Technical nonfiction and spec fiction. She/her. Melbourne, Australia. Generation X. Admin of Outside of a Dog. BDFL of Hometown (Mastodon) instance Old Mermaid Town (@futzle@old.mermaid.town). Avatar image is of a book that my dog tried to put on their inside.
My rating scale: ★ = I didn't care for it and probably didn't finish it; ★★ = It didn't inspire but I might have finished it anyway; ★★★ = It was fine; ★★★★ = I enjoyed it; ★★★★★ = I couldn't put it down.
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What is the true origin of the phrase 'one fell swoop'? Does the word 'honeymoon' …
This is the kind of book that needs to be dipped into for short reads. To consume the thing top-to-tail is a pretty big undertaking.
Recommended by Zatty after we were talking about Watership Down.
What is the true origin of the phrase 'one fell swoop'? Does the word 'honeymoon' …
It's weird that the title of this book is exactly one of the folk etymologies that the author is keen to dispel. I guess it's what sells.
It's weird that the title of this book is exactly one of the folk etymologies that the author is keen to dispel. I guess it's what sells.
What is the true origin of the phrase 'one fell swoop'? Does the word 'honeymoon' …
From the tsundoku pile.
Back cover description - Raoul Smythe wanted nothing more than to be left alone with …
I shouldn’t expect too much from a first-time author under the Del Rey label, but Shade & Shadow feels like two stories—one about magic research, one about the murder—smushed together. The former wasn’t really hashed out properly, and the latter was acceptable but with some poorly chosen red herrings.
Picked five stories in this collection, published in the 1970s and 1980s. Bounced off two of them. Annoyed at Bear’s depiction of women in two more of them—one featured negative portrayals of sex work and one simply had no women in it. I can get better stories than these.
A collection of short stories by Bear from the 1980s. I’ve been bouncing off 1980s sf lately because of its pervasive cishet maleness, so let’s see how far I get.
Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris …
Content warning Murderbot 3 "Rogue Protocol" spoilers
Ok, I think I'm going to take a short breather before I tackle the next in this series. The stories are starting to feel a bit samey and Murderbot's prejudices about humans and other bots are grating a bit.
It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen …
It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past …
Content warning Spoilers, Murderbot 2: Artificial Condition
This one was OK. The plot felt less well-formed than All Systems Red. Murderbot’s relationship with ART jumped implausibly from ART being controlling to cooperating. Solving the Tlacey problem with violence felt like a cop-out.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring …
Content warning Plot spoilers
One of the things I like about recent sf is that it doesn’t feel the need to adhere to the old tropes. The protagonist’s secret comes out, and unlike in old sf where there would have been hand-wringing and ostracism, the allies accept the new information, accept the protagonist, and the story moves on. Old sf would definitely have killed off one of the protagonist’s group for shock value, but that isn’t a given nowadays. Old sf likes to explore the axis of the powerful against the underdog, but now the force driving the story is bureaucracy, opportunism, and selfishness. I like this first Murderbot story because it (the story, but also Murderbot) is relatable.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring …
Yeah, that was enjoyable, I’ll be back.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring …
Having an epiphany: I suspect this book deeply resonates with a lot of people I follow on the Fediverse, because I can see a lot of you in Murderbot in how you react to social situations.
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring …
Taking a break from the pile of blokey sf dead-tree book pile to try out this acclaimed series.
