aka @kingrat@sfba.social. I'm following a lot of bookwyrm accounts, since that seems to be the only way to get reviews from larger servers to this small server. Also, I will like & boost a lot of reviews that come across my feed. I will follow most bookwyrm accounts back if they review & comment. Social reading should be social.
Driven by his dreams, Asa will stop at nothing to find Tanja Duhr again: he …
i don't understand SF&F's poet fetish
3 stars
Main character goes to a big city in the neighboring empire because he believes he was the lover of a famous poet of that city in a previous life. The famous poet is old now, and hasn't really published poetry like she had when she was younger. Can our MC's dreams awaken the poet she once was? Am I going to care? No.
King Shrewd is dead at the hands of his son Regal. As is Fitz—or so …
Bogged down by the mechanics of magic
2 stars
Content warning
mild spoilers, although not much more than can be gleaned from reading the chapter titles
Waking up from the dead, Fitz vows to kill Regal, the would-be king who had him arrested and tortured, and who has usurped the throne of the Six Duchies.
There's an overlong journey to the new capital of the Six Duchies, a visit with the Old Blood (aka others who can talk to animals like Fitz) that feels shoehorned in so that some of the later magic doesn't feel as rough around the edges, way too many heel turns by new characters, and finally many many chapters in the realm of the Elderlings where the characters have to figure out how Elderling magic works.
This book needed to be about half as long as it was.
Afraid to call 911, but not sure what to do instead? Here are strategies for …
In early 2021, (IIRC) Nikkita Oliver helped develop and lead a class on restorative justice. I bought this book, part of the curriculum, at the time because of that but work started taking over much of my time, so I didn't read any of it. Gonna see how it sits with me now though.
the ability to know an object's past by touching it
4 stars
Benine has the power to see an object's past when he touches it. The government of Mortova sends him to the site of a mass grave so he can identify the remains buried there, while rebels get closer and closer.
Brings the reader right to a war without going all the way in.
It's a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill, and …
Starts off great, but doesn't stick the landing
3 stars
Clare Fergusson is a new Episcopal priest in Miller's Kill when she finds a baby in a box on the steps of her church with a note that the baby should be adopted by prominent parishioners who have wanted a child for ages. Russ Van Alstyne is the Miller's Kill police chief. After Fergusson requests a ride-along, the two stumble on the body of a young woman (and presumed father of the child) when patrolling the local hangout where kids go to drink.
Van Alstyne is the kind of officer I normally like in police procedurals, steady and methodical. Fergusson is not. She inserts herself in the investigation in ways that no cop would allow, messes things up, runs off without thinking things through (multiple times) putting people in danger. The reader is lead to believe that Van Alstyne is competent because of his demeanor, but multiple times Fergusson figured …
Clare Fergusson is a new Episcopal priest in Miller's Kill when she finds a baby in a box on the steps of her church with a note that the baby should be adopted by prominent parishioners who have wanted a child for ages. Russ Van Alstyne is the Miller's Kill police chief. After Fergusson requests a ride-along, the two stumble on the body of a young woman (and presumed father of the child) when patrolling the local hangout where kids go to drink.
Van Alstyne is the kind of officer I normally like in police procedurals, steady and methodical. Fergusson is not. She inserts herself in the investigation in ways that no cop would allow, messes things up, runs off without thinking things through (multiple times) putting people in danger. The reader is lead to believe that Van Alstyne is competent because of his demeanor, but multiple times Fergusson figured out key answers in the investigation that Van Alstyne should have figured out. For instance, somehow the police don't search the victim's residence until much later, and the police questioning of her roommates is half-assed at best.
It's a first book though, so I'll read the second at least to see if the first book flaws are less an issue in book 2. Also, I already have it in my library so I might as well.
DNFing this at 22%. There's an alien ship. There's a human ship with a bunch of weirdos sent to investigate. A lotta words about the weirdness, written in a weird way, and I can't bring myself to care.
From debut author Daniel Abraham comes A Shadow in Summer, the first book in the …
This book could have been better if there was a lot more tell and a lot less show. There's some complicated world-building, some complicated social prescriptions, and an obtuse conspiracy. I can't make sense of most of it. 16% in, I'm done.
Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise …
Not my thing after all
4 stars
The origin story of the dragon Temeraire, captured from the French by the captain of an English ship, William Laurence. The person who drew the short straw is rejected as a rider by Temeraire, and Laurence becomes the rider in his place, but must give up his career in the navy. Training and battles in the dragon air service follow.
It is well-written, but the extended treatment of the proper relationship between riders and dragons was not interesting enough for me to want to seek out the sequels. People who like tales of manners will find this more enjoyable.
They're the galaxy's most wanted—and our only hope.
When Elza became a space princess, she …
I've now completed a Bookwyrm list for the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book, with Promises Stronger Than Darkness being the final book on it (for now).
Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise …
This has been on my TBR for 15 years. I originally got the ebook as a freebie from suvudu.com, a long defunct site run by Penguin or Random House (I forget which company owned the Del Rey imprint before the merger). Let's finally take a crack at it.
