I was born blind, so books became my movies. Fantasy and Science fiction, thrillers and spies, and the occasional goodfeel novel or fanfiction from my youth round out my reading record. I don't do nonfiction: I read enough technical stuff at work!
This link opens in a pop-up window
With particular enjoyment as to the appeal of both the style of writing and events repainted across more than one viewpoint I found myself rather hooked well before the midpoint of this disconcerting yarn. I'm still ever-so-slightly creeped out now, and hope my sleep isn't haunted by gaunt - but well-dressed - shadowy figures.
One of whites more peculiar divergences, this was interesting, especially with the Belts giving a heinlein-style Beyond This Horizon feel. The memory idea is just bananas.
Well, this was certainly an interesting take on the legends. A clever mix of the ancient and the modern with heroes to actually get behind, but also perhaps not actually admire all that much in some ways. An intriguing mix.
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts …
Not my usual sort of a read, and I quite enjoyed the buildup. The final reveal ws intense and clever, in a Before I Go To Sleep sort of a way, I felt. Not particularly varied in terms of writing style, this was nonetheless readable and satisfying.
I found myself wondering exactly what the next reveal was going to be here: they came, mid-chapter, without warning and with tremendous shock value. Although I enjoyed the Passengers more, I still found this an insightful and thought-provoking read. Marrs can also seriously do creepily shady government types well, which is also neat to read.
When unforeseen circumstances during an innovative—and unsanctioned—commercial asteroid-mining mission leave two crew members stranded, those …
I waited a long time to read this sequel, but yes, it was worth it. Lacking some of the surprise of the initial story, this one yet caps the first with a tremendously triumphant tone whilst not shying away from ethical and moral issues.
The world has changed. Now, when someone is murdered, they almost always come back to …
There's only so much noir I can take after a while but I'm glad the favour came into play, as a solid nod back to the first instalment.
Welcome to the new world, in which murder is all but a thing of the …
I kinda wish we'd had more background on what causes dispatching to work after the first of these, but enjoyed this a lot nonetheless.
I had high hopes for this and came away feeling a little … Meh. I presume there’ll be a big reveal in the next books about the origin of the besuited agents (there are 4, so any real surprise?) It also feels a bit off that we’ve had a glimpse into the endgame of a perfect quantum world, which on one hand is an excellent allegory for determinism but on the other makes you wonder just how dangerous things will be going forward. Hopefully I’ll be proved wrong and there will be more twisty and turny satisfaction.
Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military …
This was one of the best YA books in a long time. Exciting in all the right places and with a tremendous amount of both action and spooky things to think about - mind altering uploads, anyone? I really enjoyed.
From the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of PRESSURE and AUTUMN BLEEDS INTO WINTER, comes a …
A shame about the ending, although in an odd way it kinda worked.
A man awakens in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no …
I'm behind in my reading of Sanderson's main corpus and so diggint into the secret projects has been a bit of a chance. This, being standalone, was really good, and I totally enjoyed the contrast of the main story action and the wonderful commentary from the Book itself.
I didn't quite feel like I was reading Brandon in spots, but I enjoyed the story a great deal and will reread one day to grasp more nuances.
Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the …
Not since Artemis Fowl has a young adult fantasy gripped me with such a firm fist, and Artemis was a long time ago. I loved the juxtaposition of the modern and the mythic, there's an almost God-like disregard for commoners amongst the elite and it was refreshingly honest to see that here without any holds barred. Whilst the denouement held no reveal of the sort I was particularly hoping for, it was classy and worked to close the end of this story whilst setting up future instalments, which is always a good thing. more for me to read? yes, please!
Thank you, Mustafa, for the recommendation.
"James was not a stuntman; he was a ponderer. He’d once caused a Monopoly game to be abandoned by deliberating so long over a hotel purchase that their guests went home."
Since I read Eleven, I have known Watson has had the ability to make me stop and think. This very much holds true here, and although of course the subject matter is troubling, the execution is actually quite positive. The humour is just perfect, and there's enough of it to keep you cheerful, even as you contemplate the disintegration of lives. I really felt for James, of course, which is the intent, and even if retrospectively it's hard to say how bad a place he was really in, you can still appreciate how things haven't gone his way.
yet more of me clung to other characters, and it is their reactions that truly sell the work. From young emigres …
"James was not a stuntman; he was a ponderer. He’d once caused a Monopoly game to be abandoned by deliberating so long over a hotel purchase that their guests went home."
Since I read Eleven, I have known Watson has had the ability to make me stop and think. This very much holds true here, and although of course the subject matter is troubling, the execution is actually quite positive. The humour is just perfect, and there's enough of it to keep you cheerful, even as you contemplate the disintegration of lives. I really felt for James, of course, which is the intent, and even if retrospectively it's hard to say how bad a place he was really in, you can still appreciate how things haven't gone his way.
yet more of me clung to other characters, and it is their reactions that truly sell the work. From young emigres in London to family in Australia, to his dear mum Jean, the windows onto the lives of all these people are rich and diverse and wonderful to see. I think Jean is my favourite, her age, reactions, feelings and thoughts so perfectly speak to me as a person now somehow (and worryingly quickly) in his midthirties.
For all that everything happens over one night and there is arguably not a lot of story, there are plenty of stories, and it's these that make the book so ... wedgy. it wedges itself into your brain and you start to think about how other people might react to the things you do or say, to what might be going on in their lives of which you are oblivious.
Strangers from the Sky is a novel, originally released in 1987, by Margaret Wander Bonanno.
Whilst much of this novel has now of course been outcanoned and probably retconned to boot, it was compelling for its time. I never quite felt the emotional connect I wanted to, I think Federation still holds my top spot for a good read in the Pre-Kirk era, but I enjoyed this more than I was expecting to nevertheless.
