Kim Miller
Absurdistan
Campbell is an Australian TV journalist who dreamed of becoming a war correspondent. He gets the job as his news outlet's man in Moscow. And from there he travels to various places in Russia and under Russian influence, wherever the news takes him. Things get very dangerous as his team heads into an all too real conflict and his cameraman is killed by a bomb blast. It's a memoir that starts out with a dream and ends in a nightmare.
Campbell is an Australian TV journalist who dreamed of becoming a war correspondent. He gets the job as his news outlet's man in Moscow. And from there he travels to various places in Russia and under Russian influence, wherever the news takes him. Things get very dangerous as his team heads into an all too real conflict and his cameraman is killed by a bomb blast. It's a memoir that starts out with a dream and ends in a nightmare.
Shteyngart has a way of making the most ridiculous fictional story sound real. He digs into his Russian heritage to tell of a Soviet republic selling its oil to a multinational company. His father in this telling is an influential criminal who manages to dupe the company into believing all those oil wells out there are sitting on a mass of oil. "It's all yours for the right price." It's a tale of one betrayal after another as the author tries to crawl out from underneath his father's mess.
Shteyngart has a way of making the most ridiculous fictional story sound real. He digs into his Russian heritage to tell of a Soviet republic selling its oil to a multinational company. His father in this telling is an influential criminal who manages to dupe the company into believing all those oil wells out there are sitting on a mass of oil. "It's all yours for the right price." It's a tale of one betrayal after another as the author tries to crawl out from underneath his father's mess.
Shteyngart was born in Russia and was a child when his family moved to the US. This is his memoir of his early life and beyond written in his particular style of making things satirical, sad and funny all at the same time. It's the story of a constant misfit finding his way in a world that probably doesn't want him.
Shteyngart was born in Russia and was a child when his family moved to the US. This is his memoir of his early life and beyond written in his particular style of making things satirical, sad and funny all at the same time. It's the story of a constant misfit finding his way in a world that probably doesn't want him.
This book is a total romp - if you are a Deadpool fan. If Deadpool is not for you then this book will be a real turn-off. It starts with a content warning of depictions of violence, sexual content, and explicit language.
A bonkers mix of the time loop of Groundhog Day, the foul language, sarcastic humor and death recovery of Deadpool, and an Earthling magicked to a world of orcs and furries.
Davi has lived through hundreds of lives, and every time she dies, usually from torture, she awakens in the same pond of freezing water and the same wizard hails her as the one to save them all. Trouble is, she keeps on dying instead of saving. So this time she decides she will become the Dark Lord from whom everyone needs to be saved.
This book is a total romp - if you are a Deadpool fan. If Deadpool is not for you then this book will be a real turn-off. It starts with a content warning of depictions of violence, sexual content, and explicit language.
A bonkers mix of the time loop of Groundhog Day, the foul language, sarcastic humor and death recovery of Deadpool, and an Earthling magicked to a world of orcs and furries.
Davi has lived through hundreds of lives, and every time she dies, usually from torture, she awakens in the same pond of freezing water and the same wizard hails her as the one to save them all. Trouble is, she keeps on dying instead of saving. So this time she decides she will become the Dark Lord from whom everyone needs to be saved.
This is book #2 of Chambers' Monk and Robot books. I was so impressed with #1 that I got into this the next day. It doesn't have the consistency of #1 as it tends to drag a little at about the 75% mark. However is finishes well and the ending explains a bit of those slower parts.
Tea Monk Dex and Robot Mosscap met in the wilderness as Dex was in a time of crisis. Mosscap proved to have greater understanding of Dex than Dex did. In this book they continue as travel companions, now out of the wilderness and visiting villages along the road. Mosscap's goal is to find out how the humans are doing with the question, "What do you need?" As they travel the two companions go more deeply into their own responses to that question.
Where book #1 dealt with personal identity and meaning, #2 deals with community, family, and friendship. Once again the deeply human is opened up by Chambers to try to understand why these fundamental relationships can be so difficult.
This is book #2 of Chambers' Monk and Robot books. I was so impressed with #1 that I got into this the next day. It doesn't have the consistency of #1 as it tends to drag a little at about the 75% mark. However is finishes well and the ending explains a bit of those slower parts.
Tea Monk Dex and Robot Mosscap met in the wilderness as Dex was in a time of crisis. Mosscap proved to have greater understanding of Dex than Dex did. In this book they continue as travel companions, now out of the wilderness and visiting villages along the road. Mosscap's goal is to find out how the humans are doing with the question, "What do you need?" As they travel the two companions go more deeply into their own responses to that question.
Where book #1 dealt with personal identity and meaning, #2 deals with community, family, and friendship. Once again the deeply human is opened up by Chambers to try to understand why these fundamental relationships can be so difficult.