A quick story about deserts, magic, sacrifices, and necromancy all in a quasi-Egyptian world. I loved the worldbuilding and main character, I think if anything, it’s far too short as a novella. I wanted more!

Although, from what Teshar had heard, every pyramid was intended to be entered. People would want to bring offerings for the dead Emperor, servants would want to tend things every once in a while; a lot of people prayed to past Emperors, because they were easier to talk to than the pure gods, and more accessible than the living Emperor or Empress.

The ever escalating tension of who Teshar (our main character) is and what she did to deserve to be treated like she is is fascinating (especially when you get to the why). I enjoy seeing the magic of the world escalating as we get to the obvious ‘Teshar must save the day’ conclusion.

“…my mother, bless her kind, silly soul, once pointed out to me that pretty women look like everyone else, whereas beautiful women look like themselves…”

Overall, a fun story (that could have been longer). It’s always interesting to find a solid self-published and little reviewed work just like this! Worth a try.

We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. Marxism. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information.

Well that’s a bit of straight up dystopian cyberpunk, straight out of the 90s. It’s fascinating to see the mix of hope and fear when it comes to technology–virtual realitiies as both a way to dream and a means of control; a patchwork of corporate strongholds, each sovereign in their own right; a nuclear sidecar; a floating city circling the Pacific Ocean. It’s a lot…

This is America. People do whatever the fuck they feel like doing, you got a problem with that? Because they have a right to. And because they have guns and no one can fucking stop them.

And then add on to that a mix of memes (in the ‘viral/self-propagating idea’ rather than quickly spreading joke images) and linguistics. The Tower of Babel and ancient Sumerian. ‘Programming’ the human mind. It’s a fascinating idea, even if the fine details feel a bit off at times.

And then characterwise. Oof. Hiro is a nerd power fantasy. He’s the best at sword fighting and a world class hacker and always wins.

Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world.

Also his name (or at least the name he goes by) is Hiro Protagonist. A bit on the nose?

I did really enjoy Y.T. though. 15 year old skater courier chick, street surfing and hitching rides on passing cars (etc). She’s a fun and high energy–and it’s a bit weird that’s she’s only 15.

It was, of course, nothing more than sexism, the especially virulent type espoused by male techies who sincerely believe that they are too smart to be sexists.

Overall, a neat story and a decent example of cyberpunk moving into the 90s–which admittedly I haven’t read much of. It’s been on my to-read list forever and I’m glad to have finally read it!

Some of you have been waiting for years to read this, the final volume of my autobiography.

I cannot really imagine that being the last book. Or at least the last one that would be published for another 6 years! Now, in hindsight, it’s obvious (and my kids’ totally already knew), but man. That’s NOT AN ENDING.

“Fine,” Grandpa said. “You fetch your evil Librarian mother from the jail. I’ll go warm up the giant penguin!”

Ahem.

“Well, that was fun,” Grandpa said as he climbed to his feet. “Anyone dead?”
“Does my pride count?” Draulin asked, dusting herself off.
“I don’t think so,” Grandpa said. “I killed that years ago. Dif, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but shoving my grandson out of planes is usually my job. So next time, kindly refrain until I give the word.”
“Sorry, sir,” Dif said, looking abashed.”

The Dark Talent sees Alcatraz. Sans Dark Talent, off on a mission to save the world … and to save the girl. Just don’t let Bastille hear you say that.

It’s a lot like the rest of the series. New Smedrys (oh Dif), new worldbuilding (the HIBRARY! Beneath Washington DC!), new schenanigans (that is quite a library; also, rocket powered penguins), and a big new battle at the end (leading up to that oft forementioned SACRIFICE UPON AN ALTAR OF ENCYCLOPEDIAS).

But it’s not the ending. And the ending can more than tell you that, which… is honestly getting kind of old.

It’s doubly painful since not only did it end quickly, but it also ended painfully. In a series where guns put people in comas and main characters have magic powers seemingly purposely designed (hmm) to get them out of trouble… well, it’s a bit of a shock.

It’s still a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to where in the world the series will actually end… For real this time? Onward!

Well that’s a fun story (and a great cover and title 😄).

