altlovesbooks
"The problem with aging is not that it's one damn thing after another--it's every damn thing, all at once, all the time."
Read alikes:
- Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton for some more humor-based sci-fi involving observations of the humans around him. Less story-based and more character-based, though.
- On Basilisk Station by David Weber for some more military sci-fi in space, a bit more serious, a bit higher stakes, and a treecat.
- Basically anything by Andy Weir
I waffled on this book a lot as I read it, because I liked the beginning and the setup of the story, kind of disliked the middle's episodic feel, and was brought back in a bit by the ending that didn't quite hit as hard as I wanted it to but still felt appropriate. I settled on 4 stars, but it's more of a 3.5 rounded up.
John Perry is an old man getting older. His wife died of a stroke, leaving him, a 75 year old man, bereft and ready to move on. Moving on meaning, signing up for the military like him and his wife agreed to at 75, of course. At retirement age, people are given the option to enlist, get rehabilitated, and get sent to the front lines of the ever expanding front of the human's space expansion. So he gets shipped out, gets a new body, and gets introduced to the intricacies of interstellar diplomacy where the biggest, best equipped force wins. Perry goes through training, meets a crew of fellow old people he clicks with, and the rest of the book is him getting used to this new interstellar world where suddenly the humans might not actually be the best at everything.
It's a fun book. Humor is used liberally throughout to soften otherwise impactful things in Perry's life, which kind of turned me off in the beginning but brought me around again by the end. It's also a very surface-level/shallow book too, in that there's interesting ideas brought up, but not a lot of actual musings by Perry on how it's impacting him. Which, I guess, fine, compartmentalization is the soldier's way of coping, but as a reader I felt a little dissatisfied with how little any of what was going on seemed to impact Perry at all.
The middle of the book is a lot of Perry going someplace, doing a thing, and returning victorious, never to refer to the thing again. It felt a bit episodic and not really part of the overall story, which made it a bit of a drag to get through. Maybe this was world building to set up later books? It's hard to say. A lot of things felt weirdly paced in this book too, where we gloss over large swaths of time in the beginning, and by the end So Many Things are happening All At Once.
Finally, I thought the ending was a bit of a letdown considering the buildup. Large ending spoilers here: I wasn't really expecting Jane to stay in Perry's life, but their whole "relationship" felt so rushed here as to be unbelievable. He meets her, they mutually agree that she isn't his wife anymore, but then just kidding they start spending time together under the guise of her wanting to know who she was, and then they're talking about retiring on a farm together. I feel like a whole lot more needed to be said/done before even Perry, with decades of life with his wife, would be fine with accepting New Jane. The action part of the ending even felt a little perfunctory, given the buildup about how dangerous the mission was supposed to be. Not a whole lot of pages are dedicated to the conclusion I was expecting. There's 7 books in this series though, so maybe the intent is to keep going and that this never was supposed to be an ending to anything.
Fun, but a little shallow. I might read the second book, to see how things progress.
"The problem with aging is not that it's one damn thing after another--it's every damn thing, all at once, all the time."
Read alikes:
- Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton for some more humor-based sci-fi involving observations of the humans around him. Less story-based and more character-based, though.
- On Basilisk Station by David Weber for some more military sci-fi in space, a bit more serious, a bit higher stakes, and a treecat.
- Basically anything by Andy Weir
I waffled on this book a lot as I read it, because I liked the beginning and the setup of the story, kind of disliked the middle's episodic feel, and was brought back in a bit by the ending that didn't quite hit as hard as I wanted it to but still felt appropriate. I settled on 4 stars, but it's more of a 3.5 rounded up.
