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The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Sherlock Holmes with a space opera twist…it works! An entertaining novella! This is one of the most refreshing Sherlock Holmes-inspired tales. The space opera setting was such fun! The Watnsonesque character here is The Shadow’s Child, a transport ship that lost its crew in a traumatic experience and now earns a living by brewing drugs…
3.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, adventure, Aliette de Bodard, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DETECTIVE, female authors, French American Vietnamese author, futuristic, LGBTQ+ Author, light reads, MYSTERY, NOVELLA/SHORT STORY, published in 2018, read in 2022, RETELLINGS, SCI-FI, sherlockiana, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The Tea Master and the Detective, Vietnamese inspired setting -
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Cloud-Atlas-esque novels seem to be all the rage in 2022… “This place is precarious, that’s the only word for it. It’s the lightest sketch of civilizations, caught between the forest and the sea. He doesn’t belong here” This is my third novel by Mandel and once again I have rather conflicting thoughts and feelings about…
1910s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, America, ART/CREATIVITY, ARTISTS, beautiful prose, belonging, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, books about books, books about writers, canada, canadian author, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, Emily St. John Mandel, f/f side, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, interconnected stories, interesting structure, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, moon, morality, musicians, My reviews, pandemic, philosophical, published in 2022, queer side characters, read in 2022, reading, restrained prose, SCI-FI, Sea Of Tranquility, siblings, SPECULATIVE FICTION, time travel -
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Lacklustre and monotonous, not only did How High We Go in the Dark fail to grip my attention but it also failed to elicit an emotional response on my part. It was a bland and repetitive affair, which is a pity given the hype around it. It didn’t help that a few weeks ago I…
2 STARS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, apocalyptic, asian american, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), doctors, dystopia, environmental, existentialism, family, GRIEF, illness, interconnected stories, japan, male authors, pandemic, parenting, post-apocalyptic, published in 2022, read in 2022, SCI-FI, SPACE, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, weak prose, weak worldbuilding -
Noor by Nnedi Okorafor
Earlier this year I read and loved Nnedi Okorafor’s Remote Control, which is a truly wonderful novella. Because of this, I was looking forward to Noor as I’m a fan of Okorafor’s take on Africanfuturism and of the way she seamlessly fuses folkloresque fantasy elements with sci-fi ones. While Noor certainly delivers on the Africanfuturism…
2.5 STARS, 3rd pov, Adult, afrofuturism, arc, Black & Black heritage authors, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, dystopia, FANTASY, female authors, FOLKLORE, My reviews, netgalley, Nigeria, nigerian american author, NNEDI OKORAFOR, noor, politics, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, SCI-FI, SPECULATIVE FICTION, subject over characters/story -
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
“But I have no faith in love. Love cannot save me.I choose vengeance.” Xiran Jay Zhao has written an ambitious debut novel that should definitely appeal to fans of Pacific Rim & The Hunger Games. Iron Widow is likely one of the most creative books that I’ve read this year (which is saying something given…
1st pov, 2 STARS, action, alternate history, arc, battles, bi side characters, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, China, chinese author, chinese inspired setting, DEATH, dystopia, FANTASY, Iron Widow, LGBTQ+ Author, lgbtq+ side, m/f/m romance, My reviews, netgalley, Not Like Other Girls, polyamory, reading, RETELLINGS, revenge, SCI-FI, trying and failing @ feminism, violence, weak prose, weak worldbuilding, Xiran Jay Zhao, YOUNG ADULT -
The Rock Eaters: Stories by Brenda Peynado
The Rock Eaters: Stories will probably appeal to fans of macabre tales, such as the ones authored by Samanta Schweblin, Mariana Enríquez, and possibly even Yōko Ogawa. This collection of speculative short stories is a highly metaphorical one. Brenda Peynado uses magical realism, aliens, dystopian and fantastic scenarios, to discuss immigration, xenophobia, and class disparity.…
2 STARS, Adult, ALIENS, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Brenda Peynado, collection of short stories, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), Dominican American author, dystopia, FANTASY, female authors, greek chorus, grotesque, latin america, latin american, latinx author, lgbtq+ side, MAGICAL REALISM, migration/immigration, My reviews, published in 2021, queer side characters, read in 2021, reading, SCI-FI, short stories, social issues, SPECULATIVE FICTION, surreal, The Rock Eaters, The Rock Eaters: Stories -
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This was me during the majority of this novel: Packed with science and humor Project Hail Mary makes for a thoroughly entertaining high-stakes interstellar adventure. I’ve never read anything by this author nor have I watched the film adaptation of The Martian…the reason why is because I thought I would find them boring (yeah yeah,…
1st pov, 4 STARS, Adult, ALIENS, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Andy Weir, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, friendships, HUMOR, language, male authors, MEMORY, MYSTERY, Project Hail Mary, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, SCI-FI, science, scientists & co, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, teachers, uplifting reads -
Terminal Boredom: Stories by Izumi Suzuki
Perhaps I should be more lenient towards these stories as they were written in the 1970s but alas I did find them rather dated.Most of these stories are set in near-futures. The first portrays an all-female society in which men are seen as less than human. Other stories present readers with different shades of bleak…
1970s, 2 STARS, ALIENATION, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, dystopia, ennui, existentialism, feminism, futuristic, Izumi Suzuki, japan, JAPANESE AUTHOR, Kafkaesque, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+, loneliness, My reviews, navel gazing, near future/alternate reality, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, reading, SCI-FI, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, SPECULATIVE FICTION, terminal boredom, Terminal Boredom: stories, TRANSLATED FICTION, weird -
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
The cover for this book is goals…its contents not so much. I found this novel to be an odd melange of confusing and simple. The characters came across as flat (little more than names on a page), the world-building, although at first promising, ultimately struck me as patchy, and the storyline and…
American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, confusing for the sake of being confusing, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), dystopia, environmental, female authors, identity, insta love, ISLAND, Joan He, MEMORY, My reviews, netgalley, plot over character, published in 2021, read in 2021, ROMANCE, SCI-FI, science, scientists & co, sea, SISTERS, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The ones we're meant to find -
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
“Trust is not an endlessly renewable resource. Loyalty might be. For longer.” With A Desolation Called Peace Arkady has achieved something quite rare in a sequel. In fact, I liked A Desolation Called Peace so much so that, when I looked back to my review for A Memory Called Empire, I found much of…
3rd pov, 4 STARS, A Desolation Called Peace, Adult, ALIENS, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Arkady Martine, court intrigue, cultural dissonance, f/f, female authors, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, morality, netgalley, philosophical, political intrigue, politics, published in 2021, queer, read in 2021, sapphic, SCI-FI, SPACE, space battles, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, Teixcalaan, terrific prose, war
luce [is reading] 