David Bremner wants to read A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark
Egypt, 1912. In Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between …
Homework for the Nebula winner.
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computer scientist, mathematician, photographer, human. Debian Developer, Notmuch Maintainer, scuba diver
Much of my "reading" these days is actually audiobooks while walking.
FediMain: bremner@mathstodon.xyz
bremner@bookwyrm.social is also me. Trying a smaller instance to see if the delays are less maddening.
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David Bremner commented on A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; …
Available for "free" (in exchange for submitting an email address) download for the next few days from ebookclub.tor.com/
EDIT: after posting I realized it is restricted to US / Canada. Welp, I guess I might not have posted if I saw that the first time.
David Bremner reviewed The Actual Star by Monica Byrne
The Actual Star takes readers on a journey over two millennia and six continents —telling …
thought provoking, definitely worth reading, ending a bit too tidy.
4 stars
Content warning meta discussion of ending
This is an ambitious, genre bending book. It combines elements of magical realism with post apocalyptic science fiction. Probably the most important social contribution is implicit; it imagines a world after climate change, and makes that seem very real and very immediate. It is also full of interesting ideas about utopia and the nature of religion, and includes some thoughtful critiques of some of those ideas. For me the ending was too neat, and if I'm honest, a bit too mystical. That's a matter of taste of course, but I felt like it lost the important tension between the emotional and the intellectual that was the backbone of the rest of the book,
David Bremner reviewed The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
A standalone novel in the fantastic world of Katherine Addison's award-winning The Goblin Emperor.
When …
intricate, quiet, operatic
4 stars
Addison's writing feels like a fine mechanical watch, intricate and whirring. The main character has a somehow calm and quiet approach to being a detective, but the book still has its operatic moments, both literal (I want to see the opera about the manufactory workers), and metaphorical.
David Bremner reviewed A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias
On the planet Ilmatar, under a roof of ice a kilometer thick, a team of …
decent technological extrapolation, adventure story
4 stars
I found the characters and ethical dimensions of the story not too deep (pun not intended, but I'm keeping it), but it does do a nice job of imagining what a civilization that evolved deep underwater might be like.
David Bremner reviewed The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker
Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, able to hear the thoughts and …
sometimes stately paced, but worth it
4 stars
Less tidbits of New York Jewish and New York Syrian culture than the previous, but more character development. Certainly Sophia is a more interesting person in this episode. The door is left open for a sequel, but the main conflicts are more or less resolved.
David Bremner reviewed The Charisma Machine by Morgan G. Ames
A fascinating examination of technological utopianism and its complicated consequences.
In The Charisma Machine, Morgan …
Must read for CS people
4 stars
Two prominent subcultures within computer science academe and practice are "Free and Open Source Software" and "Startup Culture". This book made me think (uncomfortably) about the connections and commonalities of the two. Some of the most cringe-worthy moments from tech people come from someone thinking that a certain amount of skill at e.g. computer programming makes them an expert in a completely unrelated topic. This is a kind of anti-intellectualism; maybe it is sometimes needed, but it seems more often harmful than helpful.
David Bremner reviewed Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Reaper Man is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1991, it …
I don't think pterry was knighted for this one
3 stars
I don't know if it says more about me or the book, but I found myself skim reading parts of this.
I thought I would go back and re-read the discworld Death books, but now I'm not so sure. Death has some snappy one liners, but there is not enough there to really engage with the character.
The other part of the book is the wizards, and although I have fond memories of the parody-of-academe in the Unseen University, it didn't quite do it for me either in this book.
David Bremner reviewed Ninja Betrayed by Tori Eldridge
Lily’s mother has been summoned by her grandfather, Gung-Gung, to attend an emergency board meeting, …
A fun variation on the crime thriller
4 stars
I suspect this book won't change anyone's life, but it may distract you for a few hours. The plucky heroine is a "modern Ninja", which seems to be a hypothetical martial-arts discipline with strong aspects of mindfulness and meditation. Her family is a rich Hong Kong business family while she is born and raised in the USA. The writing about Hong Kong culture and politics feels fairly authentic to me, but I'm an outsider. There is some romance, and the heroine deals with some issues of intimacy and trust. I liked the fact that Lily is a skilled fighter, but also realistic about her chances when outnumbered by larger attackers. Probably the most intellectually interesting part for me was when Lilly talks about the ethics of extracting information from someone who is clearly romantically interested in her.
An unholy attack upon his brother-in-law General Arisaydia pitches sorcerer Learned Penric and his Temple …
world building and characters more than suspense
4 stars
The world of the Five Gods, with it's interplay of magic an religion and "alternate Mediterranean" feel is an interesting one. One advantage of the novel format is that the author has the space to develop several interesting characters. On the other hand the protagonist is almost too powerful and lucky (luck here has a religious aspect). The outcome was never very much in doubt.
There have been several intervening novellas that I haven't read yet, but there was only one reference that I didn't get.