Basically, take a struggling thief/con artist (with a tendency towards fire magic), give her a job bodyguarding a soon to be married young Lady and… see what happens. There are some crazy fight scenes, a few light plot twists, a skeletal mouse that goes BONG¹, and … perhaps a chance to fall in love²?

Characterwise, man this is quite a cast. We have the Delly–our protagonist thief that can light things on fire–but the supporting cast are even better. Winn. A part troll illusionist/brawler–with quite the accent and past. Mrs. Totham, the Necromancer Body Scientist. The academic. The lady. The mother.

And of course Buttons.

I’ll leave that one for you to discover, but each time I the narrator read ‘Buttons said, “Bong.”’ I found myself grinning. It’s just weird and delightful.

Settingwise, it’s quasi-Victorian, which is a lot of fun. The language is a bit weird at times, with quite a few unexpected ‘fucks’ jumping out at you.. but apparently that’s about when the term really started to take off and branch out, so…

…her perception of egregious enfucktation in her current, present, and unfortunate familial circumstances…

It’s a fun setting though, going from the cities you most often see in a Victorian style out into the country and back. I want to see more of this world!

Plotwise, I didn’t expect the ‘protection’ mission itself to take up such relatively little of the book. It’s more an inciting incident than anything, but I’m glad for it. When we moved on from that–I was not at all ready to move on from this book. It’s all fairly straight forward (I expected a late book twist that never really materialized).

Overall, that was yet another delight of a book and if anything in this review struck your fancy–well worth the read!

Side note: This is apparently a sequel of sorts? Oops. From what I’ve seen, it’s more set in the same world with minor crossovers. But I’m going to have to go back and read it now!

Chocolate shouldn’t be a sin at all. Everyone deserves a bit of chocolate.

Gadriel, a former (now fallen) Guardian Angel owes her angelic bookie¹. And all she has to do to come clear is to tempt one sinless mortal–Holly Harker. Should be easy, it’s what she does now…

So of course wacky hijinks ensue, things go wrong, people get hurt (not badly, it’s not that sort of book), and just perhaps–everyone comes out of it a bit better than they went in.

Believe me, plenty of people claim they love someone because they get the warm fuzzies around them - but love is something you do. Quite often, it’s something you choose.

It’s such a fun reading, reminding me fairly strongly of Good Omens². Both in theme, but also in style. It’s a little bit irreverent, a little bit touching, and a lot of fun.

Structurally, the near constant footnotes detailing what is/isn’t a sin (points, The Good Place style) and the running score for Holly and her niece are a lot of fun. I didn’t expect that to work as well in an audiobook as it did, but each time I heard that little chime, I got a little smile.

Overall, another good read (on a bit of a run of those!). Well worth a try.

This book is … a weird mix of horror and romance, cozy and queer and weird all at once.

Basically, your main point of view is this shape shifting monster who eats people–who the author does quite a job of making you feel for, especially as–between the whole eating people thing–she ends up finding a family of her own and perhaps even falling in love.

Not at all where I would have expected the story to go from just the title and cover (and oh, that is a delightful cover).

It does get a weird bit ‘modern’ feeling at time, especially when Shesheshen (the monster protagonist) oscilates between having no idea how humans human (I get it, I really do)…

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Homily said, hand going to her throat through the scarf. “I get self-conscious.”

“If you weren’t conscious of yourself, who would you be conscious of?”

…to feeling strongly about consent quite a number of times.

Then she realized the human woman was waiting for consent. Shesheshen sank more under her witch’s hat, and extended a foot. Once it was offered, Homily patted one of her meaty hands on Shesheshen’s calf. Why was she doing that? And why did it feel pleasant?

It’s a concept worth enforcing, but I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it just didn’t quite fit the whole ‘monster who doesn’t get humans’ thing and it jumped out at me.

On the other hand, I love how ‘alien’ Shesheshen is (when she’s not thinking about consent). She doesn’t really have a body of her own, building it around whatever she eats (or finds lying around). The descriptions of how she builds around organs and puts them to her own use gets awfully gory at times, but is also a lot of fun to read.

