Jimmy Brewster

I purchased Trey of Swords by Andre Norton as part of a Humble Bundle of women science fiction & fantasy authors. I have wanted to read something by Andre Norton and thought this was a good opportunity to check out her writing.

While this is technically part of the Witch World series by Andre Norton, I found that it was easy to jump into this series. Perhaps there was some back story that may have been lost on me, but the core elements were explained well enough that I enjoyed the experience.

The story is broken into three parts. The first two parts follow Yonan, a young man who is below average in terms of being a warrior. Upon finding a magical sword of legend, he unleashes another character from an age of legend and finds himself in the middle of an unfinished battle between good and an evil godlike figure. The third part follows a young woman who is introduced in the first part and then left behind in the second part. She is magically inclined but has not had much experience or training.

The story has a few tropes you would expect from high fantasy. It was written with a touch of old-fashioned high fantasy language style which I found added positively to the story. The weakling character becomes an unlikely hero. However, it manages to avoid some tropes such as the damsel-in-distress and romantic desire being the main characteristic of the woman. It touches on these tropes to acknowledge what the audience might have been expecting but then twists them into a more positive feminist ending.

Additionally, there is a non-human lizardman character who assists our heroes. There is also a godlike figure who is described as being neither or both genders. I appreciate that Andre Norton included these elements. It adds a dash of diversity and antifascism that I am happy to see in a novel published in the early 1970's.

I would recommend this novel to fans of traditional high fantasy.

I bought this book while visiting Tokyo, mostly on a whim, because I enjoy translated fiction as well as workplace fiction.

This book is accurately summarized by the synopsis on the back and there is not really much more to the story than that. It is a slice of life workplace centered story that involves a lot of food. The characters are mostly unlikable. There is not much of a plot, and I did not find it very deep or revelatory. It examines workplace culture, specifically Japanese office workplace culture, eating, and unwritten societal rules. I think it falls a little flat because it does not delve into absurdism far enough.

I would only recommend this to fans of literary fiction or workplace fiction. This novel will not appeal to most people.

I wanted to read Driven by Mason Coile because I have previously enjoyed William and Exiles by the same author.

This novella did not hook me at all. I did not find the story to be creepy or interesting in any way. Unlike previous novels, there was not even an interesting twist at the end. It was mostly just a simple revenge fantasy.

I do not recommend this novella. Read William or Exiles instead.

I picked To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers to listen during a road trip because it was short enough to fit into one day of driving. I have also previously enjoyed this author.

This novella was enjoyable, overall. It leans more heavily into aspects of hard sci-fi than previous things I have read by Becky Chambers. The story teeters between hope and despair, making it a heavy contemplative story packed into a short novella.

I recommend this novella to anybody looking for a quick hard sci-fi story.

My partner and I stumbled across this book in Exile in Bookville, an independent bookshop in Chicago. As a leftist who enjoys reading international fiction, I was immediately interested.

This story tells a fictionalized version of Kang Juryong’s life in the 1920s-30s during Japan’s occupation of Korea. The novel imagines what life might have been like for an uneducated woman who was forced to marry and found herself in the middle of a liberation movement. She experiences many trials and tribulations, as well as a few fleeting moments of happiness. Eventually she becomes involved in labor organizing and the communist movement. The story explores patriarchy and intellectualism in leftist organizing. It wonders what might create tipping points where a person feels they have no choice but to get involved and take a stand for something.

I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys feminist fiction, international fiction, and especially to anyone who is involved in leftist movements.

I wanted to read Exodus: The Helium Sea by Peter F. Hamilton because I have heard of this author but never read anything by him before this.

This novel is the second part of a two-part book series which sets the stage for an upcoming videogame called Exodus. The story is set 40,000 years in the future. There are several factions vying for control of the empire and known galaxy. The cast of characters includes basic humans, as well as Celestials, which are decedents of the original colonizers who have physically modified themselves into immortal super beings.

This book is long. There is a glossary of characters, places, and other details which takes up nearly 100 pages before the story even starts. The bulk of the 752-page book is world building. The author does a fantastic job of creating an extremely in-depth history, economy, and political system. While reading the book, it piqued my interest in the video game.

Unfortunately, I found the plot to be straightforward and the characters were shallow. Additionally, there were so many characters and locations it was impossible to keep track of it all, even with the glossary. The perspective changes regularly and there are 6 or 7 different perspectives from which the story unfolds.

