Reviews and Comments

Ben Harris-Roxas

ben_hr@outside.ofa.dog

Joined 2 years, 5 months ago

Researcher and educator from Sydney, Australia. You’ll usually find me on the forgotten parts of the web.

My ratings ★ Not recommended ★★ Not for me, but may be okay for you? ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good, recommended ★★★★★ Exceptional, couldn't put it down

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Frank Herbert: Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #3) (Paperback, 2019, Ace)

The science fiction masterpiece continues in the "major event,"( Los Angeles Times) Children of Dune. …

Book 3, here we go. I remember some of this from reading it 30 years ago, let's see if it's as weird as I recall.

reviewed Inhibitor Phase by Alastair Reynolds (The Inhibitor Sequence, #4)

Alastair Reynolds: Inhibitor Phase (2021, Orion Publishing Group, Limited)

Probably didn't need to exist

I was quite intrigued to revisit the Revelation Space universe. This rambling, largely pointless story felt tired. The characterisation was thin throughout. The ending was disappointing for its lack of resolution. A real shame.

Peter Watts: Echopraxia (Hardcover, 2014, Tor Books)

A follow-up to the Hugo Award-nominated Blindsight, Echopraxia is set in a 22nd-century world transformed …

If you like ideas more than… writing… this may be for you!

I continued on to this after reading Blindsight, because even though I didn't love it I had some enduring questions. An error on my part. There were more deliberate ambiguities than plot points in this book.

I won't provide a plot précis. This has some compelling concepts and big ideas, but was frankly a mess. Characters' motivations remain inexplicable even at the end of the book.

Amusingly this AMA with the author seems to boil down to "you're reading it wrong". Authors, please get over yourselves.

Nora Guthrie, Robert Santelli: Woody Guthrie (2021, Chronicle Books LLC)

A beautiful account of a creative life

This deepened my appreciation of Woody and my understanding of his life and work. The inclusion of handwritten work, photos and ephemera was beautiful and makes the reader feel connected to him as a person in a way that sterile words on a page can't.

Peter Watts: Blindsight (Firefall, #1) (2006)

Blindsight is a hard science fiction novel by Canadian writer Peter Watts, published by Tor …

Big ideas but strangely hollow

The ideas are compelling, and the inclusion of recreated vampires is a weird but interesting diversion. There's no emotional core though. In some ways that's by design - the primary narrative POV is of someone who's had significant, personality-destroying psychosurgery. I found myself asking why should I care about any of this throughout.

Nora Guthrie, Robert Santelli: Woody Guthrie (2021, Chronicle Books LLC)

This is such a beautiful book, full of photos, handwritten notes, and ephemera from Woody's life that had been lovingly compiled by his daughter and Robert Santelli. It makes me sad that few of us will leave behind any remnants of our daily lives and work in this era. Fuck modernity, embrace tradition.

Antony Loewenstein: Palestine Laboratory (2023, Verso Books)

Timely and important

An important and timely book that shows the extent of the Israeli security state's international reach and influence. A downside is that the chapters don't really cohere and the style is more like a collection of long-form articles.