Jack's bookshelf: read en-US Thu, 23 Jan 2025 01:11:26 -0800 60 Jack's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 4223
As Langdon and gifted French cryptologist Sophie Neveu sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci—clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Even more startling, the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—a secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci—and he guarded a breathtaking historical secret. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle—while avoiding the faceless adversary who shadows their every move—the explosive, ancient truth will be lost forever.]]>
752 Dan Brown 0739326740 Jack 1 3.64 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Jack
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2003
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:
Utter clap-trap, as history. Childish and confused, as philosophy. Predictable and formulaic, as thriller. Some fleeting interest arises from watching just how bad a book can actually be, but this is hard to sustain over the length of a novel.
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<![CDATA[Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)]]> 52680842
It worries about the fragile human crew who've grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they're only a professional obligation, but when they're captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.]]>
346 Martha Wells Jack 0 4.58 2020 Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
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<![CDATA[Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)]]> 53413743 No, I didn't kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn't dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people-who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!


A standalone adventure in the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling, Hugo and Nebula Award- winning series! ]]>
172 Martha Wells 1250765382 Jack 0 4.44 2021 Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
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The Zone of Interest: A novel 22842067 Once upon a time there was a king, and the king commissioned his favorite wizard to create a magic mirror. This mirror didn’t show you your reflection. It showed you your soul—it showed you who you really were.

The wizard couldn’t look at it without turning away. The king couldn’t look at it. The courtiers couldn’t look at it. A chestful of treasure was offered to anyone who could look at it for sixty seconds without turning away. And no one could.

The Zone of Interest is a love story with a violently unromantic setting. Can love survive the mirror? Can we even meet each other’s eye, after we have seen who we really are?

Powered by both wit and compassion, and in characteristically vivid prose, Martin Amis’s unforgettable new novel excavates the depths and contradictions of the human soul.


From the Hardcover edition.]]>
322 Martin Amis 0385353502 Jack 0 currently-reading 3.94 2014 The Zone of Interest: A novel
author: Martin Amis
name: Jack
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Selections from American poetry, with special reference to Poe, Longfellow, Lowell and Whittier]]> 8328162 Margaret Spraque Carhart Jack 0 currently-reading 4.03 2009 Selections from American poetry, with special reference to Poe, Longfellow, Lowell and Whittier
author: Margaret Spraque Carhart
name: Jack
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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Polostan (Bomb Light, #1) 52163195 Polostan follows the early life of the enigmatic Dawn Rae Bjornberg. Born in the American West to a clan of cowboy anarchists, Dawn is raised in Leningrad after the Russian Revolution by her Russian father, a party line Leninist who re-christens her Aurora. She spends her early years in Russia but then grows up as a teenager in Montana, before being drawn into gunrunning and revolution in the streets of Washington, D.C., during the depths of the Great Depression. When a surprising revelation about her past puts her in the crosshairs of U.S. authorities, Dawn returns to Russia, where she is groomed as a spy by the organization that later becomes the KGB.]]> 368 Neal Stephenson Jack 0 4.18 2024 Polostan (Bomb Light, #1)
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
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Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller 8302167 320 Neal Stephenson 0802198570 Jack 0 3.96 1988 Zodiac: The Eco-Thriller
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
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<![CDATA[The Lords of the West End: A London Fantasy (The Lords of History)]]> 216348722 “I’m supernatural, but only barely.�

This kicks off a suspenseful and original fantasy set in London. Bradan sells cool art and uses sorcery, audacity, and luck when things get tough, but they almost never do. He’s got terrific friends including two phantoms, one who haunts his Jaguar sports car, and the other, a Victorian-era thief and his former lover. And then there’s his wolf.

Singing in a pop band and managing his crazy romantic life are as exciting as it gets � until Bradan stumbles into a blood feud between rival Fae factions.

Bradan may be supernatural, but his enemies are lethally an eerie Fae queen who Bradan offended will murder him unless a psychopathic Miami drug lord beats her to it. Bradan offended him too.

Making things worse, the human and Fae realms don’t play well together. Human vices and toxins are invading Faerie. As these worlds collide, catastrophe threatens both. Bradan will need sorcery, audacity, and luck to save himself, his friends, and the human and Fae worlds.

The Lords of the West End belongs to a modern fantasy series including The Lords of Oblivion, The Lords of Powder, and The Lords of the Summer Season. Though the main character, Bradan, an almost immortal magician, and his companion, the wolf Tintagel, appear in all of these novels, each of the books is independent of the others and can be enjoyed on its own.]]>
319 Peter Blaisdell 0999220594 Jack 5 3.44 The Lords of the West End: A London Fantasy (The Lords of History)
author: Peter Blaisdell
name: Jack
average rating: 3.44
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/22
date added: 2024/09/22
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<![CDATA[Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)]]> 35519109
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?]]>
163 Martha Wells Jack 5 4.38 2018 Exit Strategy (The Murderbot Diaries, #4)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/12
date added: 2024/08/12
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<![CDATA[Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)]]> 53205854 No, I didn’t kill the dead human. If I had, I wouldn’t dump the body in the station mall.

When Murderbot discovers a dead body on Preservation Station, it knows it is going to have to assist station security to determine who the body is (was), how they were killed (that should be relatively straightforward, at least), and why (because apparently that matters to a lot of people—who knew?)

Yes, the unthinkable is about to happen: Murderbot must voluntarily speak to humans!

Again!]]>
168 Martha Wells 1250765374 Jack 0 to-read 4.25 2021 Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)]]> 36153880 Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas?

Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.]]>
150 Martha Wells 1250185432 Jack 5 4.40 2018 Rogue Protocol (The Murderbot Diaries, #3)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
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<![CDATA[Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)]]> 9754945 Set in a brilliantly realized world ravaged by dark, uncontrollable magic, this thrilling novel of war, intrigue and betrayal confirms Steven Eirkson as a storyteller of breathtaking skill, imagination and originality--a new master of epic fantasy.



At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]>
868 Steven Erikson Jack 4 4.34 2000 Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2)
author: Steven Erikson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2018/12/28
date added: 2024/07/13
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<![CDATA[Peter Pan: The Complete Collection (Illustrated, Unabridged) 5 Books Peter & Wendy, The Little White Bird, Peter in Kensington Gardens, Sentimental Tommy, Courage (iReign Classic Anthologies Book 1)]]> 18848910 77 Illustrations by renowned artists F.D. Bedford, Arthur Rackham, and Melanie Smith A biography about the author Historic facts about the series An easy to navigate table of contents system Sentimental Tommy - A FREE bonus book by Barrie that is similar to the story of Peter A speech entitled Courage delivered in Canada The collection is completely unabridged and has the original grammar. The following is a complete list of Peter and Wendy (1911);/li> The Little White Bird (1902) Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906) Sentimental Tommy (1896) Courage (1922) Happy Reading!!!]]> 368 J.M. Barrie Jack 0 4.13 2013 Peter Pan: The Complete Collection (Illustrated, Unabridged) 5 Books Peter & Wendy, The Little White Bird, Peter in Kensington Gardens, Sentimental Tommy, Courage (iReign Classic Anthologies Book 1)
author: J.M. Barrie
name: Jack
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/05/31
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<![CDATA[Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)]]> 36223859
Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…]]>
149 Martha Wells Jack 5 4.40 2018 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/25
date added: 2024/05/25
shelves:
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<![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 33396171 ASIN B01MYZ8X5C moved to the more recent edition

A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.

"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid � a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.� Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.]]>
156 Martha Wells Jack 5 4.27 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Jack
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/20
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Atmosphæra Incognita 51106419 The Baroque Cycle) to the modern era (Reamde) to the remote future (Anathem, Seveneves). But when Stephenson turns his attention to shorter forms, the results can be every bit as impressive, as this dazzling novella—itself a kind of tightly compressed epic—clearly indicates.

Atmosphæra Incognita is a beautifully detailed, high-tech rendering of a tale as old as the Biblical Tower of Babel. It is an account, scrupulously imagined, of the years-long construction of a twenty-kilometer-high tower that will bring the human enterprise, in all its complexity, to the threshold of outer space. It is a story of persistence, of visionary imaginings, of the ceaseless technological innovation needed to bring these imaginings to life.

At the same time, it shows us our familiar planet from an entirely new perspective, and offers vivid snapshots of the unique beauties and unexpected hazards of the �ٳDzæ incognita� that lies between this world and “the deep ocean of the cosmos.� The result is pure pleasure, pure excitement, pure Neal Stephenson. No one with an interest in Stephenson’s work, or in science fiction at its most thoughtful and ambitious, can afford to miss this latest edition to an extraordinary body of work.]]>
104 Neal Stephenson 1596069260 Jack 2
As you can easily learn perusing reviews here (Amazon or GoodReads), a Neal Stephenson book can be dauntingly verbose. This presents the new reader with a barrier that may be unclimbable, for the first-time reader. Real Stevenson fans tend to name the grand tomes and sagas as their favorites, jacking the barrier even higher. What’s a new reader to do?

Enter Atomosphaera Incognito! It’s short � a “novella� by some standards, hardly a “short story� by Stephenson’s, but a good read, still and all. If you’re toying with a first dabble in Stevenson, you can dabble in this book without feeling you’ve sold your soul. You’ll begin to develop a feel for the author, and maybe discover you’re able to tackle one of the larger works.

Next Steps (a very personal recommendation list);
* Cryptonomicon. Long, but only single-volumes long. A great intro to Stevenson’s “background ny lists� style. Not really a part of the masterful “Baroque Era� saga, yet not really unrelated either.
* The Diamond Age. (Some would put Snowcrash in this slot, but I feel it hasn’t aged so well)
* The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. A totally different character voicing the narration, which puts some loyal fans off, but for my money a well-done shift of the gears into a lighter vein, and a female lead voice.]]>
3.94 2019 Atmosphæra Incognita
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2022/04/24
date added: 2024/05/16
shelves:
review:
The perfect intro to Neal Stephenson

As you can easily learn perusing reviews here (Amazon or GoodReads), a Neal Stephenson book can be dauntingly verbose. This presents the new reader with a barrier that may be unclimbable, for the first-time reader. Real Stevenson fans tend to name the grand tomes and sagas as their favorites, jacking the barrier even higher. What’s a new reader to do?

Enter Atomosphaera Incognito! It’s short � a “novella� by some standards, hardly a “short story� by Stephenson’s, but a good read, still and all. If you’re toying with a first dabble in Stevenson, you can dabble in this book without feeling you’ve sold your soul. You’ll begin to develop a feel for the author, and maybe discover you’re able to tackle one of the larger works.

Next Steps (a very personal recommendation list);
* Cryptonomicon. Long, but only single-volumes long. A great intro to Stevenson’s “background ny lists� style. Not really a part of the masterful “Baroque Era� saga, yet not really unrelated either.
* The Diamond Age. (Some would put Snowcrash in this slot, but I feel it hasn’t aged so well)
* The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. A totally different character voicing the narration, which puts some loyal fans off, but for my money a well-done shift of the gears into a lighter vein, and a female lead voice.
]]>
<![CDATA[Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3)]]> 55535618
Sancia, Clef, and Berenice have gone up against plenty of long odds in the past. But the war they’re fighting now is one even they can’t win.

This time, they’re not facing robber-baron elites, or even an immortal hierophant, but an entity whose intelligence is spread over half the globe—a ghost in the machine that uses the magic of scriving to possess and control not just objects, but human minds.