John Perry is an old man getting older. His wife died of a stroke, leaving him, a 75 year old man, bereft and ready to move on. Moving on meaning, signing up for the military like him and his wife agreed to at 75, of course. At retirement age, people are given the option to enlist, get rehabilitated, and get sent to the front lines of the ever expanding front of the human's space expansion. So he gets shipped out, gets a new body, and gets introduced to the intricacies of interstellar diplomacy where the biggest, best equipped force wins. Perry goes through training, meets a crew of fellow old people he clicks with, and the rest of the book is him getting used to this new interstellar world where suddenly the humans might not actually be the best at everything.
It's a fun book. Humor is used liberally throughout to soften otherwise impactful things in Perry's life, which kind of turned me off in the beginning but brought me around again by the end. It's also a very surface-level/shallow book too, in that there's interesting ideas brought up, but not a lot of actual musings by Perry on how it's impacting him. Which, I guess, fine, compartmentalization is the soldier's way of coping, but as a reader I felt a little dissatisfied with how little any of what was going on seemed to impact Perry at all.
The middle of the book is a lot of Perry going someplace, doing a thing, and returning victorious, never to refer to the thing again. It felt a bit episodic and not really part of the overall story, which made it a bit of a drag to get through. Maybe this was world building to set up later books? It's hard to say. A lot of things felt weirdly paced in this book too, where we gloss over large swaths of time in the beginning, and by the end So Many Things are happening All At Once.
Finally, I thought the ending was a bit of a letdown considering the buildup. Large ending spoilers here: I wasn't really expecting Jane to stay in Perry's life, but their whole "relationship" felt so rushed here as to be unbelievable. He meets her, they mutually agree that she isn't his wife anymore, but then just kidding they start spending time together under the guise of her wanting to know who she was, and then they're talking about retiring on a farm together. I feel like a whole lot more needed to be said/done before even Perry, with decades of life with his wife, would be fine with accepting New Jane. The action part of the ending even felt a little perfunctory, given the buildup about how dangerous the mission was supposed to be. Not a whole lot of pages are dedicated to the conclusion I was expecting. There's 7 books in this series though, so maybe the intent is to keep going and that this never was supposed to be an ending to anything.
Fun, but a little shallow. I might read the second book, to see how things progress.
"You ever see a movie where people went to space and things went well?"
In hindsight, this did read like a movie or a TV series or something, all the zingy lines in all the right places, all the feelings of dramatic pauses and flashbacks, all the clearly delineated character types and roles, but like, I thought it was kinda fun. It kind of reminded me of a bit more cerebral Armageddon, only instead of landing on an asteroid and mining it, they loop around it and screw up their lives.
We have a motley crew cobbled together by the greatest minds at NASA (or at least the ones paid off the most by the presidency), set to loop around Titan, take some readings For Science, and come back for some great science PR and photoshoots. Halfway through their 2-year trip, though, there's some sort of (not clearly explained) accident. But the crew make it through in one piece and return, but the lives they left behind aren't the same ones they come back to. Husbands and wives and boyfriends that were out of the picture previously are suddenly back in as if they'd never left. Jobs are different. Strained familial relations are suddenly patched up. The crew are separated, aren't allowed to compare notes, but are expected to just...drop back into these lives they suddenly aren't comfortable with. But when they start clandestinely comparing notes behind the scenes, the danger ramps up as suddenly they become expendable.
So, I thought this was fun. There's multiple POVs here amongst all the crew members, so we get little glimpses of their lives before they leave on their voyage, during the voyage, and then afterwards as well. There's a slew of diverse backgrounds here, enough that it feels a bit like they ran through a checklist of character stereotypes to cover, but at least it kept the characters from feeling the same. There's some casual Fiction Science used here by the brain of the group to explain what they think has happened, and it's...fine. Easy to understand, but it is a bit handwavey for the sake of "we need a scientific explanation for this stuff". It definitely feels like a movie.
