Kane

I recieved this as part of the Hugo voting pack

Overall I really enjoyed it for the quick read it is and I think it definitely hit the cozy brief; but, it was just a bit too cozy for my tastes.

It felt like it was trying to portray this tension that somerhing could go wrong at any time but I never actually felt like I was anticipating what was going to happen because it was just too cozy for anything to go wrong. The lack of stakes and anxiety really lessens the enjoyment.

The prose are truly awful. It reads like YA. Short simple sentences. Big words and complex world building scary.

I think this really quick shalllow story telling just isn't for me. The simplicity means I don't get immersed in the world and characters, and if I'm not immersed I don't care about reading more or finding out how it ends.

_Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this early access eARC to enable this review._

Unfortunately I didn't love this book as much as I thought I would going in to it. Overall it's not a bad book but it is just not for me. The plot was pretty cool but the characters fell flat.

I'm a very character focused reader and I just ultimately didn't care about the characters in this book. Neither the main girl nor any of her classmates really drew me in or made me care about them as more than plot devices. If you asked me to describe any of their unique attributes I probably couldn't. If you asked me to pick a favourite, I had none.

The main thread of the book is around a school for assassin girls/women. Only the strongest can graduate so they all get killed off one by one until three remain. This means there was a looooot of fighting and a lot of backstabbing. I haven't gone back to count exactly how much; but, believe me, there was a lot. The first 25% or so was essentially all fighting - at that point I was wondering if there would be any other scenes. The problem with that? If I don't really care about the characters and if they win or lose then it really detracts from the fight. When so much of the book is focused on this suspense of killing characters off it relies on a certain attachment, which I just never had.

As I mentioned - the plot was actually pretty cool and crafts an interesting world and system. I am not really going to go into it because I consider most of it a spoiler; but, if you are a more plot focused reader or you can vibe with the characters more than me then I think you will love this book. That is why I give it 3 stars - my this has merit but it's not for me rating.

I'm not going to continue this series but I do think it is a good book for others and I hope those people find it and love it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for this early access eARC to enable this review.

If you enjoy Becky Chambers books then this is the book for you. It has the same light-hearted spaceship based story vibes as those books, and that is not a bad thing at all. For me personally though - coming from my usual epic space opera leaning, this book felt a little rushed and shallow.

The human characters were fine but not particularly memorable. I can't picture them in my head or really feel what it is like to be them as individuals. The hero felt like a hero, the pirate felt like a pirate, and the politicians felt like politicians; but, none of them really felt like more than their archetypes. The exceptions were the AIs and their physical representations - what was missing from fleshing out the humans went to making sure we had a vivid picture of the ships.

The plot was decent for the word count and left space open for a sequel; but, as formerly mentioned, it did feel quite rushed. You only had a moment to really think about any particular scene and you were onto the next one. The main thing I didn't understand about the plot was the romance. I didn't expect a romance at all and it felt superfluous and that it took up precious pages that could have been dedicated the main story. I think with a book this short you can't really afford to dedicated pages to side-arcs with little impact on the main thread.

In terms of sci-finess - it was definitely set in space and had some cool concepts around technology and FTL but much like the main plot they were only ever explored for a page at a time before it was time to move on. Perhaps sequels can explore the origins of some of these technologies. I desperately want more!

Overall I liked Jitterbug but didn't love it. I'd be inclined to pick up any potential sequels but I'm not waiting expectantly on them. Perhaps with the scene setting out of the way in this first novel Gareth can flesh out characters and plot points more in future books.

`The Left Hand of Darkness` was difficult to enjoy in a modern context. Being originally published in 1969 it was obviously at the forefront of science fiction and paved the way for the genre I love today; but, over 50 years later I don't think it holds up as a novel that anyone needs to read, unlike other classic science fiction.

The concepts introduced such as faster than light travel, and futuristic weapons are things we still enjoy in stories today. They are early examples of some exciting new concepts for the time and it was fun to think that they are still speculative concepts half a century later.

The prose and story though are what really let this book down. The prose in particular was VERY simplistic. Very little in the way of any narrative flourish - with most of the story told, not shown, and in very plain and straight forward language. The story itself also being extremely straight forward with very little actually happening in terms of a narrative. All the interest is intended to be derived from the unique new (at the time) concepts introduced but Ursula seems to forget that something actually needs to happen in the story for those concepts to become interesting.

The characters were also extremely uninteresting. As a reader who generally favours character driven narrative I just simply didn't really care about either of the main characters and still after reading don't really feel any attachment, or feel like I really know them at all. Towards the very end - one of the characters is gunned down in a speculated suicide and it had no emotional impact whatsoever.