To fight it, they’ve used scriving technology to transform themselves and their allies into an army—a society—that’s like nothing humanity has seen before. With its strength at their backs, they’ve freed a handful of their enemy’s hosts from servitude, even brought down some of its fearsome, reality-altering dreadnaughts. Yet despite their efforts, their enemy marches on—implacable. Unstoppable.

Now, as their opponent closes in on its true prize—an ancient doorway, long buried, that leads to the chambers at the center of creation itself—Sancia and her friends glimpse a chance at reaching it first, and with it, a last desperate opportunity to stop this unbeatable foe. But to do so, they’ll have to unlock the centuries-old mystery of scriving’s origins, embark on a desperate mission into the heart of their enemy’s power, and pull off the most daring heist they’ve ever attempted.

And as if that weren’t enough, their adversary might just have a spy in their ranks—and a last trick up its sleeve.]]>
544 Robert Jackson Bennett Jack 0 This bit reminds me of a song, “Those Were The Days.� �. There are many versions on Apple Music, but most are instrumental only. Here’s the chorus from one with lyrics (by Mary Hopkins):

Those were the days, my friend! /
We thought they’d never end. /
We’d sing and dance forever and a day. /
We’d live the life we choose /
We’d fight and never lose /
For we were young, and sure to have our way!
]]>
4.03 2022 Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/13
date added: 2024/03/13
shelves:
review:

This bit reminds me of a song, “Those Were The Days.� �. There are many versions on Apple Music, but most are instrumental only. Here’s the chorus from one with lyrics (by Mary Hopkins):

Those were the days, my friend! /
We thought they’d never end. /
We’d sing and dance forever and a day. /
We’d live the life we choose /
We’d fight and never lose /
For we were young, and sure to have our way!

]]>
<![CDATA[The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan #1)]]> 150249463
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

By an “endlessly inventive� (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor� (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.]]>
410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820729 Jack 0 4.41 2024 The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/17
date added: 2024/02/17
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya, #1)]]> 41139487 People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya--but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds--and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.]]>
475 Hafsah Faizal Jack 0 3.91 2019 We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya, #1)
author: Hafsah Faizal
name: Jack
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/24
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves:
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Mightier Than Magic 124007841
Katie is so shy that her mother, the queen, mockingly calls her ‘Mouse.� Her only real talent is getting around her mother’s castle unnoticed.

Alone and unloved, she befriends Alaric, the foreign mage-king who is her mother’s enemy and prisoner. Cleaved from his magic, Alaric hopes to negotiate for his release and for a way to end the long, brutal war between the two kingdoms. Drawn to his vulnerability and his principled stand, Katie shares his desire for a just peace.

Alaric negotiates a settlement with the queen that hinges on one He must marry one of her daughters with magical abilities. Not the magicless Katie. The agreement is sworn on an oathstone—and to be forsworn is to die.

When Alaric teases the tiniest bit of magic from Katie and announces that he will marry only her, the queen is livid. In mortal danger, Katie and Alaric flee for their lives.

Click 'Look Inside' to see whether Katie’s blossoming magical ability can bring an end to the war—or destroy Alaric and all she loves.]]>
0 G.S. Kenney Jack 0 abandoned 4.14 Mightier Than Magic
author: G.S. Kenney
name: Jack
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/07
shelves: abandoned
review:

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<![CDATA[Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2)]]> 57059501
The year is 1927, and Shanghai teeters on the edge of revolution.

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

Roma is still reeling from Marshall’s death, and his cousin Benedikt will barely speak to him. Roma knows it’s his fault for letting the ruthless Juliette back into his life, and he’s determined to set things right—even if that means killing the girl he hates and loves with equal measure.

Then a new monstrous danger emerges in the city, and though secrets keep them apart, Juliette must secure Roma’s cooperation if they are to end this threat once and for all. Shanghai is already at a boiling point: The Nationalists are marching in, whispers of civil war brew louder every day, and gangster rule faces complete annihilation. Roma and Juliette must put aside their differences to combat monsters and politics, but they aren’t prepared for the biggest threat of all: protecting their hearts from each other.]]>
509 Chloe Gong 1534457747 Jack 5 4.13 2021 Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights #2)
author: Chloe Gong
name: Jack
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/01
date added: 2023/11/01
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Resurrecting Hope : First Contact (The Renegade Series by G.J. Havrilla Book 1)]]> 125240780 Jordan Hanson has a secret�

Jordan is an ordinary guy who happened to find a spaceship full of advanced technology. He even became best friends with its onboard medical officer android. If the government knew of their existence, they would dissect both his android friend and the ship to unlock the mysteries of the alien race that created them.

Jordan could never live with himself if that happened. That’s why for the last thirty years, he’s lived his life, had a family, and kept the spacecraft and android a secret.

But that secret is about to come out.

When Jordan gets the news that his youngest daughter has been kidnapped on the other side of the world, a family crisis erupts. As his life crumbles around him, he will have to question his own ethics, as well as his loyalties, if those he cares about expect to get to her in time. If she's still alive.

Looking for syfy mystery books with a twist of psychological thriller in them? Featuring a mysterious AI ship, family ties that will be tested to their breaking points, and plenty of suspenseful moments, Resurrecting Hope has you covered.]]>
303 G.J. Havrilla Jack 0 4.00 Resurrecting Hope : First Contact (The Renegade Series by G.J. Havrilla Book 1)
author: G.J. Havrilla
name: Jack
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/10/07
date added: 2023/10/07
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Earth Aflame (Earthrise #11) 44901297 437 Daniel Arenson Jack 0 currently-reading 4.28 2019 Earth Aflame (Earthrise #11)
author: Daniel Arenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Lost: Somewhere in Time (Earthrise)]]> 59054354 Somewhere in Time is a novel in the Earthrise series.]]> 352 J.C. Gunn Jack 0 4.34 Lost: Somewhere in Time (Earthrise)
author: J.C. Gunn
name: Jack
average rating: 4.34
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/27
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Earthrise: 2176 59054358 2176 is the first novel in the Earthrise Series.]]> 486 J.C. Gunn Jack 5 science-fiction
I recommend it highly -- I don't hand out many 5-star reviews. I plan to read the next in the series.

One flaw: the punctuation is wildly erratic.]]>
4.24 Earthrise: 2176
author: J.C. Gunn
name: Jack
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/22
date added: 2023/09/22
shelves: science-fiction
review:
This novel would fit seamlessly into any classic-era Science Fiction anthology or magazine while maintaining a more modern view of gender equality and nonviolence. The crew of the spaceship (there has to be a spaceship!) are genial, fun to live with, and convincingly competent. The story may seem to move slowly ("Where are the space battles??"), but there are plenty of mysteries to sink your teeth into.

I recommend it highly -- I don't hand out many 5-star reviews. I plan to read the next in the series.

One flaw: the punctuation is wildly erratic.
]]>
<![CDATA[These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1)]]> 53852543 This is an alternate cover edition of ASIN B084G9J55L.
----
Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.]]>
463 Chloe Gong Jack 1 3.62 2020 These Violent Delights (These Violent Delights, #1)
author: Chloe Gong
name: Jack
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2023/07/28
date added: 2023/09/08
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #4)]]> 8177008 Best selling author Steven Erikson returns with the latest in the morbid history of the Malazan Empire In Northern Genabackis, a raiding party of savage tribal warriors descends from the mountains into the southern flatlands. Their intention is to wreak havoc amongst the despised lowlanders, but for the one named Karsa Orlong it marks the beginning of what will prove to be an extraordinary destiny.Some years later, it is the aftermath of the Chain of Dogs. Tavore, the Adjunct to the Empress, has arrived in the last remaining Malazan stronghold of Seven Cities. New to command, she must hone twelve thousand soldiers, mostly raw recruits but for a handful of veterans of Coltaine's legendary march, into a force capable of challenging the massed hordes of Sha'ik's Whirlwind who lie in wait in the heart of the Holy Desert.But waiting is never easy. The seer's warlords are locked into a power struggle that threatens the very soul of the rebellion, while Sha'ik herself suffers, haunted by the knowledge of her her own sister, Tavore.And so begins this awesome new chapter in Steven Erikson's acclaimed Malazan Book of the Fallen . . .At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 676 Steven Erikson Jack 2 abandoned 4.44 2002 House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #4)
author: Steven Erikson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at: 2023/07/18
date added: 2023/07/18
shelves: abandoned
review:

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Genesis Code (Genesis #1) 53792276 A hunter seeking revenge. An alien dying to stop him. Could a government conspiracy put them both six feet under?

Investigator Bill Taggart will stop at nothing to find his missing wife. But standing between him and the truth is a secretive alien species on a distant planet. When his government pushes him to observe the species ahead of plans to relocate Earth’s population, Bill veers off course and straight into the path of one alien.

The surprising confrontation forces Bill to question whether the investigation into the savage species is needed. But when official government intel disagrees with the cold hard facts, he worries there might be another reason for the relocation plans.

A snap government order leaves the investigator in limbo and facing off against a new enemy that is more dangerous than the first. Worse, this enemy appears to live close to home.

A devastating set of plans is soon revealed that will destroy the lives on two worlds. And Bill is caught in the middle. Can he stop chasing ghosts long enough to save humanity from the real enemy?

Genesis Code is the first novel in this dystopian society thriller. If you enjoy incredible world building, complex characters, and disturbing secrets, then you'll love Eliza Green's intricately woven dystopian series. Fans of Lindsay Buroker, Jasper T. Scott and Chris Fox have read and enjoyed this series.]]>
323 Eliza Green Jack 2 3.88 2012 Genesis Code (Genesis #1)
author: Eliza Green
name: Jack
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2023/07/03
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves:
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S. 17860739 One book. Two readers. A world of mystery, menace, and desire.

A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.

THE BOOK: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V. M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched onto a disorienting and perilous journey.

THE WRITER: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world’s greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumours that swirl around him.

THE READERS: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they’re willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts, and fears.

S. , conceived by filmmaker J. J. Abrams and written by award-winning novelist Doug Dorst, is the chronicle of two readers finding each other in the margins of a book and enmeshing themselves in a deadly struggle between forces they don’t understand. It is also Abrams and Dorst’s love letter to the written word.
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469 J.J. Abrams 0316201642 Jack 0 currently-reading 3.86 2013 S.
author: J.J. Abrams
name: Jack
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/13
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[Magical Arts Academy: Omnibus One (Magical Arts Academy, #1-4)]]> 45190088 An ordinary girl, a dream to become extraordinary, and the powers that will lead her to change the world.

What would you do if you were invited to study at the Magical Arts Academy?
Enroll, of course!

Join Isadora and her crew of magical misfits.
Embark on a wild adventure today!

Omnibus 1 includes books 1-4 of the Magical Arts Academy:

First Spell

Winged Pursuit

Unexpected Agents

Improbable Ally


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420 Lucía Ashta Jack 4

There's no sex; there are two enthusiastic kisses.
A handfull of people die, mostly off-screen and minor characters.


About the "Omnibus": It appears these books were originally publised as 13 small volumes (I'll call them "novellas," though I'm not certain they fit the usual criteria for that designation), then collected into three "Omnibus" volumes. But it's all one book; the end pages for all the novellas except the highest one leave everything in a very unsatisfied state, a cliff-hanger. To my taste, this is a single book, containing 13 volumes. The only reason to buy a single volume is to "audition" to see if you want to commit to the other 12.

About the density: there's a lot of unnecessary fluff. In fact, there are several ostensibly principal characters ("magicians" not "sorcerers", or "good guys" not "bad guys") whose only reason to be here is to inflate the word-count with debate whenever any decision must be made.

