Cascade Failure is an action-packed scifi novel about a ragtag spaceship crew of misfits that gets involved in Significant Events. It's snappy and engaging, but it's not heavy on horizon-expanding content - it feels a bit like a space-opera version of a Tales of the Ketty Jay novel
Reviews and Comments
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Non-bookposting: @Tak@glitch.taks.garden
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Tak! reviewed Cascade Failure by L. M. Sagas
There are only three real powers in the Spiral: the corporate power of the Trust …
Cascade Failure
4 stars
Tak! commented on Counterweight by Anton Hur
The #SFFBookClub selection for September 2024
Tak! reviewed The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
When a mudslide strands a train, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, must contend …
The Sleeping Car Porter
4 stars
The Sleeping Car Porter is kind of an ensemble farce with subtle paranormal elements, experienced through a porter for a sleeping car on a transcontinental voyage across Canada.
The porter is a gay (or bi?) black man in Canada in the 1920s, and there's a strong focus on the various aggressions and disadvantages he's exposed to in light of that.
Weird and enjoyable.
Tak! commented on Rust Atomics and Locks by Mara Bos
The Rust programming language is extremely well suited for concurrency, and its ecosystem has many …
Mara@hachyderm.io - Reminder that my book—Rust Atomics and Locks—is freely available online: marabos.nl/atomics/ 😊
(If you read it, please leave a review on www.goodreads.com/book/show/63291820-rust-atomics-and-locks)
Tak! commented on The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. …
The #SFFBookClub pick for August 2024
Tak! commented on Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated …
If you loved Service Model, or wanted to love it but wished it was more "serious", I can also recommend The Mechanical
Tak! reviewed Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated …
Service Model
5 stars
This is one of the ones you can tell he had fun writing.
The tone is all across the spectrum, from farcical to bleak to heartwarming, and the writing is characteristically delightful, with lots of flippant throwaway lines.
I love that @janellecshane@wandering.shop got a well-deserved mention in the acknowledgements.
Tak! commented on Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated …
I have encountered the word "yeeted" in a sophisticated literary novel, and now I can die happy
Tak! commented on The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. …
THE SAINT OF BRIGHT DOORS has been out in the world just over a year. As of today, it's collected NINE award nominations (today's news: the Dragon Award shortlist is out) The Ignytes and Dragons are now open for public voting! See the post for how to vote. vajra.me/2024/08/05/ten-toes-in/
Tak! reviewed Exordia by Seth Dickinson
Anna Sinjari―refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker―has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. …
Exordia
5 stars
Exordia is a wild, weird scifi novel with snappy writing and a surprising level of commentary on genocide, imperialism, and american exceptionalism.
cw: so much violence
Tak! commented on Exordia by Seth Dickinson
Anna Sinjari―refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker―has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. …
I'm not sure how many more Anna puns I can withstand
Tak! reviewed Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
"A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small …
Moon of the Crusted Snow
4 stars
Content warning plot discussion
This reads like a parable of the european takeover of the americas, except that the natives realized their mistake (just) in time this time around.
There wasn't much scifi or fantasy, except for the implied apocalypse that happened out of frame.
I was constantly frustrated with the characters for not being more proactive about stuff like: checking what happened with the power, being suspicious of Scott, following up on Scott after multiple red flags, etc. - but maybe I'm having unrealistic expectations about characters who don't know they're in a story.
I liked the strong themes of community and mutual support, even in the face of (imo realistic) uneven participation.
Overall a good read, I enjoyed it.
Tak! reviewed The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. …
The Saint of Bright Doors
3 stars
The setting is unique and interesting, and I loved the final segment, but I felt like it went off the rails at around 50% and just kind of floundered around for like … half the book.
Tak! wants to read Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Dhalgren is a 1975 science fiction novel by American writer Samuel R. Delany. It features …
Philip K. Dick once called Dhalgren “the worst trash I’ve ever read,”
This gave me an immediate and urgent desire to read Dhalgren