Overall I can't recommend this book except as a reference to compare modern sci-fi to and understand how it has evolved (or not).

Actually just one of the best books of all time about cutting through office bullshi*t and creating a productive and clear team.

If you can it's definitely worth doing the courses with your team but you can largely take the lessons learned from the book itself and implement them yourself.

An entertaining and important message about aboriginal sovereignty.

But it's just tooooo looooong. There is so much repetition in the first half. You could make this book about 1/3 the size without losing anything.

Thankyou to Netgalley and PanMacmillan/Tor for this ARC.

## Ratings

Cover: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Initial Draw: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finish Line Feeling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

## Review

Tchaikovsky is undoubtedly one of the premier authors when it comes to writing from the perspective of different species/cultures. The world he developed in Shroud was just as strong as Children of Time, with similar plot beats and pacing but a completely new species and new hostile environment to live through and contemplate. The way Tchaikovsky writes from the perspective of non-human characters makes you realise how anthropomorphized most sci-fi species are and is a breath of fresh air when it comes to thinking about what could be out there.

I was on the edge of my seat the entire time - not because I didn't expect the ending; but, because the pacing was completely on point, always tempting you to know what happens next at every page and every chapter.

I don't really want to go into finer plot points any more because you should definitely just experience it for yourself. Overall if you enjoyed Children of Time or Tchaikovsky's other works relating to alternate species then you will love this one. I can't wait for the sequels to explore this world and species more.

Ratings

Cover: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Initial Draw: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Characters: ⭐⭐

Pacing: ⭐⭐

Finish Line Feeling: ⭐⭐⭐

Review

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this eARC.

First of all the cover for this book is absolutely beautiful. It features a striking colour pallet and a beautiful scene of a girl in the wind in a traditional asian block print art style. The issue I have with this is the girl on the cover is clearly human but the main character is a "tree person" with bark like skin and pine needle hair. Who is this person on the cover?

Besides the cover, the blurb really drew me in. As an activist myself I love the idea of a story that draws parallels between a Chinese fantasy setting and the constant human expansion into and exploitation of the natural world. The execution of this though really lacked any impact on me. The characters were physically described at a basic level but by the end I really felt like I had no better idea about them as people and didn't care about them more than a superficial desire for the the protagonist to succeed. The natural land of 'Feng' they were attempting to protect was also only briefly described and instead the entire story could have largely been in any setting. The main plot was quite heavy handed with a constant reminder the protagonist intended to assassinate the king followed by a change of tact and a then a constant reminder they intended to escape the palace (This is all in the synopsis and not a spoiler.)

Going into this book I also expected there to be more of a linkage to Chinese mythology/religion but besides a relatively generic elemental magic linkage and some of the characters/regions having Chinese names I didn't really get that.

Overall I didn't really enjoy this book but I did enjoy the premise and I am very keen to hear more about Feng and about the industrial nation that attempts to destroy it. I hope the author continues this story and focuses more on what makes this story exciting and less on the generic assassination/escape plot lines.

## Ratings

Cover: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Initial Draw: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finish Line Feeling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

## Review

#### Cover

Epic! The black and yellow colour scheme and sharp lines draw you to it on the shelf instantly.

#### Initial Draw

I love a good thief/rogue centric book so I picked this up in the book store, read the blurb, and needed to buy it. It also sounded dark yet silly enough to be a quick refreshing palate cleansing read.

#### Characters

The characters were all great and expertly described. The humour that the main character, Kinch, conveys to every scenario made this a super enjoyable read.

#### Pacing

Super quick. There was never a dull moment in this book and I read it in two sittings.

#### Finish line feeling

Sufficiently wrapped up the main quest line of the first book and left me yearning for more! Overall it was a great short start to a new series that would serve a great entry point to the fantasy genre.

## Ratings

Cover: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Initial Draw: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finish Line Feeling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

## Review

#### Cover

Great matching cover to the rest of the series and most importantly they stand out on the shelf.

#### Initial Draw

This is the first standalone after the First Law trilogy so is a must read for anyone who loved the trilogy. It has just enough linkages to the trilogy while also working well as a standalone that could be read (or watched with the upcoming TV series) without having read any other "First Law" books.

#### Characters

Nobody writes characters like Joe. You can tell the character without their name ever being uttered by his excellent portrayals and mannerisms.

Shivers does an excellent job of filling the lead character role despite his relatively brief involvement in the first trilogy.

#### Pacing

With an almost 700 page book the pacing is expertly handled with fast and medium portions expertly weaved to keep things flowing. None of it slowed down sufficiently to make it feel like it was dragging on.

