I like to complain, learn new things & read. My favorite things to learn are related to the fantasy-genre or to computers/programming. My favorite things to complain about are when I don't understand something I'm learning & when the humidity levels change.
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The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming …
Interesting subversion of certain tropes and well crafted telegraphing. It didn't hit quite right for me, probably because I'm currently in an argument with the "special boy/girl" model of fantasy.
This is a world divided by blood - red or silver. The Reds are commoners, …
While this one is still a "special boy/girl" sci-fantasy, I did like the constant edging of foreshadowing betrayal immediately followed by descriptions of how nice a character is. In fact, when a significant betrayal did come, I didn't believe it and more than halfway expect to find it reversed later on the series. The ratio of fantasy to sci-fi felt weird to me but I couldn't say why.
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming …
Iron Widow is a sci-fantasy story that incorporates various genre tropes, but they are covered in a fresh and interesting skin. I appreciated that certain recognizable beats were, at least so far in the story, subverted or not followed through. Despite that, and probably for personal reasons rather that book-related ones, I was not invested and didn't have that anxiety and delight that I feel with the best stories.
For fans of Code Girls and Hidden Figures, PROVING GROUND is the untold, World War …
I'm glad I read this. The ENIAC 6 deserve more respect and more awareness of how much they brought to programming. I expected the quiet sexism of having their work accepted but not their value as people. I wasn't expecting modern jackasses to try to erase their contributions and deny their importance.
"In the second volume of the Southern Reach Trilogy, questions are answered, stakes are raised, …
Slow creeping weirdness with a hectic ending. I'm looking forward to the next one.
**IN THE BEGINNING, MAN WAS PREY. WITHOUT THE GODS, THEY'LL BE PREY AGAIN **
The …
Nicely different. I hope there will be sequels.
Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by …
4.5 stars.
I really liked the character development and growth. I liked the world, the gods, the mystery, and the fairly smooth way the main characters end up journeying together.
Keera is a killer. As the King's Blade, she is the most talented spy in …
I'm not sure why I'm "meh" on this one. I usually enjoy the various elements here: a hidden, dying magic (that maybe isn't), mysterious births, female lead (especially with a bad attitude), treachery, and heist-like plot devices.
I didn't like using "halfling" because that word already has a specific meaning for me and it's different from the usage here.
I dunno. It was fine, just maybe not for me.
In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, …
For me, this was a "warm blanket" story. It wasn't too complex and the stakes weren't too high, so I could just... enjoy.
Unfortunately, the male narrator doesn't fit the character and doesn't mesh well with the other narrator. I would have enjoyed the experience more if I didn't flinch every time the POV switched to Sam.
In all the years she has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house, …
A New York Times Bestseller The leading thinker and most visible public advocate of modern …
Addresses many of the obvious nonsense regarding how people talk about government economies. It takes 2 seconds of honest thought to recognize taxes don't fund the government, they encourage behavior. And only 1 second to understand that the power to make money very simply means deficits are a fiction.
Very satisfying conclusion with a few "oh shit" moments of realization moments before Novik whips the curtain back.