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a-a-milne/winnie-the-pooh reviews This book is, of course, adorable in every way. The dorky bear with his friends in various stages being excitable, exuberant, worried, forgetful, depressed, busy, or superior are delightful and a neat way to keep a child entertained. But clearly the best version of this book is the Latin version by Alexander Lenard (or at home: Lénárd Sándor), and that's the one with the four-star rating. It follows the patterns and phrases of classical Latin to very comedic effect, and is probably best given to students in or past their fifth year of Latin. It's always nice to be reminded that the nerds have always been out there. ## Fun Facts [Apparently](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/18/books/winnie-ille-pu-nearly-xxv-years-later.html), Lenard had a long-standing correspondence with Robert Graves in Latin – in character for both of them! For more of Robert Graves, see [I, Claudius](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2020/i-claudius). 2022-07-07 Winnie ille Pu #d44a19 0525467564 9780525467564   Winnie-the-Pooh 1 1926 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1330718769l/1006067.jpg 145   4  
a-j-hackwith/the-library-of-the-unwritten reviews The Library of the Unwritten clearly caters to book readers more than every book does in general: Fantasy where the hero is a supernatural librarian, on a quest to retrieve souls and books? Starring in a conflict between Hell and Heaven? Hell yeah. Despite the tempting setup, it couldn't catch my attention at all: It relies on the natural interest of readers towards libraries, then doesn't back it up. Good-enough characters, not-good-enough dialogue … there's nothing that stands out as bad, but there's nothing that stands out at all. I didn't care about the characters and stopped reading. 2020-10-30 The Library of the Unwritten #86796c 1984806386 9781984806383   Hell's Library 1 2019 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551259771l/41961994.jpg 384   2 1
a-k-larkwood/the-unspoken-name to-read Recommended by [Nerds of a Feather](http://www.nerds-feather.com/2020/01/microreview-book-unspoken-name-by-ak.html) as queer grimdark. 2020-03-26 The Unspoken Name #b49a76       The Serpent Gates 1 2020 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582270239l/52181559._SX318_SY475_.jpg        
abbey-mei-otis/sweetheart reviews A bit on the nose, but still nice: Sweatheart is a well-written very short story by *Abbey Mei Otis* that is first sweet and then chilling in the path the story takes – nothing too special either, just a perfectly fine scifi short. I'm not sure if the author intends "yay nightly deportations of aliens are fine" to be the moral, or if she wanted to show why and how people will come to believe these things are fine. Very mixed feelings – she does the latter way, but I'm worried she actually wants to sell the message that peace is more important than both love and morals. Hmmmm. 2022-07-08 Sweetheart #987e5e     https://www.tor.com/2018/08/14/read-abbey-mei-otis-sweetheart/     2010 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329281136l/13485563.jpg 5   2  
ada-palmer/seven-surrenders reviews The second volume is a bit less on the 18th century France presumptiousness spree (but adds in some more Greek history to make up for it). Very wow, including how Jehovah/JEDD and Bridger meet, Bridger's choice, the Major's identity and so many little things we learn about Mycroft (♥), the hives, and individuals. Also, Utopians forever. 2018-04-17 Seven Surrenders #31537c 0765378027 9780765378026   Terra Ignota 2 2017 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517514624l/28220647._SY475_.jpg 368   5  
ada-palmer/the-will-to-battle reviews The Will to Battle is currently the last volume of *Ada Palmer*'s brilliant **Terra Ignota** series. One volume is missing, and it's supposed to come out next year, and I bloody hope so because this one leaves me aching for more. As with the previous books, I completely get why people would not like this book, at least its style, but to me it's magical. Even three books into the series, we get an astounding amount of worldbuilding, we receive new information on the previous books (in particular their creation, it's all Very Meta), all the while the world heads straight towards the biggest and worst World War imaginable. I love these books dearly, and the world Ada Palmer shows us is filled with wonders. 2018-07-15 The Will to Battle #6e92c2 0765378043 9780765378040   Terra Ignota 3 2017 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1484321667l/33517544.jpg 368   5  
ada-palmer/too-like-the-lightning reviews For me, this was a five star books, plain and simple, but I *completely* understand why it would be a 0-, 1-, 2-star book for others. It's pretentious at times. It wants you to have classical knowledge of ancient Rome and 18th century France. It plays on that knowledge, and knowledge of literature in 18th century France explicitly. At least it explains lots of the in-jokes, so it's not terribly arrogant in choosing its readership, but the pretentiousness is there. The storytelling is great, full with an apologising, opinionated actor-narrator, with intermezzi by other characters. That said, I loved it. I loved the world, the 24th century world that consits of lots and lots of non-nation based groups (and some nation based ones), and seven major orientations everybody chooses (or becomes a blacklaw, which is fine, too): The Masons who have resurrected ancient Rome, the Humanists who have a flexible democracy, the Mitsubishi super clan who are focussed on land ownership, the Brillists who go ahead and analyse anyone and everyone, the Cousins who are something like the priests of a world that prohibits organised religion, the Europeans, based around a borderless idea of old nations, and the Utopians who are everywhere, especially in space, on the moon, and terraforming Mars. We get a complete, complex world, with penal systems, laws, cultures, capital punishments, regular people, and … special people of all kinds. Emperors, kings, convicts, gods, …Wow. And then it just ends in the middle of it all. *sigh* 2021-12-06 Too Like the Lightning #efba8c 0765378000 9780765378002   Terra Ignota 1 2016 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443106959l/26114545.jpg 432   5  
adam-b-seligman-robert-p-weller-michael-puett/ritual-and-its-consequences to-read Nonfiction. Recommendation by David and joXn. 2020-08-13 Ritual and its Consequences #a0a0a0 0195336011 9780195336016   Ritual and Its Consequences: An Essay on the Limits of Sincerity   2008 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780195336016-L.jpg 229      
adam-r-shannon/on-the-day-you-spend-forever-with-your-dog reviews It must be because I never had a dog: On the Day You Spend Forever with your Dog is a short story that tries to roll heart-breaking dog love and (emotional) time travel into one, but fell flat for me. 2022-07-08 Apex Magazine -- December 2018 #96857d     https://www.apex-magazine.com/on-the-day-you-spend-forever-with-your-dog     2018 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543705355l/43073743._SX318_.jpg 95   2  
adam-troy-castro/emissaries-from-the-dead to-read Sci-fi mystery with more sci-fi than mystery, [via](https://www.eblong.com/zarf/bookscan/review/castro_adam-troy_emissaries_from_the_dead.html) 2020-07-26 Emissaries from the Dead #42485f 0061443727 9780061443725   Andrea Cort 1 2008 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780061443725-L.jpg 400      
