me, he is the most interesting character in the book.

The archery and joust scenes were very interesting, and left me wanting to know more about what was going on. A lot of things were obvious, but the confusion out of those two was well played and helped keep me interested.

The world-building was wonderful. The character development needs development.

View all my reviews

Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Very decent. My favourite story in it was Facade, especially how it dealt with stress and fear of the outside. I could see myself in her shoes (aside from being metamorphed, that is). A Dream of a Thousand Cats explored how we shape our world. Very good. And the bonus script at the end was eye-opening.

View all my reviews

Three Little Kittens by Marie Simchow Stern
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Always made me sad, being reprimanded without being taught.

View all my reviews