Tag Archives: Goodreads

Day Zero

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Day Zero by C. Robert Cargill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It almost took me zero days to read this one!

The writing here grabbed me right from the start. This was an engaging, thoughtful story with very believable characters. Things happened in the greater world, but the story stayed tight on Ezra and his Nany-bot. Seeing big events through the small window of people not associated with them was excellent. It gave time for reflection and a lot of philosophical thought.

I did like the action. It was slow and purposeful, at least at first. Toward the end, things felt a little rushed. There were some fantastic images in there and I kind of hope this gets turned into a movie. I’d love to see the teddy bear nany-bot with a minigun on top of a bus.

This is absolutely worth the read AND I’d absolutely recommend reading the dedication and acknowledgements. Well done all around. Go grab this one.



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Wherein there are complaints

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The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Wherein the reader complains about the writing style and stilted phrasing of the story.

I’m grudgingly giving this book three stars, but it was closer to two for me. Perhaps two and a half. The writing style was very difficult to just sit with, the flow wasn’t great. The main character was a challenge to relate to. I will say she was portrayed well for what she was meant to be, but not really something that works well for me.

There was some interesting world building. The mystery was… there, though I think I figured most of it out early on. Then, about 2/3 of the way through the whole thing just kind of bogged down for me.

This style clearly has an audience. I did read it all the way through, so there’s that. I don’t suspect I’ll be going back for more.



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Black Company

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The Black Company by Glen Cook

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have an old copy of this paperback. I got it when I was younger and tried to read it. I couldn’t get into it. I tried again later when I heard a famous author sing the praises of the story. I couldn’t get into it then.

This month it was the selected book for Watch The Skies. I tried again, and apparently the third time is the charm. I managed to get through the whole thing.

I understand now why there was praise for this book. I get it from the intellectual point of view, but it was not the page turning masterpiece that some others had claimed. It’s decidedly old school sword and sorcery fantasy. There is casual misogyny in there. Rape, murder and abuse are in there too. It is decidedly of it’s time. Also – the part that likely drew the praise – it is unlike other ‘heroic’ fantasy of its contemporaries because the main character(s) fights for the villain. Croaker is an unreliable narrator and not a hero in any real sense. The Black Company earns the name – black hearts all.

There is an really good quote from this work, “Evil is relative… You can’t hang a sign on it. You can’t touch it or taste it or cut it with a sword. Evil depends on where you are standing, pointing your indicting finger.”

There are tidbits like that throughout the book. The story is solid. The characters are believable, if not likable and the book has a reasonable conclusion. In all, if you want to dig into sword and sorcery from back in the day, this book is for you.



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Defiance

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The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I recommend you go get this book if you’re a fan of modern fantasy. It’s not ‘urban fantasy’ in the way of the wave of current day, hidden magic stories but it is evocative of that same aesthetic from the early 1900s. There are bits of historic religious practices (I think that’s how VooDoo is categorized) combined with the reality of life for the characters at that time in the world.

The area and the characters are so real. There was romance and drama. Concern for the ripples a ‘heroic action’ would send out into the world. It had action as well, with spells and thugs and stakeouts leading to police raids and chases.

I went through this book in a rush and was completely satisfied when I finished it. Go and read this author’s work!





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Nameless

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The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is a Watch The Skies choice. I suspect I would have missed it if not for the book club selecting it. I look forward to the discussion on it… because it isn’t something I would have picked.

This story does fall into the new ‘cozy’ category. It’s not a high stakes, save the world type story. It takes place entirely inside the restaurant and the adjoining kitchen. There may be repercussions outside the entry doors, but we don’t see that. We see almost nothing in terms of action actually.

I think this is an odd cross between a character study and a food network show pitch.

It’s clear and well written. It has interesting characters. It clearly loves food and cooking. There are hints at powers and politics, but all of that is wiped away by dessert. I will say I like it, but I don’t know that I’ll be reading more. It’s good, I’m just not sure it’s for me.



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Knitting Needles and Handkerchiefs

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The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by E.M. Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A chosen one fantasy you say? Been there, seen that… except I haven’t seen this before.

