Nostalgia Review:: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, by Harry Harrison

Title: The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge

Author: Harry Harrison

Series: The Stainless Steel Rat, #2 (Publication Order)

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Still Good?

YES

Previously:

The Stainless Steel Rat

This series is honestly my favorite skiffy series of all time. Our intrepid hero, Slippery Jim diGriz is at it again. He's hooked up with the beautiful Angelina who is due for twins and will stop at nothing to entwine him in nuptials. Unfortunately, said nuptials put him back on the grid and the Special Forces have a new assignment for him.

Review:: Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor

Title: Akata Witch

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Series: Akata Witch, #1

Format: eBook

Rating: ★★★★☆

Reading Akata Witch directly after Alanna makes it difficult not to compare the two of them. It doesn't help that pretty much everywhere Alanna failed, Akata Witch succeeded. Like I said... there's a many much better books marketed to young women these days. Akata Witch is one of them.

Review:: Alanna: The First Adventure, by Tamora Pierce

Title: Alanna: The First Adventure

Author: Tamora Pierce

Series: Song of the Lioness, #1

Format: eBook

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Despite my friends going through a Tamora Pierce phase, I never really did. As such, this is my first time reading Alanna, and while in some ways I was pleasantly surprised, in others I was really left wanting or I was simply annoyed. I can easily see how this was a formative book for many of my peers, but I feel that YA for young women has grown to the point that we have things that are much better.

Review:: Embassytown, by China Miéville

Title: Embassytown

Author: China Miéville

Format: eBook

Rating: ★★★★★

It's no secret I like China Miéville. (Alert: I like China Miéville.) However, as much as I love his works, Embassytown was the cream of the crop. Alien aliens, a beautiful breakdown of politics (during a breakdown), some absolutely stunning linguistics-play, and even further elevated and intoxicating Miéville prose. Yum.

Just a note: this is this the book The Legendary Book Club of Habitica is currently reading. If you want in, there's still plenty of time! Join HabitRPG, the guild itself (you must be logged in to see the guild), and our Goodreads group to get involved. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Review:: 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Title: 2312

Author: Kim Stanley Robinson

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

As I read 2312, I went, "Huh, I can see why this won the Nebula and was a Tiptree nominee." Unfortunately, while there was a lot I did like about it, there was also quite a bit that just didn't work for me. The ideas and worldbuilding was fabulous, but I never felt a connection to any of the characters, the plot was slow and clunky, and the writing just didn't hold my interest.

Review:: Iron Shadows, by Steven Barnes

Title: Iron Shadows

Author: Steven Barnes

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

This is, hands-down, the worst book I have ever read. The prose is awful. The plot is awful. The issues are treated in offensive and gross ways. The pacing sucks. I'm trying to think of something nice to say. ...wait for it. Nope.

Review:: Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh

Title: Hyperbole and a Half

Author: Allie Brosh

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★★

Allie Brosh has a remarkable ability to make me laugh out loud, whether she's covering light topics, like her dogs, or serious topics, like depression. And the best part is, even though it's humor, she never takes the easy crack and makes things seem less important or serious than they really are.

Review:: Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer

Title: Calculating God

Author: Robert J. Sawyer

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

What happens when an atheist tries to write a book that makes intelligent design make sense? Apparently a lot of fun, a well done First Contact, alien aliens who find our thoughts of what aliens must be ridiculous, and a redefinition of God. Unfortunately, Calculating God suffers from a weak ending, but otherwise, it's totally worth the ride.

Review:: Dreams and Shadows, by C. Robert Cargill

Title: Dreams and Shadows

Author: C. Robert Cargill

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★★☆

Okay. Let's be honest. Being an Austinite who's a little homesick, I might be a bit biased on this one. But it was plenty of fun, with well-built suspense, writing with just the right tone, and fantastic urban fantasy fairy tale worldbuilding. The added beastiary bits only made it better.

Review:: Doktor Glass, by Thomas Brennan

Title: Doktor Glass

Author: Thomas Brennan

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★☆☆

A steampunk tale that embraces early Victorian science, rather than entirely rewriting it, Doktor Glass is a fun read. The mystery and suspense feels genuine, the protagonist feels sincere, and while the backdrop isn't the most inventive, it feels more honest than many steampunk stories.

Review:: Tempted, by Paul Micheals

Title: Tempted

Author: Paul Micheals

Format: Kindle

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I'm really tired of coming of age stories being obsessed with sex. I'm also really tired of plots that revolve around men being beasts that can't possibly do anything in the face of a beautiful woman. There's a lot Paul Micheals put into this story that could have been good, if it weren't for all the weird sexist microaggressions and melodrama.

Review:: In Between, by R.A. MacAvoy

Title: In Between
Author: R.A. MacAvoy
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

A completely forgettable novella with awkward writing at times, In Between didn't even leave me with a lot of thoughts. The whitening of East Asian religions did bother me, but not as much as the yawn-worthiness of the story itself.

Review:: Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie

Title: Ancillary Sword

Author: Ann Leckie

Series: Imperial Radch, #2

Format: eBook

Rating: ★★★★☆

What if Iain M. Banks' Culture series had a baby with Ursula K. LeGuin's Hainish Cycle? You'd get Ancillary Sword, an awesome book of its own right. It's uncannily savvy about some of the best things: power, oppression, gender, and self-identity. All with a nice dose of machine empathy.