About "chapters": these books would handily fit into a "chapter book" reading program, so long as you check how many Kindle-counted "minutes" each chapter is before diving in -- chapters are mostly around 10 "minutes" (10 pages), but there are more than a few tiny chapters (say 3 pages or so), and occasional mega-chapters (about 20).

About size: ... But the total length of three Omnibusses (or 13 novellas) is about enough material for a modern (streaming era) TV series, after filtering out the padding. The complete Magical Arts Academy tale is around 1200 "pages", where (for comparison) the complete Harry Potter tale is about 4000 "pages."

About audience: the protagonist ("Isadora," or just "Isa") self-identifies as seventeen, and the framing material that forms the first "page" says sixteen, but I see no reason a younger audiance, say around 13, should have any trouble reading the text.]]>
4.06 2019 Magical Arts Academy: Omnibus One (Magical Arts Academy, #1-4)
author: Lucía Ashta
name: Jack
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/13
date added: 2023/06/11
shelves:
review:
Parent rating:


There's no sex; there are two enthusiastic kisses.
A handfull of people die, mostly off-screen and minor characters.


About the "Omnibus": It appears these books were originally publised as 13 small volumes (I'll call them "novellas," though I'm not certain they fit the usual criteria for that designation), then collected into three "Omnibus" volumes. But it's all one book; the end pages for all the novellas except the highest one leave everything in a very unsatisfied state, a cliff-hanger. To my taste, this is a single book, containing 13 volumes. The only reason to buy a single volume is to "audition" to see if you want to commit to the other 12.

About the density: there's a lot of unnecessary fluff. In fact, there are several ostensibly principal characters ("magicians" not "sorcerers", or "good guys" not "bad guys") whose only reason to be here is to inflate the word-count with debate whenever any decision must be made.

About "chapters": these books would handily fit into a "chapter book" reading program, so long as you check how many Kindle-counted "minutes" each chapter is before diving in -- chapters are mostly around 10 "minutes" (10 pages), but there are more than a few tiny chapters (say 3 pages or so), and occasional mega-chapters (about 20).

About size: ... But the total length of three Omnibusses (or 13 novellas) is about enough material for a modern (streaming era) TV series, after filtering out the padding. The complete Magical Arts Academy tale is around 1200 "pages", where (for comparison) the complete Harry Potter tale is about 4000 "pages."

About audience: the protagonist ("Isadora," or just "Isa") self-identifies as seventeen, and the framing material that forms the first "page" says sixteen, but I see no reason a younger audiance, say around 13, should have any trouble reading the text.
]]>
<![CDATA[Magical Arts Academy: Omnibus Three (Magical Arts Academy, #9-13)]]> 45297673 An ordinary girl, a dream to become extraordinary, and the powers that will lead her to change the world.

What would you do if you were invited to study at the Magical Arts Academy?
Enroll, of course!

Join Isadora and her crew of magical misfits.
Embark on a wild adventure today!

Omnibus 3 includes books 9-13 of the Magical Arts Academy:

Castle's Curse

Spirited Escape

Dragon's Fury

Magic Ignites

Powers Unleashed

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536 Lucía Ashta Jack 4 4.56 2019 Magical Arts Academy: Omnibus Three (Magical Arts Academy, #9-13)
author: Lucía Ashta
name: Jack
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/11
date added: 2023/06/11
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Magical Arts Academy: Omnibus Two (Magical Arts Academy, #5-8)]]> 45297676 An ordinary girl, a dream to become extraordinary, and the powers that will lead her to change the world.

What would you do if you were invited to study at the Magical Arts Academy?
Enroll, of course!

Join Isadora and her crew of magical misfits.
Embark on a wild adventure today!

Omnibus 2 includes books 5-8 of the Magical Arts Academy:

Questionable Rescue

Sorcerers' Web

Ghostly Return

Transformations

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412 Lucía Ashta Jack 5 4.51 2019 Magical Arts Academy: Omnibus Two (Magical Arts Academy, #5-8)
author: Lucía Ashta
name: Jack
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/31
date added: 2023/05/31
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[First Spell (Magical Arts Academy #1)]]> 40172190 Sixteen-year-old Isadora is recruited to join a secret school. She knows nothing of where she’s going, but anything is better than being stuck at the house of her belittling uncle.

When a sect of sorcerers out to ruin magic finds her, she doesn’t possess the skills to ward them off. She needs to reach the academy. A whole new world awaits her if only she can make it in time.

Will Isadora beat the sorcerers to the academy and begin her education in the magical arts? Or will they succeed in keeping her from her destiny?]]>
114 Lucía Ashta Jack 3 fantasy 3.84 First Spell (Magical Arts Academy #1)
author: Lucía Ashta
name: Jack
average rating: 3.84
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/15
date added: 2023/05/15
shelves: fantasy
review:
Good characters and pace, but there’s just not a complete book’s worth of material here. You’d be better off reading the Omnibus packaging.
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<![CDATA[The Swagger Sword: Templars, Columbus and the Vatican Cover-up (Templars in America, #8)]]> 41837855 290 David S. Brody Jack 1 abandoned 4.32 The Swagger Sword: Templars, Columbus and the Vatican Cover-up (Templars in America, #8)
author: David S. Brody
name: Jack
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2023/03/21
date added: 2023/03/21
shelves: abandoned
review:

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Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) 49247130 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege, and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.



Galaxy "Alex" Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she's thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world's most prestigious universities on a full ride. What's the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale's secret societies. Their eight windowless "tombs" are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street's biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.

Ninth House is the long-awaited adult debut by the beloved author of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. Leigh Bardugo will take her place alongside Lev Grossman and Deborah Harkness as one of the finest practitioners of literary fantasy writing today.]]>
458 Leigh Bardugo 1250751365 Jack 0 to-read 4.08 2019 Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Jack
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

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Spook Country (Blue Ant, #2) 6610589

Hollis Henry is an investigative journalist, on assignment from a magazine called Node. Node doesn't exist yet, which is fine; she's used to that. But it seems to be actively blocking the kind of buzz that magazines normally cultivate before they start up. Really actively blocking it. It's odd, even a little scary, if Hollis lets herself think about it much. Which she doesn't; she can't afford to.


Milgrim is a junkie. A high-end junkie, hooked on prescription antianxiety drugs. Milgrim figures he wouldn't survive twenty-four hours if Brown, the mystery man who saved him from a misunderstanding with his dealer, ever stopped supplying those little bubble packs. What exactly Brown is up to Milgrim can't say, but it seems to be military in nature. At least, Milgrim's very nuanced Russian would seem to be a big part of it, as would breaking into locked rooms.


Bobby Chombo is a "producer," and an enigma. In his day job, Bobby is a troubleshooter for manufacturers of military navigation equipment. He refuses to sleep in the same place twice. He meets no one. Hollis Henry has been told to find him.


Pattern Recognition was a bestseller on every list of every major newspaper in the country, reaching #4 on the New York Times list. It was also a BookSense top ten pick, a WordStock bestseller, a best book of the year for Publishers Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and the Economist, and a Washington Post "rave."


Spook Country is the perfect follow-up to Pattern Recognition, which was called by The Washington Post (among many glowing reviews), "One of the first authentic and vital novels of the twenty-first century."

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498 William Gibson 1101147288 Jack 5 4.03 2007 Spook Country (Blue Ant, #2)
author: William Gibson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/15
date added: 2023/02/15
shelves:
review:

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The Cobweb: A Novel 6563919 From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this now-classic political thriller, he and fellow author J. Frederick George tell a savagely witty, chillingly topical tale set in the tense moments of the Gulf War.When a foreign exchange student is found murdered at an Iowa University, Deputy Sheriff Clyde Banks finds that his investigation extends far beyond the small college town—all the way to the Middle East. Shady events at the school reveal that a powerful department is using federal grant money for highly dubious research. And what it’s producing is a very nasty bug. Navigating a plot that leads from his own backyard to Washington, D.C., to the Gulf, where his Army Reservist wife has been called to duty, Banks realizes he may be the only person who can stop the wholesale slaughtering of thousands of Americans. It’s a lesson in foreign policy he’ll never forget.]]> 448 Neal Stephenson Jack 0 4.28 1996 The Cobweb: A Novel
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at: 2023/01/26
date added: 2023/01/26
shelves:
review:

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Interface: A Novel 6563920 From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this now-classic thriller, he and fellow author J. Frederick George tell a shocking tale with an all-too plausible premise. There's no way William A. Cozzano can lose the upcoming presidential election. He's a likable midwestern governor with one insidious advantage—an advantage provided by a shadowy group of backers. A biochip implanted in his head hardwires him to a computerized polling system. The mood of the electorate is channeled directly into his brain. Forget issues. Forget policy. Cozzano is more than the perfect candidate. He's a special effect. “Complex, entertaining, frequently funny."—Publishers Weekly“Qualifies as the sleeper of the year, the rare kind of science-fiction thriller that evokes genuine laughter while simultaneously keeping the level of suspense cranked to the max."� San Diego Union-Tribune“A Manchurian Candidate for the computer age.� —Seattle Weekly]]> 640 Neal Stephenson Jack 0 4.16 1994 Interface: A Novel
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at: 2022/12/11
date added: 2022/12/11
shelves:
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<![CDATA[The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician #1)]]> 22521286 Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.


From the imaginative mind of debut author Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician is an extraordinary adventure both dark and whimsical that will delight readers of all ages.

Short-Listed for the 2015 ALA Fantasy Reading List

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234 Charlie N. Holmberg 147787383X Jack 4 3.84 2014 The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician #1)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Jack
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/20
date added: 2022/11/20
shelves:
review:

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Up from Slavery 19639003 138 Booker T. Washington 0486110699 Jack 5 4.43 1900 Up from Slavery
author: Booker T. Washington
name: Jack
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1900
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/20
date added: 2022/10/20
shelves:
review:

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Neverwhere (London Below, #1) 57281746 Neverwhere, heralded the arrival of a major talent and became a touchstone of urban fantasy.

It is the story of Richard Mayhew, a young London businessman with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he discovers a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her—an act of kindness that plunges him into a world he never dreamed existed. Slipping through the cracks of reality, Richard lands in Neverwhere—a London of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth. Neverwhere is home to Door, the mysterious girl Richard helped in the London Above. Here in Neverwhere, Door is a powerful noblewoman who has vowed to find the evil agent of her family’s slaughter and thwart the destruction of this strange underworld kingdom. If Richard is ever to return to his former life and home, he must join Lady Door’s quest to save her world—and may well die trying.]]>
400 Neil Gaiman Jack 0 4.25 1996 Neverwhere (London Below, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Jack
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at: 2022/10/15
date added: 2022/10/15
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)]]> 1421990 Flirting With The Grave�

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father � the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership.

