Ryan

I spent 14 years in Catholic schools and studied Religion and Culture at university for 4 years. If I had to pick one book to explain western religion to someone who'd never heard of it, this is the book that I would use.

"That which makes the most sense makes no sense", Dick writes in this, and that koan represents the heart of VALIS. At times it is inexplicable and nonsensical, but in a way that unveils the unknowable. I loved the experience of having read this book.

This was a great ending to the opening trilogy of the High Republic. The action was tense and fast paced, the characters are interesting, the undercurrents of romance intriguing. This one has everything you'd want if you're reading a Star Wars novel.

This was a delightful read, which really illustrates the strength of Pratchett's writing - his good-natured humour and joie de vivre really carry what would have been an otherwise average story.

This was a delightful, cozy little read. The characters were warm and well-rounded, and seeing them deal with the complexities of their lives was rewarding.

We needed more Marcellus, though! He's presented as a major character and an interesting perspective in the early part of the book, and then mostly disappears in the third act. I think it would have improved the narrative to see more of it from the octopus's eyes.

This was a very ambitious novella. It tries to explore UBI and the arguments around it, while also trying to support multiple narratives and create an interesting four-act structure. I'm not sure it succeeds in any of its goals. I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been either a full-length novel (to better explore all the perspectives contained within), or if it focused on the stronger narratives (Hannah and Janelle's, specifically).

This is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in grunge or music in the early 90s. It's full of interviews and stories from your favourite bands, bands you haven't thought about in 20 years, and ones you probably haven't even heard of.

Beyond that, it's also a fascinating look at the perils of fame and success, and the challenges associated with having your wildest dreams come true. We see how that can absolutely destroy lives, estrange friendships, but also give people a platform to speak to the world.

This was a really interesting collection. The Dominion War was such an important part of Deep Space 9, but we really only got to see one front line of it. This anthology broadens our perspective to show us what was happening in other parts of the galaxy during that conflict, and in doing so really helps us to understand the size and scope of it.

I'm really enjoying this series. Classic Trek but also it's own unique thing.

This was an absolutely fantastic weird west adventure. McGrath built a fascinating world that felt both familiar, while full of magic that felt entwined to every part of it. The characters were interesting, and the narrative compelling. What more could you ask for?

I gave this book a read after repeatedly seeing it listed as one of the “greatest science fiction stories of all time” in several different places. Quite frankly, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Overall, it's a good enough read. I can see why it's considered an “important” book, and why it would have caused such a splash when it was released, what with its themes of nuclear holocaust and the conflict between Church and State. And, while those conflicts are just as important today as they were then, the book feels somewhat ... dated, nonetheless.

Anyways, the plot in a nutshell: we are given three interconnected short stories, all taking place in the same post-apocalyptic future. Through them, we see how humanity manages to bring itself up out of the ashes, and into the next nuclear holocaust centuries later. The idea of the cyclical nature of time has never been more depressing.

Read for my book club.

Golarion is an amazing setting and I can't wait to spend more time there.

I decided to join my library's book club this year, and this was our first read of the year.

It was an alright read - I loved a lot of the characters, especially Arthur. I thought the perspective of this story was pretty interesting as well. The themes and setting of this book are ones that will be familiar to a lot of YA readers - you have a group of misfits in a magical school setting, and this theme of finding yourself and standing up for your beliefs in a vaguely dystopian setting. All that seems kind of familiar. However, what was unique was seeing that from the perspective of Linus, a middle-aged man, rather than from a precocious teen. That changes how we experience the story in a big way, I think.

One thing that I wish the story did better was to give us a more well-rounded world - the world beyond Marsyas felt very underdeveloped and vaguely sketched out. I think it would have made the story stronger to have a greater sense of just how different the world is from our own.

This was a fun little collection of personal essays from a Back to the Future fan on why the trilogy is so important to him, and what he likes most about it. A fine read if you are likewise a fan.

This was such an incredibly powerful book. Butler presents us with a slow sort of apocalypse - there is no singular moment that changes the world, but rather just a gradual descent where everything falls apart. Reading this at the tail end of 2022, it feels disturbingly prescient - the issues of global warming, police brutality, a housing crisis, and food insecurity were all issues that existed in 1993, but they weren't quite as front-of-mind as they are today.

Of course, the powers of prediction isn't the only way to value science fiction, and that's not all that Butler offers here. What makes this novel such an important read is that it lights a candle in the darkness - it shows us, through Lauren and her burgeoning faith, that we will survive all this. That we can have hope and rebuild. That's what makes this such a special read.

This was a wonderfully creepy horror novella. I can't remember the last time I was so simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by a tale. Thompson has created an all-time classic of the genre with this story.

They stuck the landing perfectly. That's not an easy thing to do in any situation, but especially when you've created such an epic and large narrative over the course of eight novels.

I'll be honest - I've never really cared for any Section 31 stories and this affected my enjoyment of this story.

Avatar is essentially the pilot episode for the new, post-TV series version of DS9, and as a pilot it works really well. The new additions to the cast are all interesting, a new status quo is established for the station, and drama abounds. Ro and Kira's relationship seems like it'll be really interesting, as well as the new direction for Ezri.

I'm excited to see where things build from here!

This was a nice, cozy little sci-fi story.

I spent the first two years of Discovery hoping that they would introduce Emony Dax. Having her appear here was nice.

This was a fantastic end to an epic series. Fonda Lee had created a fascinating urban fantasy world in the first two books in this series, but this finale takes things to another level and really fulfills all the promise of the earlier books.

A fun retrospective for fans of the series.

An instant classic from Hiassen. The Trump parody elements were kind of inevitable given the Florida association, but if anything it feels like he went a bit easy on him? Aside from that, Angie was a fun protagonist.

Seeing a novel written in 2020 use the term “post pandemic” was a little awkward.