Overall, I would only recommend this to readers who really want deep world building rather than a story or if you find yourself needing more content after playing the video game.

I wanted to read Patternmaster by Octavia Butler because I have previously read the other books in this series and it was time to complete the series.

This novel, like the other in the series, touches on the topics of class society, individuality and community, and power dynamics.

Arguably this is the worst book in the series, however, the series is such a great set of stories that I would still rate this book very highly. I recommend this series to everyone.

I wanted to read Feed by Mira Grant because I purchased a Humble Bundle which included several books from this series. It has been a very long time since I have read any zombie fiction, so I decided to check it out.

The story is set 20 years after a virus which causes zombification was introduced to the world and zombies have become part of everybody’s day to day reality. It follows a news blogging team as they cover a U.S. presidential campaign.

Despite the unique premise, I found the overall story to be basic zombie fiction. The novel goes so far as to simply describe the zombies as “George Romero” zombies, adding nothing unique or interesting to the zombie lore. The characters are not sympathetic, which is not a requirement, however, they are also one dimensional and boring. The characters are constantly subjected to blood tests that check for zombie infection and if you removed all of the text describing the endless blood tests the book would probably be half as long.

The post-apocalyptic future described is essentially exactly the same as the pre-apocalypse world, except with zombies (and endless blood tests), which makes for a very boring science fiction experience. I expected a book set during a presidential campaign would make insightful political commentary, but alas, like the rest of the novel, the politics are one dimensional and boring.

I would not recommend this novel to anybody except perhaps the most die-hard zombie fiction consumer who has run out of other things to read.

Thank you to William Morrow for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my review.

I wanted to read The Children by Melissa Albert because the description of magic and mystery sounded intriguing.

This novel explores traumatic childhood memories from the perspective of adulthood. Misremembering and forgetting details of childhood is something that most adults experience. This novel is told from the perspective of Guinevere, one of two children of a successful young-adult novelist who used her two children as the main characters of her successful series. The novel flips between “present day” adult Guin and her memories of childhood, which are loaded with various traumas such as neglectful parents and exposure to drugs, sex, and parties at a young age.

At first, the story seems predictable and the characters are somewhat flat. As the novel progresses, we learn more about the mysterious circumstances of the deaths of the main characters parents. The mystery and the haunting magical realism that accompanies it are the highlight of the novel. It is difficult to say much more at this point without spoiling elements of the story.

I enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anybody who likes darker magical realism similar to Ray Bradbury.

Thank you to Orbit for the advanced reader copy provided in exchange for my review.

I wanted to read Radiant Star by Ann Leckie because I know the Imperial Radch series has been well received and I was curious to read more from Ann Leckie. I have previously read the first novel, Ancillary Justice, albeit over ten years ago. After finishing this novel, I am more interested in revisiting the series to see what I have missed.

This is the story of Ooioiaa, the single city on the starless rogue planet of Aaa. The story mostly revolves around the raising of one last “living saint” which are essentially mummified religious figures who wait for the return of the planet’s long-lost star. The planet becomes cut off from the Radch empire and begins suffering from food shortages and rioting.

Despite having missed almost the entire Imperial Radch series, I found this novel stood on its own. Even without the full context of the series, the author does a fine job of revisiting details that fill in the important larger context without bogging down this standalone story. The novel relates themes of empire in collapse and the government’s attempt to distract from how horrific things are becoming by giving the common people a celebratory event. Despite Ooioiaa being far removed from our current time and place in history, it felt very poignant to our current American society. The narrator in the novel adds a bit of humor at times which keeps things from feeling too dark or grim. The author also uses many different neopronouns and explores concepts of gender identities and their roles in society, a concept I remember from the first Imperial Radch novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. I would recommend to to anyone who enjoys Ursula Le Guin or Isaac Asimov. And even if you have not read the Imperial Radch series in its entirety, you can still enjoy this standalone novel on its own merits.

I wanted to read Dark is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce because the description sounded intriguing.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. The story is unsettling and has a dash of magical realism that I especially liked. The writing flows quickly and the story never really slows down. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a creepy story that can be read over a weekend.

Having previously read the first 3 books in this series, I was extremely grateful to Orbit for providing me with an ARC for Children of Strife.