In exchange for help finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She’s amazed she doesn’t end up as his dinner � are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn’t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side � and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.]]>
374 Jeaniene Frost 0061245089 Jack 4 4.13 2007 Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)
author: Jeaniene Frost
name: Jack
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/10/10
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare]]> 39807330 Chesterton’s finest achievement—at once a gripping thriller and a powerful allegoryIn a colorful neighborhood of West London, two poets are at each other’s throats. Gregory is an anarchist who longs to upend civilization with the power of his words, while Syme is a man of reason, convinced his opponent’s beliefs are nothing but a fashionable pose. To prove his seriousness, Gregory introduces Syme to the central council of European radicals, where the newcomer is given the codename “Thursday.� Though none will admit it, every man in the council is a liar—and each is deadly in his own way.Gregory has no inkling that his new comrade Syme is an undercover detective, sent by Scotland Yard to destroy the council from within. But as the other men reveal their secrets in turn, it becomes clear that Thursday is not the enemy; it is the mysterious figure named Sunday whom they all should fear.This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.]]> 203 G.K. Chesterton Jack 5 3.70 1908 The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Jack
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1908
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/05
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves:
review:

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The Ball and the Cross 6666349 412 G.K. Chesterton Jack 4 4.06 1910 The Ball and the Cross
author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Jack
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1910
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/29
date added: 2022/09/30
shelves:
review:
The language and style , being just over a century old), may take some getting used to, as may the extended metaphor structure. But give G K a chance! The central metaphor is pretty open. You should master it within the first chapter
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<![CDATA[A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)]]> 45154547 WINNER OF THE 2022 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL
Now a USA Today bestseller!
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2021
Amazon's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021
Bookpage's Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of 2021
ŷ Choice Awards Nominee for Best Science Fiction Book of 2021


A Desolation Called Peace is the spectacular space opera sequel to Arkady Martine's genre-reinventing, Hugo Award-winning debut, A Memory Called Empire.

An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options.

In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass—still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire—face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity.

Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan’s destruction—and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion.

Or it might create something far stranger . . .
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496 Arkady Martine 125018648X Jack 4 4.31 2021 A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2)
author: Arkady Martine
name: Jack
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/19
date added: 2022/09/19
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)]]> 39873472
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.

A fascinating space opera debut novel, Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire is an interstellar mystery adventure.]]>
472 Arkady Martine 1250186455 Jack 5 4.27 2019 A Memory Called Empire (Teixcalaan, #1)
author: Arkady Martine
name: Jack
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/30
date added: 2022/08/30
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Shorefall (The Founders Trilogy, #2)]]> 58518075 As a magical revolution remakes a city, an ancient evil is awakened

Having narrowly saved the metropolis of Tevanne from destruction, Sancia Grado and her allies have turned to their next task: sowing the seeds of a full-on magical-industrial revolution. If they succeed, the secrets behind scriving—the art of imbuing everyday objects with sentience—will be accessible to all of Tevanne’s citizens, much to the displeasure of the robber-barons who’ve hoarded this knowledge for themselves.

But one of Sancia’s enemies has embarked on a desperate gambit, an attempt to resurrect a figure straight out of legend—an immortal being known as a heirophant. Long ago, the heirophant was an ordinary man, but he’s used scriving to transform himself into something closer to a god. Once awakened, he’ll stop at nothing to remake the world in his horrifying image.

And if Sancia can’t stop this ancient power from returning? Well, the only way to fight a god…is with another god.]]>
512 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984822772 Jack 0 4.12 2020 Shorefall (The Founders Trilogy, #2)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/21
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)]]> 45183786
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia's been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact's secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there's nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving--and at stopping the deadly transformation that's under way--Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact's power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

In a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself--the first in a dazzling new series from City of Stairs author Robert Jackson Bennett. ]]>
512 Robert Jackson Bennett 0525573844 Jack 3 Foundryside, Shorefall, and Locklands. Foundryside can stand on its own, though it's definitely integral to the trilogy. Shorefall is not stand-alone, you'll have to continue on into Locklands to get closure.)


Good authors too who once knew better words
Now only use four-letter words
Writing prose
Anything goes

Anything Goes, Cole Porter


These books definitely fall with a thud on the "now" side of Porter's division. Many of the characters, but most of all the two principals, Sancia and Orso, can't seem able to form a sentence that doesn't have a couple curses. The result is, harsh language loses its power, to the extent that, as the principal villain gradually reveals himself, Sancia and Orso can't say anything up to the narrative pitch the author is hoping for: all the "bad" words are all used up; they might as well be discussing teddy bears. It's a particular shame in these books, as there are many fine features.]]>
4.20 2018 Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/08/21
shelves:
review:
(This book is the first of a series - Foundryside, Shorefall, and Locklands. Foundryside can stand on its own, though it's definitely integral to the trilogy. Shorefall is not stand-alone, you'll have to continue on into Locklands to get closure.)


Good authors too who once knew better words
Now only use four-letter words
Writing prose
Anything goes

Anything Goes, Cole Porter


These books definitely fall with a thud on the "now" side of Porter's division. Many of the characters, but most of all the two principals, Sancia and Orso, can't seem able to form a sentence that doesn't have a couple curses. The result is, harsh language loses its power, to the extent that, as the principal villain gradually reveals himself, Sancia and Orso can't say anything up to the narrative pitch the author is hoping for: all the "bad" words are all used up; they might as well be discussing teddy bears. It's a particular shame in these books, as there are many fine features.
]]>
<![CDATA[Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)]]> 37173847
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.]]>
501 Robert Jackson Bennett 1524760374 Jack 3 4.16 2018 Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/21
date added: 2022/08/21
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #3)]]> 10377639 Marking the return of many characters from Gardens of the Moon and introducing a host of remarkable new players, Memories of Ice is both a momentous new chapter in Steven Erikson's magnificent epic fantasy and a triumph of storytelling. The ravaged continent of Genabackis has given birth to a terrifying new the Pannion Domin. Like a tide of corrupted blood, it seethes across the land, devouring all. In its path stands an uneasy Onearm's army and Whiskeyjack's Bridgeburners alongside their enemies of old--the forces of the Warlord Caladan Brood, Anomander Rake and his Tiste Andii mages, and the Rhivi people of the plains. But ancient undead clans are also gathering; the T'lan Imass have risen. For it would seem something altogether darker and more malign threatens this world. Rumors abound that the Crippled God is now unchained and intent on a terrible revenge.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 945 Steven Erikson Jack 4 fantasy
And when I say "everything," I mean quite a lot: there are maybe a dozen races involved, with historical animosities reaching back as far as 300,000 years. At least one of the races is from another planet.

There are an equal (or greater) number of character name patterns to unravel. There are a lot of titles, ranks and so forth liberally substituted for the characters' proper names. Place names galore.

What I'm saying is, it's a challenge to read. But, it's well worth the investment. This is volume 3 of a ten-volume epic. I've read the first two already, and now the third, but I need a break between volumes. A hefty break, a year or more. So it'll be decades before I finish the saga. But I will, I imagine.After unwinding with something completely different, like love poems by Pablo Neruda.

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4.52 2001 Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #3)
author: Steven Erikson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/19
date added: 2022/07/19
shelves: fantasy
review:
It's been said that a "short story" is one where "one thing happens." If that's true, then this is a 900 page short story! Everything that happens is part of the early stages of the one central event.

And when I say "everything," I mean quite a lot: there are maybe a dozen races involved, with historical animosities reaching back as far as 300,000 years. At least one of the races is from another planet.

There are an equal (or greater) number of character name patterns to unravel. There are a lot of titles, ranks and so forth liberally substituted for the characters' proper names. Place names galore.

What I'm saying is, it's a challenge to read. But, it's well worth the investment. This is volume 3 of a ten-volume epic. I've read the first two already, and now the third, but I need a break between volumes. A hefty break, a year or more. So it'll be decades before I finish the saga. But I will, I imagine.After unwinding with something completely different, like love poems by Pablo Neruda.


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<![CDATA[The Autobiography of Malcolm X]]> 26137012 Now available as an eBook for the very first time! •�ONE OF TIME’S TEN MOST IMPORTANT NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

With its first great victory in the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, the civil rights movement gained the powerful momentum it needed to sweep forward into its crucial decade, the 1960s. As voices of protest and change rose above the din of history and false promises, one voice sounded more urgently, more passionately, than the rest. Malcolm X—once called the most dangerous man in America—challenged the world to listen and learn the truth as he experienced it. And his enduring message is as relevant today as when he first delivered it.

In the searing pages of this classic autobiography, originally published in 1964, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and anti-integrationist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Black Muslim movement to veteran writer and journalist Alex Haley . In a unique collaboration, Haley worked with Malcolm X for nearly two years, interviewing, listening to, and understanding the most controversial leader of his time.

Raised in Lansing, Michigan, Malcolm Little journeyed on a road to fame as astonishing as it was unpredictable. Drifting from childhood poverty to petty crime, Malcolm found himself in jail. It was there that he came into contact with the teachings of a little-known Black Muslim leader renamed Elijah Muhammad. The newly renamed Malcolm X devoted himself body and soul to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and the world of Islam, becoming the Nation’s foremost spokesman. When his conscience forced him to break with Elijah Muhammad, Malcolm founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity to reach African Americans across the country with an inspiring message of pride, power, and self-determination.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X defines American culture and the African American struggle for social and economic equality that has now become a battle for survival. Malcolm’s fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American Dream, and the inherent racism in a society that denies its nonwhite citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X stands as the definitive statement of a movement and a man whose work was never completed but whose message is timeless. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand America.

Praise for The Autobiography of Malcolm X

“Malcolm X’s autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me; the blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will.�—Barack Obama, Dreams from My Father

“Extraordinary . . . a brilliant, painful, important book.�The New York Times

“A great book . . . Its dead level honesty, its passion, its exalted purpose, will make it stand as a monument to the most painful truth.�The Nation

“The most important book I’ll ever read, it changed the way I thought, it changed the way I acted. It has given me courage I didn’t know I had inside me. I’m one of hundreds of thousands whose lives were changed for the better.�—Spike Lee

“This book will have a permanent place in the literature of the Afro-American struggle.�—I. F. Stone]]>
527 Malcolm X 1101967803 Jack 5 4.61 1965 The Autobiography of Malcolm X
author: Malcolm X
name: Jack
average rating: 4.61
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/07
date added: 2022/05/07
shelves:
review:

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Legends 3 20059741
Robert Jordan relates crucial events in the years leading up to The Wheel of Time in "New Spring."

Ursula K. Le Guin adds a sequel to her famous books of Earthsea, portraying a woman who wants to learn magic, in "Dragonfly."

Tad Williams tells a dark and enthralling story of a haunted castle in the age before Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, in "The Burning Man."

Terry Pratchett relates an amusing incident in Discworld, of a magical contest and the witch Granny Weatherwax, in "The Sea and Little Fishes."

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.]]>
448 Robert Jordan 1466844221 Jack 4 4.00 1999 Legends 3
author: Robert Jordan
name: Jack
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/04
date added: 2022/04/04
shelves:
review:

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Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]>
279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Jack 4 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Jack
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1813
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/31
date added: 2022/03/31
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Enceladus Mission (Ice Moon, #1)]]> 41583173 A space odyssey that’s worth taking. (Kirkus)

In the year 2031, a robot probe detects traces of biological activity on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. This sensational discovery shows that there is indeed evidence of extraterrestrial life.Fifteen years later, a hurriedly built spacecraft sets out on the long journey to the ringed planet and its moon.

The international crew is not just facing a difficult twenty-seven months: if the spacecraft manages to make it to Enceladus without incident it must use a drillship to penetrate the kilometer-thick sheet of ice that entombs the moon. If life does indeed exist on Enceladus, it could only be at the bottom of the salty, ice covered ocean, which formed billions of years ago.

However, shortly after takeoff disaster strikes the mission, and the chances of the crew making it to Enceladus, let alone back home, look grim.

