Aneel reviewed A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a …
Review of 'A Dirty Job' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
Not very good.
Reviews and Comments
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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Aneel reviewed The house on Dream Street by Dana Sachs
Review of 'The house on Dream Street' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Dana Sachs is a San Franciscan who fell in love with Vietnam while on a trip through Asia and returned to live in Hanoi. She writes in great detail about adapting to a remarkably different culture. It makes Vietnam sound like a very daunting place to visit, but also a very rewarding one.
Aneel reviewed The Wilding by C.S. Friedman
Review of 'The Wilding' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Sequel to In Conquest Born. A solid adventure, but not as focused as the first one. Much of the action takes place outside of the Holding and the Star Empire, and it seems like the other settings are less well-developed.
Aneel reviewed Wishbringer (Infocom, No 2) by Craig Shaw Gardner
Review of 'Wishbringer (Infocom, No 2)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
(Re-read). I lost my old copy of this somewhere along the line and bought a used one to fill out the gap in my Infocom books collection. It's really light reading and has less of the grue than I remembered.
(Re-read). I lost my old copy of this somewhere along the line and bought a used one to fill out the gap in my Infocom books collection. It's really light reading and has less of the grue than I remembered.
Aneel reviewed In conquest born by C. S. Friedman (DAW book collectors ;)
In Conquest Born is the monumental science fiction epic that received unprecedented acclaim—and launched C.S. …
Review of 'In conquest born' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
(Reread.) My mom had the new sequel to this lying around, so I stole both and reread this one first. It's a really good space opera. Lots of strong personalities. Bitter feuds. Solar-system-spanning action.
(Reread.) My mom had the new sequel to this lying around, so I stole both and reread this one first. It's a really good space opera. Lots of strong personalities. Bitter feuds. Solar-system-spanning action.
Aneel reviewed A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
It begins simply enough: A twenty-something advertising executive receives a postcard from a friend, and …
Review of 'A Wild Sheep Chase' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Started well, but the dreamy quality didn't hold through to the end. I felt like it became too grounded. Oddly, I seem to enjoy Murakami more when I don't really know what's going on.
Started well, but the dreamy quality didn't hold through to the end. I felt like it became too grounded. Oddly, I seem to enjoy Murakami more when I don't really know what's going on.
Aneel reviewed On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
Review of 'On Stranger Tides' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Fun swashbuckling adventure set at the close of the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. Plenty of swordfighting, ship-to-ship combat, magic, and intrigue. A neat, coherent theory about magic.
Aneel reviewed Post Captain (Aubrey Maturin Series) by Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey-Maturin (2))
Review of 'Post Captain (Aubrey Maturin Series)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Second of the Master and Commander series. I liked this one less, since a lot of it is romancing and the main characters being stupid. Still some good bits of adventure, though.
Aneel reviewed Master and commander by Patrick O'Brian
Master and Commander is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, …
Review of 'Master and commander' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A fun adventure story, larded with lots of nautical jargon. I was amused that the frontispiece was a diagram of the dizzying array of sails on a ship like the one described, yet the crew is constantly raising sails that aren't mentioned.
A fun adventure story, larded with lots of nautical jargon. I was amused that the frontispiece was a diagram of the dizzying array of sails on a ship like the one described, yet the crew is constantly raising sails that aren't mentioned.
Aneel reviewed Freakonomics by Steven Levitt
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo …
Review of 'Freakonomics' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Lots of interesting snippets of statistical research, but short on the actual statistics. It describes the conclusions, but doesn't go into a lot of depth or provide much data supporting them. The air of argument by assertion is strengthened by the chapter headings praising Levitt. It gives the feeling that the argument doesn't stand on its own, so we need to be told how smart Levitt is by experts.
Lots of interesting snippets of statistical research, but short on the actual statistics. It describes the conclusions, but doesn't go into a lot of depth or provide much data supporting them. The air of argument by assertion is strengthened by the chapter headings praising Levitt. It gives the feeling that the argument doesn't stand on its own, so we need to be told how smart Levitt is by experts.
Aneel reviewed Strange Itineraries by Tim Powers
Review of 'Strange Itineraries' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Tried to buy On Stranger Tides by the same author, but neither library nor bookstore had it available. Picked up this short story collection instead. Mostly horror/dark fantasy. Pretty good.
Aneel reviewed The gate of gods by Martha Wells (The Fall of Ile-Rien -- bk. 3)
Known for her lush, intricate worlds and complex characters, acclaimed author Martha Wells has delighted …
Review of 'The gate of gods' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I wasn't expecting The Fall of Ile-Rien to be a trilogy. I had anticipated at least a couple more books, so when things looked like they might resolve when I was two-thirds of the way through this, I braced myself for a really annoying cliffhanger. But no. It all resolved. A good adventure book. I need to go back and re-read Death of the Necromancer, though. I feel like the atmosphere of that book was a little lost in all of the world-hopping that was going on in this series.
I wasn't expecting The Fall of Ile-Rien to be a trilogy. I had anticipated at least a couple more books, so when things looked like they might resolve when I was two-thirds of the way through this, I braced myself for a really annoying cliffhanger. But no. It all resolved. A good adventure book. I need to go back and re-read Death of the Necromancer, though. I feel like the atmosphere of that book was a little lost in all of the world-hopping that was going on in this series.
Aneel reviewed The art of travel by Alain de Botton
Review of 'The art of travel' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Essays on travel. Seemed appropriate reading for traveling. The author is actually unexpectedly supportive of not traveling. Some insights, but not great overall.
Aneel reviewed The Pirates! by Gideon Defoe
Review of 'The Pirates!' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Amusing.
Aneel reviewed Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), published in 1889, is …
Review of 'Three Men in a Boat' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I've been meaning to read this since seeing it mentioned as an inspiration in To Say Nothing of the Dog. Happened to run across a Wikipedia entry that mentioned it and grabbed it from the library. It's amusing. Full of clever anecdotes and observations.
I've been meaning to read this since seeing it mentioned as an inspiration in To Say Nothing of the Dog. Happened to run across a Wikipedia entry that mentioned it and grabbed it from the library. It's amusing. Full of clever anecdotes and observations.