David Bremner reviewed The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
well written, entertaining, educational
5 stars
This is at least 3 books. It is a rousing adventure story with well developed characters, it is a polemic about the evils of slavery, and it is a fantasy novel. Coates is a skilled writer and I spent the first third of the book admiring his use of language. At some point I became immersed in it, and stopped remarking on the cleverness. I was listening to the audiobook, and there are definitely places where call-response spoken word and snatches of song enriched that immersion. The fantasy element is relatively small, if important as a plot device / metaphor. Probably nobody reading this needs to be convinced of the general notion that slavery was (and is) evil, but at least for me, reading this helped me internalize some of the specifics. The hero is "owned" by his white father, the same father who sold his mother into even more …
This is at least 3 books. It is a rousing adventure story with well developed characters, it is a polemic about the evils of slavery, and it is a fantasy novel. Coates is a skilled writer and I spent the first third of the book admiring his use of language. At some point I became immersed in it, and stopped remarking on the cleverness. I was listening to the audiobook, and there are definitely places where call-response spoken word and snatches of song enriched that immersion. The fantasy element is relatively small, if important as a plot device / metaphor. Probably nobody reading this needs to be convinced of the general notion that slavery was (and is) evil, but at least for me, reading this helped me internalize some of the specifics. The hero is "owned" by his white father, the same father who sold his mother into even more brutal conditions further south. This shocking family situation is actually rather commonplace for the people in the book. I doubt that inhumanity is invented.
David Bremner reviewed La Belle Savage by Philip Pullman
Malcolm Polstead is the kind of boy who notices everything but is not much noticed …
Begin as you mean to go on
4 stars
A solid beginning to a prequel series. It kept my interest the whole way, even though ultimately I knew what the outcome had to be, since it's a prequel.
The central characters were believable to me as children and teens. Of course that was some time ago for me, so make of that what you will. There were some YA / coming-of-age topics, but I would not say they were central to the story. There is some violence, but it is not too gory / repetitive. I respected the way the author conveys the effects of violence on the characters, both as doers and receivers.
Some of the "side-quests" in the last third of the book could be taken either as homage to traditional fairy stories, or as cliché, depending on how cranky the reader is feeling.
My overall impression was that although the Christian(?) Church was the overarching villain, …
A solid beginning to a prequel series. It kept my interest the whole way, even though ultimately I knew what the outcome had to be, since it's a prequel.
The central characters were believable to me as children and teens. Of course that was some time ago for me, so make of that what you will. There were some YA / coming-of-age topics, but I would not say they were central to the story. There is some violence, but it is not too gory / repetitive. I respected the way the author conveys the effects of violence on the characters, both as doers and receivers.
Some of the "side-quests" in the last third of the book could be taken either as homage to traditional fairy stories, or as cliché, depending on how cranky the reader is feeling.
My overall impression was that although the Christian(?) Church was the overarching villain, this did not feel as much like a secularist screed as "His Dark Materials". There was some pointed material about the mechanics of (creeping?) totalitarian rule that I thought made a broader political point.
David Bremner reviewed Feedback by Mira Grant
"FEEDBACK is a full-length Newsflesh novel which overlaps the events of Feed and covers the …
Did you like the others in the series? Then you will probably like this one.
4 stars
The main characters are if anything more relatable than the Masons. I always found the semi-incest thing a bit creepy in the other books.
There is are central (positive) non-binary and lesbian characters, for people looking for that kind of thing.
McGuire (writing as Grant) revisits some of the issues about freedom, safety, and privacy that she has touched on in previous books in the series. I think these are interesting topics, and she does a good job of talking about them, but there is probably nothing really new to think about here if you're read several other of the series.
There is a rousing story, and a pleasant sort of escapism for those of us that will probably never actually save our friends by clever application of violence.
I think this would be readable without reading the Mason's volumes first, but I didn't read it that way.
The audiobook …
The main characters are if anything more relatable than the Masons. I always found the semi-incest thing a bit creepy in the other books.
There is are central (positive) non-binary and lesbian characters, for people looking for that kind of thing.
McGuire (writing as Grant) revisits some of the issues about freedom, safety, and privacy that she has touched on in previous books in the series. I think these are interesting topics, and she does a good job of talking about them, but there is probably nothing really new to think about here if you're read several other of the series.
There is a rousing story, and a pleasant sort of escapism for those of us that will probably never actually save our friends by clever application of violence.
I think this would be readable without reading the Mason's volumes first, but I didn't read it that way.
The audiobook narrator has lovely Irish accent, and who isn't a sucker for that (possibly Irish people?).
David Bremner reviewed The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house …
Short and mostly sweet
4 stars
I guess it is long for a novella, but short for a novel. That means there is not a lot of room to build up characters. The protagonist is a bookish but uncomplicated boy but e.g. the parents are mostly ciphers.
It's an engaging story, I finished it in a few sessions, something I don't do very often these days. It feel very English, and very Rural, which isn't what I remember of Gaiman. It doesn't really break any new ground, but it well crafted, and the setting is more completely related than the characters.
It does have some scenes that would probably give sensitive souls (and children) nightmares.
David Bremner reviewed Non-Player Character by Veo Corva
32-year old Tar feels like a Non-Player Character in their own life. They’ve been utterly …
a triumph of empathy
5 stars
At some level this is a standard sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel (mostly sorcery). The device of role-players cast into the game "for reals" has surely been done before. The interesting part is the characters, and how the plot progresses.
The hero (gender neutral) is extremely anxious, and the book presents their struggles in a way that is both relatable and interesting. The reader (at least this reader) sees themselves in these struggles even if they don't normally identify as neurodivergent.
Don't hate me for not giving it five stars, a few of the romantic(?) scenes didn't quite work for me. Maybe that says more about me though.