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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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
This basically was The Breakfast Club but with aliens. Die-hard fans of the Wayfarers series will probably appreciate The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. While I loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet I was not as taken by its sequel nor by this rather anticlimactic conclusion. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within…
3rd pov, ace side characters, Adult, ALIENS, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Becky Chambers, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, cultural dissonance, female authors, friendships, language, LGBTQ+ Author, lgbtq+ side, light reads, netgalley, non-binary side characters, published in 2021, read in 2021, SCI-FI, slow pacing, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, The Galaxy and the Ground Within -
A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson
Although I enjoyed the premise of this one, it kind of lost me halfway through. A Complicated Love Story Set in Space follows Noa, an American teenager, who one day just opens his eyes to find himself in space. On the spaceship, named Qriosity, with him are two other teens, DJ and Jenny. I thought…
1st pov, 3 STARS, A Complicated Love Story Set in Space, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ANGST, anxiety, coming of age, DEPRESSION, gay, Groundhog Day, HIGH SCHOOL, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, m/m, male authors, mental health, MYSTERY, published in 2021, queer, rape, read in 2021, ROMANCE, SCI-FI, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SHAUN DAVID HUTCHINSON, SPACE, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, trauma, YOUNG ADULT -
Starsight by Brandon Sanderson — book review
Starsight takes this series in an unexpected direction. This instalment is perhaps even more action-driven than Skyward: from the opening chapters to its explosive finale, Starsight is full of spectacular fight scenes. Whereas Skyward had a narrower scope, Starsight presents us with a far more complex story in which the stakes are higher then ever.…
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Skyward by Brandon Sanderson — book review
I more or less inhaled this book. “You get to choose who you are. Legacy, memories of the past, can serve us well. But we cannot let them define us. When heritage becomes a box instead of an inspiration, it has gone too far.” This is easily my favourite book by Brandon Sanderson. A few…
4.5 STARS, action, adrenaline fuelled reads, adventure, ALIENS, AMERICAN AUTHOR, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Brandon Sanderson, coming of age, Cytonic Series, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), fathers & daughters, friendships, identity, male authors, ON BOOKS, published in 2018, read in 2020, REVIEWS, SCI-FI, Skyward, SPACE, space battles, SPACE OPERA, spaceships, SPECULATIVE FICTION, Spensa Nightshade, war, YOUNG ADULT -
Salvation Day by Kali Wallace
Salvation Day is yet another book whose good idea/premise is hampered by its poor execution. As the title suggest, much of this novel takes place in one day…this timeline alone makes for a rather restrictive narrative. The story and its characters too are hindered by the fact that most of the events narrated by our…
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A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Review of A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers ★★★✰✰ 3.5 of 5 stars It’s taken me awhile to pick this up. I tried reading it more than a year ago but ended up returning the book to the library so I thought that the audiobook version would be more easy to get into.…