I do wish there was more of an ending, even if additional books are planned. Ending spoilers here: The book basically ends on a cliffhanger involving an entirely new POV that wasn't used at all during the book, and nothing is really resolved, explained, or otherwise given to the reader to feel rewarded for finishing the book. I feel like this story could have used a smaller, less-pressing issue to resolve within the book, keeping the overall larger "wtf is going on" problem to span multiple books. It just didn't feel like a lot of payoff. There also wasn't much space involved in this book, so if you're here for some crazy space shenanigans, this might not be the one for you. I didn't mind it so much because it felt like the real story was the crazy life changes and not the journey, but YMMV.
Fun if you can turn your brain off and enjoy the movie. Cast some actors in the roles in your brain and have at it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
"You ever see a movie where people went to space and things went well?"
In hindsight, this did read like a movie or a TV series or something, all the zingy lines in all the right places, all the feelings of dramatic pauses and flashbacks, all the clearly delineated character types and roles, but like, I thought it was kinda fun. It kind of reminded me of a bit more cerebral Armageddon, only instead of landing on an asteroid and mining it, they loop around it and screw up their lives.
We have a motley crew cobbled together by the greatest minds at NASA (or at least the ones paid off the most by the presidency), set to loop around Titan, take some readings For Science, and come back for some great science PR and photoshoots. Halfway through their 2-year trip, though, there's some sort of (not clearly explained) accident. But the crew make it through in one piece and return, but the lives they left behind aren't the same ones they come back to. Husbands and wives and boyfriends that were out of the picture previously are suddenly back in as if they'd never left. Jobs are different. Strained familial relations are suddenly patched up. The crew are separated, aren't allowed to compare notes, but are expected to just...drop back into these lives they suddenly aren't comfortable with. But when they start clandestinely comparing notes behind the scenes, the danger ramps up as suddenly they become expendable.
So, I thought this was fun. There's multiple POVs here amongst all the crew members, so we get little glimpses of their lives before they leave on their voyage, during the voyage, and then afterwards as well. There's a slew of diverse backgrounds here, enough that it feels a bit like they ran through a checklist of character stereotypes to cover, but at least it kept the characters from feeling the same. There's some casual Fiction Science used here by the brain of the group to explain what they think has happened, and it's...fine. Easy to understand, but it is a bit handwavey for the sake of "we need a scientific explanation for this stuff". It definitely feels like a movie.
I do wish there was more of an ending, even if additional books are planned. Ending spoilers here: The book basically ends on a cliffhanger involving an entirely new POV that wasn't used at all during the book, and nothing is really resolved, explained, or otherwise given to the reader to feel rewarded for finishing the book. I feel like this story could have used a smaller, less-pressing issue to resolve within the book, keeping the overall larger "wtf is going on" problem to span multiple books. It just didn't feel like a lot of payoff. There also wasn't much space involved in this book, so if you're here for some crazy space shenanigans, this might not be the one for you. I didn't mind it so much because it felt like the real story was the crazy life changes and not the journey, but YMMV.
Fun if you can turn your brain off and enjoy the movie. Cast some actors in the roles in your brain and have at it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
"You ever see a movie where people went to space and things went well?"
In hindsight, this did read like a movie or a TV series or something, all the zingy lines in all the right places, all the feelings of dramatic pauses and flashbacks, all the clearly delineated character types and roles, but like, I thought it was kinda fun. It kind of reminded me of a bit more cerebral Armageddon, only instead of landing on an asteroid and mining it, they loop around it and screw up their lives.
We have a motley crew cobbled together by the greatest minds at NASA (or at least the ones paid off the most by the presidency), set to loop around Titan, take some readings For Science, and come back for some great science PR and photoshoots. Halfway through their 2-year trip, though, there's some sort of (not clearly explained) accident. But the crew make it through in one piece and return, but the lives they left behind aren't the same ones they come back to. Husbands and wives and boyfriends that were out of the picture previously are suddenly back in as if they'd never left. Jobs are different. Strained familial relations are suddenly patched up. The crew are separated, aren't allowed to compare notes, but are expected to just...drop back into these lives they suddenly aren't comfortable with. But when they start clandestinely comparing notes behind the scenes, the danger ramps up as suddenly they become expendable.