From internationally best-selling hard science fiction author Brandon Q. Morris comes a new novel for hard science fiction enthusiasts. As a physicist and space specialist, Morris describes the journey of the international expedition through the hostile vacuum of space, using the latest scientific findings and technology trends as his inspiration. This isn’t aWhat Ifbook, this is aWhen Willbook.]]>
448 Brandon Q. Morris 3947283296 Jack 2 vacuous-clap-trap
Turning a pillar of modern physics into a rather large loose end does not bode will for this painfully un-hard science narrative. I went back and re-read the relevant material, hoping to find some explanation or justification ... but, no: I only discovered even more of the same error, as I realized that not only Martin (the protagonist) worries about the phantom mass, but several other crew members as well lose a few nights' sleep over the problem, then drop the whole business and get on with more-promising things to worry about.]]>
3.92 2017 The Enceladus Mission (Ice Moon, #1)
author: Brandon Q. Morris
name: Jack
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2022/02/09
date added: 2022/02/09
shelves: vacuous-clap-trap
review:
I was severely disappointed that this self-styled "physicist," who promised "hard science" in the title and in the author's web site, should wander for many pages obsessing over the risks of adding mass to the spacecraft by giving birth to a child. Apparently, he made it through his degree program without ever learning that mass is conserved. The. mass of the child would be taken from food stores and water stores and such like--plenty of opportunity for problems and excitement, but not of the sort feared here. Eventually, he recalls mass conservation, and lets the whole extra-mass mess just drop away.

Turning a pillar of modern physics into a rather large loose end does not bode will for this painfully un-hard science narrative. I went back and re-read the relevant material, hoping to find some explanation or justification ... but, no: I only discovered even more of the same error, as I realized that not only Martin (the protagonist) worries about the phantom mass, but several other crew members as well lose a few nights' sleep over the problem, then drop the whole business and get on with more-promising things to worry about.
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<![CDATA[Nothing to Lose (J.P. Beaumont, #25)]]> 58132538 The newest thrilling Beaumont suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance, in which Beaumont is approached by a visitor from the past and finds himself drawn into a missing person's case where danger is lurking and family secrets are exposed.

Years ago, when he was a homicide detective with the Seattle PD, J. P. Beaumont's partner, Sue Danielson, was murdered. Volatile and angry, Danielson's ex-husband came after her in her home and, with nowhere else to turn, Jared, Sue's teenage son, frantically called Beau for help. As Beau rushed to the scene, he urged Jared to grab his younger brother and flee the house. In the end, Beaumont's plea and Jared's quick action saved the two boys from their father's murderous rage.

Now, almost twenty years later, Jared reappears in Beau's life seeking his help once again--his younger brother Chris is missing. Still haunted by the events of that tragic night, Beau doesn't hesitate to take on the case. Following a lead all the way to the wilds of wintertime Alaska, he encounters a tangled web of family secrets in which a killer with nothing to lose is waiting to take another life.


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355 J.A. Jance 0063010062 Jack 0 to-read 4.09 2022 Nothing to Lose (J.P. Beaumont, #25)
author: J.A. Jance
name: Jack
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Being Lili: Inspired by a true story of World War II Paris]]> 59445932 309 Catherine Pezdirtz Jack 0 4.83 Being Lili: Inspired by a true story of World War II Paris
author: Catherine Pezdirtz
name: Jack
average rating: 4.83
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2022/02/01
date added: 2022/02/01
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Monroe Doctrine: Volume I (Monroe Doctrine, #1)]]> 53672534 It was called Jade Dragon�

…and it threatened to destroy the West.

Was an attack on the U.S. imminent?

In a lab deep in the heart of China, a brilliant engineer had a breakthrough. It was the most powerful AI ever created. Ma Young believed the Jade Dragon could solve the world’s most dire challenges. There was just one problem�

The president of China had other ideas.

Was this their chance to conquer?

The war began at the speed of light. The entire NATO alliance stood on the brink of destruction. Cyber-attacks, deepfakes, and a wave of social media disinformation wrought fear and desperation across the globe.

The sleeping giant was awake.

Could Ma stop his creation?

You’ll love this fast-paced techno-military-thriller because we live in a world where this fiction could be truer than we suspect. It will keep you turning the pages.

Get it now.The Monroe Doctrine series is broken down into seven volumes. Each volume steadily reveals the complexity of Jade Dragon as humanity steadily moves towards autonomous warfare, waged by machines. This is NOT a standalone book.]]>
449 James Rosone 1957634766 Jack 2
The book seems to be closely in sync with Wikipedia, hinting at the actual mechanics that may have been used to write it.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems all the characters, wherever they come from, think and talk like Americans. There's very little national character in the voices of the various "players."]]>
4.30 2021 Monroe Doctrine: Volume I (Monroe Doctrine, #1)
author: James Rosone
name: Jack
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2022/01/29
date added: 2022/01/30
shelves:
review:
The book is primarily a catalog of the latest weapons and weapon systems of the world. Each weapon gets a chapter or so crafted to show off the particular weapon's features. It's rather a "Battle Royale" in Fortnight than a TV show, movie, or book. The individual chapters are fairly well written, and the book as a whole is definitely more readable than a simple check list, but even within the scope of this one book (sequels are promised), the structure becomes transparent, and the reader despairs of ever finding a plot or character development.

The book seems to be closely in sync with Wikipedia, hinting at the actual mechanics that may have been used to write it.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems all the characters, wherever they come from, think and talk like Americans. There's very little national character in the voices of the various "players."
]]>
Rocannon’s World 92610 258 Ursula K. Le Guin 0441732968 Jack 0 to-read 3.81 1966 Rocannon’s World
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at: 2020/01/01
date added: 2022/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Being Lili: Inspired by a true story of World War II Paris]]> 59921283 264 Catherine Pezdirtz 1955656118 Jack 0 5.00 Being Lili: Inspired by a true story of World War II Paris
author: Catherine Pezdirtz
name: Jack
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/08
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Innate Magic (The Marrowbone Spells #1)]]> 57835230
Delightfully cheeky, unquestionably charming, and sometimes maddeningly naive, cloth mage Paul Gallagher is desperately trying to make a name for himself in a reimagined postwar London. But in a world where magic is commonplace, sewing enchanted clothes is seen as little more than a frivolous distraction. Paul is hiding a secret, however: he possesses a powerful--and illegal--innate magic that could help him achieve his wildest dreams.

Unfortunately, Paul confides in the wrong person--his latest crush, Captain Hector Hollister--and is drawn into a sinister plot that risks reigniting the machinery of war. To make matters worse, the pretty American gossip reporter Paul just met reveals her personal quest to expose a government cover-up may be related to Hollister's magical goals. When Hollister threatens the life of Paul's dearest friend, he realizes that his poor judgement has put not only his family and friends in danger, but also the whole world.

The only way to set things right may be for Paul to undergo the dangerous ritual to become Court Magician--the most powerful magician in the country. But is becoming part of the institution the best way to enact change in a terribly unjust society?]]>
384 Shannon Fay 1542032040 Jack 3 3.76 2021 Innate Magic (The Marrowbone Spells #1)
author: Shannon Fay
name: Jack
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/16
date added: 2021/12/16
shelves:
review:

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Termination Shock 57357418
From Neal Stephenson—who coined the term “metaverse� in his 1992 novelSnow Crash—comes a sweeping, prescient new thriller that transports readers to a near-future world in which the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish troposphere of superstorms, rising sea levels, global flooding, merciless heat waves, and virulent, deadly pandemics.

“Stephenson is one of speculative fiction’s most meticulous architects. . . . Termination Shockmanages to pull off a rare trick, at once wildly imaginative and grounded.”—New York Times Book Review

One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.� But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied?

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the Might the cure be worse than the disease?

Epic in scope while heartbreakingly human in perspective, Termination Shock sounds a clarion alarm, ponders potential solutions and dire risks, and wraps it all together in an exhilarating, witty, mind-expanding speculative adventure.]]>
716 Neal Stephenson Jack 5 science-fiction
What if ... a billionaire Texas wildcat oil man got fed up
waiting for all the sovereign nations of the earth to straighten
out the climate disaster, and took matters into his own hands?

Answer: a whale of a lot more than you may have considered.

It's long. His addiction to lists is expressed, here, in the plumbing (to the point that I remarked, at 19%, "So THAT's what we're here for!"). You may find that he highlights some things you already were conscious of -- rest assured, there are other folk who haven't thought of them yet.

In MPAA terms, there's language and sex here to rate it maybe PG-13, maybe a sliver higher. In video game terms, maybe "mature teen." Drug references are tobacco-centric, supplemented by alcohol ubiquity. Race, religion, geography, and ethnicity are significant plot-movers.]]>
4.16 2021 Termination Shock
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/28
date added: 2021/11/28
shelves: science-fiction
review:
(The book cover, and its electronicazation at Amazon, reveals a lot that I would consider spoilers. In this review, I'm taking the position that anything there becomes public knowledge, and I'll freely write as if it's unsurprising. So, if you're spoiler-sensitive, I suggest you stop reading this review, and avoid reading the Amazon marketing, and just buy the book :-)!)

What if ... a billionaire Texas wildcat oil man got fed up
waiting for all the sovereign nations of the earth to straighten
out the climate disaster, and took matters into his own hands?

Answer: a whale of a lot more than you may have considered.

It's long. His addiction to lists is expressed, here, in the plumbing (to the point that I remarked, at 19%, "So THAT's what we're here for!"). You may find that he highlights some things you already were conscious of -- rest assured, there are other folk who haven't thought of them yet.

In MPAA terms, there's language and sex here to rate it maybe PG-13, maybe a sliver higher. In video game terms, maybe "mature teen." Drug references are tobacco-centric, supplemented by alcohol ubiquity. Race, religion, geography, and ethnicity are significant plot-movers.
]]>
Termination Shock 57094295 A visionary technothriller about climate change.

Neal Stephenson's sweeping, prescient new novel transports readers to a near-future world where the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish troposphere of superstorms, rising sea levels, global flooding, merciless heat waves, and virulent, deadly pandemics.

One man has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as "elemental." But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied?

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the question: Might the cure be worse than the disease?]]>
708 Neal Stephenson 0063028050 Jack 5 science-fiction 3.68 2021 Termination Shock
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/28
date added: 2021/11/28
shelves: science-fiction
review:

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<![CDATA[Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth]]> 53685769 245 Avi Loeb 0358274559 Jack 3 4.09 2021 Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth
author: Avi Loeb
name: Jack
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/11/12
date added: 2021/11/12
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Remove the Shroud (The King's Ranger #3)]]> 56527064 A ranger’s duty. The rotten heart of a king. Rebellion spilled from the blood of family.

Having fled Spinesend following a calamitous encounter atop one of the city’s towers, Rew and his companions face a long journey across a dangerous land to the city of Carff, the seat of Prince Valchon. The treacherous spellcaster Alsayer fled there, along with Kallie Fedgley, but finding them without attracting the murderous gaze of the prince might be impossible.

During the journey, Rew and the others uncover sadistic plots by the princes against each other, and they garner the attention of the king himself. The younglings must sharpen their skills for what is to come, and Rew must command the courage to finally face his past.

In the third book of the King’s Ranger series, the shroud of secrecy around the king, his sons, and the terrible necromancy that has kept the family in power is yanked away. The Investiture is just the beginning of a terrible truth that endangers all who know it. The stakes are revealed, and failure means an eternity of damnation.]]>
324 A.C. Cobble Jack 4 4.46 2021 Remove the Shroud (The King's Ranger #3)
author: A.C. Cobble
name: Jack
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/06
date added: 2021/11/06
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Ranger's Path (The King's Ranger #2)]]> 55234298
Rew, the king’s ranger, leads his young companions on a deadly journey to find their father. On a path that twists across the Eastern Territory, they fight toward the prison where Baron Fedgley is held. The party will face bandits, assassins, treacherous noblemen, spellcasters, and Rew’s fellow rangers to get there.

