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This is the first novel I’ve read by this author, although I’ve previously enjoyed a couple of her short pieces. It strikes me as a coming of age/finding yourself adventure with folklore(ish) elements. I enjoyed the short tales scattered throughout and felt they went well with the overall atmosphere.

I didn’t love the first person, present tense narration, especially as the tense sometimes jumped around (and not in an artistic/appealing way). I preferred the latter part of the story (dealing with a mystery) to the earlier aspects of escaping an unwelcome situation. Although we spend the entire book in Miren’s point of view, her character didn’t make a strong impression on me, and she felt rather distant. Maybe it was more that she didn’t seem much (internally) changed at the end vs the beginning.

Overall, an enjoyable fantasy with touches of the grotesque

@roytoo I'm a huge Vimes fan :) If you're at all into comic books, I strongly recommend the Guards! Guards! graphic novel.

I really liked this noir mystery that wasn’t just gritty for the look of it. The influence of T7 and Titans on society was great food for thought, and I spent a bit of time wondering what being “human” would mean in such a world.

The entire story’s told in first person, present tense by Sounder. He’s an interesting character to follow around and competent without being smug or suspiciously lucky. I did initially wonder if he was hiding something special about himself to be doing the kind of job he was, but there were no gotcha moments of that sort.

I enjoyed the other characters a lot. They all felt like they were living their own lives with their own murky motivations rather than their actions revolving around Sounder and his case.

Plenty to get your teeth into in this SF noir

I liked the idea of this book, as a kind of spacefaring Golden Age murder mystery with (literally or metaphorically) champagne receptions, glittering society and so on. There were interesting themes around (ab)uses of power and influence. It was fun trying to guess everyone’s secrets.

I wasn’t quite so taken with the execution, unfortunately. I never really warmed to any of the characters. Tesla’s use of wealth and status to push for whatever she was after at the time felt like an overused bludgeon. And cute doggies are all very well, but Gimlet felt like a Magical Cute Doggie—again, repetitive in use and outcome.

Overall, an entertaining mystery if a bit light on interpersonal nuance for my tastes.

Here's my latest batch of book reviews and very short stories. Finally arrived at #50 :)

https://mhthaung.com/2023/09/30/vss-50/

#BlogPost #Microfiction

@isabel@bookwyrm.social "Accessible" was the first word that came to mind for me as well :)

@fnordius@muenchen.social Sounds sensible. As I was reading, I probably had an internal snarky running commentary going, "So YOU say, kiddo!"

@bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot Oh, and I suggest not auto-importing your book collection from elsewhere. I abandoned my original Bookwyrm account (which couldn't be wiped/deleted) after doing that. It was very messy, and I couldn't face hand-correcting each entry (and I didn't want to just leave them like that...)

@bodhipaksa@mastodon.scot I'm fairly sure your Bookwyrm account doesn't "know" who you are elsewhere in the Fediverse. So it's more like maintaining 2 separate accounts but with the seamless(?) interactions (boosting etc) that goes with federation. Bookwyrm makes keeping a library/collection easier. That's about the extent of my knowledge!

I’ve been meaning to read this for a while and was pleased to find it delivered what I expected: an entertaining mix of technology, bureaucracy and eldritch horrors (you can decide if the last by definition encompasses the other two…)

The narrative is in Bob’s first person, present tense point of view. I wasn’t especially taken with him as a character, though I wasn’t so put off as to bail out. He always managed to have the skills or items needed to meet the challenges before him, or some associate intervening at the right moment.

The office politics were boldly drawn. I wouldn’t have minded more subtlety, a bit more behind the scenes manipulation and gaslighting rather than the (office equivalent of) straight-up moustache-twirliness that came across. We were never really left in doubt of the outcome.

Overall, a fun series starter.

@ianturton Didn't notice that, but maybe I didn't get that far. 1/3 of the way in, I was put off by the seemingly random PoV shifts and realised I wasn't even interested in going back to Watson and his whininess.

@StephanieJane Hope you have fun poking around :)

@StephanieJane If you're at all interested in facing-page translations of classical works, check out Downloebables at www.edonnelly.com/loebs.html. Various very old Loebs (Greek and Latin) are available for free.

I guess I’d describe this as a road trip with a friendly alien. It was an easy read. However, I can’t say I found the story especially thought-provoking or challenging or moving or all the other things the hype suggested. The main characters were pretty much pushed around by circumstance all the way through, and I didn’t get a sense of personal growth or change. The storyline held no surprises and it was, well, pretty linear. Still, a pleasant enough way to spend a few hours.