So, I thought this was fun. There's multiple POVs here amongst all the crew members, so we get little glimpses of their lives before they leave on their voyage, during the voyage, and then afterwards as well. There's a slew of diverse backgrounds here, enough that it feels a bit like they ran through a checklist of character stereotypes to cover, but at least it kept the characters from feeling the same. There's some casual Fiction Science used here by the brain of the group to explain what they think has happened, and it's...fine. Easy to understand, but it is a bit handwavey for the sake of "we need a scientific explanation for this stuff". It definitely feels like a movie.
I do wish there was more of an ending, even if additional books are planned. Ending spoilers here: The book basically ends on a cliffhanger involving an entirely new POV that wasn't used at all during the book, and nothing is really resolved, explained, or otherwise given to the reader to feel rewarded for finishing the book. I feel like this story could have used a smaller, less-pressing issue to resolve within the book, keeping the overall larger "wtf is going on" problem to span multiple books. It just didn't feel like a lot of payoff. There also wasn't much space involved in this book, so if you're here for some crazy space shenanigans, this might not be the one for you. I didn't mind it so much because it felt like the real story was the crazy life changes and not the journey, but YMMV.
Fun if you can turn your brain off and enjoy the movie. Cast some actors in the roles in your brain and have at it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
"You ever see a movie where people went to space and things went well?"
In hindsight, this did read like a movie or a TV series or something, all the zingy lines in all the right places, all the feelings of dramatic pauses and flashbacks, all the clearly delineated character types and roles, but like, I thought it was kinda fun. It kind of reminded me of a bit more cerebral Armageddon, only instead of landing on an asteroid and mining it, they loop around it and screw up their lives.
We have a motley crew cobbled together by the greatest minds at NASA (or at least the ones paid off the most by the presidency), set to loop around Titan, take some readings For Science, and come back for some great science PR and photoshoots. Halfway through their 2-year trip, though, there's some sort of (not clearly explained) accident. But the crew make it through in one piece and return, but the lives they left behind aren't the same ones they come back to. Husbands and wives and boyfriends that were out of the picture previously are suddenly back in as if they'd never left. Jobs are different. Strained familial relations are suddenly patched up. The crew are separated, aren't allowed to compare notes, but are expected to just...drop back into these lives they suddenly aren't comfortable with. But when they start clandestinely comparing notes behind the scenes, the danger ramps up as suddenly they become expendable.
So, I thought this was fun. There's multiple POVs here amongst all the crew members, so we get little glimpses of their lives before they leave on their voyage, during the voyage, and then afterwards as well. There's a slew of diverse backgrounds here, enough that it feels a bit like they ran through a checklist of character stereotypes to cover, but at least it kept the characters from feeling the same. There's some casual Fiction Science used here by the brain of the group to explain what they think has happened, and it's...fine. Easy to understand, but it is a bit handwavey for the sake of "we need a scientific explanation for this stuff". It definitely feels like a movie.
I do wish there was more of an ending, even if additional books are planned. Ending spoilers here: The book basically ends on a cliffhanger involving an entirely new POV that wasn't used at all during the book, and nothing is really resolved, explained, or otherwise given to the reader to feel rewarded for finishing the book. I feel like this story could have used a smaller, less-pressing issue to resolve within the book, keeping the overall larger "wtf is going on" problem to span multiple books. It just didn't feel like a lot of payoff. There also wasn't much space involved in this book, so if you're here for some crazy space shenanigans, this might not be the one for you. I didn't mind it so much because it felt like the real story was the crazy life changes and not the journey, but YMMV.
Fun if you can turn your brain off and enjoy the movie. Cast some actors in the roles in your brain and have at it.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Added to listHistorywith 43 books.
Added to listAudiobooks Readwith 179 books.
