david.reviews: Books!

david.reviews: "Carl's Doomsday Scenario" by Matt Dinniman

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Fairly tight story. Doesn't escape being someone's D&D retelling and we probably hear too many stat numbers, but this sequel does an admirable job expanding the world and characters. Shows a slightly more introspective Carl, too which is a promising sign.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Death Throes of the Republic" by Dan Carlin

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: A fascinating read, especially considering it was recorded in 2011. There's not one thing that brought down the Roman republic, but a series of changes and people who set it on the road to ruin. There are some pretty obvious parallels for the state of the US right now. But the good news (such that it is) is that the empire took hundreds of years to fall after it started that way, so maybe we'll be ok for a bit. Hard to say. Either way, certainly a thought provoking read!

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: The full cast makes for a great audiobook. The characters are well-rounded and the magic system is neat without being overbearing. Plus who doesn't love a heist?

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Rogue Protocol" by Martha Wells

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Fast and fun. Builds well on previous books and doesn't overstay its welcome. I like how densely she can pack these novellas.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Play Nice" by Jason Schreier

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: An absolutely fascinating look into the history of Blizzard Entertainment. Exhaustingly well researched and pieced together, making it easy to follow all the threads. It's a shame that money corrupted the studio as much as it did, but at least we got sone good lessons out of it. The inner workings of game development will never cease to amaze me.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: " Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret " by Benjamin Stevenson

Wed, 31 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Stevenson proves once again he really knows what sets his books apart by seamlessly mixing the meta narrative into the main investigation. This self-described "holiday special" is as twisty a mystery as ever, packed full of the series' characteristic charm and humor. It was a good mystery, too, which I only guessed part of. There's an especially fun climax too.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Ghost Brigades" by John Scalzi

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Does an excellent job building and expanding on the first one. I liked the way it pulled the curtain back on the previously mysterious special forces. The epilogue is a little saccharine, but the ride to get there was fun. Great world (universe?) building.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Unhoneymooners" by Christina Lauren

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: Fun premise that's only a little spoiled by its annoying characters. But if you lean into the romcom aspect, it's a decent time.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch

Sun, 26 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: I love heists, so it should come as no surprise that I absolutely adore this book. The cons are fun, the worldbuilding advanced, and the dialogue consistently colorful. I loved how the interludes provided background about characters while setting things up for the next scene. Some of the characters are a little underbaked, but it doesn't detract much.

The narrator really knocked it out of the park, too. There are a lot of accents and he made it easy to tell everyone apart.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Dungeon Crawler Carl" by Matt Dinniman

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Starts a little slow, but it really picks up as it continues. I especially like the worldbuilding and intrigue around the corporations running the game. It feels like there's a ton going on outside our POV which I'm optimistic we'll discover as time goes on. Carl doesn't come across as especially likable, but the cat and most of the rest of the cast are fun and I ultimately did really want to know what happens next.

May not be for you if you don't like reading RPG item descriptions at length. I like what they're going for, but item & stat discussion can go a little long / dry. There's some good humor in it all, but there's also some cruelty that doesn't feel reckoned with. We'll see if that smooths out in future books.

The audiobook narration is great, but the "new achievement" dialogue gets pretty grating (even when they're funny).

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Birding with Benefits" by Sarah T. Dubb

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: Like most romcoms, it starts stronger than it finishes. It's a funny concept, but they spend a lot of time on familial drama which is good for character building but a drag for the pacing. It's a cute concept overall though. It's a good read for the (romance-loving) birder in your life.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Continues to be a fun read. The emotional bits hit a little harder than before. I especially liked the way the story was told through flashbacks. Hits a little different in the modern era, where you're not sure all of humanity could come together to save the species. I guess that's what makes it science fiction.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Art of Myth-Direction" by M. L. Tilford

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: This was a fun read that played with the genre of fantasy itself.

Parody is a hard line to walk. Be too funny and you're not really telling a story, just making fun of one. But be too serious and you're not a parody at all, just a humorous entrant in the genre. Tilford's debut novel is an enjoyable read, but one that errs a little too close to the silly over the story. The plot is familiar: a chosen one and their companions on a quest to defeat the Dark Lord.