adrian-tchaikovsky/children-of-time reviews With *Adrian Tchaikovsky's* **Children of Time** I've finally come upon a book that most of my friends liked or loved, and that I couldn't get into, for … complex reasons. Children of Time tells two stories. On the one hand, a future where humanity is nearly extinct, due to their own … you know. Look at our planet. All of that. Bad decisions. Ego. Depleting the planet. Depleting other planets. Infighting. Lots and lots of politics. The last of humanity lives through a deep nuclear winter, then begins to reassemble the traces of the previous technological culture, and finally sets out in big ships because it becomes clear that Earth won't be habitable to humans ever again. This story arc follows the ship, and its characters. None of them are terribly likable. The protagonist is a cowardly "Classicist" who studied pre-war Earth, joined with a cynic Engineer, a megalomaniac commander, a god-playing scientist, and the head of security with ambitions of grandeur. Can you spot the characters below the stereotypes? On the other, we get a story about the last human experiement. On the planet in question, a megalomaniac scientist wanted to "uplift" monkeys, by magically (sorry, genetically) advancing evolution. Sadly the monkeys died a gruesome death, and the virus/genome/magic entered the local spiders instead, and also ants, some sea creatures, etc. We follow the rise of the spider civilisation over thousands of years, in short episodes. This part of the story was very good. They are weird, alien creatures following their own cultural logic and laws. Brilliant scifi, wonderfully written. It's hard to make this millennia spanning episodic style work, but it works very very well. So why did I not like the book in the end? It's a couple of things, really. The spider arc was good, the human arc was predictable, and flat, and … somewhat repulsive, really. Part of that is my mood at the time of reading, but I found the book horribly depressing. It shows, over and over and fucking over, the worst of humanity, with honestly … 2019-11-15 Children of Time #457e60 1447273281 9781447273288   Children of Time 1 2015 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781447273288-L.jpg 600   2  
adrian-tchaikovsky/walking-to-aldebaran reviews Walking to Aldebaran was my first book by *Adrian Tchaikovsky*, and it certainly was a good book. The story itself was a bit on the shallow side, I felt, but the writing, and the protagonist exploring weird alien catacombs, both were well done, so it was a good read. I think all things considered, the protagonist's narration voice was the best part of the book – without it, it would've been generic grim scifi, but this way it was quite a bit better than that. (A review copy was provided in exchange for an honest review by the publisher, via NetGalley.) 2019-04-08 Walking to Aldebaran #c0b692 1781087067 9781781087060       2019 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781781087060-L.jpg 140   4  
agatha-christie/4-50-from-paddington reviews There's no way I can think of this book without seeing and hearing the movie. The book veered a bit too far into the "here, have some train schedules" direction – I'm not much of a mystery reader, the details bore me and I never try to puzzle them out on my own. For good reason: Miss Marple books often work with hazy clues and psychology magic. 2004-05-01 4:50 from Paddington #ddca4a 1579126936 9781579126933   Miss Marple 7 1957 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781579126933-L.jpg 288   3  
agatha-christie/a-murder-is-announced reviews One of the generic Miss Marple mysteries, but a rather good one. I liked the premise – and there's not much more to like. It's one of those books where the author had one good idea (see title), and then follows through. Christie does that very well, and that is that. 2004-01-01 A Murder Is Announced #f2ac22 1579126294 9781579126292   Miss Marple 4 1950 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781579126292-L.jpg 288   3  
agatha-christie/curtain reviews After reading the [first Poirot](/agatha-christie/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles/) the other day, I thought I'd continue with the last one. Agatha Christie takes Poirot full circle, with the last novel playing in the same place as the first one, with plenty of reminiscing going on. This is a good showcase for the better Christie mystery, I think, where she sets up a regular whodunnit, and then presents a solution that is unconventional in at least one way. She does the same in Death on the Nile, and Orient Express, and of course in Roger Ackroyd. I found this one a little contrived, but nonetheless a nice read, and it was interesting to contrast her later writing with her earlier one. Even though I enjoyed it, I can already tell that the gimmick of Hastings as narrator is grating after two books. Apart from that, I thought she handled the transition to an aging <span class="spoilers">and ultimately dying</span> Poirot in a consistent and even somewhat fun way. As usually, there was a ton of red herrings, but since in this instance they were both meta-addressed and the point, I was okay with it, and found myself unusually interested in the final reveal. 2020-06-18 Curtain #784443 0425173747 9780425173749   Hercule Poirot 42 1975 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780425173749-L.jpg 215   3  
agatha-christie/murder-at-the-vicarage reviews This is where it begins: The tons of Miss Marple book start here, introducing the gentle but sharp old lady who can solve every crime by reducing it to some small village squabble. I generally enjoy the Miss Marple mysteries more than the Poirot ones, mostly because Hastings is so incredibly obnoxious. But both series have in common that the bulk of the mysteries are not particularly noteworthy and I often can't remember any details. 2004-07-01 Murder at the Vicarage #097e71 1579126251 9781579126254   Miss Marple 1 1930 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781579126254-L.jpg 288   3  
agatha-christie/murder-on-the-orient-express reviews The famous Orient Express! As always, Christie has a gimmick and follows it to the end, but this time she adds several good ideas on the side! I particularly liked the <span class="spoiler">Cyrillic writing on the handkerchief</span> that threw everybody off and yet was perfectly visible to the reader. 2005-08-01 Murder on the Orient Express #487f77 0425200450 9780425200452   Hercule Poirot 10 1934 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780425200452-L.jpg 322   4  
agatha-christie/nemesis reviews Generic Miss Marple mystery – can't really remember anything about it except for the beginning. The beginning was a lot of fun, but it continued as a run-of-the-mill mystery. 2005-06-01 Nemesis #556f8d 0451200187 9780451200181   Miss Marple 12 1971 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389760569l/31304.jpg 224   3  
