Kyle Erickson
Michael K Williams is one of my favorite actors ever, and he's played several of my favorite characters on TV. When he died, I was gutted. I was sad for days. I'm still sad. I knew about the work he was doing in the community and how inspiring he was to at-risk youths and selfishly, I wanted to see him do his thing for years to come. When I saw this memoir was coming out, nearly complete at the time of his death, it shot up in my most anticipated releases of the year.
And it really delivered. MKW talks candidly about his upbringing, his confusion regarding his sexuality, how he was bullied as a child and found refuge in the arts and dancing, his descent into addiction, and some figures in his life that really set him straight. He details his journey from model to dancer to actor to community activist with poignancy, honesty, and wisdom. I feel like he really gets to the core of why art is so transformative, and so valuable, and why acting is such a powerful therapy tool for many (without a doubt, a lot of actors are working through their own baggage while playing roles). The way Williams discusses working through his trauma with the roles he's played, using Omar Little as a paper tiger to hide behind, using Freddy Knight from The Night Of as a mirror into his nephew's life and the life he could have had, using Montrose Freeman from Lovecraft Country as a way to explore generational trauma and how that his impacted his life, as well as many other examples, I really feel like this memoir is a love letter to the arts.
The last 40% of the book really focuses on community outreach and things Michael had done to engage and give back to the communities he's lived in, the youth who need guidance, and other very admirable programs and events he's given his time to. He seemed like a very good person who was using his gifts to change lives. I would say that if this memoir had been complete and released as is, it'd be a four star, because there isn't enough depth on the personal level during all of this (he talks candidly about many topics, but the last 15ish years of his life are basically glanced over) and I personally just like more breadth of experience, this memoir was very short. But of course, it wasn't finished, and who knows how much MKW was planning on adding if he'd had time. Jon Sternfeld did an admirable job making this feel cohesive and final, as if it was intended to be this way all along.
If you like Michael K Williams, or want to learn more about how art can transform lives, or learn about some of the harrowing things that people go through in these rough, poverty-stricken neighborhoods, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Rest in Peace, Michael. Ay-yo, Omar Coming.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book is the reason I read memoirs. It was a whirlwind of emotion that was an absolute tour de force to read. It is by no means an easy read, but Viola Davis's life story, introspection, perseverance, and grit being beautifully told will have you glued to the page. I listened to this in one day, over the course of a few sittings, and could not stop. Davis's narration is excellent also, enhancing the narrative with tons of emotion. This is the type of book that leaves a mark on you. Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite memoirs I've ever read.
This book is unfortunately a DNF at 25%.
The deck was stacked against this book with all the people I know who also got approved for an eARC either not really enjoying it or DNFing. I cannot pretend that I exist in a vacuum where I wasn't aware of that, and it for sure had an impact on my reading experience. And I also didn't get very far, and nothing about the book struck me as bad or egregiously done, so I cannot say I do not recommend the book. Perhaps its great. Maybe in a while from now I will try this again and be head over heels. Unfortunately, though, the reality currently is that I have spent 14 days trying to read this book and failing. In 14 days I should finish any audiobook of this length. And I just kept stopping and doing something else. Nothing about the book was sucking me in.
The magic seems incredibly similar to Allomancy from Mistborn, but without the narrative giving you enough explanation of what each type of godglass does, at least early on. I'm told there is a list in the physical version, but in the audiobook I was mostly trying to assess why something mattered and what it did. The book is primarily a murder mystery/detective novel with some elements of rebellion in the background, but I did not care about any of it. The characters did nothing to stick out to me so far. Again, none of these elements were bad. They just weren't captivating for me personally, either. I've heard very mixed things about Powder Mage as well, and this book certainly has scared me off of McClellan for awhile, at least.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book has promise, but it was given a bit of an unfair disadvantage due to having read and loved the Bloodsworn Saga first. It makes the flaws of Malice stand out more, but regardless, I noticed them, and they affected my read.