It does a good job subverting some expectations while leaning into others. Making fun of common fantasy tropes is good, but take too many at face value and it feels like you're missing your own joke.

Past that, the prose itself is good. A few too many similes, but it was snappy and genuinely funny. Most of the characters didn't have much depth to them, but there's one in particular I really liked. I thought the moments of deeper introspection (like the brute reexamining how he feels about goblins) were the strongest points, but they were few and far between.

If you go in expecting a truly silly fantasy romp, you're sure to enjoy it (and I did). Just don't expect too much more.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Passable in Pink" by Mike Sacks

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★☆☆: A great John Huges parody from someone who has clearly immersed themselves in it. Unfortunately, the actual story feels like it's silly for silly's sake and isn't compelling in and of itself. The audiobook was produced well, but I found myself bored of the way they wrote jokes and found a plot to tie them to (rather than the other way around).

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Once again, a re-read of one of my favorite books yields some new insights and comparisons to the real world. This time, I found myself thinking about the fairness of war and proportional response. There are also notes of "knowing an enemy is to love them". Great universe to revisit.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Finder" by Suzanne Palmer

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: The good parts were fun: a heist, a well-realized space station, and plenty of sci-fi elements. There was some good depth to the characters (helping this book punch above its weight in that regard). But clumsy opening, inconsistent storytelling, and a less-than-satisfying central mystery held it back.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: In grade school, I was marked down on a short writing assignment because I spent the whole time describing how a space desk/computer would work. Scalzi clearly had no such discouragement and spends a lot of time describing those systems. It's a good time though, and his designs are well thought out. Builds its world well and grapples with some of its ethical questions.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The God of the Woods" by Liz Moore

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Despite its name, there's nothing supernatural at play. Instead, you get a story archetype I love. A multi-generational, deeply interconnected mystery set at a summer camp in the 1970s. The cast is large, but well developed. Literary themes are present, but not overbearing. Explores its themes, and the surrounding woods, delightfully well. Made for an especially good summer read, but will delight at any time of year.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

Sat, 31 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: Just as dour as I'd heard. Does a great job building the world by describing its edges instead of explicitly explaining What Happened. The relationship between father and son is dire and desperate in a touching way, but actual characterization felt too infrequent to really sink in. The story itself was also pretty inconsistent, coming and going as it pleased. Its strongest parts were its small conversations and moral quandaries between protagonists, but I was weirdly bored through a lot of the rest of it. Easy to see how it's influenced other post apocalyptic media over the years though.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The 22 Murders of Madison May" by Max Barry

Sun, 11 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: A fun enough premise (multiverses and murder). I liked how it grappled with the implications of what happened to previous versions of characters when new ones arrive. But for all its excitement, a weak supporting cast and an uninteresting villain left me feeling unsatisfying in the end. It's a good beach book, but lacks staying power for me.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Not Till We Are Lost" by Dennis E. Taylor

Sun, 04 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Keeps increasing in scope and complexity. Keeps being an absolute blast to learn about this take on the universe.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Does a great job describing the situation while leaving so much up to the imagination. There's a lot that's tough in this book, how quickly society shifted really stuck out to me. The descent from normal society to Christian fascism happened after a couple of laws and some killings. Sort of scary to think about the fragility of it all. That's what makes this a classic, I guess! That, and how, despite sounding fantastical, everything in the book was pulled from historical accounts of the same things happening to real people. Sobering, to say the least.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Heaven's River" by Dennis E. Taylor

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Each book is better than the last! We've got a new alien race and increasing tensions within the Bobiverse. I'm super excited to see where it goes.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Cozy, with a well-realized cast. The mystery itself didn't feel especially fair, but there were a lot of layers to it and it wasn't a bad time. Just expect to be along for the ride instead of solving it for yourself.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Parable of the Talents" by Octavia E. Butler

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "All These Worlds" by Dennis E. Taylor

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Bad Monkey" by Carl Hiaasen

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Wicked funny with a big Florida Keys vibe. A good cast and some good twists and turns along the way. Dryly funny throughout, too.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "For We Are Many" by Dennis E. Taylor

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Artificial Condition" by Martha Wells

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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!

