Amanda

Just when I thought zombie stories were done and had nowhere left to go, Tate Brombal comes along and proves me wrong.

Through five heart-shattering issues, we are shown a man desperately clinging to his former life after he is, seemingly, the only person left uninfected by a zombie plague that struck a dozen years before. As he continues his unvarying routine we're shown flashbacks of his life before, juxtaposing his devotion to his family in death with his sometimes careless behavior in life.

Received via NetGalley.

This was...not good. Aaronovitch seems to have half-assed the research because his main character, a female American FBI agent, does not come across as a convincing FBI agent, American, or female. Oh, and he set the story in Wisconsin, named a character after a recent governor of that state, and then has not a single character comment on it.

I hope that if Aaronovitch writes more books set in the US he does some in-depth research, or at the very least gets some Americans to read the manuscript so he doesn't make so many ridiculous errors.

Received via NetGalley.

Politics, religion, imperial ambitions, and personal greed intersect in this stand-alone installment of the Imperial Radch series.

This is the first Imperial Radch book I've read and if this is indicative of the rest of the series, then I must say I'm not sure what the fuss is about. The story itself is interesting, but it's dragged out unnecessarily and the characters are poorly developed.

If Radiant Star had been a novella, I would probably have given it four stars; as a novel, its maundering makes three stars feel generous.

Received via NetGalley.

Humans have created an eco-friendly utopia for themselves; all they need to sustain it is an underclass of genetically engineered animals to do all the work. Skotch, a raccoon and PI, has been hired to find a mouse who may be able to upend the entire system.

Whoever decided to market this as "Philip Marlowe meets Redwall" is only half right: the world of Green City Wars has more in common with the horrors of The Island of Doctor Moreau than with Redwall Abbey.

Tchaikovsky has, once again, created an incredibly complex world that looks at real world issues: treatment of vulnerable groups, class distinctions, exploitation of animals, ethics of scientific advancements, etc. Unfortunately the amount of exposition needed to establish the world of Green City Wars means the detective part of this scifi/noir mashup gets lost in the shuffle; the secret with the potential to radically alter society becomes little more than a MacGuffin.

The highlight of the book for me was Skotch, who is a great example of the put-upon gumshoe. I wouldn't mind if Tchaikovsky wrote a few more stories featuring him.

Received via NetGalley.

I read this one because it's a blend of the King Arthur and Robin Hood legends, and I'm a sucker for both. Sadly, it's uninspired and predictable.

Received via NetGalley.