agatha-christie/sleeping-murder reviews This was one of the few Miss Marple mysteries that I remembered for years. It didn't vanish into the blur of "eh, somebody died and Miss Marple solved it". Partially because I found it genuinely creepy, and partially because it's an unusual setup: New homeowners feel creeped out, and particularly Gwenda feels bad vibes, is scared of the dark, remembers doors where none are etc. Good setup, and a neat solution. 2005-05-01 Sleeping Murder #cbd8aa 0002317850 9780002317856   Miss Marple 13 1976 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780002317856-L.jpg 242   4  
agatha-christie/the-abc-murders reviews Another Poirot mystery. I liked how self-aware Christie is in this book – Poirot routinely mocks (gently, even!) mystery stereotypes in hilarious ways. Hastings as a narrator continues to be stupid in an intentionally pompous, upper-class way, which is tedious if you read too much of it. The case in itself is not terrible, but nothing great either. 2020-06-20 The ABC Murders #0879af 1579126243 9781579126247   Hercule Poirot 13 1936 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781579126247-L.jpg 252   2  
agatha-christie/the-body-in-the-library reviews The setup for this is so generic that even the book (and literally every other mystery author at the time) had to make jokes about it. That's … about all I remember, to be quite honest. Most Miss Marple mysteries are somewhat of a blur to me. 2005-07-01 The Body in the Library #e5e0c1 157912626X 9781579126261   Miss Marple 2 1942 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781579126261-L.jpg 191   2  
agatha-christie/the-murder-of-roger-ackroyd reviews Truly fun book with low re-read value, because you'll remember the gimmick. Christie does that a lot: she picks *one* thing, and then she runs with it until the very end. Some books are good because the thing is good (like this one), and some are disappointing because the thing is disappointing. Oh, and then there are some books that don't have a thing. 2005-02-01 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd #82ce68 1579126278 9781579126278   Hercule Poirot 4 1926 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389734015l/16328.jpg 288   4  
agatha-christie/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles reviews I'm not really one for mysteries, and I enjoyed this book more than I expected. This is the first of the Poirot books, and it is already a near-perfect example of its genre. It opens by describing, at length, the initial setting, implying heavily who will die, and shows off how everybody has means and/or motive to become a murderer, all the while being very proper and British about it. Then, the murder, then, the curious Belgian detective, then, an unbelievable amount of clues and red herrings. Final clarity to be delivered on the last pages in a dramatic manner, exit villain left, curtains. What I enjoyed a lot was how funny Christie was – she wrote this book during WW1, when she was 26, and showed an extremely good eye for people. Particularly the first-person narrator, Hastings, is an upper-class idiot with an extremely inflated sense of his importance and intelligence, which she conveys beautifully. <blockquote> ‘We must be so intelligent that he does not suspect us of being intelligent at all.’ I acquiesced. ‘There, mon ami, you will be of great assistance to me.’ I was pleased with the compliment. There had been times when I hardly thought that Poirot appreciated me at my true worth. </blockquote> Interesting how both Watson and Hastings are home, wounded from a war, and decidedly less clever followers of a brilliant detective. I find Watson the much more sympathetic of the two, both because he has some actual qualifications, and because he has to live with Holmes' sociopathic abuse. Hastings has less of an excuse for his attitude, and less of a reason to garner sympathy, so I took an enjoyment – intended and well-presented – in seeing his big head deflated a bit. He's the very image of the extremely mediocre white (tech, currently) dude, and if you imagine a very clever woman living in the 20s, writing this book, you can see how writing Hastings is an extremely enjoyable form of therapy-cum-punching-bag. I have read [some Agatha Christie](/agatha-christie/) before, and I'll try to read some more. It's … 2020-06-14 The Mysterious Affair at Styles #973c28 0646418432 9780646418438   Hercule Poirot 1 1920 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386922393l/16343.jpg 121   3  
agatha-christie/the-thirteen-problems reviews This collection of short Miss Marple stories was enjoyable. While Agatha Christie mostly follows her pattern of "the most vulnerable-looking person is most suspicious", I don't read mysteries for the plot, so I didn't care all that much. But the characterisation of poor old Miss Marple was very entertaining to read! I remember how this narration device got boring and even annoying when I read most of the Miss Marple books in one go, but over longer intervals, it works very well. After reading this book [and a Poirot one](https://books.rixx.de/reviews/2020/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles) back to back, my current preference of the [Detection Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detection_Club) era that I've read is: Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Chesterton. And I think it's no accident that female writers are leading my list: First off, to be recognised as a good writer as a woman you had to perform to higher standards than men, of course. But also, I think you write better characters if you're more observant, and marginalisation strengthens observation skills. 2020-06-15 The Thirteen Problems #aa9081 0007120869 9780007120864   Miss Marple 2 1932 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780007120864-L.jpg 315   3  
aidan-wachter/weaving-fate reviews Weaving Fate is a woo book. The author believes in magic and assumes you do, too. I found this strangely refreshing, to be honest, and it made it easy to separate out the useful stuff, for my intents and purposes. What I took from it, when you remove the fluff, were two meditation exercises (one of which won't work for me), a journaling practice, and a bunch of new entries on my to-read list. That's more than decent for a 170 page book that I expected to feel at best ambiguous about. Even apart from the useful ideas, I liked several things about this book. For one, it emphasises that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, and that the proposed protocols and techniques will probably be modified by the reader – a strict improvement over most of self-help literature. He also explains all the words and concepts: "Liminal means …", and so on. He also cites his sources, and notes where he has a deep or shallow understanding of them, or where he changes his use of their terms. Oh, and he gave me the idea of recording my own guided meditation, which I should've thought of on my own. These are the four techniques that he introduces, summed up very roughly: ## Black Book This is a journaling exercise to support change in your life. You write journal entries from the POV of your future self, with lots of details – so you never express *intent*, you always write about factual experience. Notes: Don't worry about continuity, instead use it to explore what you really want. Tone matters more than specifics, but be specific nonetheless. Focus on emotions and sensory details. Follow your dreams/vibes/themes/intentions to their conclusions and write about that. Focus on what outcomes look like and feel like. What are the fruits of your labour, what do they taste like? Move the markers of what is possible for you. If you are working on hitting beginner level, talk about going semi-professional. The book surrounds the journal with a lot of *magic*, consecrating it, having you alway use the same pen etc etc, but the pra… 2021-01-06 Weaving Fate #4b883f   9780999356623         https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1596911413l/54854252._SY475_.jpg 171   4  