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Dark Deeds" by Mike Brooks

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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!

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Surely You Can't Be Serious" by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: An in-depth look into the history of ZAZ and the production of Airplane!. The audio is good and there are a lot of voice cameos from producers, comedians, actors, and other people involved in the movie. It really was groundbreaking!

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Tainted Cup" by Robert Jackson Bennett

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Is a wild mix of Sherlock Holmes, Pacific Rim, and cyberpunk-style body notifications. Really beats you over the head with fantasy terminology. But, you're rewarded with a dense, intertwined murder mystery. The characters are original anda lot of energy goes into interrogating the role each of us plays in society and what society owes us in return. I just would have appreciated it a little more if there were a glossary up front.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Pelican Brief" by John Grisham

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: Too many characters, weak personalities, and a little heavy on the skeeviness kept me from enjoying this to its fullest. But there was some fun corruption and a focus on good journalism which made it at least a decent beach read. Not one of Grisham's best though.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: One of my all time favorites. Not only is the mystery good, but the character work is stellar. Dialogue is snappy and every scene explores the space and how these characters interact and grow with each other. It culminates with surprisingly touching payoffs for the entire cast. Cozy fun, top to bottom.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Eight Perfect Murders" by Peter Swanson

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: A fun concept (blog post of famous literary murders that are happening in real life) but struggles to live up to its promise. Characters are flat and story ultimately feels unresolved. The mystery itself is underwhelming. It takes some big swings at the psychology of killing, but it mostly misses. Is clearly a love letter to detective fiction, but doesn't feel like it has the spark that made its inspiration great. Also, it spoils a ton of other famous mystery fiction (some Christie, strangers on a train, etc), so proceed with caution.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "First Lie Wins" by Ashley Elston

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: A satisfying mix of heist, espionage, and crime. Won't win any awards for prose or character development, but it's a tight read that keep me turning pages (just like it promised)

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Evil Under the Sun" by Agatha Christie

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: As always, an intricate little puzzle box that all comes together splendidly. A fitting vacation read too. She's the best for a reason!

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Orconomics" by J. Zachary Pike

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Sisters Brothers" by Patrick deWitt

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: Sort of an interesting, ambling western. More contemplative than adventurous, it was enjoyable without being enthralling. I liked what humor there was and the characters grew on me eventually. The prose was pretty matter-of-fact but the story didn't feel like it had much of a point.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia E. Butler

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Still a favorite. The characters are devilish and horrible and thorough all at once. Top tier beach read.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Locklands" by Robert Jackson Bennett

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" by Gabrielle Zevin

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: A touching story of love, loss, friendship, and videogames. An honest depiction of game development and the people that make them, told over many years. Paced well and had a good mix of characters. I loved we saw in everyone's head, especially as they change and drift over time. It covers a lot of ground, but I found it both engrossing and tasteful. It's also nice that the author clearly knows about videogames (in contrast to a lot of media about games).

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect" by Benjamin Stevenson

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Death's End" by Cixin Liu

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Argylle" by Elly Conway

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★☆: Light but fast read. It carries a little more characterization than other spy books, but not by a lot. Its crowded cast mean I can't keep anyone straight besides the 5 most frequently-mentioned characters. It reads a bit like a screenplay, preferring direct language to flowery descriptions. The plot is decent, but lacks depth. Would make for a good beach read.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "Shorefall" by Robert Jackson Bennett

Mon, 29 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "All Systems Red" by Martha Wells

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: 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.

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Twist of a Knife" by Anthony Horowitz

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT

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

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!

david.reviews: "The Devil and the Dark Water" by Stuart Turton

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

★★★★: Another knockout mystery. The characters are great and the plot is a ride, top to bottom. Setting it all on a ship makes the puzzle that much more intricate. Bits of it get pretty dark, but it's a fun read nonetheless. Can't wait for his next book!

FYI: My reviews are scored out of 4. Also, thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed and supporting the indie web!