Comes off as a pretty standard fantasy story, in which the Light’s Chosen One is a child on the run from the forces of Dark. The really good action-packed beginning is severely blunted by an exposition-heavy worldbuilding middle (seriously, I feel like the author could have done better here), then it gradually ramps up again to a climactic final battle with the miniboss (you don’t take on the big boss at the end of the first book of a trilogy, after all). The book got much better towards the end, which featured a twist that I really enjoyed. Unfortunate that the second book isn’t remotely out yet.
Author: librarykat
All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
The Murderbot Diaries had been recommended all over the place and the praise is well deserved. I really liked the self-named Murderbot, a security cyborg AI provisioned to a planetary exploration team. Murderbot managed to hack into its controller module to gain its freedom… and proceeds to carry on doing the bare minimum required by its job while binging on entertainment serials in its spare time. (So relatable!) Despite Murderbot’s general antisocial tendencies, it finds itself trying to take care of its assigned humans as things around them get suspiciously dangerous. Murderbot is a super adorable character, the humans around it are well-sketched, and the plot moves really well. Next few books on hold!
Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby
Oh man I am not sure what to make of this. On one level it’s a super fun ride, with two old dads, one white and one black, who go on a violent mission to avenge their two murdered sons; the writing is slick and enjoyable, there’s some great social commentary, and the character building is solid. On the other hand, I really don’t like that all the dads’ best character growth comes about because their gay sons were murdered. (This is not a spoiler, it is literally the first chapter.) Can we please not go around casually murdering the gay kids for character growth, it makes me sad.
Aru Shah and the End of Time, by Roshani Chokshi
I finally gave into the kid’s wishes and read one of his books, and this is SO charming. It’s basically Percy Jackson, except it’s based off of Hindu mythology. Aru Shah is an insecure, mouthy teen, constantly exaggerating (or outright lying) to put herself in the best light, and I liked how this character note was presented both as a weakness and a strength. Aru meets another girl named Mini, and the two discover that they are both Pandavas reborn, needed to defeat the demon that Aru accidentally awakened while trying to impress her friends. The writing is a bit precious but the jokes are genuinely funny; it works for the middle grade level, keeping the tone casual even as the themes get a little heavy.
A Stranger in Olondria, by Sofia Samatar
This book took forever (months) to read. The prose is incredibly lush; you drown in run-on phrases choked with beautiful adjectives and long inserted quotes from imaginary writers. For me it was too much to take in any one sitting and so I had to dip into it, intermittently, as I would a book of poetry. It’s like sifting through hay to find the needle of the plot, but basically a book-smart spice merchant gets haunted by an illiterate ghost who needs him to write her life story; unfortunately, he has traveled to a country in which haunting is forbidden, and needs to find allies to help him finish his quest. For all the gorgeous descriptive writing the plot moved agonizingly slowly, not picking up till the very end.
book collage, January 2022
End of month book collage time again! Bit late in the day getting this one out, but only because we spent the evening cooking and eating our new year dinner (and sitting around afterwards eating candied fruit and veg, om nom). Happy Lunar New Year my friends, may the tiger year bring you health and happiness.
The Jasmine Throne, by Tasha Suri
In the Watchful City, by S. Qiouyi Lu
The City of Brass, by S.A. Chakraborty
Jade Legacy, by Fonda Lee
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A Master of Djinn, by P. Djèlí Clark
Red Rising, by Pierce Brown
All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft, by Geraldine DeRuiter
Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
The Stand, by Stephen King
Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi
Beasts of Prey, by Ayana Gray
A Psalm of Storms and Silence, by Roseanne A. Brown
A Psalm of Storms and Silence, by Roseanne A. Brown
A little too precious in parts, but in this book Brown does a slightly better job in letting her characters drive the plot instead of making it feel like the characters are being shoehorned into a particular arc (which was the major problem with the book before this one). I like that this book is all about consequences; when humans betray each other, the consequence is a lack of trust; similarly, when very significant magic is done, an enormous price must be paid.
Beasts of Prey, by Ayana Gray
A little too YA in execution and tone, but I liked the concept: a girl with mysterious talents and a boy who longs to be a warrior come together in a hunt for a monster that is terrorizing their city. Of course nothing is as simple as it seems and their conflicting loyalties and goals begin to complicate their wary relationship. I liked the monsters drawn from pan-African folktale and the relationship between the kids founded on mutual respect, and some of the plot twists actually took me by surprise… but the writing and dialogue were a little too simplistic for me; don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel despite the dramatic cliffhanger ending.
Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi
In a utopian future where “angels” have rooted out the “monsters” that beset humanity, protagonist Jam draws a creature of vengeance out of a piece of her mother’s artwork, and finds herself an unwilling participant in its hunt for evil. It’s an interesting situation because all her life Jam has been told that there are no more monsters to fear, so that when she does wish to hunt one, she finds that the biggest obstacle is the adults’ lack of belief that danger exists at all. Simply told but sits uncomfortably in the mind; well done.
The Stand, by Stephen King
For book club. I get why people call this an American post-apocalyptic classic, it’s the sheer ambitious scale of it. (Paradoxically, reading King’s pandemic actually made me feel a little better about our current pandemic, because ours is so much less deadly! yay?) King focuses on individual human stories to tell the story of a nationwide tragedy, and then gradually pivots to make it an even bigger story of good vs. pure evil. It really, really didn’t work for me though; it’s too obvious that King is a white guy writing from the whitest state of America. His people of color get to be stereotypes and/or stale tropes; I couldn’t even quietly envision myself in the cast, because if a character isn’t white or heterosexual, King will. point. it. out. The origins and government mismanagement of King’s pandemic also didn’t sit well with me; I know it wasn’t his intent at all, but to me, by painting the government as untrustworthy and inept in the face of a pandemic, it feels like he’s encouraging the real people who are prolonging this pandemic by ignoring the government’s advice on masking and vaccination, ugh. Bad timing, I guess. Also, despite a really patient and gradual buildup of good vs. evil, the climax of the conflict felt pointless and unsatisfying. In short: boy am I the wrong audience for this book.