It was competently written, I could empathize with the characters, nice historical background but it felt too scripted to me. It was a decent read thaIt was competently written, I could empathize with the characters, nice historical background but it felt too scripted to me. It was a decent read that got darker as it went.
I will end with a question. If you could go back in history and change one thing, what would that be?...more
An alternative 1860s America where the Southern Slaveholding class controls the government and enslaves men speaking out the real facts. Robert E. LeeAn alternative 1860s America where the Southern Slaveholding class controls the government and enslaves men speaking out the real facts. Robert E. Lee still remains a villain and a Professor of rhetoric must stop him. A strange short story....more
An amusing novella that reminds me of Robert Aspirin's Another Fine Myth series. It's an 'isekai' story, the protagonist Eric dies after being hit by An amusing novella that reminds me of Robert Aspirin's Another Fine Myth series. It's an 'isekai' story, the protagonist Eric dies after being hit by a truck (cliche) and is offered another life by a less than competent divine being Valrune. Valrune decides that Eric needs a different body and picks a cat girl doll from Eric's mind. Thus Eric becomes Erica and is rejected by the church as a prophet.
Thus Erica begins their adventuring career, broke, in the body of a cat girl, meeting strange folk, making friends, and adventuring. Everything's a bit tongue in cheek, a decent, lighthearted read which is a nice change from the very dark and serious fantasy I've been reading lately....more
I loved the Oz books when I was a kid, this book is an adult tale of the Wicked Witch of the West per the title. It gets dark in a hurry, with the attI loved the Oz books when I was a kid, this book is an adult tale of the Wicked Witch of the West per the title. It gets dark in a hurry, with the attacks on the animal professors. I'm leaving the rest to you, it's a great read.
PS The movie is awesome as well, can't wait to see part 2!
It's also almost frightening the number of Oz books that have been published. ...more
**spoiler alert** Helena Smith invents a memory recording device that some how also operates a a time machine. Every time it's used, it creates a bran**spoiler alert** Helena Smith invents a memory recording device that some how also operates a a time machine. Every time it's used, it creates a branch back in time. When that branch time matches the future date that caused the old memories, the memories of both timelines come available. In the beginning the changes were minor and few people were involved. At the end multiple nuclear wars are occurring.
A very dark novel. It reminds me of LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven....more
Antsy can find lost objects, that makes her a target for some of the students of Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children. She flees with seniors anAntsy can find lost objects, that makes her a target for some of the students of Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children. She flees with seniors and they run thru some wonderful and strange worlds. In the end, she finds where she really belongs. A decent read.
This is not a good book to start reading this series. Start from #1....more
Is realistic dark fantasy Cthulhu a new sub-genre?
Not quite as unhinged as some of his other later fantasies, Charlie is a bit of a dark prince, so noIs realistic dark fantasy Cthulhu a new sub-genre?
Not quite as unhinged as some of his other later fantasies, Charlie is a bit of a dark prince, so not really a fairy tale by Disney. It was a decent read, even given its length. ...more
**spoiler alert** Two American families are thrown back in time 1,000 years ago to the vicinity of Cahokia, the mound builder society of the upper Mis**spoiler alert** Two American families are thrown back in time 1,000 years ago to the vicinity of Cahokia, the mound builder society of the upper Mississippi. The rulers of Cahokia are quite the patriarchal bunch, not liking women in leadership and sacrificing female children at the gods decree. This puts them in conflict with the matrilineal governance of the surrounding clans.
The time travelers arrive with a Peterbilt truck and other miscellaneous equipment. They begin the process of making a place to stay while passing tech instructions to the locals. If you've read any other books in this series this will be familiar.
The one change is they manage to send a family member back in time with additional supplies.
With the passing of Eric Flint I'm not sure how much longer this series will run. A decent read....more
I like the idea of Driftwood, worlds get magically sucked into it and start reducing in size until they are ultimately crushed. In the meantime, otherI like the idea of Driftwood, worlds get magically sucked into it and start reducing in size until they are ultimately crushed. In the meantime, other worlds are jostling around as well and its possible to travel from world to world with nothing fancier than your feet. A strange variation of this can be found in The Shattered World as well as Midnight at the Well of Souls. It would make a great game world.