A chosen one who’s NOT a child. Somebody with life experience and real world concerns. Somebody who can’t necessarily solve every problem with athletic skill. What a wonderful change.

While I’m not in the same age category as Edna, it was refreshing to see how life can and does change a person and how they interact with others. Edna and her companions were real and believable. The mish-mash of desires and emotions and actions based on that made for a believable group of people.

There was still action. There were swords and spells and dragons. There were real consequences to actions and choices made. This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. If you’re looking for some good modern fantasy I would recommend this one, knitting needles and all.



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Drunk

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That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book came up on a ‘cozy fantasy’ list as a recommendation. I don’t remember where that list was, but they were incorrect.

This is not cozy, this is explicit. That’s fine, if that’s what you’re expecting.

This is NOT low stakes, except if you simply ignore everything outside of the relationship between the two main characters. The world building is really interesting. There’s a great set up for a land where the people are deceived and how culture builds around certain aspects of life. Everything from names people are given to how they conduct their day to day lives. It’s got good concepts!

Then it rips them apart, and tosses all that aside for a sex on the beach scene.

Again, this is great if that’s what you’re looking for. Don’t think about the world, focus on the sex. Cool. IF that’s what you’re looking for, this is the book for you. It was not what I was expecting, so it suffered because of that.



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Painful Indeed

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Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Vacationland is, by any metric you’d care to chose, the whitest book I have ever read. It oozes privilege. It was gifted to me at some point in the relatively recent past. My friend believed because I was from New England originally, and had briefly both lived and vacationed in Maine that I would appreciate the stories told within the pages.

I can say now that I’m unsure what my friend’s true intentions were. Did they really think I would enjoy it or were they trying to send me a cryptic message about my own behaviors? Was there ulterior motive? Perhaps not.

I recognized and related to a couple of stories here, or parts of them. I had successfully repressed the memories of going to the dump, but now they’ve returned. There was a significant portion of this work that simply made me cringe. Perhaps that was the authors plan all along? Having read all the essays in this book it wouldn’t shock me. I could imagine a meeting with an editor where plans were made to really put one over on everyone by publishing this. We will laugh maniacally whenever a royalty check is sent.

I have read this book. That is now a thing I can say and not be lying at all.



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Annihilated

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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Two stars has the little pop-up ‘it was ok’ and I think that’s fair.


I would place this work squarely into the existential horror category. It’s shades of Lovecraft through and through. IF you’re a fan of that, this book is likely right up your alley. I can’t really call myself a fan of this kind of thing, but I’m not NOT a fan. This is a compelling book, but I just don’t get as worked up about the existential stuff as a lot of fans apparently do. Some things happened, sort of, I think… but I’m not sure. Maybe that’s the point? What did happen? Did it really happen? Wouldn’t a walk on the beach be a good thing to do?

I read and finished this one, but I wasn’t excited about it. I was often just waiting for something to happen. I’m still kind of waiting for something to happen.

This book also (apparently) had a film made of it. I looked at the old trailer and I believe I watched the film. I’m uncertain as not much of it is a clear memory. I didn’t connect the thing I watched to this book at all and had to have it pointed out to me.

I think those two things, no clear memory and waiting for action, amount to a solid summary of my thoughts here.



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Check out the trailer for the Netflix movie too:
https://youtu.be/0m3cPEbwwhg?si=5nFbXdNhcNzOYM37

Six of something

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The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I struggled with this book right from the start. It begins with the “I hate you. I love you.” relationship mix. That has to be my least favorite – ever.

I pushed past that because I was hoping to get into the mystery of this order the six get selected to try out for. I was hoping for something about the magic system or the books they use to overcome something thought to be lost to time.

I hoped.

I got a fat pile of angst and a magicians style big brother house. Maybe that’s too harsh. I did not like it, and the longer that simmered, the more reactive I got to it. I’ve tried to temper my reaction by giving this review some time, but it hasn’t helped. It didn’t work for me and I won’t be picking anything else up from this author.



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