Reviews and Comments

The idea of a split awareness, of “self” being distributed among multiple bodies drew me in, but I think I enjoyed the concept more than the story itself. I found the present-day story in the first half slow going. I don’t know how necessary the dual timeline was. The Radch (Radchaai?) culture was interesting, with its rituals, religion, tea and inter-house politics. That said, many of the cultural details seemed there more as unrelated background, and the story could have played out in a similar way in a very different setting.

The characters and there decisions didn’t always make sense to me, which maybe kept me from being fully engaged. Overall, I’m glad I read this, but I’m not in a rush to pick up the sequel.

Another reliable creature feature, this one has a Lost World setup but is set in contemporary times. Not that modern techology is much help… The action is interspersed with a journal from a long-dead explorer. I’m not sure how necessary that was, and it made the current-day narrative feel a tad rushed. Overall, a lot of fun.

I found this book interesting enough to finish (bear in mind I drop 75% of the books I pick up).The dual(ish) timeline kept the plot from being completely linear, and the prose was very readable.

January didn’t appeal to me as a character. She didn’t strike me as someone who learns from experience, even if (vague spoiler) some of that might be due to external influences. It seemed the other characters were either there to help her (that being their whole purpose in life), or to be villainously villainous. This probably reflects a young target readership.

Overall, a decent read, though I probably won’t pick it up again.

This is another solid offering from William Meikle in his Weird Holmes world. This time, we follow Holmes and Watson between the foggy streets of London and mouldering country estates as they tease apart the real, the rumoured and the unexplained (some of it weirder than the rest). The events in The Long Sleep aren’t as inexplicable (within the world context) as they are in some of the other stories, which I appreciated.

I enjoyed this short piece by a new-to-me author. There was enough background and setting hints to pique my interest in her other works. The sequence of events had a couple of handwavy aspects. I guess they might be explained in other stories, and I didn’t mind going along with the flow. Presumably, some of the characters feature elsewhere in the story universe. It will be fun to meet them again.

This is a very readable exploration of forensic botany and its applications. It covers various techniques (eg pollen analysis, “deductive” epidemiology, timelines and symptomatology) and presents their use in real-life examples. Investigations include (naturally) murders and other crimes, but also answering more archeological questions such as whether ancient relics are what they are claimed to be.

I have no background in the subject, but the author made it easy to understand.

A Memory Called Empire might be my favourite  book this year (so far). It took me a while to settle in to the naming conventions, and (as usual) I didn’t envisage the setting too clearly, but overall a great read.

Highlights included the undercurrents of political and diplomatic intrigue, and that uncertainty about whether anyone was genuinely trustworthy. (Or rather, which actors’ motivations happened to align with the main character’s, and which were maybe a bluff…) I enjoyed Mahit’s ongoing sense of being an outsider/other, how she used that role, and the challenges to her loyalties when she didn’t know what was going on.

There’s peril and injury and death, but the tone was generally upbeat. Perhaps that’s not terribly realistic, but since I’m not a fan of grim and gritty, it suited me just fine.

Highly recommended.

Although I’m picky about which novels I finish, I’ve never been a particularly “analytical” reader. I’ve read each Discworld book as it was released (so you can no doubt guess my vintage). The later ones were thought-provoking beyond simple entertainment, which may explain why they’re so re-readable.

This collection of essays raised issues I hadn’t actively considered regarding the portrayal and role of women in Discworld. I liked seeing how his style matured, and the added nuance and layering of later books.

The essays are short and easy to follow. I’d say they make a good starting point for further, in-depth reading. (Like Twoflower, I may have a tendency to read about things rather than simply experiencing them.)

I haven’t previously read anything by this author, and this fairytale-inspired story looked interesting.

I came away with the strong impression the book was really written for young readers, though I’m not sure just how young.Part of that was the jokey/cute tone and little asides. This feeling was reinforced by the plot being essentially linear and villain Crevan being unambiguously villainous, absolutely no doubt in anyone’s minds. I still have no idea why he assigned Rhea her various tasks: if it was merely to show her he was the boss, it was a convoluted way of going about it. On a related note, pretty much all the other characters (whether benign or not so much) direct Rhea’s actions and sometimes lent a hand (or paw), leaving her nearly no agency of her own.

A light and unchallenging read in a fairytale world.

Another fast-paced creature feature, as we follow Wiggo, Banks and a rather small team into the frozen North to rescue a team of researchers. This time, the immediate problem is Bears of Unusual Size. There’s no mystical/supernatural element (that I noticed).

In comparison to previous books in the series, the cast of characters here is relatively small, giving the story a more intimate feel. I do like Wiggo as a viewpoint character :) It was fun seeing the team sneak around and improvise to get out of various scrapes.

I’m looking forward to the next one already.