#### Finish line feeling

Excellent. Can't wait for the TV show and I can't wait to read the rest of the first law series and Joe's new book "The Devils"

While it was still and enjoyable book it felt very much like suddenly the author realised near the end that they were writing a trilogy and rushed to wrap up as many loose ends as possible. I feel many of the plotlines of this book could have taken another book to expand and explore more thoroughly and be written with more suspense.

I picked this up cheap at the local discount book store as the premise sounded really interesting. Ultimately I got about 25% of the way through before I got thoroughly bored and picked something else up.

## Ratings
Cover: ⭐⭐⭐
Initial Draw: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐
Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finish Line Feeling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐



## Review

#### Cover

The cover of These Burning Stars is nice and simple if not a little generic. It doesn't really give you any insight into the story or evoke any particular emotion. 

#### Initial Draw

I love sci-fi so any new sci-fi that pops up I am willing to give a go. The main plot reads as:

Jun Ironway, hacker, con artist, and only occasional thief, has got her hands on a piece of contraband that could set her up for life: evidence that implicates the powerful Nightfoot family in a planet-wide genocide seventy-five years ago. The Nightfoots control the precious sevite that fuels interplanetary travel through three star systems. And someone is sure to pay handsomely for anything that could break their hold.

Which sounds intriguing in itself. I work in cyber security so anything in the hacker culture vein gets extra points for me when it comes to picking it off the shelf. 
#### Characters

The characters overall I didn't find particularly exciting. Not great but not bad either. I'm a sucker for a strong character driven story but this delivered less in character development and more in political intrigue and cat and mouse. 

Esek and Chono were the two supposed “good guys” but it was clear that Esek was being portrayed as unhinged from the start so it really didn't provide much in the way of shock factor the more she did anything and everything in her persuit of justice. 

The hacker Jun, Six and associated cast were much more engaging. I'm not sure if the intention was for the reader to engage with them more from the start but that was certainly what kept me interested. 

#### Pacing

Pacing was fast and flowing but the jumping around between characters and time periods did break the flow a bit. In general it could do with a more engaging overarching story as a large chunk of the book was just between the hands and six going tit for tat over finding or evading each other. 

I did enjoy the pace and constant action though as without it the story could easily have lost me. 

#### Finish line feeling 

Overall I found this book enjoyable but I don't think it will turn out to be overly memorable. It's an amazing effort for a debut novel and I am really keen to read the remaining books in the trilogy. 

My hope is that the world that Bethany has created gets fleshed out more in future series as it seems to have a lot of potential to be explored and expanded upon with other stories. Similar to something like the Scythe book series. 

Received this as an eARC on netgalley
Overall it's a masterclass by some of the current greats of SciFi in how to write speculative fiction. Some of these short stories were 5/5 blackmirror-esq masterpieces articulating a bleak but realistic picture of where the current AI obsession is taking us. There are a couple of the stories though they completely lost me on what they are trying to convey and didn't have nearly the witty point of the majority of the stories bringing this down to an overall 4.5. 

I'd recommend this as a read for anyone into sci-fi, speculative fiction or who works on or with AI. 

A strong finish to the trilogy that I didn't find as engaging as the first two books but I loved all the same. 

Abercrombie still showed his mastery of character development and wrapped the various story lines up well. 

Some twists I saw coming but others like the first magi being in control of the bankers I did not 

Overall - amazing. I can't wait to read the other books in the universe. 

Ratings
Cover: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Initial Draw: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐
Plot and Pacing: ⭐⭐⭐
Last Page Feeling: ⭐⭐⭐

Note: For transparency - I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley. This will not impact my review.

Synopsis
A young royal “musketress”, Lilith, lives an isolate life in a citadel with her family controlling an infinite source of resources, created by the gods as well as sole control of muskets/firearms giving them military might over other classes of citizen.

Reading and writing are forbidden acts in this world. “You shall not suffer a librarian to live”; but, one day a librarian shows up at the citadel and Lilith discovers her families secret which changes her perception of her family and the world forever.


Review

Cover

The cover is beautiful and represents the plot well with the frequently chanted slogan “You shall not suffer a librarian to live” emblazoned on the front.

 Initial Draw
The initial draw for me was the premise of a fantasy retelling of the true history of book burning and the suppression of knowledge transfer between classes keeping a status quo that keeps the powerful in charge and the poor under their foot.

Characters
The characters were simply... not interesting and not well described. I could not explain to you what anybody looks like or any of their characteristics except the guardians dress in green and the ruling class carry muskets around.

