Reviews and Comments

Aneel

aneel@outside.ofa.dog

Joined 2 years, 10 months ago

He/Him. In the USA... for now. Mastodon

I only track books that I read for pleasure, mostly SF/Fantasy. I've fallen out of the habit of actually writing reviews beyond giving a star rating. It would be nice to get back into that habit.

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Scott Lynch: The Republic of Thieves (2013)

The Republic of Thieves is a fantasy novel by American writer Scott Lynch, the third …

Review of 'The Republic of Thieves' on 'Goodreads'

This world seems, sadly, headed for an Overplot. It's a great setting. Why does there need to be a world-changing cataclysm?

reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (Paperback, 2013, Orbit Books)

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

Review of 'Ancillary Justice' on 'Goodreads'

Interesting premise. Unusual worlds. It's in character for the narrator, but I felt the language was too abstracted to really engage me.

Jack London: The Sea Wolf (Paperback, 2005, Alan Rodgers Books)

Jack London's novel The Sea Wolf became an instant bestseller on its release in 1904. …

Review of 'The Sea Wolf' on 'Goodreads'

This was not the nautical adventure I was expecting. Much more philosophy than sailing. It pits a tyrannical sea captain with materialist views against an idealist scholar, convinced of man's finer nature.

Review of 'Perfect Specimen' on 'Goodreads'

The best SF takes a supposition about the world ("What would happen if...?") and follows it to interesting conclusions. McDonell's setting holds together well, with a lot of details that seem like "obvious" extrapolations of present trends into the future, but she throws in some "aha!" moments as well. Just when you think you know who a character is, you discover they're not what you think... but when you consider it, who they really are follows perfectly from the setup. The pleasure of seeing interesting ideas fit together well combines with well-paced drama and relatable characters to make this a fun read.