The first con I have is that this book simply introduces too many characters. I'm a little shocked an editor didn't force him to cut a couple. And this is coming from someone whose favorite series is ASOIAF, a series with a metric ton of characters. I cannot say every ASOIAF character is important; but Martin makes most side and minor characters memorable, or matter in some way. And Martin also has a way of distinguishing which characters the reader should focus on, and which are there more to flesh out the world. I don't think Malice achieved this, you are just bombarded with names and then bombarded with who those names are related to and then bombarded with their deaths. There's a point in this book where a character dies and I didn't realize they were the son of another character until that character mentioned it.
Speaking of, for the amount of constant death in this book, nobody really ever cares that these people are dying, so why should the reader? A POV character loses his best friend and barely thinks about it ever again. Another loses a family member and it is mentioned for one sentence. I get that we need plot momentum but it takes me out of the story when death doesn't really matter to the people I'm reading about.
Also the dialogue here was pretty wooden and average. I can't think of any dialogue that felt really good. Gwynne is great at dialogue in Bloodsworn, though, so I'll attribute this to growing pains. I also wasn't impressed with the giants in this book, who should be much scarier/more menacing than they are.
The thing that really exhausted me about this book was the murderous bully trope, though. These bullies are just relentless, all the time, no nuance, they just wake up in the morning, eat some Bully-Os for breakfast, put on their Bullying jacket, and go out for some bullying. It was absurd. I finally docked this book down to 3 stars when both of the bully plotlines are resolved in the exact same way, with the exact same dumb character motivation, exactly one chapter apart. It was terrible. The book deserved better.
Finally, for negatives (and I have positives! But negatives come first), the female characters in this book are not great. Now, Orca and Elvar in Bloodsworn are two extremely well written characters, not to mention all the other supporting female characters in that series. I know Gwynne gets better. I'm willing to let this develop organically. But in Malice, we have one female POV, Cywen, who is basically used as a camera to listen to the men talk or listen to the men fight or, occasionally, be infatuated with someone. She does look to be going somewhere, though, so TBD. But beyond Cywen, all the female characters are just there to serve the plot. There is one particularly egregious thing, and that is what made me really consider this as a negative overall, but it's a spoiler. I don't think this largely affected my enjoyment of the book, until that one thing, but it's something to be aware of.
But, I still liked Malice! I know after all that, it may not seem like it, but that's because I expected more from Gwynne. When not reading this book, I was thinking about reading it. I think Gwynne did a fantastic job setting up the political conflicts and the various rivalries developing. I got a real sense of this world; the worldbuilding was not a key focus but I think he did a great job seeding it in throughout the book in a way that was immersive. I also thought most of the POV characters, besides Kastell, got good development and I ended up being invested in all of them, especially Corbin. Some of the side characters I really liked, like Gar, Halion, Brina, and Maquin, among others.
As always, Gwynne is great at battle scenes. I thought some of them were a little too easy for our characters, but the important ones were riveting.
I also thought the creatures were used to a good degree, with an expectation that we will get more of them later on. Wyrms, giants, giant lizards, and giant wolves were all introduced to various levels and I'm intrigued about them. I also think the central conflict, which revolves around a prophecy, is pretty interesting, because our characters spend time trying to figure out who each prophecy is referring to and how that affects them.
Overall, this was a good read. By the end, some of my negatives had grated on me a bit too long for Malice to get a higher rating, but I enjoyed my time with it. I'm excited to continue my journey in the Banished Lands, however! Truth and courage!
I read Hyperion nearly two months ago and I am still thinking about it. Truly one of the best Sci-fi novels I've ever read, and probably will ever read.
Hyperion follows a pilgrimage to the planet of Hyperion by six people. Each person has their ties to Hyperion and own reasons to be going there, a planet ruled by the mysterious Shrike. Plus, there's a spy on board. Intrigue abounds! The pilgrims decide to take turns telling their stories about why they are going to Hyperion. What results is a Canterbury Tales-style book that will leave you feeling every emotion, make you think, horrify you, and leave you in suspense...for with each story, the Shrike becomes a bit more of a enigmatic entity, and our crew is heading straight for it...
The priest's tale is incredible. It had me glued to my seat, absolutely invested in this insane, horrifying tale.
The soldier's tale is about bullets, boobies, and butts. This tale is the only reason Hyperion doesn't get a perfect score from me; some interesting things happen, especially the ending, but it's primarily interested in shooting things and saying the word “buttocks” as much as possible.