Raif and Cinda, desperate to recover their kidnapped father, will risk anything to find him. Raif, equipped with his family’s enchanted greatsword but forced to acknowledge he’s not as strong or as skilled as he once believed, will charge into a world he’s never experienced. Cinda, awakened to strange and dangerous necromantic magic, will have to control vast power she never expected.

Confronted with the truth of his past and terrible knowledge he cannot ignore, Rew will choose between hiding and saving his soul or sacrificing it all to protect those he’s come to love. Will the ranger’s path take them into the wilderness and safety...or into the heart of the kingdom and an epic confrontation?

The King’s Ranger is a classic fantasy adventure, perfect for fans of Michael J. Sullivan, Brent Weeks, James Islington, and AC Cobble’s Benjamin Ashwood Series.]]>
360 A.C. Cobble Jack 4 4.37 The Ranger's Path (The King's Ranger #2)
author: A.C. Cobble
name: Jack
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/25
date added: 2021/10/25
shelves:
review:

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A World Out of Time 12273607
"This fantastic novel is a mix of Niven hard science and a time-travel concept to boggle the mind...even after the last line the feeling remains of the story still rushing on into the magic distance of the universe."
- A.E. van Vogt

"Niven's intoxicating concepts, ideas, scientific extrapolations, and exotic hardware buffle up from every page. Rich in imagination and astonishing in breath ... will challenge the most sophisticated readers."
- ALA Booklist

"Terrific fun!"
- Kirkus Reviews

"His tales have grit, authenticity, colorful characters and pulse-pounding narrative drive. Niven is a true master!"
- Frederik Pohl

"Larry Niven is one of the giants of modern science fiction."
- Mike Resnick

"Our premier hard SF writer."
- The Baltimore Sun

"Niven...lifts the reader far from the conventional world -- and does it with dash."
- The Los Angeles Times

"Niven...juggles huge concepts of time and space that no one else can lift."
- Charles Sheffield

"In creating a geologic world and in the interactions between humans and aliens, Niven is superb."
- Boston Sunday Globe

"One of the genre's most prolific and accessible talents."
- Library Journal

"The scope of Larry Niven's work is so vast that only a writer of supreme talent could disguise the fact as well as he can."
- Tom Clancy]]>
256 Larry Niven Jack 4 not move in straight lines, hence do not appear to change brightness without moving against the background stars). Some sex, minimal details.]]> 4.05 1976 A World Out of Time
author: Larry Niven
name: Jack
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/14
date added: 2021/10/14
shelves:
review:
An impressive handling of what amounts to three or four time lines. Some “rookie errors� with the science (e.g., objects traveling through space do not move in straight lines, hence do not appear to change brightness without moving against the background stars). Some sex, minimal details.
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<![CDATA[The King's Ranger (The King's Ranger #1)]]> 54505306
When three youths are arrested for petty theft in the village and beg for his help, Rew’s oldest friend insists he take responsibility for them. By ties stronger than steel, Rew is forced onto a path he knows leads to chaos and death. Through a resurgence of monsters summoned in ages prior, war between the royal line, and back-stabbing treachery, the king’s ranger will battle to grant the youths a life he never had a chance of.

But as they venture farther from the wilderness he calls home, Rew can feel the magical pull at the center of the kingdom, demanding he return to face his past and his family’s terrible legacy. Only he knows the secret of the king, and the risk it poses to the entire realm.]]>
346 A.C. Cobble Jack 3 4.17 2020 The King's Ranger (The King's Ranger #1)
author: A.C. Cobble
name: Jack
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/09
date added: 2021/10/10
shelves:
review:

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All Our Darkest Secrets 58245385 He’d do anything to protect his wife. But what if that meant making the biggest mistake of all?

James Casper is one of the good guys. A DEA agent. A loyal husband. With his sights set on the man at the top of the city’s opioid crisis, James is about to make the biggest bust of his career.

Then his beloved wife Rosie does something terrible, and James must choose: report it—or help her. He knows how this works, and he tells himself he’s smart enough to get away with murder. But James’s worst enemy knows what they have done—and he won’t hesitate to use it to manipulate him.

James is dragged into a dark and dangerous world. As events spiral and loyalties are tested, he realizes there’s only one way out. And that is to be even more ruthless than the people he’s working for.

Whatever happens, no matter how far he falls, at least he’ll still have Rosie.

Won’t he?]]>
395 Martyn Ford 154202756X Jack 5
And then fate’s ratchet relentlessly clicks another notch.

The body count, some fairly mature sex, and the constant struggle to justify it all argue for a sophisticated audience, high school and up, and a group reading setting where the difficulties can be unpacked could also enhance the experience.]]>
3.94 2021 All Our Darkest Secrets
author: Martyn Ford
name: Jack
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/30
date added: 2021/09/30
shelves:
review:
An epic tragedy in the classic Greek mold: a good man, hounded by fate, spirals to an end as surprising as it is inevitable. The body count is rather high, yet every death has its justification, seems to be the last.

And then fate’s ratchet relentlessly clicks another notch.

The body count, some fairly mature sex, and the constant struggle to justify it all argue for a sophisticated audience, high school and up, and a group reading setting where the difficulties can be unpacked could also enhance the experience.
]]>
<![CDATA[Master of the Revels (D.O.D.O., #2)]]> 53441123 In this brilliant sequel to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.—an enthralling, history-bending adventure traversing time and space, fact and fiction, magic and science co-written with #1 New York Times bestselling author Neal Stephenson—a daring young time traveler must return to Jacobean England to save the modern world.

This fast-paced sequel to the New York Times bestselling near-future adventure The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. picks up where the original left off, as Tristan Lyons, Mel Stokes, and their fellow outcasts from the Department of Diachronic Operations (D.O.D.O.) fight to stop the powerful Irish witch Gráinne from using time travel to reverse the evolution of all modern technology.

Chief amongst Gráinne’s plots: to encrypt cataclysmic spells into Shakespeare’s “cursed� play, Macbeth. When her fellow rogue agents fall victim to Gráinne’s schemes, Melisande Stokes is forced to send Tristan’s untested, wayward sister Robin back in time to 1606 London, where Edmund Tilney, the king’s Master of Revels, controls all staged performances in London.

And now Gráinne controls Tilney.

While Robin poses as an apprentice in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Mel travels to the ancient Roman Empire and, with the help of double-agent Chira in Renaissance Florence, untangles the knotted threads of history while the diabolical Gráinne jumps from timeline to timeline, always staying frustratingly one stop ahead—or is it behind?

Historical objects disappear, cities literally rise and fall, and nothing less than the fate of humanity is at stake. As Gráinne sows chaos across time and space, the ragtag team of ex-D.O.D.O. agents must fix the past—in order to save the future.

Critically acclaimed author Nicole Galland brings her deep knowledge of history and signature wit to this gripping romantic adventure.]]>
560 Nicole Galland 0062844873 Jack 4
If that tickles your interest, you should read this.

I’m not sure it’s mandatory to read the previous volume (The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O), but it couldn’t hurt any. ]]>
3.65 2021 Master of the Revels (D.O.D.O., #2)
author: Nicole Galland
name: Jack
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/26
date added: 2021/09/26
shelves: historical-fantasy, science-fiction
review:
It helps to be a Shakespeare nerd. Or a theatre nerd. Or Tolkien. It helps to be a fan of snarky prose (like “because this�) (because this). Several cast-members are all these things - as often the referent as the speaker. I’m not sure it’s any particular help to be a Mongoliad fan (I didn’t spot any links), but I may have fingered a George R. R. Martin connection or two. I guess it helps if you love inter-literary coup counting.

If that tickles your interest, you should read this.

I’m not sure it’s mandatory to read the previous volume (The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O), but it couldn’t hurt any.
]]>
The Magic of Found Objects 56427670
So when her best friend from childhood proposes that they give up on romance and marry each other, Phronsie agrees. Who better to spend your life with than your best friend? Maybe the connection they already have is love. Maybe there’s no falling to be done. But immediately after they announce their engagement, she encounters someone who makes a very charming and compelling argument for revisiting romance.

While her even-keeled stepmother argues for the safety that comes with her new engagement and her mother relays messages from the universe to hold out for true love, Phronsie must look to her own heart to find the answers that have been there all along.]]>
362 Maddie Dawson 1542021529 Jack 2
What's left? Perhaps you believe there are good ones and bad ones. This requires some analysis.

You might like it better if there's some development of the characters' personality, some lessons learned, some older-but-wiser action. I can't give points for this, here, as most of the characters don't really learn much about the causes of their initial confusion, they just blunder on through their consequences. In the end, they neatly sort out which of their various quirks are inauthentic or counter-productive, but I have low confidence they'll avoid similar problems in the future (though they are euphorically confident).

You might like it better if there's some learning about the society around them. In this case, there's some exploration of the Woodstock Generation, which rings true to my ear. One point awarded.

And that's about it, so far as I can see. I'm interested in other readers' "some good RomCom" analysis!]]>
3.99 2021 The Magic of Found Objects
author: Maddie Dawson
name: Jack
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/08/02
date added: 2021/08/02
shelves:
review:
This is a Romantic Comedy ("RomCom"). If you like them, this is one and you'll probably like this one. If you don't like them, this is one and you'll probably not like it.

What's left? Perhaps you believe there are good ones and bad ones. This requires some analysis.

You might like it better if there's some development of the characters' personality, some lessons learned, some older-but-wiser action. I can't give points for this, here, as most of the characters don't really learn much about the causes of their initial confusion, they just blunder on through their consequences. In the end, they neatly sort out which of their various quirks are inauthentic or counter-productive, but I have low confidence they'll avoid similar problems in the future (though they are euphorically confident).

You might like it better if there's some learning about the society around them. In this case, there's some exploration of the Woodstock Generation, which rings true to my ear. One point awarded.

And that's about it, so far as I can see. I'm interested in other readers' "some good RomCom" analysis!
]]>
<![CDATA[Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)]]> 25434380 The final novel in the First Law Trilogy by New York Times bestseller Joe Abercrombie.

Logen Ninefingers might only have one more fight in him -- but it's going to be a big one. Battle rages across the North, the king of the Northmen still stands firm, and there's only one man who can stop him. His oldest friend, and his oldest enemy: it's time for the Bloody-Nine to come home.

With too many masters and too little time, Superior Glokta is fighting a different kind of war. A secret struggle in which no one is safe, and no one can be trusted. As his days with a sword are far behind him, it's fortunate that he's deadly with his remaining weapons: blackmail, threats, and torture.

Jezal dan Luthar has decided that winning glory is too painful an undertaking and turned his back on soldiering for a simple life with the woman he loves. But love can be painful too -- and glory has a nasty habit of creeping up on a man when he least expects it.

The king of the Union lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. No one believes that the shadow of war is about to fall across the heart of the Union. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law...

First Law Trilogy
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings


For more from Joe Abercrombie, check out:

Novels in the First Law world
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country
]]>
642 Joe Abercrombie Jack 2 4.35 2008 Last Argument of Kings (The First Law, #3)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Jack
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at: 2021/08/01
date added: 2021/08/01
shelves:
review:

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Project Hail Mary 54906250 An impossible mission.
An ally he never imagined.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery-and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]>
549 Andy Weir Jack 5 4.57 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Jack
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/23
date added: 2021/07/23
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World]]> 23252388 Get all three novels in Neal Stephenson'sNew York Timesbestselling "Baroque Cycle" in one e-book, including:Quicksilver, The Confusion, andThe System of the World.This three-volume historical epic delivers intrigue, adventure, and excitement set against the political upheaval of the early 18th century.

