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February Wrap-Up & March Goals
Happy Leap Year! If January 2020 lasted about a millions years, February 2020 only took about 5 minutes. My month has been full of useful and not-so-useful productivity (yeah, I started playing World of Warcraft again), but it was also filled with good books and lovely times with friends, so what more can a girl…
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Review: The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
This story is an example of true alternate history done right. It’s a combination of events and conceits that shouldn’t work together, but absolutely do because of the talent of the author. It’s also a great example of how non-chronological storytelling is occasionally essential. I could have done with a bit less of the elephant…
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Review: The Armored Saint (Sacred Throne #1) by Myke Cole
I got pretty burned out on reading epic fantasy once I started paying attention to diversity within the pages, so I’m always thrilled to find an offering in the genre that bucks stereotype. Add a dash of steampunk and I’m hooked. Its easy to draw “Joan of Arc” comparisons to the character of Heloise on…
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Review: Thieves’ Honor (Wizards of London #1) by Jamaila Brinkley
Disclaimer: I am friends with the author; however, I purchased this ebook for full price. I devoured this book so quickly, and with such enjoyment, that I forgot to take any notes for my review! Brinkley’s debut novel features romance, magic, and mystery set in historical London. She weaves together the tropes from multiple genres…
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Review: The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
I made it through the first quarter of this book before I realized that not much had really happened. Well, lots of things had “happened,” just not much of a plot. But I was intrigued by the world-building, so I decided to sit back and enjoy the story as more of a travelogue than an…
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Review: Wild Seed (Patternnist #1) by Octavia E. Butler
I devoured this novel on a travel day, starting in Baltimore and ending in Indianapolis. I enjoyed many separate elements of this book, from the two very different main characters and their interactions to the historical and scientific elements. Doro and Anyanwu are fantastic foils to each other. While their interactions were sometimes uncomfortable, great…
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Review: Strange Dogs (The Expanse #6.5) by James S.A. Corey
This novella is a beautiful vignette about early life on Laconia. It doesn’t answer many greater questions about the ecosystem of this world due to the limited point-of-view of the main character. But it answers quieter questions about how Duerte came to power and how he imposed his views on the burgeoning society. On the…
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Review: Wolfromance (Reluctant Necromancer #3) by Kaye Draper
I understand that authors are always warned not to “info-dump” to their readers, that they should include the information the reader needs to know naturally through the story. But there’s a downside to that, when so many things are going on that everyone EXCEPT the main character knows about. At some point, someone needs to…
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Review: Enlightened (Enlightenment #3) by Joanna Chambers
The finale to this trilogy does an excellent job of concluding plot threads from previous books on multiple levels. David and Murdo have grown as people and grown closer together, but some roadblocks (internal and external) still stand in the way of their happily every after. When both of them must travel to London, they…
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Review: The Vital Abyss (The Expanse #5.5) by James S.A. Corey
This novella in the midst of the epic saga of The Expanse fills in some interesting blanks. It explains the missing years of a relevant character’s life and how he eventually ends up where Our Heroes encounter him again. It also shows the evolution of the character and his history on Earth, accomplishing some interesting…
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January Wrap-Up & February Goals
This year is off to an EXCELLENT start, if I do say so myself. I got lots of reading done. I got lots of editing done. I played a lot of video games. And I’m thrilled with my health progress. I know I said I wasn’t travelling anywhere, but I managed to sneak away to…
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Review: All Systems Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
This novella has won ALL OF THE AWARDS, which makes it difficult to review. There’s not much I can add to the discourse about it that hasn’t already been said, and it doesn’t need the advertising help. But it was a wonderfully fun read, so if you’re one of the five science-fiction fans after me…
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Review: Gods of Risk (The Expanse #2.1) by James S.A. Corey
This novella brings us back to the series roots of interstellar events occurring as a backdrop to regular people’s normal lives. But this normal person is the gifted sixteen-year-old nephew of Bobbie Draper, so how normal is he? Certainly normal enough for some health doses of adolescent angst while he gets mixed up in the…
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Review: Deosil (Whyborne & Griffin #11) by Jordan L. Hawk
This series closes out in a maelstrom (pun intended) of heroism, madness, horror, love, triumph, and just a few tentacles. Everything comes full-circle (pun also intended) as Whyborne and Griffin join with new and old allies to defend their home of Widdershins from the extra-dimensional Masters who have returned to reclaim what is theirs. Because…
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Review: Vampromance (Reluctant Necromancer #2) by Kaye Draper
I don’t get to binge-read this series like I did Draper’s previous reverse harem epic, but I’m enjoying it all the same. Esper is an intriguing character, and I appreciate the set-up of her being lost from her family line as a way for the audience to learn about the greater magical world through her…
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Review: Gilded Cage (Lilywhite Boys #2) by K.J. Charles
I re-read the first Lilywhite Boys book right before starting this one, because I could and because it’s that good. This book concludes the short series admirably, though I highly recommend also making sure to read “The Ratcatcher’s Daughter” to get a better feel for the overall conflict. The first book is from a single…
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Review: Ghostromance (Reluctant Necromancer #1) by Kaye Draper
I probably shouldn’t have read this so close on the heels of Draper’s previous reverse harem series, Gesa’s Menagerie. I prefer Gesa as a character to Esper, but that doesn’t mean anything is necessarily wrong with Esper. I got a bit tired of her “Woe is me, I’m so ugly” ruminations, but otherwise she’s a…
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Review: The Expanse: Origins edited by James S.A. Corey
Favorite Story “Naomi Nagata” by Georgia Lee (illustrated by Huang Danlan): This isn’t Naomi’s “origin story,” which is covered very well in the books themselves. Instead, it shows us the first introduction between Naomi and Amos prior to the events of the books/television show. I loved the growth shown by both characters even in such…
