Miguel

Genuinely poor.

Felt like a really pleasant evening, one of those surrounded by extremely intelligent friends with excellent stories to share.

Let's first tackle the elephant in the room: is Biography of X sexist? Well, yes. Yes, it is. Largely in the same vein as early twentieth century science fiction tended to be overly simplistic and reductive in developing female characters, the large majority of male characters in this novel are two-dimensional hyperbolised caricatures, perfectly placed to carry the weight of blame and fault. And that's alright, I get it.

That out of the way, what Catherine Lacey does in this novel is nothing short of impressive, both in building an alternate history version of the US that some would consider too possible for comfort, and simultaneously digging through the emotional stack of a main character, exposing her strengths and weaknesses, fears and motivations, as she unravels the life's mysteries of her departed wife. Catherine does so with an elegance and simplicity of prose, and a sincerity of feeling that is uncommon in genre writing.

Biography of X aims to be a cautionary tale of geopolitical scale, but where it succeeds the most is at studying the complexity of human beings - the layers of motivation, drive, fear, hypocrisy, and fallacies that compose us; the walking, talking paradoxes that we are.

At that, it succeeds in spades.

Open mouth, insert popcorn. Rinse and repeat.

Ray is steadily establishing himself as one of the core voices in contemporary Science Fiction, and deservedly so. Tusks is entrancing, imaginative, and fearlessly crosses the borders of what we expect from the modern genre.

Like staring at a computer wallpaper.
A time and place for everything.

Megan is a very good successor to Bujold, with very little space unfilled in those shoes. The hints of Delany and LeGuin are delightful and not intrusive, in what is a significant step up from velocity weapon's protectorate trilogy. An author to follow attentively.

There are few things as unreliable as the average rating of a self-published book.

Carolina does a superb work of illustrating mental illness from the inside in Mothtown, on an endeavour not dissimilar from Doris Lessing's Briefing for a Descent into Hell. I have not read it as genre-bending (as I initially expected), but a piercing, brutally honest depiction of a man's unreliably narrated descent into madness.

Layers upon layers, Geoff.
A genuine pleasure.

The short stories are pretty neat.

Looking through a lens at people looking at our planet through a lens. Who needs a plot?

A wonderful view on post-Korean war America, particularly New Orleans, through the lens of a twenty nine year old traumatised man in search of values and purpose.

Fun.

Adam makes a good case for being the most underrated author of the last twenty years.

Consistently superb.

Oh, my Rebekah.

Granddad would be proud.

No one should live past hope.

One day, John will write a serious book.
That day will be glorious.

Does that mean all of Paul's books share the same Hardingverse (TM)?

Entertaining, yet shallower than general review consensus seems to project.

Shrug.

It must be wonderful inside Ruthanna's head.

Genuinely poor.

Cory needs a hug.