aiden-thomas/cemetery-boys reviews Coming-of-age novel set in an urban fantasy: Yadriel is a Latinx trans boy in the US. His whole family are brujx and don't accept him as a brujo. Naturally, he spends the novel proving himself – but with a fair bit of reflection and friendships and non-transition related plot thrown in. Intersectional YA is pretty cool and all (most non-Latinx people here are queer by default, delightfully), and my only issue with this was how predictable the plot is and how YA possibly just isn't for me anymore. 2021-06-12 Cemetery Boys #e8dd95 1250250463 9781250250469       2020 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781250250469-L.jpg 352   3  
alan-bennett/the-uncommon-reader reviews Oh wow, that was a charming book (or probably a novella?)! It was enjoyable and funny throughout and then packed a marvellous punchline. 2017-05-16 The Uncommon Reader #9d0302 0374280967 9780374280963       2007 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780374280963-L.jpg 120   4  
alan-bradley/a-red-herring-without-mustard reviews Still a lot of fun and enjoyable, while being nothing too special. 2017-11-24 A Red Herring Without Mustard #f7e631 0385342322 9780385342322   Flavia de Luce 3 2011 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388266441l/8517008.jpg 399   3  
alan-bradley/as-chimney-sweepers-come-to-dust reviews Even *more* Series of Unfortunate Events. I'm a sucker for training stories, y'know. 2017-11-26 As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust #329fbe 0345539931 9780345539939   Flavia de Luce 7 2015 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1406214651l/21874813.jpg 392   4  
alan-bradley/i-am-half-sick-of-shadows reviews Still funny, still thoroughly enjoyable, but … not really more than three stars for me. (This one's about a visiting cinema troupe and a dead actress.) 2017-11-25 I Am Half-Sick of Shadows #e82b26 0385344015 9780385344012   Flavia de Luce 4 2011 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409945571l/11277218.jpg 293   3  
alan-bradley/speaking-from-among-the-bones reviews The Flavia de Luce books started blurring together before this one, and even series-changing big reveals didn't change that fact. Too much time spent demonstrating sassy storytelling – completely in line with the rest of the series, but increasingly less amusing. 2017-11-25 Speaking from Among the Bones #7397c6 0385344031 9780385344036   Flavia de Luce 5 2013 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1344371922l/13642963.jpg 378   3  
alan-bradley/the-curious-case-of-the-copper-corpse reviews Copper corpses will never not sound like Dorothy Sayers to me. 2017-11-26 The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse #b68e66       Flavia de Luce 6.5 2014 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1414703512l/23480520.jpg 27   2  
alan-bradley/the-dead-in-their-vaulted-arches reviews Oh-HO, here we go! Suddenly it's much more A Series of Unfortunate Events and less just Kalle Blomkvist! 2017-11-26 The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches #df9932 0385344058 9780385344050   Flavia de Luce 6 2014 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432578235l/17834904._SY475_.jpg 315   4  
alan-bradley/the-sweetness-at-the-bottom-of-the-pie reviews Well, that was fun. I'm not too much of a fan, the rambling style of Flavia's train of thought is annoying, I think. But at the same time it's definitely well-written and just fun to read. I'm looking forward to the next parts. 2017-11-23 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie #acce63 0385342306 9780385342308   Flavia de Luce 1 2009 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780385342308-L.jpg 374   3  
alan-bradley/the-weed-that-strings-the-hangmans-bag reviews Continues to be lighthearted and utterly enjoyable. 2017-11-23 The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag #937bb2 0385342314 9780385342315   Flavia de Luce 2 2010 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388266442l/6777616.jpg 364   3  
alan-bradley/thrice-the-brinded-cat-hath-mewd reviews Woop! I like the slightly-older Flavia, who is more devious, and still terribly clever. Also, evil cliffhanger. 2017-11-28 Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd #cb9028 1409149501 9781409149507   Flavia de Luce 8 2016 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1472540479l/26194013._SY475_.jpg 307   4  
alan-dean-foster/the-last-starfighter reviews I'm sure the movie is much better than this, but the book is just a cheap version of Ender's Game. 2018-04-29 The Last Starfighter #4e5f60 042507255X 9780425072554       1984 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780425072554-L.jpg 218   2  
alastair-reynolds/house-of-suns to-read   2018-09-06 House of Suns #59585e 0575099127 9780575099128       2008 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447892903l/1126719._SX98_.jpg 512      
albert-camus/the-plague reviews The curious mood of The Plague is easy to recall even years after reading it. It's got a curious sense of detachment and numbness that I enjoyed reading, as much as I hate symbolic storytelling normally. I'm still a bit annoyed by the plain moralistic nonsense, though. 2010-11-01 The Plague #967063           1947 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503362434l/11989._SY475_.jpg 308   4  
aldous-huxley/brave-new-world reviews Fun fact: It took me three tries to finish Brave New World, because the last third (or so) just had me tune out. It's interesting to contrast this work – of Huxley's youth, all convinced of things gravitating towards terribleness – to *Island*. He wrote Island much later in life, and it shows. What if … people could just feel good, for a while? That would be … good? 2011-01-01 Brave New World #786a7d 0060929871 9780060929879       1932 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780060929879-L.jpg 288   3  
aldous-mercer/the-prince-and-the-program-the-mordred-saga-1 to-read   2022-02-18 The Prince and the Program (The Mordred Saga, #1) #c3c3b1 1632164426 9781632164421       2012 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1420009273l/24225668.jpg 344      
alessandro-baricco-guido-waldman/silk to-read Short, historical fiction, poetic. 1860s in France. [via](https://chaos.social/@strangeglyph/104349993600456650) 2020-06-24 Silk #a3946f 0375703829 9780375703829   Silk   1996 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780375703829-L.jpg 91      
alex-gino/george to-read   2016-05-11 George #e4873d 0545812542 9780545812542       2015 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780545812542-L.jpg 208      
alex-white/a-big-ship-at-the-edge-of-the-universe to-read Look at the title. 2018-12-04 A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe #0d0f20       The Salvagers 1 2018 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1504129587l/35520564._SX98_.jpg 480      