After my mixed feelings about the third novel in the series, this one returns to more of what I enjoyed in the first two novels. There is a new planet discovered by Kern’s people. It is a world which was terraformed by some of the worst capitalists left on Earth at the time of the apocalypse. We are also finally introduced to a sentient mantis shrimp, something which was hinted at in the first novel of the series. For the most part, the majority of the characters are non-human people. In typical Children-style, the story unfolds from three different perspectives in time, culminating in the “present day” post-Children of Time era.

As with the other novels in this series, the themes of personhood, community, and celebrating differences are all present. These themes combined with the post-scarcity future created by Kern and the Portiids in the first novel creates a hopeful antifascist vision that I look for in science fiction.

If you have read the previous novels, you will enjoy this one. If you enjoy Star Trek or Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series, I recommend picking up the first book, Children of Time, and giving this series a read.

I wanted to read Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing because it is an older hard science fiction novel written by a woman.

The story starts in a relatable modern world that being affected by climate change, pandemics, and declining birth rates. A small commune begins secretly cloning livestock and humans in an effort to survive into the future.

The story contains themes of both individuality and community. While not precisely a fascist dystopia, the novel still makes poignant insights into antifascism through artistic expression and individuality. Art is always political, even when the politics are not overt. Yet at the same time, coming together as a community is just as important for survival and building a better future.

I very much enjoyed this novel. If you like Octavia Butler, especially her Earthseed series, you will enjoy this novel.

This novel should have trigger warnings for racism, misogyny, domestic violence against women, suicide, and gun violence.

I wanted to read Confessions of a Crap Artist because I have read several of Philip K. Dick's novels and I want to read more.

Firstly, this novel is not science fiction. It is set in 1950's California, near San Francisco. It follows a man who is a believes just about everything he reads or is told and falls into conspiracy theories. He is clearly struggling with mental health issues. Early on in the novel, he starts living with his sister and her husband, and the novel follows their life for a tumultuous period of time. All of the characters in this novel are unwell and mostly unlikable.

PKD was an interesting author. He seemingly used his writing as an outlet for processing many of his own mental health issues. I cannot speak as to how much of this story reflects his own experiences growing up in California, but he would have been roughly the same age and in the same area of California as the "crap artist" in this novel. While it is likely not autobiographical, it feels personal. A large part of why I enjoy PKD's writing because I feel that he put a lot of himself into each story.

If you are familiar with PKD, this novel is more along the lines of VALIS but with a coherent plot. If you enjoyed VALIS, you might enjoy this novel. If you are not familiar with Philip K. Dick, I would not recommend this as a starting point. As I mentioned, this is not a science fiction story, which PKD was much more well known for writing. If you are looking for a starting point with PKD, I recommend Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? or The Man in the High Castle.

I wanted to read The Faith of Beasts by James S.A. Corey because I have read the previous novel in The Captive's War series. I am also a huge fan of The Expanse series.

This book is very heavy and dark, much like the previous novel in the series. Trigger warnings for slavery, body horror, and forced breeding. The series seems to be presented as how to survive under authoritarian rule, how to resist fascism, and the perseverance of humanity. As an antifascist, the premise sounds intriguing on the surface. Unfortunately, the Carryx are not just human or even human-like fascist rulers. They are indomitable alien beings who have enslaved countless species throughout the galaxy, absorbing their knowledge and technology over the course of millions of years. They view every other species in the galaxy as animals to be used as tools in their never-ending war. Enslaved species must do whatever is demanded of them or the Carryx will simply wipe them out with their superior technology and physical strength. There is little room for resistance and hope because the enemy is god-like.

The most redeeming feature of this series is that it is chock full of interesting aliens. In this novel, we get to learn more about some of the species from the previous novel as well as new ones. There is a segment with a new alien character who provides a little comic relief, but the levity is drowned out by the doom and gloom of the rest of the story.

I assume at some point in the series there might be more of a resistance. Perhaps more hope. But thus far, I find this series depressing and bleak. If you like dark, hopeless, dystopian science fiction you might like this series. Personally, I prefer more hope in my science fiction.

I wanted to read The Curse of Chalion after searching for more women fantasy and science fiction authors. Lois McMaster Bujold falls into both of these categories, and after reading one of her science fiction novels, I was looking forward to this one. It did not disappoint.