The poet's tale has the most distinct voice, and the most comedy. It is a reflection on the value of art and the reasons for art existing, and artist's need to follow their muses. This one was really good.
The scholar's tale...is pinnacle fiction. This is it. Simply one of the best things put to paper and each page brought the emotions to life even further. The last few pages were read through a haze of misty eyes. The whole book is worth reading for this.
The detective's tale was good, but a bit long, and falls a bit flat, I think partially due to following up Scholar's Tale. Some neat concepts, though.
The consul's tale was really good, bringing everything together in a way(as the rest of the story is told primarily through the consul's POV) and answering some questions. The intergenerational story told here was very gripping.
And then, cliffhanger city. Don't read this expecting resolution. I need to get to Fall of Hyperion!
9.5/10
I am a believer. Ruocchio is the man.
“True lessons require not only knowing, but that the student practices his knowledge again and again. Thus knowledge becomes us, and we become more than the animal and the machine. That is why the best teachers are students always, and the best students are never fully educated.”
I'm going to tell you up front - this is my new favorite sci-fi novel!
I really enjoyed Empire of Silence, the first book in the Sun Eater series. Ruocchio's prose was fantastic, the character of Hadrian was dynamic and complex, and the world was interesting. Not to mention the hook- Hadrian would one day blow up a sun and kill billions
I certainly didn't expect this book to blow my socks off but it's still extremely weird. The first 20% is about the Coppolas, which, while relevant (and more interesting that Cage, honestly) is not that important to Cage's journey as an actor. Then the author just spends a lot of time putting their own opinion in as if it's fact- saying Con-Air was subpar, or that Cage brought nothing to certain roles. Just weird. I expected more of a biography and while it's technically that, I feel like I could write this book with a few weeks time and access to Wikipedia.
It's really nice to be back in Janloon, back with some of the characters I grew to love. This novella focuses on a new character, Pulo, who works as an apprentice to a neutral Jade setter when some high value Jade is stolen.
I read this in two sittings today so it was immensely readable, and I enjoyed it. I really liked seeing all the cameos, even if they felt like Fonda Lee was like “who can I make cameo right now?” But I'll forgive it because it's what I wanted to happen.
This is not a five star because for the actual story itself, our main character is more of a camera to the story as opposed to an active component of it. He does go through somewhat of an arc, but it comes mostly through watching other people tell him things or seeing events unfold.
This was fun and quirky and not what I expected. I had thought it was a standalone until I started it, but I think you get enough context from the beginning to be able to hit the ground running. The concept is a multiversal story where the MC goes into different fairytale universes and saves the day. But this time she's supposed to help the villain. I listened to this audiobook in one take as I did errands, and I really liked the narrative voice and how the story played around with agency and expectations, especially in regards to storytelling and happy endings. I'll probably go back and read the first one when I am in the mood for a short novella.
7\10
My reread of Skeleton Crew ~14 years later did definitely damper my feelings on it. Previously I held it up with Paper Menagerie as one of my favorite short story collections. It definitely isn't. This is the 3 star-est 3 star collection full of average-to-decent stories that shined much brighter in my memory due to The Jaunt, The Raft, and Survivor Type, all of which I still loved on reread. A couple others are still pretty good- The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands, Gramma- but one of the longest ones, The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet, was a huge slog and there were a lot of unmemorable ones. Next time, I will just read those top three, which still rank among the best short stories I've ever read, especially The Jaunt.
This is the First Law standalone that I was most anticipating, and I'm really glad to say it mostly met my expectations!
The Heroes follows a three day battle from both sides as they fight a battle over...some hills known as The Heroes. And it has all the things a three day battle would entail- pointless death, the tedium of campaigning, violence, pointless death, politicking, commander hubris, great duels, pointless death.
Because without a doubt, Abercrombie has some things to say about war in this book. And for a book that is, on its face, about battles, it is certainly pretty critical of the whole shebang. The commentary on war was some of my favorite elements of this one, and what elevated it over Best Served Cold for me.
