User Profile

Stephen

tinheadned@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 5 months, 1 week ago

Brit in Canada. I read when I can't sleep, so yes there's a lot of books here. Nearly all SF.

he/him

This link opens in a pop-up window

2023 Reading Goal

66% complete! Stephen has read 33 of 50 books.

British Steam Railways (Hardcover, 2003, Parragon Plus) 4 stars

Lots of pictures at least

4 stars

Self admitted train enthusiast, I enjoyed leafing through this. I didn't necessarily understand all of it though. Despite the glossary there's a lot of passing references to loco design and the like that you have to take as read.

Mind this is mainly a picture book I guess.

Clockwork Boys (Paperback, 2018, Argyll Productions) 5 stars

A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It’s not …

Enjoyable fantasy romp

5 stars

Very easy to read. Was on a train all day and just powered through. Turns out I remember very little from the first time. It's quite funny for a book that is basically set in a war zone.

The Raven Tower (EBook, 2019, Orbit) 5 stars

Listen. A god is speaking. My voice echoes through the stone of your master's castle. …

Nice god POV

5 stars

Standard fantasy narrative, except...

The narrator is a god and uses second person narrative to follow a human "main" character. The human is trans, and this isn't a defect, or a super power, it just is present in the world and accepted. Although twins are hated and feared in some cultures, despite not controlling how they are born.

Very Leckie, and also my favourite, I think. It's faster paced than the Ancillary books. Less tea and gloves.

There is No Antimemetics Division (Paperback, 2020, SCP Foundation Wiki) 5 stars

Good, but too much in one go

4 stars

I should have read this slower, the book is fine. SCP lit in long form, done well. All creatures that cause you to forget them, or other things. It starts as short stories, and then the links start appearing.

Uses some Memento backwards story telling to keep the audience in the right mind frame. Too bleak for me by the end.

Ogres (2022, Rebellion) 5 stars

Nice twist

5 stars

Adrian's short stories seem to all have the SF twist ending but this has a couple of neat ideas in it that I don't want to mention. Some were more obvious than others to me but no less welcome.

Narration is in the second person and not my favourite, but didn't spoil my enjoyment. Short and sweet, a new favourite of his for me I think.

The Red Scholar's Wake (Hardcover, 2022, Orion Publishing Co) 4 stars

Xich Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship …

Perhaps not the best introduction to the universehe

3 stars

Having finished the book I still don't understand what 'bots' are in this, they're small but not too small and fix things but also provide touch?

I think I'm not really destined for romance, the plot is interesting until the main characters have a fight that feels needlessly dramatic.

Also one of the lovers is also a spaceship, and emotions cause displays to flicker or even loss of attitude control.