Review:: Resurrection Day, by Brendan DuBois

Title: Resurrection Day

Author: Brendan DuBois

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

A "what-if" alternate history, where the Cuban Missile Crisis turned into an all-out nuclear war, Resurrection Day appears to be heavily researched... but somehow misses that an all-out nuclear war would create more than a local catastrophe. Unfortunately, that's not the only issue.

Review:: Transhumanism, by Ben Bova

Title: Transhuman

Author: Ben Bova

Format: Hardback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

When you're writing fiction, especially realistic science fiction, it's important to maintain your reader's suspension of disbelief. Unfortunately, Transhuman ruins it almost immediately out of the gates, having characters continually make implausible choices to make the mediocre plot continue forward.

Review:: Broken, by Susan Jane Bigelow

Title: Broken

Author: Susan Jane Bigelow

Format: Paperbook

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Annoying, eye-rolling dialogue paired with cardboard cut-out characters, Broken really fails to hold its own. Then the book tries to deal with issues like trauma, polyamory, and anarchism, but does so in a way that just makes the author uniformed. Oh, and the book is padded. Huge margins and text, so the publisher could make it to 300 pages.

Review:: Secrets of Selkie Bay, by Shelley Moore Thomas

Title: Secrets of Selkie Bay

Author: Shelley Moore Thomas

Format: Physical ARC

Rating: ★★★★★

I received an ARC of this book from Oakland Public Library in return for a review.

Too often, middle grade novelists oversimplify their works, leaving the age group with overtly moralistic novels that have cardboard characters and exceedingly simple prose. Secrets of Selkie Bay escapes that trap, with deceptively complex themes, characters with multiple facets, and morals without moralizing. Plus, it's magical realism with selkies.

Review:: Rapture, by Kameron Hurley

Title: Rapture

Author: Kameron Hurley

Series: Bel Dame Apocrypha, #3

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previously:

God's War

Infidel

Hnnn. <3 Rapture gave me whatever ephemeral something was missing. Less of an action ride than Infidel and more confident than God's War, Rapture brings the Bel Dame Apocrypha arc to just the right end, with everyone in their respective places.

Review:: Saga, Volume 2, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Title: Saga, Volume 2

Author: Brian K. Vaughan

Artist: Fiona Staples

Format: Collected Comics Paperback

Rating: ★★★★☆

Previous: Volume 1

It felt like very little happened in Volume 2, but that was a-okay with me because all of that extra time that could have been used to advance the plot was instead put towards making me fall in love with the main characters. Good choice, Saga. Good choice.

Review:: Soulminder, by Timothy Zahn

Title: Soulminder

Author: Timothy Zahn

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Soulminder had a lot of potential. Potential that in some ways, it filled, but in others, it left me wanting. All-in-all, it's a pretty easy read with an entertaining plot, but the plot holes and stereotypes get to you after a while.

Review:: V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

Title: V for Vendetta

Author: Alan Moore

Artist: David Lloyd

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Every time I read one of Alan Moore's books, I have pretty much the same reaction: "Wow. This would be so good if Alan Moore weren't sexist, racist, and homophobic." And then I sigh wistfully. V for Vendetta has a phenomenal story to tell, but it would have been so much better if the female characters weren't portrayed so awfully.

Review:: The Reaper's Daughter, by K.M. Randall

Title: The Reaper's Daughter

Author: K.M. Randall

Format: eBook ARC

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I received this ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Blake just turned 18 and found out her mom's not dead—her mom's actually Death. And needs her help. Seemingly self-aware and not taking itself too seriously, The Reaper's Daughter could have been a rather good book. Unfortunately, it suffers from plot holes, cardboard characters, and writing that just kept getting on my nerves.

Review:: The Stories of Eva Luna, by Isabel Allende

Title: The Stories of Eva Luna

Author: Isabel Allende

Format: Hardcover

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Isabel Allende's style works well for short stories; many of her novels feel like short stories entwined into a longer piece of fiction. In many ways, The Story of Eva Luna is Allende at her best: sensual and startling, heavy with magical realism, and handling serious issues with beauty and gravity. Unfortunately, I felt like many of the stories were fleeting, leaving me with no impact. The ones that did, though, were well worth my time.

News and Stuff:: The Legendary Book Club of Habitica!

Some of you may be aware that I'm a moderator on a gamified productivity site called HabitRPG. If you haven't heard of it, you should really check it out. But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm talking about the book club I've been running there! Next up is Embassytown and if you want more info (like how to join in on the action), it'll be after the jump.

Review:: Fables: Legends in Exile, by Bill Willingham

Title: Fables: Legends in Exile

Author: Bill Willingham

Series: Fables, #1

Format: Paperback

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I think I read this a long time ago? Closer to when it first came out. Regardless, it was quite enjoyable, and less predictable than most plots I come across. The premise is also a fun one that allows for good morality play and tension.

Review:: Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

Title: Doomsday Book

Author: Connie Willis

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

In some ways, I enjoyed Doomsday Book more than Blackout/All Clear. In other ways, I felt it was worse. But mostly, I had this continual feeling I was reading the same exact book, just with slightly different circumstances.