]]>
960 Neal Stephenson Jack 0 4.52 The Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.52
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/27
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3, Book 3)]]> 459504
The Baroque Cycle, Neal Stephenson's award-winning series, spans the late 17th and early 18th centuries, combining history, adventure, science, invention, piracy, and alchemy into one sweeping tale. It is a gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive historical epic populated by the likes of Isaac Newton, William of Orange, Benjamin Franklin, and King Louis XIV, along with some of the most inventive literary characters in modern fiction.

Audible's complete and unabridged presentation of The Baroque Cycle was produced in cooperation with Neal Stephenson. Each volume includes an exclusive introduction read by the author.]]>
368 Neal Stephenson 0060895535 Jack 3 4.46 The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 3, Book 3)
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2021/06/27
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)]]> 26248534 The second novel in the wildly popular First Law Trilogy from New York Times bestseller Joe Abercrombie.

Superior Glokta has a problem. How do you defend a city surrounded by enemies and riddled with traitors, when your allies can by no means be trusted, and your predecessor vanished without a trace? It's enough to make a torturer want to run -- if he could even walk without a stick.

Northmen have spilled over the border of Angland and are spreading fire and death across the frozen country. Crown Prince Ladisla is poised to drive them back and win undying glory. There is only one problem -- he commands the worst-armed, worst-trained, worst-led army in the world.

And Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is leading a party of bold adventurers on a perilous mission through the ruins of the past. The most hated woman in the South, the most feared man in the North, and the most selfish boy in the Union make a strange alliance, but a deadly one. They might even stand a chance of saving mankind from the Eaters -- if they didn't hate each other quite so much.

Ancient secrets will be uncovered. Bloody battles will be won and lost. Bitter enemies will be forgiven -- but not before they are hanged.


First Law Trilogy
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings


For more from Joe Abercrombie, check out:

Novels in the First Law world
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country]]>
549 Joe Abercrombie Jack 4 4.43 2007 Before They Are Hanged (The First Law, #2)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Jack
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/12
date added: 2021/05/12
shelves:
review:

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Forever Free 31428142 “A well-written and worthy sequel to one of SF’s enduring classics”—the Nebula Award winnerThe Forever War—now with a bonus story, “A Separate War� (Publishers Weekly). On virtually every list of the greatest military science fiction adventures ever written, Joe Haldeman’s Hugo and Nebula Award–winning classic, The Forever War, is ranked at the very top. In Forever Free, the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master and author of the acclaimed Worlds series returns to that same volatile universe where human space marines once engaged the alien Taurans in never-ending battle. While loyal soldier William Mandella was fighting for the survival of the human race in a distant galaxy, thousands of years were passing on his home planet, Earth. Then, with the end of the hostilities came the shocking realization that humanity had evolved into something he did not recognize. Offered the choice of retaining his individuality or becoming part of the genetically modified shared Human hive-mind, Mandella chose exile, joining other veterans of the Forever War seeking a new life on a wasteland world they called Middle Finger. Making a home for themselves in this half-frozen hell, Mandella and his life partner, Marygay, have survived into middle age, raising a son and a daughter in the process. Now, the dark truth about the colonists� ultimate role in the continuation of the Human group mind will force Mandella and Marygay to take desperate action as they hijack an interstellar vessel and set off on a frantic escape across space and time. But what awaits them upon their return is a mystery far beyond all human—or Human—comprehension ... In Forever Free, Joe Haldeman’s stunning vision of humankind’s far future reaches its enthralling conclusion in a masterwork of speculation from the mind and heart of one of the undisputed champions of hard science fiction.And in the bonus story included in this volume, “A Separate War,� Marygay, reassigned and separated from her lover, Mandella, continues fighting in military engagements across the stars—all the while planning how she and Mandella can reunite despite the time and space between them.]]> 292 Joe Haldeman Jack 5 3.82 1999 Forever Free
author: Joe Haldeman
name: Jack
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2021/04/16
date added: 2021/04/17
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Into the Stars (Rise of the Republic, #1)]]> 53724337
…But what awaits in the void may end humanity�

Mars and the Moon have been colonized, piracy runs rampant in the asteroid belts, and a thriving society grows in the depths of space. Humanity prepares to embark upon its greatest journey—the colonization of Alpha Centauri.

Then everything changes�

A deep space reconnaissance probe discovers a new Earth-like planet twelve light-years from Earth’s sun. The probe also finds something unusual, something…unnerving. A new mission is created, a space fleet is formed, and humanity embarks on unraveling the greatest mystery of all—the origins of life itself.

Can the factions of Earth remain united, or will old rivalries and animosities destroy the fragile peace in the face of this terrifying existential threat?

Will exploration prove to be a fatal mistake?

If you love new technologies, fast-paced action and gut-wrenching turns of fate, you’ll love this first book in James Rosone’s military sci-fi series, The Rise of the Republic.

Grab your copy of this page-turner today.

The Rise of the Republic Series is best read in order, as each book builds upon the previous work. The reading order is as listed:

Book One: Into the Stars

Book Two: Into the Battle

Book Three: Into the War

Book Four: TBD

Book Five: TBD

Book Six: TBD]]>
289 James Rosone Jack 1 4.24 2020 Into the Stars (Rise of the Republic, #1)
author: James Rosone
name: Jack
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2021/03/16
date added: 2021/04/14
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World / Planet of Exile / City of Illusions (Hainish Cycle, #1-3)]]> 32999024
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]>
383 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 0 4.41 1966 Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World / Planet of Exile / City of Illusions (Hainish Cycle, #1-3)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at: 2021/04/14
date added: 2021/04/14
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven]]> 34808405
Contents
Introduction by Jonathan Strahan
The Future Is Blue / Catherynne M. Valente
Mika Model / Paolo Bacigalupi
Spinning Silver / Naomi Novik
Two's Company (The First Law Universe) / Joe Abercrombie
You Make Pattaya / Rich Larson
You'll Surely Drown Here If You Stay / Alyssa Wong
A Salvaging of Ghosts (Universe of Xuya) / Aliette de Bodard
Even the Crumbs Were Delicious / Daryl Gregory
Number Nine Moon / Alex Irvine
Things with Beards / Sam J. Miller
Successor, Usurper, Replacement / Alice Sola Kim
Laws of Night and Silk / Seth Dickinson
Touring with the Alien / Carolyn Ives Gilman
The Great Detective (Cwmlech Manor #2) / Delia Sherman
Everyone from Themis Sends Letters Home / Genevieve Valentine
Those Shadows Laugh / Geoff Ryman
Seasons of Glass and Iron / Amal El-Mohtar
The Art of Space Travel / Nina Allan
Whisper Road (Murder Ballad No. 9) / Caitlín R. Kiernan
Red Dirt Witch / N. K. Jemisin
Red as Blood and White as Bone / Theodora Goss
Terminal / Lavie Tidhar
Foxfire, Foxfire / Yoon Ha Lee
Elves of Antarctica / Paul J. McAuley
The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight / E. Lily Yu
Seven Birthdays / Ken Liu
The Visitor from Taured / Ian R. MacLeod
Fable / Charles Yu
Honorable Mentions: 2016 -- essay]]>
546 Jonathan Strahan Jack 0 3.79 2017 The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eleven
author: Jonathan Strahan
name: Jack
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2021/04/07
date added: 2021/04/07
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age]]> 53122357
In Four Lost Cities, acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization: the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in Central Turkey, the Roman vacation town of Pompeii on Italy’s southern coast, the medieval megacity of Angkor in Cambodia, and the indigenous metropolis Cahokia, which stood beside the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today.

Newitz travels to all four sites and investigates the cutting-edge research in archaeology, revealing the mix of environmental changes and political turmoil that doomed these ancient settlements. Tracing the early development of urban planning, Newitz also introduces us to the often anonymous workers—slaves, women, immigrants, and manual laborers—who built these cities and created monuments that lasted millennia.

Four Lost Cities is a journey into the forgotten past, but, foreseeing a future in which the majority of people on Earth will be living in cities, it may also reveal something of our own fate.]]>
320 Annalee Newitz 0393652661 Jack 0
Newitz also projects the picture onto modern society, showing how classic errors that led to these ancient collapses may be recognized all around us today, risking similar collapses we would do well to forestall.

This book strikes an excellent balance between popular readability and
academic detail. It should be accessible and intriguing to readers readers from around age 15 and up. This rating deserves one caution, however: one of the cities discussed is the famous Pompeii, buried in an eruption of Vesuvius, in 79 CE. Pompeii, it turns out, was quite a rowdy town, famous at the time (and notorious today) for libertine lifestyles and lewd artwork (formal and graffiti). Parents might want to review the Pompeii chapter before handing it over to younger children (say, under 18). Or, read it with your tykes.]]>
3.76 2021 Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age
author: Annalee Newitz
name: Jack
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/22
shelves:
review:
Four ancient cities long thought to be "lost" turn out to have survived their famous demises, and lived on (perhaps in much reduced circumstances) to today: while these cities are no longer great, their collapse molded the legends they left and the societies that have continued their legacies down to today. Newitz has travelled to each city, meeting current residents living lifestyles descended from the ancient ways, and archaeologists piecing together the jig-saw puzzle linking the ancient to the modern.

Newitz also projects the picture onto modern society, showing how classic errors that led to these ancient collapses may be recognized all around us today, risking similar collapses we would do well to forestall.

This book strikes an excellent balance between popular readability and
academic detail. It should be accessible and intriguing to readers readers from around age 15 and up. This rating deserves one caution, however: one of the cities discussed is the famous Pompeii, buried in an eruption of Vesuvius, in 79 CE. Pompeii, it turns out, was quite a rowdy town, famous at the time (and notorious today) for libertine lifestyles and lewd artwork (formal and graffiti). Parents might want to review the Pompeii chapter before handing it over to younger children (say, under 18). Or, read it with your tykes.
]]>
<![CDATA[Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age]]> 50641100

In Four Lost Cities, Newitz blends an engaging account of their travels to all four sites with an exploration of cutting-edge research in archaeology—including new discoveries about who lived in these cities and the tools they used to create monuments that lasted millennia. The result is a thrilling journey into the urban past that reveals the mix of environmental changes, social transformation, and political turmoil that doomed ancient cities—and could be a sign of things to come.]]>
309 Annalee Newitz 039365267X Jack 5 3.93 2021 Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age
author: Annalee Newitz
name: Jack
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/22
date added: 2021/03/22
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Birthday of the World and Other Stories (Hainish Cycle, #9)]]> 68021 362 Ursula K. Le Guin 0060509066 Jack 0 to-read 4.33 2002 The Birthday of the World and Other Stories (Hainish Cycle, #9)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Telling 59921
Intrigued by their beliefs, Sutty joins them on a sacred pilgrimage into the mountains...and into the dangerous terrain of her own heart, mind, and soul.]]>
231 Ursula K. Le Guin 0441011233 Jack 0 to-read 3.97 2000 The Telling
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Four Ways to Forgiveness (Hainish Cycle, #7)]]> 92605
In this stunning collection of four intimately interconnected novellas, Ursula K. Le Guin returns to the great themes that have made her one of America's most honored and respected authors.]]>
304 Ursula K. Le Guin 006076029X Jack 0 to-read 4.21 1994 Four Ways to Forgiveness (Hainish Cycle, #7)
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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A Fisherman of the Inland Sea 68022 A Fisherman of the Inland Sea range from the everyday to the outer limits of experience, where the quantum uncertainties of space and time are resolved only in the depths of the human heart. Astonishing in their diversity and power, they exhibit both the artistry of a major writer at the height of her powers and the humanity of a mature artist confronting the world with her gift of wonder still intac]]> 207 Ursula K. Le Guin 0060763515 Jack 0 to-read 4.06 1994 A Fisherman of the Inland Sea
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Day Before the Revolution 2506433 20 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 0 to-read 3.98 1974 The Day Before the Revolution
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia]]> 13651 387 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 0 to-read 4.24 1974 The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Word for World Is Forest 276767 160 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 0 to-read 4.06 1972 The Word for World Is Forest
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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Winter's King 27262231 "Ursula Le Guin is more than just a writer of adult fantasy and science fiction . . . she is a philosopher; an explorer in the landscapes of the mind." - Cincinnati Enquirer

