Brie
Of all the stories, I especially enjoyed "Petra", "Stone Lives", and "Red Star, Winter Orbit". The other stories were fine. I typically think anthologies are helpful for getting an idea of whether one wants to read more of a particular author's work. Interestingly, I enjoyed William Gibson's contributions in this anthology far more than his other works. In the co-authored "Red Star, Winter Orbit", I finally found the Gibson I've been wanting to read.
The blurbs before each story are well done and I walked away wanting to read more from Greg Bear and Paul Di Filippo.
The stories range in length from ~30 pages to 110+ (the first "Freezone" piece).
I am quick to DNF books I don't enjoy. I considered marking this DNF: the stories I liked weren't enough to make the entire anthology compelling reading. Ultimately, I read it all because it's on my r/fantasy bingo card and I have just over a week to go.
[ ℹ️ I read this for an IRL book club. ]
I found this book while browsing NPR's "Books We Love".
This was a fun, light read. Yet, there were a few surprisingly bittersweet and tender moments in the book. The author's passages of dialogue are good: there's no need for "he said" or "she said" and the reader always knows who is speaking.
I did not particularly care for many of the characters. Steve experienced some growth but the others were one-note and uninteresting: I did not feel very vested in their fates.
Using ChatGPT to disguise the criminal's voice was a new twist on an old genre. I don't like the idea of reading a book that contains content that was generated in part by ChatGPT (even if susbsequently edited). The book carries no disclaimer about this one way or the other.
🐈 Also: I expected more cats.
Originally posted at read.brie.dev.
This book was very sweet.
I'd impress on those who have not read this book to read the footnotes. They add so much more to the story.
💯 This book is wonderfully researched. The subject matter was darker than I expected from the playful nature of the title and the book cover. I walked away from this book with a stack of notes, a few things I'd like to read to supplement the material covered in the book and a better understanding of the alt-right than I was prepared for.
😐 As a fan of Stoic authors like Aurelius, Seneca and Epictetus, it was difficult to hear how their intent has been grossly misinterpreted. This book was worthwhile for the critical examination of Stoic thought and the reminder of the perils possible when attempting a poorly informed interpretation of ancient thought for the modern world.
🦋 The book was heavy on “this is the problem” and very light on “and here's what can be done about it”. As a result: by the end of the book, the reader is left feeling that the future is a bit bleak.
⚠️ TW: Some of the descriptions in the book are very graphic. Read with care.
Not as good as ‘Haroun and the Sea of Stories' but still a wonderful book! The video game theme all throughout is delightful!
A disappointing attempt at bridging Narnia and Hogwarts that took six months and a lot of willpower to complete. I am having a hard time working up the courage to continue the trilogy.
Lord of the Flies meets Battle Royale, IMO.
This was a quick read with a fair bit of laziness on the author's part. The parachutes dropping from the sky were a little bit too much for me, for example.
The first book I've read by Dr. Kaku and I loved it! I kept lots of notes and did a bit of scribbling. It's one of thsoe books that makes me want to go Google lots of stuff and I've added a few books to my to-read list as a result. Now, I'm finally ready to give ‘Physics of the Impossible' a chance!
I love Neil deGrasse Tyson! This book is a great read for anyone interested in getting caught up on all things Plutonian, from it's discovery, naming, time as a planet, and the controversy surrounding it's fall from planethood. It is a little “dumbed down” and anyone from a smart middle schooler on up could probably follow along.