Bujold's writing in The Curse of Chalion ranks highly as some of the best modern writing I have had the chance to read. The prose is beautifully written and brings the world to life. The world created in this novel is dynamic and full of interesting characters. This novel falls in the historical fantasy subgenre as it is set in a realistic medieval period. As such, it does contain mention of rape, age-gap relationships, men that lust after young girls, and using marriage for alliances, birthing heirs, and rewarding loyalty. Bujold handles these topics without describing graphic violence against women that male fantasy authors may have been tempted to use.

The themes of this novel are heavily theological. The story includes magical elements in the form of five gods and their ability, or lack of ability, to touch the world and shape the actions taking place. I found this approach to be an intriguing way to add magic to a mostly realistic medieval setting.

Overall, I would highly recommend this novel to fans of realistic fantasy writing, but readers looking for something cozy may want to avoid this one.

I read Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov because I have been working my way through the greater Foundation series in the order suggested by Asimov.

This novel is standard Asimov and a slightly less exciting read than the previous novel Foundation and Empire. There is lots of back-and-forth dialogue while characters puzzle out who and where the second foundation is. It is less philosophical and more of a spy mystery as compared to the original Foundation.

If you have read any of the Foundation series, you will enjoy this one.

After watching some of Apple TV's Foundation series, I decided to begin reading through all of Asimov's connected books in order as suggested by Asimov. I have finally made it to and completed Foundation and Empire, the second of the original Foundation trilogy.

This novel introduces several memorable characters. The second half of the novel, "The Mule", is one of the best Asimov stories in my reading journey so far. This novel has more action and dynamic characters than the titular Foundation novel.

If you are daunted by reading the entire collection and looking for a singular Asimov novel to read, this is one I would strongly recommend. While the novels do all tie together, I believe most of them can be read as a standalone novel and you can enjoy this one without having read Foundation.

I wanted to read Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky because I have previously read the first two books in the series.

If you have read the previous books, the themes of this novel will be nothing new. There is philosophical introspection regarding what it means to be sentient, alive, and an individual. There is an element of antifascism explored through an us versus them situation. I enjoyed the overall addition to the bigger story which began in the first book of the series.

I think the biggest difference was the bulk of this story takes place in a near-fantasy setting of magical realism using unreliable points of view. Although previous novels from this series have been disjointed in time, I have not found those as difficult to follow as Children of Memory. I was not fully sure of what was going on until the conclusion. Even elements of the conclusion had to be read twice to sort out the rest of the story.

This has been the least enjoyable entry of the series so far. I do not think the near-fantasy magical-realism worked as well as the author intended. The description of this story piqued my interest; but the actual execution left me dissatisfied and somewhat bored. I think there could have been at least 100 pages edited out of this novel.

That being said, if you have enjoyed the previous novels, you will still like this one as well. If you enjoy Ursula Le Guin, you will probably enjoy this series. However, unlike Le Guin's Hanish series, you should start at the beginning with Children of Time, as these novels do not stand alone very well.

The Employees by Olga Ravn is a science fiction novel that takes place on a ship that has discovered mysterious objects on a distant planet. The crew is made up of humans and humanoid robots. The story is told through the perspective of recorded workplace interviews. I wanted to read this novel for several reasons: it's international science fiction and it's included on many anti-work fiction lists. It's also worth noting that this story was inspired partly by an art exhibit Consumed Future Spewed Up as Present by artist Lea Guldditte Hestelund.

As mentioned, the entire story is told from snippets of workplace interviews. The presentation combined with the dark story that is unfolding highlights the absurdity of many office workplaces. The reader only gets the interviewee's answers to unknown questions. There is not any dialogue from the interviewers nor scenes to fill in the gaps between interviews. The interviews are simply numbered and there is nothing identifying each respondent. It creates a surreal reading experience as compared to more traditional science fiction novels.

As someone who enjoys interesting writing techniques and open-ended stories, I really enjoyed this novel. I appreciate that it is a very quick read and conveys an interesting story combined with a philosophical exploration of humanity and work. I would recommend this novel to people who are a fan of Ursula Le Guin or Jeff Vandermeer (especially Dead Astronauts) or if you are looking for something unusual.

I picked up Slave Ship by Frederik Pohl for $1 at a used bookstore several years ago. I have read Pohl before and did not expect this one to be great.

