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norb

norb@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 2 years ago

just a guy who reads sometimes

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norb's books

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2025 Reading Goal

16% complete! norb has read 2 of 12 books.

Ted Chiang: Exhalation (Paperback, 2019, Yilin Press) 5 stars

Tackling some of humanity’s oldest questions along with new quandaries only he could imagine, these …

Wonderful Collection of Short-ish Stories

4 stars

I've not read anything else by Ted Chiang, and after getting this I noticed he also wrote the story that Arrival was based on (which I have seen and enjoyed) so I was looking forward to this.

The stories collected here all share a common humanity, while they are still kind of sci-fi based (and one isn't even written from the point of view of a human).

These stories definately made me think, but especially The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate (I am a sucker for time travel stories, and this one works better than a lot of them because of the way the premise is set up), The Lifecycle of Software Objects (the story notes at the end really shed some light on the author's intent with this one), The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling (a wonderful exploration of memory and how it effects us), and Anxiety …

Lois McMaster Bujold: The Hallowed Hunt (Hardcover, 2005, Eos) 4 stars

An acclaimed legend in the field of fantasy and science fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold returns …

Great Finish to the "Triology"

4 stars

Loved the additional details and background to the world first shown to us in The Curse of Chalion. This one seemed less metaphysical than the other two, but still had some interesting ideas in the land where gods are real and everyone knows it.

The ending came up rather quickly after the first few hundred pages, but it was good and enjoyable.

Lois McMaster Bujold: Paladin of souls (2005, Harper Torch) 4 stars

E-Book Extras: ONE: The Keys to Chalion: A Dictionary of People, Places, and Things; TWO: …

Loved this book. The way that Royina Ista was expanded upon from the first novel was rather interesting. I also enjoyed the further expansion and explanations of how this world works. Very interesting ideas about gods and people and how they can work together.