Greta and Valdin by Rebecca Reilly is funny, touching, and too much. I enjoyed the characters, but they were more carictature than character. Their quirkiness became grating and annoying. Also,…
Beware the snippets of reviews full of ellipsis. They might say, enchanting...lovely. They might miss saying enchanting but overwrought with some moments that are lovely. While reading Orbital, by Samantha…
What would Anton Chekhov say about introducing a gun store in the first act? To Sammartino, he might say, well done. Sammartino makes full use of the gun shop in…
The Terraformers as created by generative AI. The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz sounded like a book I'd enjoy. "A science fiction epic for our times and a love letter to…
I can imagine how this novel was pitched. It's like Harry Potter meets Hunger Games with a side of Mean Girls. That idea must sound awesome to some people; but, it was fairly bland.
Science Fiction and Fantasy For another year, I read more speculative fiction than anything else. Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut series, which included The Fated Sky and The Relentless Moon…
For March, I read three books: Beloved by Toni Morrison, Deacon King Kong by James McBride, and The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson.
Disappearing Earth is a debut novel that's less of a thriller and more of a conceptual attempt at atmosphere.
A quick summary of what I read this year while coronavirus blanketed the Earth.
Where do I come from is a deceiving question. It seems like there should be a straight-forward answer. For the siblings in C Pam Zhang's How Much of These Hills…