Kim Miller
A remote mining station that sits in an asteroid belt sends Mahit, a new ambassador, to the seat of the empire. On arrival she finds that her predecessor is dead, but nobody will tell her the manner of his death. The emperor is old and there is a growing political instability as senior politicians maneuver themselves into positions of power.
Mahit is anything but compliant and as she moves between levels of power in the capital she has two dominating thoughts. First, her predecessor was more than he seemed. And second, the people who targeted him are also after her. If only she could figure out why.
Mahit's home station is virtually invisible to the empire and similarly, Mahit is invisible to most of the people of the capital. As she finds herself becoming friends with two locals, so the mining station rises in significance to the story. The author has cleverly blended Mahit's visibility in the capital with the steady reveal that the mining station held something valuable. And it was that certain valuable thing that put Mahit at the centre of the action.
Arkady Martine has given us a masterful work of political intrigue. She has served up a world of power and suspicion, of privilege and discrimination, of subtle language and, I kid you not, poetry.
There are a few things that took me some time to get used to. First is the names of members of the empire. They are all formed from a number and a noun. For instance, Six Direction, Three Seagrass, and Twelve Azalea. I found this convention very distracting. Second thing is the Aztec influenced spelling. It's the Teixcalaanli Empire, and there are many instances of similarly Aztec sounding words, cuecuelehui, ahachotiya, ezuazuacat. They were not a problem in themselves but my 'English only' brain would stumble on them. The quality of the story was worth laying aside these distractions and letting Martine's writing beguile me.
A remote mining station that sits in an asteroid belt sends Mahit, a new ambassador, to the seat of the empire. On arrival she finds that her predecessor is dead, but nobody will tell her the manner of his death. The emperor is old and there is a growing political instability as senior politicians maneuver themselves into positions of power.
Mahit is anything but compliant and as she moves between levels of power in the capital she has two dominating thoughts. First, her predecessor was more than he seemed. And second, the people who targeted him are also after her. If only she could figure out why.
Mahit's home station is virtually invisible to the empire and similarly, Mahit is invisible to most of the people of the capital. As she finds herself becoming friends with two locals, so the mining station rises in significance to the story. The author has cleverly blended Mahit's visibility in the capital with the steady reveal that the mining station held something valuable. And it was that certain valuable thing that put Mahit at the centre of the action.
Arkady Martine has given us a masterful work of political intrigue. She has served up a world of power and suspicion, of privilege and discrimination, of subtle language and, I kid you not, poetry.
There are a few things that took me some time to get used to. First is the names of members of the empire. They are all formed from a number and a noun. For instance, Six Direction, Three Seagrass, and Twelve Azalea. I found this convention very distracting. Second thing is the Aztec influenced spelling. It's the Teixcalaanli Empire, and there are many instances of similarly Aztec sounding words, cuecuelehui, ahachotiya, ezuazuacat. They were not a problem in themselves but my 'English only' brain would stumble on them. The quality of the story was worth laying aside these distractions and letting Martine's writing beguile me.
Four residents of a senior living village decide they want to investigate unsolved murders. Luckily they represent a range of backgrounds and abilities that seem to fit together like a Tetris game. With a bit of manipulation they recruit the community liaison Police officer who comes to teach them to lock their doors at night. And the game is on.
This is a 'cosy detective story' in the tradition of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series by MCall Smith. The people are delightful, if somewhat one dimensional. The police vacillate between dismissive and accommodating. The murders are many and varied and the investigation is highly intuitive but ultimately successful. And the amateur sleuths retain secrets at the end that the police won't uncover.
Osman has a way of story telling that is engaging and funny. We start out loving the characters and we still love them when their flaws are revealed. However, I was left with the feeling that murder is OK as long as the victim deserved it.
Four residents of a senior living village decide they want to investigate unsolved murders. Luckily they represent a range of backgrounds and abilities that seem to fit together like a Tetris game. With a bit of manipulation they recruit the community liaison Police officer who comes to teach them to lock their doors at night. And the game is on.