This novella follows the story of Logan Miller who becomes involved with a secret military mission to communicate with animals in order to draft them into military service. Written during the US empire's build-up for the invasion of Vietnam, it is presumably an attempt at a satire about war and empire, but the story is boring, dated, and chauvinistic in every sense of the word. The main characters are boring and flat. There is an interesting plot development at the very end of the story which is more interesting than the previous 143 pages combined; it should have been where the story started. Unfortunately, the story ends there on page 144.

I would not recommend anybody reads this novella unless you are a glutton for bad science fiction.

Coincidentally, I finished this book on the same day that the so-called United States of America kidnapped President Maduro and the First Lady of Venezuela. The US empire continues to terrorize the world just as it was doing when this novella was written. Free Maduro and free the people of Venezuela from the clutches of the US empire!

I wanted to read A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman because it is described as a historical fiction novel of class and gender. The story features a young working-class woman who was worked her way up to being a lady's maid. A visiting valet for another lord becomes her love interest and the story follows their attempt to manipulate their employers into marrying so that the two servants may end up living together.

This is a very fun historical literary fiction novel. The story takes place during the women's suffrage movement in the U.K. and the main character is aware of the growing feminist movement during the course of the novel. It's a character driven story, full of interesting characters and descriptive vocabulary. It takes many of the tropes you expect from a romantic period piece and filters them through the lens of gender and class dynamics.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction, and if you don't like historical fiction, you should still give this novel a chance! This is one of my favorite books that I've read this year.

I wanted to read These Familiar Walls by C.J. Dotson because it sounded like it would be a fun haunted house style story.

The basic premise is that Amber’s parents are murdered, and she moves into their house after their death.

The story switches perspectives from Amber as an adult, moving into her parents' former home and Amber as a child, growing up in the same home with a troubled friend who lives next door. Each chapter is clearly labeled with a date, so it's very easy to follow.

I liked that the creepiness was relentless, up until the final act. There is little down time between each troubling event, and it makes the book a quick and easy read. The story itself is fairly straight forward until the final act, which drops a twist and wraps up quickly. I appreciate when a novel is able to succinctly tells a story.

I would recommend this to anyone who grew up reading "Goosebumps" by R.L. Stine and is looking for a slightly more adult version.

I wanted to read Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovsky because I read the first book, Children of Time, and the teaser at the end hooked me into wanting to continue the series.

Many of the aspects I enjoyed from the previous novel were also present in this one. It is a space-based story that spans a huge swath of time. After discovering a signal at the end of the first novel, a crew of Humans and Portiids travel together to discover the source. The novel flashes between time perspectives frequently. The bulk of the story takes place immediately following the first novel. However, chapters containing the history of the newly discovered planets are interspersed throughout the novel.

Much of the novel is spent on overcoming communications barriers. Much like the first one, the novel is a what-if scenario involving beings who communicate and behave in ways different from the human perspective. I always enjoy thinking about sentience and life outside of the human perspective which is one reason the series has drawn me into it.

There is an element of antifascism throughout the novel. Overcoming communication barriers and learning to empathize despite great differences is antifascist. Additionally, after seeing the Humans and Portiids overcome those barriers in the first novel, we get to see them work together as comrades building a stronger society together. Each character contributes according to their abilities, and they are respected as valuable members of the crew.

Other than the story itself, I enjoy Tchaikovsky's writing. I can tell that it draws heavily from his knowledge of zoology and psychology. I think people who enjoy James S.A. Corey's Expanse Series or Isaac Asimov will like these novels.

I wanted to read Network Effect by Martha Wells because I have read the previous Muderbot Diaries and enjoy the series.

This is the first full novel length Murderbot story. I found it was just as good as the previous novellas. I like that the Murderbot Diaries are action packed and violent at times but still manage to feel like cozy space stories.

In this installment Murderbot maintains much of what makes it, it, such as the dry humor, media obsession, and need to parenthesize excessively, but also shows signs of being a dynamic individual who is still finding itself and learning about the expanded universe created in the prior stories.

If you have previously enjoyed Murderbot stories, you will like this one. If you haven't read any of the Murderbot Diaries but are a fan of cozy sci-fi such as Becky Chambers, you should get started with All Systems Red, the first novella in the series.