Read alikes:
Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven for another female perspective stranded someplace cold
Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition by Buddy Levy for a ship instead of a wagon train, with a side dish of implied cannibalism
I enjoyed this book, but I thought there was an awful lot of extraneous information thrown in to pad out the page count than I was expecting. Not that any of the info was bad or anything, but there's an awful lot of tangents thrown in that kind of took me out of what we were there for.
We get the whole backstory and leadup to the Donner Party's inevitable stranding, from wagon train forming to life on the trail, and everything in between. We're treated at regular intervals to side tangents about how life was on the trail, what the various Donner Party guests (hehehe) might have experienced, with a ton of historical factoids thrown in as well. It's all clearly researched, it just felt a little slapdash in the beginning.
But then the party gets stranded, the snow starts falling, and things get really grim, really fast. We read this with the benefit of GPS in our pockets, so it's easy to forget how a whole company of people could be taken in by one man's (charlatan's) claims of an easy pass through the mountain. It's incredible to me that people not only survived their ordeal, but came out the other side not entirely crazy from what they went through.
A really compelling read once the party actually starts, but a bit of a slog to get there.
Read alikes:
Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven for another female perspective stranded someplace cold
Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition by Buddy Levy for a ship instead of a wagon train, with a side dish of implied cannibalism
I enjoyed this book, but I thought there was an awful lot of extraneous information thrown in to pad out the page count than I was expecting. Not that any of the info was bad or anything, but there's an awful lot of tangents thrown in that kind of took me out of what we were there for.
We get the whole backstory and leadup to the Donner Party's inevitable stranding, from wagon train forming to life on the trail, and everything in between. We're treated at regular intervals to side tangents about how life was on the trail, what the various Donner Party guests (hehehe) might have experienced, with a ton of historical factoids thrown in as well. It's all clearly researched, it just felt a little slapdash in the beginning.
But then the party gets stranded, the snow starts falling, and things get really grim, really fast. We read this with the benefit of GPS in our pockets, so it's easy to forget how a whole company of people could be taken in by one man's (charlatan's) claims of an easy pass through the mountain. It's incredible to me that people not only survived their ordeal, but came out the other side not entirely crazy from what they went through.
A really compelling read once the party actually starts, but a bit of a slog to get there.
Added to list2025 Favoriteswith 17 books.
Added to listFantasywith 145 books.
"As big as the world is, Nassun is beginning to realize it's also really small. The same stories, cycling around and around. The same endings, again and again. The same mistakes eternally repeated."
I don't even know how to summarize this book, the capstone on what will probably make my shortlist of favorite fantasy series ever.
I loved the interweaving of stories in this one especially. You get the current viewpoints from characters you've already grown to love struggling through a Season. In the middle of these stories, you also get chapters from a new viewpoint telling their story (spoilers) from the very far past. These two together paint a whole picture of how we got here and why, bringing you to some real "A-HA!" moments as you put pieces together.
The last few chapters in particular were spectacular, in a series full of spectacular chapters. I simultaneously didn't want these characters to get to their final stages, and also couldn't stop reading. Too many really great series never end up sticking the landing, and I was afraid this one would be no different. I was mistaken, in all the best ways.
"As big as the world is, Nassun is beginning to realize it's also really small. The same stories, cycling around and around. The same endings, again and again. The same mistakes eternally repeated."
I don't even know how to summarize this book, the capstone on what will probably make my shortlist of favorite fantasy series ever.
I loved the interweaving of stories in this one especially. You get the current viewpoints from characters you've already grown to love struggling through a Season. In the middle of these stories, you also get chapters from a new viewpoint telling their story (spoilers) from the very far past. These two together paint a whole picture of how we got here and why, bringing you to some real "A-HA!" moments as you put pieces together.
The last few chapters in particular were spectacular, in a series full of spectacular chapters. I simultaneously didn't want these characters to get to their final stages, and also couldn't stop reading. Too many really great series never end up sticking the landing, and I was afraid this one would be no different. I was mistaken, in all the best ways.