This is a 'cosy detective story' in the tradition of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency series by MCall Smith. The people are delightful, if somewhat one dimensional. The police vacillate between dismissive and accommodating. The murders are many and varied and the investigation is highly intuitive but ultimately successful. And the amateur sleuths retain secrets at the end that the police won't uncover.
Osman has a way of story telling that is engaging and funny. We start out loving the characters and we still love them when their flaws are revealed. However, I was left with the feeling that murder is OK as long as the victim deserved it.
Rachel works with the British Secret Service and she's found out there is a mole she needs to track down. Trouble is, he's dead. And how do you chase down a dead man? With the help of other dead people, of course.
In a world where the afterlife is accessible through tech advances, Rajaneimi gives us a high stakes spy novel that crosses the boundary between life and death. While the British are trying to maintain the post-passing city, the Russians are developing an artificial deity that will bring it all down.
Set in 1938 and with the backdrop of the Spanish civil war looming dangerously overhead as the battle ground between the life vs the death advocates, the story dances between politics, social upheaval, and the conundrums of advanced mathematics. Rajaneimi has advanced degrees in mathematics and physics so we will allow him this indulgence.
The plot increases speed as it advances, and what starts out as a rather whimsical story populated with pompous British snobs develops into a rapid 'fire and response' mystery as we try to work out what is really happening, hoping we can keep up with the recklessness of the characters.
And at the end? No spoilers, of course, but this is not the ending you were looking for.
Rachel works with the British Secret Service and she's found out there is a mole she needs to track down. Trouble is, he's dead. And how do you chase down a dead man? With the help of other dead people, of course.
In a world where the afterlife is accessible through tech advances, Rajaneimi gives us a high stakes spy novel that crosses the boundary between life and death. While the British are trying to maintain the post-passing city, the Russians are developing an artificial deity that will bring it all down.
Set in 1938 and with the backdrop of the Spanish civil war looming dangerously overhead as the battle ground between the life vs the death advocates, the story dances between politics, social upheaval, and the conundrums of advanced mathematics. Rajaneimi has advanced degrees in mathematics and physics so we will allow him this indulgence.
The plot increases speed as it advances, and what starts out as a rather whimsical story populated with pompous British snobs develops into a rapid 'fire and response' mystery as we try to work out what is really happening, hoping we can keep up with the recklessness of the characters.
And at the end? No spoilers, of course, but this is not the ending you were looking for.
Pulling a city along rail tracks for some strange but urgent reason, a community of people struggle to keep ahead of some un-named horror that those at the top wanted kept secret. The story started out innocently enough, then became strange and then weird before turning dangerous. At the end everything came unstuck with a final resolution that was very cleverly understated.
Pulling a city along rail tracks for some strange but urgent reason, a community of people struggle to keep ahead of some un-named horror that those at the top wanted kept secret. The story started out innocently enough, then became strange and then weird before turning dangerous. At the end everything came unstuck with a final resolution that was very cleverly understated.
Biopunk at it's finest. The world of the not so distant future has survived the 'decade of plagues', a time when countless people died. One company has risen to dominate the health scene and it keeping billions of people alive with biochips that monitor and treat any hint of disease that appears.
Inara has an inherited protein deficiency that means her body produces cancer cells at an alarming rate. She lives in a commune, Darkome, where people resist the dominance of the biochip and they research and treat disease themselves. Her mother died of cancer and Inara is rushing to complete their shared research to stop her disease.
When she is forced to choose between family, health, and Darkome, things take a disturbing turn. She finds that her body is able to intervene and ignore any medical intervention, changing her DNA on the fly, and she is on the way to understanding how to turn that to her advantage. Trouble is, there are other people who want to know how she does it. They only want her body, they just don't want her.
Inara tries to maintain her own autonomy but finds herself as a pawn being played by forces that want domination on the world scene.
As the book came towards the ending I mused that Rajaniemi had better finish things up here or he will run out of space. The story rushed to a conclusion and the last three words were, 'To be continued'. Darkome was published only three months ago. Looks like a longish wait for the continuation.
