Recently Reviewed Books

Intense, visceral, heartbreaking, heavy, and hopeful. Written in 1998 but describes news items that could have been written about today's political climate (including a US-Canadian war, the phrase “Make America great again”, and the coupling of the church to the state). Butler was either a prophet or today's American right wing isn't as original as we think they are. Outside of its political relevance, it gives interesting perspective about life after the fall of a society. It wasn't the super harsh conditions that I found most interesting, but the way (some) life just goes on, even when the foundation of a nation shifts. Civilization doesn't end for everyone at the same time (or affect everyone equally). Its depiction of building a religious movement was especially compelling- what worked and what didn't and how you meet people where they are. The prose was fascinating too. The heaviest segments were written in the most matter-of-fact style, separating their impact from the way they were described. Tore through the book, but had to pace myself for sanity reasons. Not necessarily a fun read, but a good and powerful one.

The series continues its outward expansion with more settings, characters, and plotlines. It’s done well, but remains hard to keep all the moving pieces in memory. Wraps a lot of threads up nicely though, so I’m excited to see where it goes next.

Expands on the first part well, expanding the universe and dealing with some of the consequences of their actions. Can be a little hard to follow with how many perspectives there are, but they're doing different enough things that it's not too bad. Also the audiobook narrator is top tier.

Does a good job balancing small stories with the larger Murderbot plot. They're definitely an odd character, but I'm invested in what happens to them!

Another rip-roaring outing with the crew of the Keiko. Really felt like it came into its own. Expertly blends a spy thriller with an action heist. Cashes in on some emotional payoff that authors really only get as they get farther into their series. Is a good time overall!

A stellar mix of fantasy, humor, and finance. Story and characters are trope-y but compelling. Sounds absurd on paper, but it absolutely works. Ultimately pulls a "Galaxy Quest", managing to be both an excellent parody of traditional fantasy novels and an exemplar of the genre in its own right.

Intense and sad, yet hopeful. I started it on the same day the book's story begins (July 20, 2024), which is sort of fascinating. It was written in 1993. Some details still seem far off and others... don't. Some very cool worldbuilding.

Dragged a bit and lost some of the more focused storytelling earlier books showcased. But I loved the ambition of its scope and world. Falls into some well-tread fantasy tropes but balances those with some truly fascinating and original concepts.

An intricate puzzle-box of a mystery. Characters are good, pacing is prompt, and the author (once again) plays fair. It also kept its meta tone from the first book, which I continued to enjoy.

Pretty spectacular in its scope and scale. Is a stellar conclusion to a trilogy with a slow burn. I think this is my favorite of the 3 - it focused the most on the things I found interesting: examining humanity in the face of large threats and classic hard scifi. It's a pretty packed book, but it flowed well. The characters and prose are still pretty weak, but the plot and philosophy cement it in the canon of science fiction.

A worthy expansion of the universe from the first book. Characters are explored and expanded while the stakes are raised. We're getting really cosmic, but the book never strays from its superb worldbuilding.

The novella format does a lot for this story- it can focus on the action and not get (too) bogged down with worldbuilding. The murderbot is certainly an interesting narrator and the plot came together nicely.

Fun as always. The mystery was a little less satisfying this time around, but it's a good enough read.

Just spectacular. Intricately planned, delicately spooled out, and kept me guessing until literally the final word. What a ride. Felt the closest to a modern Christie I've read in a while. I'm hungry for more.

Great narration with all of the different characters. Lots of parallel plots made it a little hard to track, but it was still a great ride. Fun concept and very approachable hard sci-fi.

Really picked up after the first one. Characters are still bad and the writing is still pretty dry, but this one leaned much more heavily into the speculative sci-fi aspect that was promised. Loved the time jumps too- great to see how everything played out over years and years. No clue where the third one will go, but I'll definitely be reading it (eventually).

I loved the framing of magic as a series of rules. Fun, heist-y read and a good setup for more to come.

Very interesting concept, but told very slowly. I liked the added political context of cultural revolution china, but lack of cultural competency on my own part made it a bit hard to follow. I think it definitely _can_ go somewhere cool, but I'm not sure how long that'll take. The physics was neat and the story ultimately an interesting one, it was just a bit of a slog to get through.

Exciting spy thriller. Big focus on martial arts and maybe 3 too many similarly named characters, but it's a great mystery and a fun read overall.

Great expansion of the world. A little bit less of "definitely not firefly" and a bit more original worldbuilding. There's a cool pair of intertwined stories that work well here. Excited to see where this series goes.

This series is light and to the point. Interesting enough characters, and I enjoyed the mystery.