alexander-wales/a-bluer-shade-of-white reviews It's rational fiction on Frozen. Cool, but characterisations are very much on the nose and progression is weird. Enjoyable short read though. 2018-06-30 A Bluer Shade of White #366b95           2014 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411850450l/23276801._SX98_.jpg 65   3  
alexander-wales/the-last-christmas reviews This story has potential, but rationalists and their aversion to humour ruins it. The Last Christmas is a fun premise, but way too short to build it up properly, and so it ends up all over the place. Still: It's short, and a nice read, so if you want to see how an engineer deals with suddenly being Santa, go check it out. 2018-09-21 The Last Christmas #92756f     https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9915682/1/The-Last-Christmas       https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446240775l/27396199.jpg 54   2  
alexander-wales/the-metropolitan-man reviews HPMOR, only for superman. Makes Lex Luthor out as a semi-sensible person. 2018-03-06 The Metropolitan Man #b1b1b1     https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10360716/1/The-Metropolitan-Man     2014 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1407181255l/22872436.jpg 241   3  
alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo reviews Revenge – exciting revenge from nearly beyond the grave! I loved this book to pieces when I discovered it, despite being confused by it a lot. I was nine at the time, and many concepts in there confused me. How did cheques work? What on earth was a rentier? (They were spelt the same in German, and the word has fallen completely out of use, because Rentier also means reindeer. You can understand my confusion.) And I didn't get the whole Bonaparte arc until I re-read it years later. But all those things didn't keep me from just thoroughly enjoying the drama. 2003-05-01 The Count of Monte Cristo #bebdc3 0140449264 9780140449266       1844 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780140449266-L.jpg 1276   5  
alexandre-dumas/the-last-cavalier reviews Disappointing, but not surprising: I knew that Dumas had written a lot, and even his best works need a lot of compression to be readable. The count of Sainte-Hermine probably would not have been good even with much more work, though. With a *blatant* Mary Sue (much, much worse than Monte Cristo) and a meandering plot at best, finishing this book is an achievement that was not worth it. Trust me. 2005-12-01 The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon #9d9473 1933648317 9781933648316       1870 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781933648316-L.jpg 864   2  
alexandre-dumas/the-three-musketeers reviews People underestimate how honestly useful Dumas is. Well, if you get the abridged versions, of course, nobody wants to read that optimized-for-line-count nonsense. Read up on it, his tricks to stretch dialogue into more lines are hilarious, to the point of his writing style changing (and characters with long names suddenly dying) when his publishers changed the rules. The Musketeers (four, by the way, I counted) are a lot of fun, and worth revisiting if you just want some old-school adventuring, with Good Guys, Bad Guys, Evil Women etc etc. It also teaches you a surprising amount of history – I'm not sure when I would have learned of Richelieu, but certainly much later and less memorably. 2003-04-01 The Three Musketeers #78807e       The D'Artagnan Romances 1 1844 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630475503l/7190._SX318_.jpg 625   3  
alfred-bester/the-stars-my-destination reviews The Stars My Destination by *Alfred Bester* is a scifi classic, and most of those don't work for me. This one was better than average, but I still felt like I was in a weird dream. I have a low tolerance for people behaving horribly and/or stupidly at the moment, which is certainly part of it. I enjoyed the exploration of what the power of personal teleportation at a whim would do to society, and I laughed at the outrageously absurd parts of the novel, but the middle part felt like a drag, not due to lack of action, but due to the characters being weird/horrible/stupid or alternating between those three in rapid succession. 2019-05-05 The Stars My Destination #885f12 0679767800 9780679767800       1955 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780679767800-L.jpg 258   3  
alice-miller-ruth-ward/the-drama-of-the-gifted-child reviews Some self-help books are for a very specific audience. *The Drama of the Gifted Child* is one of those, and I am not its audience. I buy the claim that children do a lot of things to fulfil expectations rather than out of their own desire, but at least for me, this behaviour never reached the pathological levels that this book assumes as the baseline shared experience. It's short and polarises early, so it's definitely worth reading the first chapter to see if there's something here for you. 2020-10-25 The Drama of the Gifted Child #441b17 0465016901 9780465016907   The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self   1979 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780465016907-L.jpg 144   1 1
aliette-de-bodard/children-of-thorns-children-of-water reviews I wasn't aware how tightly this story was coupled with the surrounding universe: Children of Thorns, Children of Water sadly doesn't make much sense if you aren't familiar with *Aliette de Bodard*'s **Dominion of the Fallen** series, and comes off hurried and confused (but with potential in the worldbuilding!) 2018-09-20 Children of Thorns, Children of Water #3e4d54 1473212626 9781473212626 https://uncannymagazine.com/article/children-thorns-children-water/ Dominion of the Fallen 1.5 2017 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492097640l/34851372.jpg 37   2  
aliette-de-bodard/the-tea-master-and-the-detective reviews The Tea Master and the Detective by *Aliette de Bodard* is a nie short scifi novella in a world where different sorts of teas can have a profound impact on how the human brain works, there is deep space that behaves entirely different from normal space, and we have sentient ships. I can't really give you an objective review (even less than usually, I mean) because I'm a sucker for sentient space ships. These ones are very well done, I felt, and the duo of the Tea Master and the Detective worked very well. And if it is just Sherlock Holmes coupled with an Ann Leckie world – so what? I would've read and enjoyed a full novel of this instead of just a novella (though it was very well-paced). 2019-07-07 The Tea Master and the Detective #a16f4e 1596068647 9781596068643       2018 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781596068643-L.jpg 96   4  
alix-e-harrow/the-ten-thousand-doors-of-january reviews Coming-of-age stories are possibly just not for me anymore. The book-driven portal fantasy is nice enough, and the helping of "remember how bad turn-of-the-century racism is" is not bad if a bit forced, but … I just didn't care about the predictable story. If only there had been a bigger focus on the portals, or the portal writing, or the portal worlds … I can appreciate why this book is popular, but it felt more generic than it should have to me. 2021-05-13 The Ten Thousand Doors of January #8b6e42 0316421995 9780316421997       2019 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780316421997-L.jpg 384   2  