Overall, it’s yet another fun read and if you don’t mind a bit of gore and a weird horror/romance mix, it’s well worth it. None too shabby for a debut! (First novel; Wiswell has a few published shorts)

Side note: I … did not expect to find this was written by a man.

Oh, T. Kingfisher is a lot of fun.

Smart goblins became mechanics. Dumb goblins became soldiers. Really dumb goblins became officers.

It’s this delightful little story about a world where Goblins are at war with the Humans and Elves. It’s told from the point of view of a ragtag group of Goblins who suddenly find themselves far behind enemy lines, having to ally themselves with … a veterinarian of all things.

It’s quite a funny book; the humor reminds me a lot of Discworld–take that as the compliment it is. I love reading about all the goblins. They are most certainly a wacky bunch of characters¹.

Wherever a goblin happens to live, he complains about it constantly. This is actually a sign of affection. A desert goblin will complain endlessly about the beastly heat and the dreadful dryness and the spiky cactus. He will show you how his sunburn is peeling and the place where the rattlesnake bit him and the place where he bit the rattlesnake. He will be thoroughly, cheerfully, miserable.

Oh, and of course the teddy bear²!

The bear not only had a set of stripes sewn on his arm, it was possibly the first teddy-bear in history to have received a medal for service to the elven nation.

And the contrast of an Elven veterinarian, getting into all the dirty, messy, ugly things vets have to do (when Elves normally only concern themselves with that which is fair beautiful and true) is great fun.

It’s a quick read (147 pages) and well worth the fun. Give it a try!

Not all who wander are lost; some are on quests.

That was a very strange book. More than anything, it felt like ‘what if all of the more game parts of Dungeons and Dragons were real, what would that change about the world?’. Oh, and dig into the economics of it along the way.

We literally have an adventuring industry with heroes funded by corporate interests buying stakes in the eventual loot. Some sort of ’level’ system where you can turn in records of kills for advancement. Noncombat Paper Carries (NPCs).

It’s… a D&D satire.

I think the biggest weakness to me was more one of expectations. I actually expected it to go even more into the economics (that don’t really make any sense) of a adventuring based society. It’s there, but it could have been so much more!

That being said, I did enjoy the book, it was a fun read and the sense of humor was on point. I’ll have to check out the sequels at some point.

I can only give you words. Nothing fancy. But this will have to do.

It doesn’t matter if you’re reading it a year from now or a hundred years from now. By the end of the chronicle you will know that humanity carried the flame of knowledge into the terrible blackness of the unknown, to the very brink of annihilation. And we carried it back.

In the near future, thinking machines are even slightly more everywhere than they are now. Take it one step further along the road to true general AI… and suddenly you go outright Skynet on the world. Robot Apocalypse. Get it?

The true knowledge is not in the things, but in finding the connections between the things.

This … was perhaps not the best time to read this book, with the ever increasing advances in LLMs and chatbots leading to upheaval in all manner of fields of work, along with the current instability (to put it mildly) in the United States. I think I need more stability in books right now.

To survive, humans will work together. Accept each other. For a moment, we are all equal. Backs against the wall, human beings are at their finest.

That being said, it was a fascinatingly structured book. From the very first chapter, we know humanity (or what’s left of it) eventually wins the war. Each chapter, we have comments like ’this is the last record of X’ or ‘Y had a part to play yet’ And as we go, the various plots cross and come together, sketching out the end of the world and what comes after.

I will murder you by the billions to give you immortality. I will set fire to your civilization to light your way forward. But know this: My species is not defined by your dying, but by your living.

It’s a fascinating book and I think well worth the read… and I’m curious where exactly the sequel can possibly go next without more of the same.

Two years, two bingos, two Five SFF Shorts, both by Ted Chiang.

Man I love his shorts.

This one goes more scifi and deals more with time travel and parallel realities than the other (which had more scifi interacting with religion), but I love them both.

In particular, I The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate and Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom were my favorites. The eponymous Exhalation was an interesting look at entropy. And The Lifestyle of Software Objects, by far the longest, had the time to go even more through the development of the idea over years (in universe).

It’s interesting, I think that especially from this book, I find that I enjoy scifi more in shorts–you have time to explore many more ideas there–and longer form in fantasy–really digging into the worlds and characters more than the ideas.

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