Rajaniemi has a winner of a story here and his prose is captivating. Where his Quantum Thief trilogy was dense and opaque, this story is Windex clear and leads the reader through a maze of technology and biology with ease. The hard science never gets in the way of the story and Inara shines as a relatable person. I found myself torn between reading nonstop to the end or taking breaks so I could stay longer in the story. It was totally delicious.
Biopunk at it's finest. The world of the not so distant future has survived the 'decade of plagues', a time when countless people died. One company has risen to dominate the health scene and it keeping billions of people alive with biochips that monitor and treat any hint of disease that appears.
Inara has an inherited protein deficiency that means her body produces cancer cells at an alarming rate. She lives in a commune, Darkome, where people resist the dominance of the biochip and they research and treat disease themselves. Her mother died of cancer and Inara is rushing to complete their shared research to stop her disease.
When she is forced to choose between family, health, and Darkome, things take a disturbing turn. She finds that her body is able to intervene and ignore any medical intervention, changing her DNA on the fly, and she is on the way to understanding how to turn that to her advantage. Trouble is, there are other people who want to know how she does it. They only want her body, they just don't want her.
Inara tries to maintain her own autonomy but finds herself as a pawn being played by forces that want domination on the world scene.
As the book came towards the ending I mused that Rajaniemi had better finish things up here or he will run out of space. The story rushed to a conclusion and the last three words were, 'To be continued'. Darkome was published only three months ago. Looks like a longish wait for the continuation.
Rajaniemi has a winner of a story here and his prose is captivating. Where his Quantum Thief trilogy was dense and opaque, this story is Windex clear and leads the reader through a maze of technology and biology with ease. The hard science never gets in the way of the story and Inara shines as a relatable person. I found myself torn between reading nonstop to the end or taking breaks so I could stay longer in the story. It was totally delicious.
A razor sharp novella that reads as if it's coated in teflon. Napper serves up a grim cyberpunk world in a futuristic Melbourne that spreads out across the Nullabor and ends with the reader asking, "Is this some happy ending or is it something I should be very worried about?"
Jack is the son of Vietnamese migrants, and that is where any follow-on from Napper's previous 36 Streets starts and ends. He's a small time crook who gets swept up in a matter of international importance. Trouble is, all he did was steel a pair of shoes. Within days he's being pursued by firstly a modern day ninja, then a carload of corrupt police officers, and then anonymous men in black four wheel drives. It's the full catastrophe.
And there's also Sally. She thought she was merely giving a ride to a fellow university student. Melbourne uni is not what it used to be.
As Jack and Sally race across the country Napper spices up their existence with the unexpected presence of a sentient AI. So it seems we now have three people in the car, each one trying to work out what went wrong and how they are going to fix things.
This is a book that I wanted to go on well after it ended. The characters are real people, the pace is rapid and the story takes them into dark places. As Napper delves into what it might mean to have an AI implant adding to human brain power his treatment of the topic is well balanced and always on point for the story.
A razor sharp novella that reads as if it's coated in teflon. Napper serves up a grim cyberpunk world in a futuristic Melbourne that spreads out across the Nullabor and ends with the reader asking, "Is this some happy ending or is it something I should be very worried about?"
Jack is the son of Vietnamese migrants, and that is where any follow-on from Napper's previous 36 Streets starts and ends. He's a small time crook who gets swept up in a matter of international importance. Trouble is, all he did was steel a pair of shoes. Within days he's being pursued by firstly a modern day ninja, then a carload of corrupt police officers, and then anonymous men in black four wheel drives. It's the full catastrophe.
And there's also Sally. She thought she was merely giving a ride to a fellow university student. Melbourne uni is not what it used to be.
As Jack and Sally race across the country Napper spices up their existence with the unexpected presence of a sentient AI. So it seems we now have three people in the car, each one trying to work out what went wrong and how they are going to fix things.
This is a book that I wanted to go on well after it ended. The characters are real people, the pace is rapid and the story takes them into dark places. As Napper delves into what it might mean to have an AI implant adding to human brain power his treatment of the topic is well balanced and always on point for the story.