amal-el-mohtar/this-is-how-you-lose-the-time-war reviews This Is How You Lose the Time War was written by *Amal El-Mohtar* and *Max Gladstone*. They must be magic. They can't just write like this without magic. Trust me. It's a love letter. No, really: It's a series of love letters. It's a war story. No, really: It's a series of war stories. It's a fairytale. It's a high-tech dystopia. It's none of those. The breathless travel through the time war, seen from opposing agents on both sides, does not leave time for petty worldbuilding, and instead hands us poetical outlines that work far better than a thousand pages of in-depth worldbuilding could. (I want those thousand pages. But they wouldn't improve the book.) It's a book-long poem, or at least half the time it is. I can't do it justice here, but I read it in a day, and I liked it very much. You might, too. 2019-09-21 This Is How You Lose the Time War #532b30           2019 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545755487l/43352954._SX318_.jpg 209   5  
andre-norton/witch-world to-read   2019-03-09 Witch World #b97b51 0441897088 9780441897087   Witch World Series 1: Estcarp Cycle 1 1963 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780441897087-L.jpg        
andrea-wulf/the-invention-of-nature-alexander-von-humboldts-new-world to-read   2018-08-19 The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World #695748 038535066X 9780385350662       2015 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780385350662-L.jpg 473      
andreas-eschbach/das-jesus-video reviews Trashy Dan-Brown-wannabe. Came recommended by a thread on good German fiction, never again. 2021-08-15 Das Jesus Video #6a4d58 3404142942 9783404142941       1998 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9783404142941-L.jpg 651   1  
andrew-rowe/sufficiently-advanced-magic to-read   2018-09-15 Sufficiently Advanced Magic #5e6470       Arcane Ascension 1 2017 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488182235l/34403860._SY475_.jpg        
andrzej-sapkowski/the-last-wish reviews Finally catching up with some European fantasy – I haven't watched the show, but I've played some of the games, and I'm generally aware of what's going on in-universe. I knew the book was fairly episodic going into it, which might have been a problem otherwise. It's really decent fantasy, is what it is. The world feels solid the same way the games do, with actual professions and politics, currencies and distances and other central European shenanigans, while also having clearly a backdrop that is alive in the author's mind, without dropping all of the history on us. The stories are dark, grim, realistic. There's violence, there's rape, and there are absolutely no damsels in distress thankful for their rescue. The Witchers are explained as much as possible, and the fact that they are the last of their line and that that's not a bad thing gets through better than in the games. The stories do everything: inverted Beauty & Beast, mutant Rapunzel, Snow White, … The (German) translation is decent, but uneven. The sentences are often off, but the vocabulary is *brilliant* and I learnt several new words while reading this book. Dialogue is the best of it, if and when it works. But the pacing is odd, and the protagonist has the worst case of protagonist syndrome I've seen in a while – I don't feel like I've wasted my time, but I'm also not keen on continuing. 2021-11-04 The Last Wish #b23b2c       The Witcher 0.5 1993 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1529591917l/40603587._SX98_.jpg 360   3 0
andy-weir/project-hail-mary reviews Andy Weir has a thing he does well, and this is just another instance of this thing. If this had been my first Andy Weir book, I probably would have given it a higher rating, but after The Martian, it felt like a re-run. The sun is dying due to mysterious circumstances, and a physics teacher with a suspiciously Mark Watney like voice is part of the desperate effort to find a solution. This part was great – competency porn for the sci-fi nerd, watching the whole world mobilise together in acknowledgement of an existential threat. (Ha.) Our protagonist couldn't make it as a research scientist, but still has critical thinking skills that make him an asset to this operation (more competency porn for the institution-averse nerd). As always, Weir is great at details: science details, but also human details. Fuel calculations, panic when weightlessness kicks in, weird ship design, storage logistics, you name it: Weir has thought about it and I love it. That said: some things were tedious or broke my suspension of disbelief. Memory loss as an exposition device is tired even when it's done well (which it is here). The resulting plot twist was visible half a book away. And what's with the protagonist constantly commenting on his use of imperial units and pop-culture references? All dialogue feels like it's trying way, way too hard to be funny, and rarely hits any kind of rhythm (to say nothing of the stereotypes, everywhere), to the point that it hurts. And, most importantly: a huge spoiler block (only read if you're sure you don't want to read the book). <div class="spoiler"> The alien feels way, way humanoid despite looking like a mecha spider. The way learning a completely foreign language is portrayed ('Tenses, plurals, conditionals') highlights how much Weir is a science nerd, not a language nerd, and how extremely human his aliens are. It's disappointing, because there was so much potential there, and in the end, despite everything, the way Weir chose was kinda boring. </div> 2021-09-05 Project Hail Mary #968237 0593135202 9780593135204       2021 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780593135204-L.jpg 496   3  
andy-weir/the-egg reviews Super-short, not exactly original, but well-done and strangely foundational: The Egg is a wonderful little, tiny, short story. I first read it some years back, but it always stayed with me, just in the back of my head. Now I came across it again, and I thought I should share the goodness with you. *Note:* As [per](https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/z6x211/top_10_freely_available_sf_short_stories/iy4b1ll/), the story is not actually by Andy Weir (and, indeed, it reads extremely out of character). 2019-01-26 The Egg #484737     http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html     2009 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431492647l/17563539.jpg 3   5  
andy-weir/the-martian reviews Gods, I already knew they had chosen Matt Damon as lead role, and I can imagine him in that role so very well! Brilliant humor with hard scifi. I seriously hope they won't fuck up the movie. *Edit: Narrator's voice.* They did not fuck up the movie. 2015-08-06 The Martian #df954b 0804139024 9780804139021       2012 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780804139021-L.jpg 369   5  
angie-thomas/the-hate-u-give to-read   2017-11-15 The Hate U Give #5f4942 0062498533 9780062498533       2017 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780062498533-L.jpg 464      
ann-leckie/ancillary-justice reviews Wow wow wow. Wow. Great pacing, great characters, great world, great conflict. Great scifi. I'm impressed, and fascinated, and I hope the next books can live up to this one. But even without follow-up books, this would be … amazing. (Also, hey, meaningful generic femininum was a lot of fun.) 2018-03-13 Ancillary Justice #748079       Imperial Radch 1 2013 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1380915234l/18626964.jpg 432   5  
