Rai
The next time someone says autism didn't exist in The Past, have them read this.
An undiagnosed 53yo autistic man in The Past has his routine interrupted by something trivial. He proceeds to spend the day catastrophising and having a prolonged meltdown. Then he has a long walk, listens to some heavy rain and is OK again.
It's literally just regular day in the life stuff for neurodivergent people and yet apparently it's a deep and thought provoking exposé on the anarchy of trivialities or some other high-brow literary wank.
I hate to break it to the quoted reviewers on the cover but, uh, this isn't some enlightened visionary tale. Stop patronising and othering nd people, thanks.
Danny and the crew of the Lythion scramble to find the factory assembling the deadly super-suits while trying to keep up appearances with Noam, the sentient array. But once they find it, all pretense drops and Noam is out for bold revenge on all humanity.
The series feels episodic and each book deals with a new chapter and a different set of hurdles as the crew try to figure out what to do about the psychotic, sentient super-AI with the power (& temperament) to destroy everything.
Long Live the Emperor is fast and action-packed, as usual, while taking the time to throw in some unexpected curve balls.
3.25
It had been a while since I read Hammer & Crucible so it took me a few chapters to remember what was what and who was who. I enjoyed being back with Danny as she struggles to get a handle on the all-powerful Noam.
While not as meaty as something like The Expanse, Imperial Hammer is a fast-paced adventure full of hi-tech wizardry and a very warped family dynamic.
Despite being published in 2017, there is a lot of outdated terminology at use in this book. While the author does have a caveat near the start explaining his use of Asperger's (given it is/was his diagnosis), it is also still using the "... functioning" terminology, and uses ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) as opposed to ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition).
The message is quite often very confused. With the author on one page saying 'no one should pressure you to be someone you're not' then on another page essentially advising others to mask and make an effort to 'fit in'. In trying to hit all the bases, it detracts from the value of shared experiences described within.
While its title suggests this is aimed at adults who have been newly diagnosed, much of the content seems geared towards young adults who have yet to go out into the world. I found some use in identifying shared experiences that I have also had but I differ strongly from the author in how I want to approach my autism and my place in the world.
This book is very restricted by the medical-model of disability that it ascribes to, which comes across as pathologizing and largely unhelpful. This may be owing to the author's US-centric experiences, I can't say for sure.
In trying to give the benefit of the doubt, I suspect this was written for one person and that was Gillan Drew. If this is what he needed to process some of his experiences, cool, but I definitely don't recommend it for others.
A brilliantly told, dark, feminist, folkish, fantasy tale. In times of strife the forest spirits can be called upon to protect those living around it; and this is the hope Saorlaith clings to as she summons the forest maiden Bailuchien to save herself and her younger sister from the famine that has ravaged their village. In exchange, the sisters commit themselves to a path of protecting the weak and visiting revenge on the abusers. Deliciously bloody and evocative for such a compact story.
This is the first of Hayes' books I've read, which I decided I really should get around to considering how many of them I own based on reputation alone. I did find myself wondering, around the 20% mark, just how much of the book was going to be set in The Pit and when "the real story" was going to start. I'd gotten the wrong impression from the blurb it seems as the whole book is in The Pit and that is the real story.
As the first in The War Eternal series and Eska is our narrator and speaks as though recounting her memories from a distant future, dropping little teasers about her life after The Pit, and this is her telling the story of her time in The Pit and her escape. Interspersed between the dank environs of The Pit - a never-ending mind where prisoners are sent to simply dig their lives away in the dark - are snapshots of Eska's childhood, growing up within the Orran Academy of Magic.
Given she's only just reached 16 years old by the end of the book, it is fair to say the entirety of Eska's childhood has been filled with pain and torture; save for the brief 6 years she spent in her quaint home village climbing trees. Tortured by those training her to be a magical weapon at the academy, only to be captured and thrown into The Pit for even more torture.
A stubborn character, self-describing as a 'bitch', Eska is not a loveable protagonist. She's angry and determined. She wants her revenge and will stop at nothing to achieve it.
At times brutal and bloody, Along the Razor's Edge feels like an origin story. Whether it is for a hero or a villain, only time will tell.
A Shade of Madness follows on where successful debut A Touch of Light left off and dives straight back into a world in increasing peril. Thiago Abdalla continues to demonstrate excellent worldbuilding and the exploration of flawed characters trying to do what they believe is the right thing...
Full review is available on Grimdark Magazine, here: https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/review-a-shade-of-madness-by-thiago-adballa/
That took an unexpected turn...Having read [b:Gunmetal Gods 55777447 Gunmetal Gods (Gunmetal Gods #1) Zamil Akhtar https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1624243972l/55777447.SX50.jpg 85052502] previously I thought I knew what to expect from [a:Zamil Akhtar 13833684 Zamil Akhtar https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1609188611p2/13833684.jpg] in this novella but it veered off on a mind-bending detour that I did not see coming. Kudos to any author who can shakes things up like this!Akhtar's prose is quick, smooth and engaging; he conjures some dark imagery and a profoundly in depth world in just 100 pages. You do not need to have read other books in the series before this. It is a 0.5 in the series, so set much before the happenings of Gunmetal Gods, with entirely different characters.We see the world from Darya's point of view, a tribal warrior trying to break through the walls of a besieged city and end the war in the name of the Shah. She is assigned to the death riders; the tip-of-the-spear vanguard designed as fodder against the defending forces. Despite facing death many times, somehow she continues to survive - is it luck, skill or a guiding hand?