The character work was also, as always, excellent. Abercrombie was able to make me invested in several new characters - Craw, Whirrun, Finree, Beck- as well as several returning characters from the original trilogy that are expanded here. I also think The Heroes has some of his most “good” characters - most of (all?) the characters in the last four books are various levels of trash bags, but several characters in The Heroes I would describe as atleast mostly good people. It was refreshing.
Two of my favorite characters from the original trilogy return in this one, and one is utilized excellently and one is, unfortunately, just around for a cameo or two. The fight scenes were once again excellent, especially the more intimate fights. The chapter “Casualties” is one of the best chapters Abercrombie has written, showing a bunch of regular soldiers during battle. The humor was outstanding, once again. Genuine laugh out loud moments. The cheese trap!!! Now that's progress.
My only criticisms of this book is that one POV, Tunny, is just a waste of page time. I think the book would have had better pacing if he was cut. I also think Abercrombie got a bit too into his whole “there are no heroes” bit. We got it, Joe.
I'll leave you with a piece of wisdom by this book's real Hero, Whirrun of Bligh: “Armour is part of a state of mind in which you admit the possibility of being hit.”
9/10
This was funny, but my problem with it is what I feel with most comedian books, which is that a lot of it is recycled from standup bits. Not all of it, though, and some is from podcast appearances - something more forgivable because if you listen to someone on enough podcasts, they are going to mention a lot of stories that they feel are worth telling. Still, this made me laugh several times, especially at things I thought wouldn't be funny but Tom's word choice and delivery makes it hysterical- like seeing Christopher Llyod picking his nose on a flight. Fans of Tom Segura will definitely appreciate this book, I'm not sure if it's a good book for people unfamiliar with Tom's humor to try.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
This is definitely a book. It has pages, some characters, a plot, it even has some dialogue. So it passes the “is it a book” test. Otherwise...
This book is kinda like if Miles from Lost got a spin-off, but didn't have any snark. Like, Miles is cool, but you're not watching Lost for Miles, and without the snark, you're just kinda left with an undeveloped character who can talk to dead people.
Good information, but the author is pretty annoying. Comes across at times as preachy, or holier-than-thou, and other times spends a lot of time praising the attributes of the individual people he interviewed for this book. I get that he formed opinions of them and wanted to highlight the things he felt deserved highlighting, but after the fifth person or so being praised as being an absolute saint of a human being without really contributing to why we're reading about them in the first place, I was pretty tired of it.
Also, I don't know if it was just his delivery in the narration (narrated by the author) but every time he mentioned a highly specific grocery item (all the time) it just had a sense of arrogant to it. Like, “ah yes, consumers, they want their chocolate covered almonds and their chipotle avocado all dressed chips, how dare they”.
I can't really recommend this because the writing bothered me so much, but hey, the actual facts on the ground were pretty interesting.
I wanted to love this, I expected to love this, I very much did not love this.
All of my thoughts are pretty uncharitable at the moment so I will just say that the writing style did not suit me with the constant info-dumping, stating the obvious, and stopping to describe every bite of food a person ever eats in their life. It was too close to Pokemon for my liking, but I understand some people will appreciate that aspect of it. To me it felt like I was drinking Mr. Pibb instead of a Dr. Pepper and that aspect bothered me. I didn't like the characters or the dialogue. The world was interesting, but instead of letting us explore it a bit more naturally, everything was told in large info-dumps.
3/10
This book is terrifying. It's definitely an introduction to the problem of what is happening to insects and how that will affect the planet, and doesn't go far into presenting solutions, but considering how much of the data here was unknown to me, even if I knew the general ‘idea' (Like that bees are dying), I think it's important to read. The information is presented well and clearly, and is not bogged down with anything except the stuff the reader really needs to know. I would recommend this book to mostly everyone.
Near the end of the book, Milman goes into how butterflies are dying off in large numbers for essentially a whole chapter and then ends with something that really affected me. I did the audiobook so I can't quote it exactly, but to paraphrase it- “It's actually incredible that for all the efforts going into saving the butterfly population, butterflies are perhaps the only insect we don't need. They aren't a major food source for other animals, and won't really have a noticeable effect if they were to be driven to extinction. But they are pretty, they are harmless, and most people like them. This recalls to mind Winston Churchill's response in WW2 when it was suggested he cut funding to the arts, he responded “Then what would we be fighting for?”