ann-leckie/ancillary-mercy reviews Wow! A worthy ending to the **Imperial Radch** trilogy ba Ann Leckie. The actions and decisions of the previous volumes find their somewhat logical conclusion in a complicated struggle for independence in an empire that has forgotten what independence even is. This book was a truly amazing mix of fast-paced action (lots of fun and creativitiy in there, too), and deep, deep character development. This series hit my tastes in every way, balancing action, character development, humor, serious issues of personal growth, society, and politics. Wow. 2018-07-13 Ancillary Mercy #cd9814 0356502422 9780356502427   Imperial Radch 3 2015 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780356502427-L.jpg 336   5  
ann-leckie/ancillary-sword reviews Ancillary Sword was an exceedingly worthy successor to Ancillary Justice. We get a deeper look into the culture of the Radch and (most importantly) the characters we got to know in the first book. Understanding how all of them felt, especially Breq, even while they were navigating treachery, improper (!) annexations, war, and crisis, was a treat. This exploration of characters comes at the cost of action and pace, but the slower pace is made up by the frequent and fast changes of scenery. The book is more linear than the first one, but at the same time the consistent multi-focus storytelling is a different (and great) challenge altogether. 2018-04-14 Ancillary Sword #cc4327 0316246654 9780316246651   Imperial Radch 2 2014 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780316246651-L.jpg 356   5  
ann-leckie/nights-slow-poison reviews I like *Ann Leckie* a lot, but **Night's Slow Poison** didn't work for me – the story was either too short or too aimless for me to appreciate. 2018-08-23 Night's Slow Poison #a3200a       Imperial Radch 0.5 2012 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1418606162l/22452306.jpg 20   2  
ann-leckie/provenance reviews Provenance by *Ann Leckie* is set in the Ancillary universe, but doesn't have much to do with the Radch or any of the known characters. Instead, it's a pleasant little space-opera adventure. I enjoyed it a lot, even if it didn't have the same quality as the Ancillary trilogy – it clearly doesn't aim to be the same book, and that worked for me. The protagonist is young, sometimes clever, but noticeably inexperienced and often wrong. There are a couple of inconsistencies in her character, I'd say (both painfully insecure, and sufficiently sure of herself to pull off big plots of her own?), but having the inner view on a clever, but anxious person was convincing, all things considered. As usual for Leckie, relationships are not really fleshed out (because, again, the protagonist is somewhat clueless, although we do get a very low-key romance), so it falls to the reader to notice interactions and draw conclusions. The worldbuilding was very good, as to be expected, and I'd have loved to see more of it, especially of the different human and non-human cultures. So, if you like scifi adventures with a believable cast, great worldbuilding, and no Chosen One Saving The World, Provenance should fit the bill. Sadly, I have now read everything there is to read from Ann Leckie, and I'll have to wait for her next book to come out. Thankfully this isn't a long wait: Her first Fantasy novel will come out in February next year. 2018-10-05 Provenance #afac9c           2017 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492328037l/25353286._SX318_.jpg 448   4  
ann-leckie/the-raven-tower reviews I'm not quite sure where I stand on **The Raven Tower** by *Ann Leckie*. On the plus side: a fantasy story told from the perspective of a god (and with a fascinating definition of 'god', to boot), in a consistent voice (good thing I was used to second person narration from Ms Jemisin), with a not-quite predictable plot. But while I'm a fan of unusual story arcs, I found myself wanting more. The story was good, but not enough! I think this is not just me being used to Sanderson-length epic fantasy. Raven Tower has great world building and narration (and a unique take on "gods speak the truth"!), but the plot seemed a bit underdeveloped. I'm still very happy to have read it, though – a fantasy book from the perspective of a deity is very Ann Leckie, who continues to be amazing at writing non-human characters, and letting her readers fill in all the human characters from clues the non-human protagonist/narrator doesn't quite understand. A good concept, and it translates very well from scifi to fantasy. 2019-03-22 The Raven Tower #695432 0316388696 9780316388696       2019 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780316388696-L.jpg 416   3  
anne-frank/the-diary-of-a-young-girl reviews Anne's diary was mandatory reading in school. Our edition included photos of Anne and her family. Contrasting Anne's story with the fact that there are six million of these stories – an unthinkable number to me, even now – made me despair of humanity when I was eight. I still find it hard to deal with it. 2003-04-01 The Diary of a Young Girl #4e1014           1947 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560816565l/48855.jpg 283   4  
anne-mccaffrey/dragonflight reviews Okay look. Dragonriders? A whole social group structured around dragons?!! A whole society slowly losing their belief in the ancient threat that made them support and accept the dragon riders? It sounds *so*, so good. But. The book, first part in the intimidatingly long Pern series, was a decent read, but shows its age in some meh ways and in some other actively uncomfortable ways. I know the 60s were a different time, but also, Babel-17 was published two years before this book, so I'm not inclined to be too understanding. The gender roles are beyond lazy and verge into terrible (I kept expecting subversion because this could not possibly be serious). All the women kinda suck, including the protagonist, and I don't even want to go into the way sex is handled. Yikes. Y i k e s. The worldbuilding is great and fun, and I want more. The harpers? The ancient traditions showing that spacefaring humans came to Pern and engineered dragons to protect against the extraterrestrial treat? All that slaps. But then there's the plot. It's a bit all over the place, I believe because the book was made up from different stories, which is fine. But why, why the time travel? I'm not sure I'm willing to suspend my disbelief about the arbitrary rules of time travel for 23 more books. 2022-03-13 Dragonflight #1c4cd7 0345484266 9780345484260   Dragonriders of Pern 1 1968 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780345484260-L.jpg 299   2 0
anne-rice/interview-with-the-vampire to-read consider linking https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-25-mn-2255-story.html and https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a36386485/tom-cruise-interview-with-a-vampire-anne-rice-sabotage/ and her war on fanfic 2018-10-12 Interview with the Vampire #6f5728 0345476875 9780345476876   The Vampire Chronicles 1 1976 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780345476876-L.jpg 342      
