Reviews and Comments

This is a sequel to The Verifiers. I like its blend of mystery and science fiction with a dash of (mostly unfulfilled) romance, along with a side of sociopolitical commentary. The setting is either present day or very near future, so the science fiction aspect is speculation about what could be going on beneath the surface of the world we see. Nearly all of the important characters are women, and it's just presented as a given that they are whole people independent of any men.

The subject matter is really interesting, but I'm less than thrilled about the writing style, which reminds me of a trendy magazine article.

Really enjoyed the story, though I would have liked to see the relationship between the main characters developed more. They're polar opposites in most ways, which you'd expect would make them irritating to each other, yet there's very little conflict or even misunderstanding between them. And by the end, neither is the same person they were at the beginning. You'd think that would have some profound effects, but they just kind of shrug it off.

I do have some nitpicks with the science fiction aspect. For one, it's heavily implied that consciousness and perception are something separate from the physical body. But if that is so, how would it be possible for genetic modification to alter these things?

And why would there still be a job doing manual data entry in a society with such advanced tech?

A fun mystery, fairly quick to read.

I've read a lot of this series. They're fun as mysteries but mostly I read them for the setting, northern New Mexico and some of the surrounding areas, and for the culture.

This month's Queer Romance Club selection. I'm not that much a fan of graphic novels in general, so we'll see how this goes.

This was fun. Not very realistic, but it does keep you guessing until the end.

Loved this book, but I always have a soft spot for historical fiction set in the ancient world. I think it's basically a retelling, with a great deal of embellishment, of historical events involving people who really existed, though I don't know the history of that period (around 350-300 BCE) well enough to be sure.

Kind of wishing I hadn't wasted my time reading this one.

Maybe I've just been reading the wrong mysteries, but I'm used to stories in which one, maybe two, of the characters are Black, swimming around in a sea full of white characters, and not much is said about the effect of that on their lives. This one is nothing like that. Many of the characters, both the "heroes" and the "villains," are Black, and the racist structures that constrain them are addressed head-on. So that was refreshing.

It's beautifully written, and a pretty good mystery, but up until the very end, the main character always feels kind of hollow, like there isn't much substance or nuance to him. He has internal conflicts but somehow they don't seem very present; it's like you're viewing them from a great distance. That makes it hard to really get immersed in the story.

Literary junk food, I think. Fun, but not much substance, which is odd now that I think about it, given the gravity of some of the subject matter.

Quick and enjoyable read, if you're willing to accept the premise that a ghost can inhabit and control electronics, and carry on a relationship with a living person. (Yes, that includes adult toys. You know your mind went there.) And that nobody would find the manner of his death a bit suspicious. And that someone can fall 80 feet into the sea without being seriously injured, while clutching a paper notebook that not only stays with him but is still perfectly readable afterward.

Went ahead and finished the book in spite of my misgivings. It did get better, though there was still too much attempt to be witty and very, very contemporary. That part won't age well. The book will give you a good understanding of how ridiculously hard establishing space settlements would be, and why we probably are not capable of doing that anytime soon.

There's a whole section on the legal aspects of space settlements; there is already some international law covering this. It's here I think the authors are wrong, in that they fatally underestimate the willingness of broligarchs to simply ignore established law, international diplomacy, ethics, and basic decency; and their willingness to sacrifice human lives by the hundreds.

I may end up not finishing this one. The science is solid and well-researched, but the presentation is cartoon-cute, including actual cartoons. I am a grinch and do not like my science to be cutesy.

Oh, and in case you wondered, the answer to all three questions (Can we settle space? Should we settle space? And have we really thought this through?) is no.

It was a fun book but not particularly compelling.