Liked the setting an mystery. The writing was funny, but there were _way_ too many characters. But, the voice was great and I was compelled to finish it, so I'm curious to see where else they take it.

Fitting end to the series. Gripping and climactic. Good payoff on characters.

Intense, but oddly heartfelt. The characters are great and the plot is decent. Didn't really go where I expected, but I enjoyed it.

I liked the style of 3 smaller stories exploring one place. Excited to see everything come together!

Fun romp of a read. Tough to follow some of the plot and characters, but there was some real heart under there. Decently Shakespearean, very funny.

Definitely interesting. Some slow parts, some dated prose, but some very cool and big worldbuilding. Lotta terms.

Really great read. Continues with the cool worldbuilding. Felt like the story was a little less tight, but even more swashbuckling. Also did a lot of great setup and larger webs weaved. Really excited for more.

I liked the frame of jumping though subsequent times. I liked the smaller, interconnected stories. I thought there were too many characters that didn't feel distinct enough, but that's part of the territory I guess.

Enjoyable! Good worldbuilding. Decent cast. Fairly funny writing.

Wears its Firefly inspiration on its sleeve, but in a good way. Good characters and a decent world. I liked the story too. Good romp all around.

Great expansion on the first book. Good character work and plotting. Cool expanding of the world.

Very grim, very dark, but definitely funny. Much like the first one, it mostly feels like buildup to stuff? But it's a good ride.

Great heist. Cool magic, if a little unexplained. Good characters, though their ages are real weird. Character motivations are good and the development feels natural. Pacing at the end felt a little odd, but it's a pair of books, so this is really only part 1.

I had sort of a love/hate thing going with Becky Chambers' debut novel. There was a bit of eye-rolling when it came to unnecessary romantic pairings - I didn't expect the romance in a book I assumed was about space politics. But, at its core, it does what sci-fi does best: it imagines a world reminiscent of, but distinct from, our own. A lot of time and effort is spent explaining each character's elaborate gender journey, which didn't feel relevant to the story. But it makes sense that other planets wouldn't have a gender setup like ours and learning to navigate that would be a very real need for an intergalactic society. Given that, it helps the reader re-examine how we interact in our own society. And dang it if that's not what sci-fi is all about.

Cool worldbuilding, but sort of gross. Technically a reread I think, but I have no recollection of the story.

Good plot, but the writing is a little convoluted and old-timey. I can see how this inspires other spy novels though- the bones are good. The layers are there and the characters are believable. There's a fair amount of current-at-the-time politics that are harder to connect to now, but I can see why it's so widely recommended. It does a good job with moral ambiguity.

Great setup to more goodness. Superb worldbuilding and prose. Pretty good characters. Good sense of wonderment and discovery.

Even better than the first. A great whodunnit that gives you all the clues. Good cast and a lot of moving pieces. Sometimes the meta-ness is too much (like the Acknowledgments, of all places), but it was still such a blast. Hawthorne was a bit more likable this time around, which is nice.

Good world, nice varied perspectives. The book itself is mostly setup, but there's some very satisfying writing. I liked the depth of the characters. No one is a good or bad guy, they're all multi-faceted. Exited to see where it goes.

Definitely a detective story! Very cool meta frame, definitely made me question some reality. Maybe too many characters, but I liked how procedural it felt. Definitely comfort food as a book.

I liked how the book subverted expectations as a core premise. Modern day parallels are well done. The world building is great. Short and sweet.

Pretty jargon-y, but had some interesting world building. Pretty light read. Interesting ideas about bot consciousness and the social issues therein.

Stuck the landing! Really great plot, good wrap up of the previous books. I think overall the first is probably the best but this one was great. Really touching to see him interact with friends that he's known all this time.

Felt like a more sprawling story than the more contained romp of the first book, but it grew well. Great twists and turns, continued awesome worldbuilding

There's definitely some smarminess, but the language is beautiful.

Very different vibe than the earlier books. A lot more romantic and philosophical. I still enjoyed it and thought it had some good takes on growing up and love, but it sort of sidelined its main story in a weird way. Also, the writing was pretty hammy at parts.

Really great, intense book. Breakneck pace. Mix of Ender's Game and Game of Thrones. There were a lot of characters and it was a little hard to track at times, but that didn't really hold me back. Enjoyed the world and am very curious to see where the trilogy goes.

Really intense. Some good twists. I have no idea where it going and I'm excited to find out!

Something different jumps out at me every time I read this. This time, it was Demosthenes and his artificial fear-mongering. Still such a great story though.

Lots of setup, but enjoyable. Loved the bears. Some pretty big set pieces that mostly paid off.