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her spare, elegant prose, rich characterization, and diverse worlds. Winter's King is a short story originally published in the collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters.]]>
32 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 0 to-read 3.85 2017 Winter's King
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Left Hand of Darkness 18423 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.]]>
304 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 5 4.11 1969 The Left Hand of Darkness
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1969
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: fiction, fantasy, science-fiction
review:

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City of Illusions 201889 His eyes were not the eyes of a human.
The forest people took him in and raised him almost as a child, teaching him to speak, training him in forest lore, giving him all the knowledge they had. But they could not solve the riddle of his past, and at last he had to set out on a perilous quest to Es Toch, the City of the Shining, the Liars of Earth, the Enemy of Mankind.
There he would find his true self ... and a universe of danger.]]>
160 Ursula K. Le Guin Jack 0 to-read 3.94 1967 City of Illusions
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1967
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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Planet of Exile 201882 The lonely & dwindling human settlement is beginning to feel the strain. Every winter --a season that lasts for 15 years-- the Earthmen have neighbors: the humanoid hilfs, a nomadic people who only settle down for the cruel cold spell. The hilfs fear the Earthmen, whom they think of as witches & call the farborns.
But hilfs & farborns have common enemies: the hordes of ravaging barbarians called gaals & eerie preying snow ghouls. Will they join forces or be annihilated?]]>
126 Ursula K. Le Guin 0441669514 Jack 0 to-read 3.73 1966 Planet of Exile
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Jack
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1966
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)]]> 50009069 The first novel in the First Law Trilogy and debut novel from New York Times bestseller, Joe Abercrombie.

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he's on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian -- leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, Captain Jezal dan Luthar has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood

Unpredictable, compelling, wickedly funny, and packed with unforgettable characters, The Blade Itself is noir fantasy with a real cutting edge.

First Law Trilogy
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings

For more from Joe Abercrombie, check

Novels in the First Law world
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country
]]>
536 Joe Abercrombie 0316387339 Jack 5 fantasy Joe Abercrombie, say he has a poet's ear for dialect and character quirks.

Say two things for Joe Abercrombie, say he tells a fight with such vigor and detail that you come out of it panting for breath and checking to be sure you're not bleeding on the sofa. Say also that he makes a great tour guide through his invented landscapes, festooning the forest with numinous shadows and brilliant lights (although he can get lost in his battlefield details, changing the terrain between two blows).

Cons
I found the writing a teensy bit disjointed: love+sex at a Jr. Hi level; violence at "Grand Theft Auto" level.

Not-Cons
Some reviewers find it slow or over-long. Not me! (I read Neal Stephenson)]]>
4.32 2006 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Jack
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/08
date added: 2021/03/08
shelves: fantasy
review:
Say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he has a poet's ear for dialect and character quirks.

Say two things for Joe Abercrombie, say he tells a fight with such vigor and detail that you come out of it panting for breath and checking to be sure you're not bleeding on the sofa. Say also that he makes a great tour guide through his invented landscapes, festooning the forest with numinous shadows and brilliant lights (although he can get lost in his battlefield details, changing the terrain between two blows).

Cons
I found the writing a teensy bit disjointed: love+sex at a Jr. Hi level; violence at "Grand Theft Auto" level.

Not-Cons
Some reviewers find it slow or over-long. Not me! (I read Neal Stephenson)
]]>
<![CDATA[Crazy Psycho Murder Tree (How to Succeed in Evil S1, #1)]]> 55368553
Even if Talmadge does manage to survive, he'll never be the same. When your Supervillain client won't take good advice, how can you help him, Succeed in Evil?]]>
155 Patrick E. McLean Jack 0 4.11 Crazy Psycho Murder Tree (How to Succeed in Evil S1, #1)
author: Patrick E. McLean
name: Jack
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2021/02/27
date added: 2021/02/27
shelves:
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<![CDATA[Split Second (Split Second, #1)]]> 26216031
What if you found a way to send something back in time? But not weeks, days, or even minutes back. What if you could only send something back a fraction of a second? Would this be of any use? You wouldn't have nearly enough time to right a wrong, change an event, or win a lottery.

Nathan Wexler is a brilliant physicist who thinks he's found a way to send matter a split second back into the past. But before he can even confirm his findings, he and his wife-to-be, Jenna Morrison, find themselves in a battle for their very lives. Because while time travel to an instant earlier seems useless, Jenna comes to learn that no capability in history has ever been more profound or far-reaching.

Now, as Jenna fights to defeat the powerful forces arrayed against her, nothing less than the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. . .

SPLIT SECOND is a roller-coaster ride of a thriller, one that will have readers pondering the nature of time, and of reality, long after they've read the last page.

"Richards is a worthy successor to Michael Crichton." (SF Book.com)

"Richards is an extraordinary writer," (Dean Koontz) who can "keep you turning the pages all night long." (Douglas Preston)

Near Future Science Fiction Thrillers by Douglas E. Richards
WIRED (Wired 1)
AMPED (Wired 2)
MIND'S EYE (Nick Hall 1)
BRAINWEB (Nick Hall 2)
MIND WAR (Nick Hall 3) -- New in 2016
SPLIT SECOND (Split Second 1)
TIME FRAME (Split Second 2) -- New in January, 2018
QUANTUM LENS
GAME CHANGER -- New in 2016
INFINITY BORN -- New in 2017

Kids Science Fiction Thrillers (9 and up, enjoyed by kids and adults alike)
TRAPPED (Prometheus Project 1)
CAPTURED (Prometheus Project 2)
STRANDED (Prometheus Project 3)
OUT OF THIS WORLD
THE DEVIL'S SWORD]]>
365 Douglas E. Richards Jack 2 3.96 2015 Split Second (Split Second, #1)
author: Douglas E. Richards
name: Jack
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2021/02/05
date added: 2021/02/05
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis]]> 20613948 The White Witch, Aslan, fauns and talking beasts, centaurs and epic battles between good and evil -- all these have become a part of our collective imagination through the classic volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia. Over the past half century, children everywhere have escaped into this world and delighted in its wonders and enchantments. Yet what we do know of the man who created Narnia? This biography sheds new light on the making of the original Narnian, C. S. Lewis himself.

Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential religious writer of his day. An Oxford don and scholar of medieval literature, he loved to debate philosophy at his local pub, and his wartime broadcasts on the basics of Christian belief made him a celebrity in his native Britain. Yet one of the most intriguing aspects of Clive Staples Lewis remains a mystery. How did this middle-aged Irish bachelor turn to the writing of stories for children -- stories that would become among the most popular and beloved ever written?

Alan Jacobs masterfully tells the story of the original Narnian. From Lewis's childhood days in Ireland playing with his brother, Warnie, to his horrific experiences in the trenches during World War I, to his friendship with J. R. R. Tolkien (and other members of the "Inklings"), and his remarkable late-life marriage to Joy Davidman, Jacobs traces the events and people that shaped Lewis's philosophy, theology, and fiction. The result is much more than a conventional biography of Lewis: Jacobs tells the story of a profound and extraordinary imagination. For those who grew up with Narnia, or for those just discovering it, The Narnian tells a remarkable tale of a man who knew great loss and great delight, but who knew above all that the world holds far more richness and meaning than the average eye can see.

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368 Alan Jacobs Jack 5 4.13 2005 The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis
author: Alan Jacobs
name: Jack
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/17
date added: 2021/01/31
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Equal Rites (Discworld, #3; Witches, #1)]]> 6567830 277 Terry Pratchett 0061804835 Jack 5 4.29 1987 Equal Rites (Discworld, #3; Witches, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2021/01/27
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Trident Deception (Trident Deception #1)]]> 19755076 The USS Kentucky—a Trident ballistic missile submarine carrying a full complement of 192 nuclear warheads—is about to go on a routine patrol. Not long after it reaches the open sea, however, the Kentucky receives a launch order. After receiving that launch order, it is cut off from all counter-orders and disappears into the Pacific while it makes the eight-day transit to the launch site. What the Kentucky's crew doesn't know is that those launch orders haven't actually come from the U.S. government.

Rogue elements within the Mossad have learned that Iran has developed its first nuclear weapon and, in ten days, will detonate it—and the target is Israel. The suspected weapon complex is too far underground for conventional weapons to harm it, and the only choice is a pre-emptive nuclear strike. With limited time, this rogue group initiates a long-planned operation called the Trident Deception. They'll transmit false orders and use a U.S. nuclear submarine to launch the attack.

In this thriller from Rick Campbell, with only 8 days before the Kentucky is in launch range and with the submarine cut off from any outside communication, one senior officer, the father of one of the officers aboard the submarine, must assemble and lead a team of attack submarines to find, intercept and neutralize the Kentucky before it can unknowingly unleash a devastating nuclear attack.

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401 Rick Campbell Jack 4 4.29 2014 The Trident Deception (Trident Deception #1)
author: Rick Campbell
name: Jack
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/24
date added: 2021/01/24
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8)]]> 5280986 draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all...). How did it get there? How is the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night involved? Can the Ankh-Morpork City Watch restore order � and the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork to power?

Magic, mayhem, and a marauding dragon...who could ask for anything more?]]>
353 Terry Pratchett Jack 0 4.41 1989 Guards! Guards! (Discworld, #8)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Jack
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at: 2021/01/19
date added: 2021/01/19
shelves:
review:

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<![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O. #1)]]> 32075463
When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: she must sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for the rather large sum of money.

Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace—the world’s fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce. Something about the modern world "jams" the "frequencies" used by magic, and it’s up to Tristan to find out why.

And so the Department of Diachronic Operations—D.O.D.O. —gets cracking on its real mission: to develop a device that can bring magic back, and send Diachronic Operatives back in time to keep it alive . . . and meddle with a little history at the same time. But while Tristan and his expanding operation master the science and build the technology, they overlook the mercurial—and treacherous—nature of the human heart.

Written with the genius, complexity, and innovation that characterize all of Neal Stephenson’s work and steeped with the down-to-earth warmth and humor of Nicole Galland’s storytelling style, this exciting and vividly realized work of science fiction will make you believe in the impossible, and take you to places—and times—beyond imagining.]]>
769 Neal Stephenson Jack 5
I guess one reason I put it off so long was the co-authorship, fearing miss-fit fragmenting you sometimes get. But that was a mistake, it’s not like that. There are places where I’m certain we’re transitioning from Stephenson to Galland and back again, but because the female characters aremore credible (something that Stephenson had always struggled with).]]>
4.01 2017 The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (D.O.D.O. #1)
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Jack
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/16
date added: 2021/01/16
shelves:
review:
This book is well above average, even among Stephenson’s excellent collection and from this out and out fan.

I guess one reason I put it off so long was the co-authorship, fearing miss-fit fragmenting you sometimes get. But that was a mistake, it’s not like that. There are places where I’m certain we’re transitioning from Stephenson to Galland and back again, but because the female characters aremore credible (something that Stephenson had always struggled with).
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