I ultimately didn't care about any of the characters and most of all found Lilith, the focus of the narrative, extremely dull. She had no growth across the entire book and instead just served to pull the plot along.

The twist of Lillith wanting to persue being a librarian at the end was really not a twist at all. You could tell from the very start that she was going to sympathise with the librarian and ultimately replace him or become his disciple or something of that type.The alliance with Kira at the 70% mark and the ultimate betrayal at 99% was also not at all surprising.

 Plot and Pacing
Firstly be warned it takes until almost exactly the 50% mark for anything to truly progress the plot.

You spend the first half of the book being introduced to Lillith, her teacher/guard captain Kira, and the Librarian. As mentioned in the character section though I don't think the book is any better off character development wise for such a long on ramp. At 50% Lillith finally reveals the big secret to Kira and that is where the plot finally leaves what is already covered in the official synopsis and jumps into new content.

The content from the 50% mark takes a fairly meandering path.

The rest of the book basically being a slow foot chase away from the archangel and it really dragged on and his “death” really didn't answer anything for me about the lore of the world.

 Last Page Feeling

Ultimately it was a quick and enjoyable enough read -  I just felt unfulfilled at the end. I assume this is lining up for a sequel as by the end I still didn't know the real answer behind the big questions like why literature/writing/reading is banned what the archangel was really about, what happens with the newfound knowledge that Lillith returns to Alexandra with etc.. I assumed towards the start there was going to be some kind of lore about this being a dystopian future of our reality or something but nothing of that kind or any in depth lore was ever discussed.

Overall a pretty enjoyable book but it just didn't have the plot or character development to make it completely satisfying. Not helped by the fact the book finishes on a cliffhanger with most arcs unfinished in preparation for a sequel. 

The concept of the pandomonium planet collective and “The Registry”  (Think Thunderhead from Sythe) really intrigued; but, they got barely more than a mention as to their existence. Hopefully book 2 actually explores these concepts more and brings the much needed depth to the world. 

Amazing portrayal of white colonial attitudes in a well researched historical fantasy setting. 

Foodmeat. 

I don't really get it. The native dialect poetry was lovely to read and I appreciate the effort to try something new; but, the narrative and characters were uneventful and forgettable. 

What really lost it for me though was the extremely odd choice to concatenate a string of synonyms together in the translation even if clearly some of them made no sense in context. I can understand there may not be a perfect 1:1 translation for some things; but, at points it became a little obsurd. 

Amazing. Nothing really happens; but, the character development is second to none. It's obviously a book building up to a an intricately described cast and world and does a fantastic job at it. 

What happened to the end of my book? It literally just ended at the end of a random anecdote and shifted into notes. 

In fact the entire book was just a random selection of anecdotes. It just shifted between them with no consistent narrative nor any conclusions.

This book was so  disappointing. I am very passionate about the topic but this did nothing to help the cause or help me with my activism. As a background on the topic to read in combination with other books on the same topic it is probably okay, but as a standalone book it is not great. 

Review to come. TL;DR didn't really like much about it. 

This book took me to space in a way that no other book has for a long time. You fall in love with the characters yes there is more than one and humor of the writing. Much like Pringles - once you pop you can't stop (turning pages).

Characters and DevelopmentPersonally I found this one of the weakest elements. The characters were good but they didn't develop in any meaningful way. They started off as well thought out characters and remained solid throughout; but, I didn't feel like they developed over the time we are with them or reach any drastic developments.

PlotSimple plot, in theory. Earth is in trouble and Ryland, a former discredited academic and current high school science teacher, is sent to space to find the solution. What happens while he is out there is unexpected (having not read some of the more spoiler synopsis), funny, and heartwarming. I feel like the less you know about the plot the better for this one.

Setting
The majority of the book is spent on a tiny ship but that didn't limit the enjoyment at all. If anything the environment allowed the focus on the plot and the simple but impactful story it tells.

TL;DR
Pros

• Funny and feelgood writing
• Scientific accuracy (as far as I can tell - not being an astrophysicist)
• Unputdownability (Con: lack of sleep)

Cons

• Character development is eh
• Ends on a bit of a cliffhanger

This was a good overview of Biden and his time in politics. It shows that as much as he is an improvement on the Trump era of politics - he was never going to be the liberal and progressive savior that we hope for. Definitely check out Bernie Sanders books on a more positive look at what US politics could be.
TL;DRPros

• Quality summary of Biden's beginnings in politics
• Explains his motivations, strengths and weaknesses

Cons

• Finishes just at the presidential race with a small and unsatisfying epilogue