The stories are decent, if a touch melancholy, revolve around Last, one of the older denizens of Driftwood, who is a guide and remembers many of the lost worlds as they pass thru....more
A strange non-Sanderson novel from Sanderson. More of an SF story than a fantasy and told in the first person, it's also not Cosmere based. I like theA strange non-Sanderson novel from Sanderson. More of an SF story than a fantasy and told in the first person, it's also not Cosmere based. I like the way the used amnesia in the story, it made more sense than most uses I've seen. A decent read....more
This novel reminds me a bit of old school, for one thing it's got a God Machine and the trope 'Terrans are the best warriors in the universe'. On the This novel reminds me a bit of old school, for one thing it's got a God Machine and the trope 'Terrans are the best warriors in the universe'. On the other hand it has real character development and shows the ugly parts about racism, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, etc..
This is an awesome first novel.
Kyr practices hard, she wants to be a warrior in the dystopic Gaea Station. Instead of fighting the aliens, she finds herself assigned to Nursery, the station's harem. (view spoiler)[ This is the first timeline with Earth destroyed. Luckily this isn't a Heinlein novel, so she escapes with the help of an alien, her brother and his friend Avi. She reunites with her older sister and and finds out her son's father is Uncle Jole! Later on she meets and thru teamwork defeats the First Wisdom, losing Mags in the process. She then uses the strange alien god-machine, goes back in time and saves the Earth.
In the second timeline, Earth forces then conquer the galaxy and develop their own god-machine, having two machines operating at once makes the universe start to unravel even after destroying most of the alien empire, this winds up the second timeline.
Kyr intervenes and the Earth dies again, starting the final timeline in which Avi destroys most of the universe, the god-machine intervenes and then commits suicide.
Kyr now finds them back at the start, this time she decides to leave and bring the 'good' people with her. Avi, Mags, Cleo et. al are with her and she's up against her evil uncle Jole. They manage to fake an alien attack and load the women and children. Later they invite everyone, the outpost is blowing up. Jole has the little wisdom Yiso hostage and Kyr goes to rescue them. They escape from Jole and see him wiped. They miss the takeoff of the Victrix and are dying in space, but they are saved by ;) (hide spoiler)]
While this book deals with career military, it doesn't glorify it, a change from the typical military SF. This is an awesome first novel, go out and read it....more
A decent read, but not a good place to start this series. There's a lot going on that would make no sense without context.A decent read, but not a good place to start this series. There's a lot going on that would make no sense without context....more
A commercial and civil war between Old Russia and the modern USSR using steam turbine powered aircraft with ground effect landing devices. I like the A commercial and civil war between Old Russia and the modern USSR using steam turbine powered aircraft with ground effect landing devices. I like the strange tech combined with the politics. An excellent read, though not the book that you should start with.
Also found out that Eric Flint has passed :(...more
A Jewish detective is running around Texas in 1888 trying to find Silverberg who seems to absconded with funds meant to resettle Jewish Refugees in thA Jewish detective is running around Texas in 1888 trying to find Silverberg who seems to absconded with funds meant to resettle Jewish Refugees in the United States. (view spoiler)[At first this seems like a historical mystery but a third of the way thru, it dives into the deep end and things get crazy. The ending is fairly long, it takes the protagonist years before he readjusts back into society. (hide spoiler)]
There are several historical characters in the book, some quite surprising. A decent read....more
A decent read, but I prefer the 1632 series more. I think that the problem is the lack of info that we have on the period, it lacks the details that tA decent read, but I prefer the 1632 series more. I think that the problem is the lack of info that we have on the period, it lacks the details that the more modern series has....more
Zelda and friends can travel to other multiverses using a method similar to Zelazny's Amber series. Somewhat interesting, but there's too much pain anZelda and friends can travel to other multiverses using a method similar to Zelazny's Amber series. Somewhat interesting, but there's too much pain and trauma for my tastes along with being a bit bloated, it could use another edit. I couldn't finish it....more
A present day satire that starts out in a pre-pandemic New York with Jamie Gray being fired by his asshole boss, Rob Sanders, heir to billions. Rob isA present day satire that starts out in a pre-pandemic New York with Jamie Gray being fired by his asshole boss, Rob Sanders, heir to billions. Rob is quite the evil psychopath and I would say that his character is unrealistic, except for the sad reality that we see this form of behavior from the ultra-rich on a regular basis. Nice guy Jamie is out on the street, delivering food and barely making ends meet.
There's a fair amount of nerdy fan humor throughout the book, a book about Japanese movie monsters and their preservation is a silly premise to begin with, this sort of story is Scalzi's strong suite. The kaijus are bizarre critters and the explanations for how they work are sort of believable and the physics of the gates makes as much sense as any bafflegab. There wasn't any point in the novel where I felt the science change to help the plot around.
There are some dark bits as well, murders and deaths and of course villains. Scalzi plays with the mad, megalomaniac trope, and carries it off, monologuing to almost the very end. All and all a decent read though the ending was predictable.
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