‘A Cup of Tea...' is a clever, at times surreal, hard-hitting exploration of grief. If you have ever experienced loss, you may see yourself reflected in Lucifer as he deteriorates over a missing kettle. A kettle given to him by his mother. It is often small, surprising things, that drag us back into our grief: a Christmas card, a certain drink, the passing thought “I bet they'd love this” that jars us into remembering that person is gone. Tarzian has expressed this perfectly within A Cup of Tea at the Mouth of Hell.
It feels almost odd to offer praise for such a raw and vulnerable piece of work. It becomes very personal as Tarzian explores specifically his own grief and mental state following the sudden loss of his mother. It feels perhaps crass to say “well done!” when reading through such intimate thoughts and experiences. I can only hope a review goes some way to counteracting the heavy imposter syndrome Tarzian speaks of that is so synonymous with creative pursuits.
There is no real resolution because grief doesn't have a real resolution. Tarzian talks about his ongoing recovery from loss and the use of Lucifer and his kettle shows that loss can surprise us and take back over. It is inspiring to see the truth laid out bare in this novella both as an exercise in recovery and as a confirmation that we are not alone in how grief can derail us. As someone who lost a grandparent this year, I found ‘A Cup of Tea...' to resonate strongly with my experiences and I found this somewhat of a comfort to see some reflection of my losses in Tarzian's words.
Whether it's through the dreamlike, chaotic sequences in Hell or the raw, unbridled, journal-like entries from the author that follow; A Cup of Tea at the Mouth of Hell will take you on a journey through grief. At 90 pages, it is a short and impactful story that I certainly recommend as a window into grief and the toll it can take on us mentally, physically & spiritually.
Single mother Kelda and her son Dylan are looking for a fresh start when moving into the old toll house on a quiet road out of town. It's not much but all Kelda could afford; it's gets them out of her mother's house and moved them closer to friend Nick, and into a new job. Dylan has to start at a new school and make new friends, though he doesn't get along with his new teacher Mr Yeo. Stresses of the move and the clean slate boil over and during an argument, Dylan throws a saucepan at the wall in the kitchen, cracking the plasterboard and revealing a creepy death mask sealed inside.
The novel also swaps between present day and the 1860's following the former toll collector who lived in the house and whose wife passed away there. The death mask is linked back to this time period and after it is revealed in the present day, Kelda and Dylan begin to experience disturbances. Dylan sees a woman in his room, there's a pervasive feeling of sorrow, and being watched for Kelda. As thing escalate Kelda tries to protect her son as best she can while being unsure of her own mind.
There are a lot of relationship interactions within The Toll House, which adds an extra layer of intrigue to the story. The paranormal aspects are creeping and sinister as we learn more about Kelda, Dylan and the former residents of the house. Little twists along the way keep you guessing as to who is causing the disruption in the toll house and why. Exploring themes of child loss, death, love and obsession, The Toll House offers readers an alternative to the vast gothic mansion horror with the cosy/claustrophobic setting.
It is hard to write a review that is more than just “CAT IN SPAAAAAAAAAACE” for this book. Pumpkin (the cat) is clearly MVP of the story but, as a cat-lover, I might be biased. It's also brilliant to see a non-binary main character who isn't an alien. So there's two reasons to hype this book up.
The Last Gifts of the Universe is a bit of a slice-of-life sci-fi that follows Scout, their brother Kieran and Pumpkin the space cat, as they scour the universe for caches containing information from civilisations that came before - hoping that one day there will be something on what wiped out everyone and everything else. On one seemingly average mission, they discover a cache that hints at knowing what the big-bad enemy was but they are interrupted in their recovery of it by corporate mercenaries intent on copywriting it all and shoving it behind a paywall. Not being particularly well-equipped to fight off super soldiers Scout and Kieran lose the first cache but get enough from it to pinpoint the next one in the series.
What follows is a series of mad-dash races to see who gets to each next cache first, as Scout desperately tries to reason with the corpo-goons that this is information that needs to be free. The reason behind the end of all civilisation isn't something to be hidden away for only the wealthy to access.
In between these confrontations Scout, Kieran and Pumpkin get on with their jobs aboard their ship, The Waning Crescent, and spend their downtime with video games, TV serials and pizza. In their exploring of what little cache data they saved, Scout finds a recording from Blyreena, who made a last stand against the encroaching darkness hundreds of year before. Will Scout find answers in Blyreena's last words?
Besides the cat in adorable space-booties and the exquisite normalising of a non-binary character, The Last Gifts of the Universe presents some excellently thought-out themes that will engage you, while the characters keep you coming back for more. It's about ends and beginnings, loss and hope, and fighting for what you believe in and those you love. Adeptly balanced with action and cosy vibes, this is a must-read for sci-fi afficionados.