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A pleasant, low-stakes cosy adventure with found family learning how to get along with each other. The story’s told in first person, past tense by MC Tar. They are sympathetic and we get a full flavour of their challenges and difficulties without (imo) being bogged down in terms of story progress.

I am not, personally, a big fan of portal fantasy. I found this one fine as the focus was on the characters. Sure, the other-world elements were necessary, but the author integrated them nicely into the plot. The LitRPG elements are fairly understated (no pages and pages of stats) although I’m not sure how much the story would appeal to a reader with no RPG experience.

Another fun book in the Olympus, Inc. series. We meet old and new friends (and enemies) as main characters Laodice and Telfer end up doing more investigative journalism than they initially intended. Although this is a romance, there are interweaving mysteries to solve, some of which are pretty perilous. The action takes place in a retreat with around a dozen other characters. Because they were all introduced together, it took me a while to remember who they all were, which kept me from fully engaging with “whodunnit.”

This is the middle book of a trilogy, and I’m intrigued to see how the background arc plays out in the next book.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the stories here were puzzles in a light narrative wrapper rather than actual stories with real people. Although I’ve enjoyed some of the author’s other work, this collection didn’t gel with me. I bailed after “Uncommon Sense”. Overall, the environmental descriptions were presumably there to lay out the issue being demonstrated so the reader could follow along with the problem-solving. But without actual diagrams, they meant nothing to me. I also got a weeny bit tired of judgemental statements along the lines of, “For some reason, despite this information, our intrepid protagonists didn’t spot some obvious issue…” when I certainly couldn’t see whatever he meant either. I freely admit my ignorance, but having my nose rubbed in it wasn’t helpful or fun.

The title of this book might suggest a dry read, but I found it anything but. Each of the chapters covers an easy-to-understand (though possibly not quite so easy to implement) method for helping your target audience appreciate whatever amount/size/proportion etc you’re talking about. I found it quite easy to dip into individual chapters over a few weeks without feeling like I’d lost my place.

Personally, I don’t find myself in many situations where I would need to do this professionally (eg lecturing, writing proposals). But having read Making Numbers Count, I find myself more number-aware and inclined to translate information, even if only for my own use.

The r/fantasy MegaSale is on! Hundreds of books discounted or FREE! 26/27 December only.

The list is at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZB3V8gGLOn5q9drBOQ9QvcVbQGrZlKwkI4-Ttkh5ymM/edit?gid=33440808#gid=33440808

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And here's the r/fantasy post - check recommendations in the comments

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I read and enjoyed Pandora’s Jar by the same author a few years ago, which addressed the depiction (or lack of) of women in Greek mythology. So I was curious to see how Haynes handled the portrayal of goddesses. Each chapter covers a different goddess, some with more source material than others.

I found Divine Might a weaker book overall. Her chatty style remains readable, but I found myself disengaged from the personal opinions/anecdotes and coverages of various movies. (I will state here that I watch neither television programmes nor films). Modern comparisons are all very well and might appeal to many readers, but I missed a more scholarly coverage of historical “reception.”

Divine Might was a pleasant enough read, but I don’t feel I came away feeling more knowledgeable or insightful than before I picked up the book.

Year-end book sale!

From now until 1 January, all 5 of my books are just 0.99 (£/$/€) in the usual ebook stores.

They're light-hearted SF adventures with a retro/steampunk vibe (and minimal romance). Interested? See https://mhthaung.com/books/

Boosts and shares much appreciated 🙏🏽

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I’ve read a couple of the other books in this series (though not in order), so I came in with a good idea of what to expect. The story highlights interpersonal interactions with the mystery serving as a framework to hang them on. As before, I wasn’t keen on the frequent changes in perspective, some of which felt shoehorned in to create “artificial tension.” This isn’t a book I would read more than once, but it was a pleasant enough way to spend an evening.

I’ve previously read a couple of books by this author. Although that was several years ago, I did remember liking those books well enough to pick up this one when it came across my radar.

The author offers a different perspective on time, “time management” and our relationship with them both. He addresses several factors such as increasing distractions and evolving attitudes to work-time vs not-work-time. Ironically, I read most of this book at one sitting during a power cut when I had no PC/internet access, rendering my usual distractions inert!

He seems to cover mainly internal motivations/stressors rather than external ones, so one might not be able to take his suggestions on board wholesale. Still, I found plenty to mull over. I’ll probably revisit sections further down the line.

This is the first book I’ve read by the author. I picked it up because of the steampunk setting and promise of unusual adventures.

Karen narrates with a distinctive voice and in first person. It took me a few pages to get used to her style, and then I settled in. The plot moved at a good pace. There was plenty of action and peril. Karen and her allies were all distinctive. Though I admit, I got the members of the opposing team(s) a bit muddled in my head.

Unusually for me, I very much enjoyed the descriptions. They enhanced the strong sense of environment. There were intriguing steampunk-y inventions. Gratifyingly, they weren’t just cosmetic, although the technology was handwavy rather than convincingly laid out. Which is fine—Karen’s not an engineer, and explaining the speculative elements would have unnecessarily slowed the pace.

Overall, a fun, fast-paced steampunk adventure.