So yeah, read this book if you want an even better idea of how we're destroying the planet and gain some more anxiety you can do nothing about!
Goddamn, I am a believer. Dresden is a great series.
“I don't care whose DNA is recombined with whose, when everything goes to Hell, the people who stand beside you without flinching, they are your family. And they were my heroes. “
We have reached the crux where Butcher's prose has noticeably leveled up- there were multiple beautiful or introspective passages that I appreciated for the first time- and also having the world and characters fleshed out enough that this entire book is just superb character development and growth for half a dozen or more characters. This was the first Dresden book where the entire second half I just wanted to not be doing the other stuff I had to do, and instead wanted to be reading Dresden. I will be reading White Night immediately, after usually waiting ~a month to continue the series between books. I finally understand where people are coming from when they call this one of, if not their favorite series. I do think the plot of Dead Beat was better, but the character development and character moments in this book, and world development was way more gripping and emotional for me in Proven Guilty.
Alas, Butcher couldn't help himself. “Let's constantly sexualize a 17 year old and make Harry seem so damn MATURE for not succumbing” because he needs a gold star for being able to not act with his penis when around teenagers. Honestly, the second half of the book made me almost forget how often Harry thought about a teenager's chest in the first half, but then there's a scene I hated near the end and I cannot give five stars to a book that has that scene in it. Maybe book 9 can refrain from shooting itself in the foot with this kinda thing.
8.5/10
This book is a 3 star in terms of enjoyment, but seeing it as a middle grade book, I really liked what its doing. It's also such a Ken Liu book, which maybe explains the low rating because Ken Liu does not write in a style that screams Star Wars, hahaha. This is a Canterbury Tales-style story about a bunch of people on a ship who trade stories about Luke Skywalker. I think this book handles the concept of hero-worship and stories we tell about figures and how that shapes us collectively (something Liu always delves into), and whether the story someone tells about us is more important than what actually happened, very well. It's something that I don't feel a lot of media for younger audiences really gets into, especially in a fun and lighthearted way, and I think this book has a lot to offer to kids and teens about how the world can be viewed differently by others, and how stories shape our entire worldview.
I will say though that this book definitely peaked with the first story for me, which is about a conspiracy theory where the entire original trilogy events were propaganda put out by the rebellion and that Luke Skywalker was actually a part of a band of thieves and con artists who accidentally became mascots of the rebellion. This story was absolutely hilarious, and none of the other ones held as much magic for me as this one.
Stardust Thief is the first of a new trilogy by debut author Chelsea Abdullah that is out on the 17th! This book is inspired by One Thousand and One Nights, which was great because it's a source that I have little familiarity with.
The book follows three POVs: Loulie al-Nazari is a notorious merchant who sells illegal artifacts with the help of her Jinn bodyguard. Mazen is the second son of the Sultan and the son of a famous storyteller, and Aisha, a member of the Forty Thieves that serve Mazen's older brother. When Loulie is captured by the Sultan and forced to find a powerful, ancient Jinn artifact, these characters have to band together to survive.
I really liked this book! I enjoyed all three characters, but especially Loulie and her bodyguard Qadir. I listened to the audiobook and each POV had a different narrator and it was fantastic. I felt each character was distinct and I really liked their growth and their interactions throughout the book. I wish Aisha had gotten more of a story, though.
I also really enjoyed the setting. Abdullah did a fantastic job with making this world feel very distinct and cinematic; I always felt like I could picture whatever scene was happening without being bogged down by descriptions. In this world, Jinn are hunted and killed because their blood makes the desert grow and so areas that are more lush have had more Jinn killed there. So Qadir has to remain a secret and I think all of the magic, reveals, and worldbuilding done by Mazen's POV was well done.
The negative I'd have for this book would be inconsistent pacing. I felt the beginning was absolutely gripping and the last third was fantastic (I especially loved the ending), the middle was a bunch of overcoming random obstacles and then going somewhere else with more obstacles. It's admittedly part of the trope, but could have been cleaner. The plot was a bit too straightforward for all the meandering in the middle.
But this is still a great debut and I will absolutely be continuing this trilogy. Check it out!