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13% complete! Dr Ms Kat has read 7 of 52 books.
The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out …
Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard presents yet another innovative space opera that broadens the definition …
I struggled to connect with this story. Disappointing, because I normally really like the author's writing.
I struggled to connect with this story. Disappointing, because I normally really like the author's writing.
Award-winning author Aliette de Bodard presents yet another innovative space opera that broadens the definition of the this time bringing …
A world-weary woman races against the clock to save two children from an enchanting but …
This book gave me anxiety the whole time I was reading it. The opposite of a cosy read.
A world-weary woman races against the clock to save two children from an enchanting but deadly forest in this dark …
The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to an aging lord …
A book where you read the acknowledgements at the end and go "Ohhhhh".
A book where you read the acknowledgements at the end and go "Ohhhhh".
The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to an aging lord at a crumbling estate situated …
To fix the world they must first break it, further. Humanity is a dying breed, …
Content warning Spoilers
Ok this one was better than Alien Clay. But Tchaikovsky does seem to have a third-act-goes-off-the-rails problem. Surely it can't be that hard to set up the big payoffs and conclusions a bit earlier, rather than suddenly coming in with King Robot and Robot God in the last 3rd. Literally a deus ex machina.
To fix the world they must first break it, further. Humanity is a dying breed, …
Dear lord, I hope this is better than the other Adrian Tchaikovsky book I read.
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a …
This was ok. It's essentially a murder mystery, set in a fantasy (not high fantasy) world. I was faintly irritated by the character who solves the mystery, suddenly describing sequences of events in an unearned way, but maybe that's just a common trope of the murder mystery genre.
This was ok. It's essentially a murder mystery, set in a fantasy (not high fantasy) world. I was faintly irritated by the character who solves the mystery, suddenly describing sequences of events in an unearned way, but maybe that's just a common trope of the murder mystery genre.
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a …
I'm definitely trying to avoid that second Adrian Tchaikovsky book now
I'm definitely trying to avoid that second Adrian Tchaikovsky book now
Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors …
Ah, this was a lovely palate cleanser after the last awful book.
Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets …
Professor Arton Daghdev has always wanted to study alien life in person. But when his …
Content warning Spoilers but I don't recommend you read it anyway
This book could have had some good ideas and turned them into something interesting to read. Instead it mashed together a bunch of concepts, not fully fleshed out, and produced some drivel. It's full of tortured metaphors (even in the title Alien "Clay", except there's nothing special about the soil or earth of this planet - it's the ecology and the lifeforms which are talked about). The first third of the book is brutality (it's a convict prison planet), the second third is horror (OMG the weird way that life happens on this planet - genuinely a bit squickful), and then the last third is a hurried, unearned conclusion where humans start to coexist with the life on the planet. It's written in an engaging manner so I can imagine people would be drawn in by it, but the more I read, the more I grew to hate it. I don't know how this got nominated for a Hugo and I'm annoyed that this author has two nominations and I have to read another book by him. Don't read this book.