annemarie-selinko/desiree reviews Désirée got me started on serious historical fiction – this, or [Klaus Kordon](/klaus-kordon/die-roten-matrosen/), but it's a close race. Désirée is the true tale of Désirée Clary, told in the form of her fictional diary. Why her? Because her life touches on larger-than-life history in many ways: Born as a wealthy silk merchant's daughter in Marseille in 1777 (not the best time for wealthy merchants in France), she got first-hand experience of the late days of the French revolution. Her sister and niece married into the Bonaparte family, while Désirée, who was engaged to you-know-who himself for a while, married Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, a general and Marshal of the Empire. Her husband, after handling boring everyday life matters like managing cities and contributing significantly to the victory at Austerlitz, was adopted by the Swedish king, and elected as his heir. He aligned Sweden with Napoleon's enemies, and planned and executed major parts of the decisive victory over Napoleon at Leipzig. He reigned as King of Sweden for twenty-six prosperous years. Désirée tells this convoluted story in a nuanced, well-researched collection of diary entries. If, at times, it seems like it gives in to name-dropping important historical figures, I can't complain because this vivid parade of people invoved in the fate of France taught me more (or at least more permanently) than my history teachers ever managed. 2008-08-01 Désirée #cf785d 8493388335 9788493388331       1951 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81FRzK3pj6L.jpg 607   4  
anthony-ryan/blood-song reviews Blood Song is the start of the **Raven's Shadow** series by *Anthony Ryan*. It was hard to make up my mind about this book – it changed a lot over the course of the story. We start off with a young protagonist who is given by his family to an order of warrior monks to be trained. And while the worldbuilding (which is only hinted at at this point) is solid, we get a third of a book's worth of a mix of brutal Hogwarts and training sequences. This isn't bad per se, but I started to see this book as one of those guilty pleasure fantasy reads: I'm a sucker for training stories, and I know it, and that's fine. But then our protagonist grows up, and joins the wider world, and has to contest with larger issues than just learning and fighting and dealing with the occasional attempt on his life. This part tends to skip long stretches of time, years at times, and only shows us the highlights of our protagonist's experiences in his adult life. And then, the last part of the book follows him into battle, and has him face (and eventually follow) his moral qualms. All the while the worldbuilding is growing wider and deeper. The content of this book could have easily made a trilogy in the current state of Fantasy, so I'm very happy to see this amount of storytelling. Going from a young boy in training, via a young adult struggling with the world, to an adult who stands up for his convictions is no new story by far – but Ryan presents it without making it feel stale. Part of that is that the protagonist isn't always right – he's certainly capable, and not stupid by far, but he does make mistakes, and not only ones that spell "I'm only a mistake to advance the plot". So, yes, if you're into fantasy that makes use of known tropes without being stale or boring, you should definitely check this one out! 2018-10-12 Blood Song #6e4a3d       Raven's Shadow 1 2011 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421573407l/13569581.jpg 591   3  
anthony-ryan/tower-lord reviews I thoroughly enjoyed **Tower Lord** (second volume of *Anthony Ryan's* Raven's Shadow series). It's good fantasy, with a careful mix of known elements (the weary hero who is always right, the young fighting gutter princess, the clever queen, superstitions everywhere, evil religion, good agnostics, magic coming true, prophecies, etc), but mixes it up sufficiently that the story arc is never completely clear. We get good character development on two major and a couple of minor fronts, and I enjoyed how the pieces came together in the end. Even though it's no high literature, I'm looking forward to the conclusion. 2019-01-21 Tower Lord #ab9f9c 0425265625 9780425265628   Raven's Shadow 2 2014 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382486392l/18138189.jpg 608   4  
antoine-de-saint-exupery/flight-to-arras reviews Published in 1942, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry talks about his life, experience, thoughts and feelings about being a pilot in WWII, while on the defensive and with little hope of surviving. The novella follows one flight, and comments on both the flight itself (mechanically, strategically) and the war in general. It's bleak. It's about death: Preparing for death, seeing friends die, seeing people die on a scale that the human brain cannot understand. It's about failure modes: A state collapsing in on itself, a mind clinging to protocol and habit. He mixes the visceral despair with lyrical observations of a pilot zoning out: "The density of aerial warfare? Grains of dust in a cathedral." (Take notes, sci-fi authors!) And then, in the end, he lost me: After spending most of the book talking about the horrors and absurdity of war, he uses the elation at the completed flight to turn around into a praise of the sacrifice and principles involved. "Humanism has neglected the essential role of sacrifice", and all that. Some more observations: As always, it's disconcerting to read things written in the midst of a big event, particularly while the end is still uncertain. In 1942, things looked terrible for France, and I'm awed reading about it. I'm not sure why I keep trusting English translations. The translation uses the word "holocaust" in some places, and I'm not sure how well-chosen it is, given the publication date. "Ça sauve- rait notre mission d’être sacrifiée, une panne de laryngophone" is translated as "A speaking tube out of order would preserve us from the holocaust." (and another similar case), or "Nous nous sommes jetés dans l’incendie." as "[We] flung ourselves into the holocaust.". The translation is also off-by-two-chapters for some reason, but my French isn't good enough to figure out what happened there. Lastly: when he talks about the absurdity of war, the missing material, the gears that refuse to mesh, the sheer scope of astonished terror, he reminds me of Vonnegut: "After nine months of war we h… 2021-03-10 Flight to Arras #de8b2c   9780156318808       1942 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780156318808-L.jpg 168   3 0
antoine-de-saint-exupery/the-little-prince reviews The adorable faux-philosophical book with delightfully whimsical moments was something I enjoyed a lot as a kid. I would imagine that much of its charm is due to my age when reading it though, and if I had read it for the first time now, I wouldn't be nearly as enchanted by the rose and the sheep and so on. 2002-04-01 The Little Prince #074f90           1943 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1367545443l/157993.jpg 93   3  
antonio-r-damasio/descartes-error reviews Didn't hold much new information for me, because its contents have grown so accepted and foundational in the 25 years since publication. Nevertheless it provides a solid fundamental overview in a very readable way, despite also dealing in a bit of technical details. 2020-04-18 Descartes' Error #d10606 014303622X 9780143036227       1994 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780143036227-L.jpg 336   4  
arkady-martine/a-desolation-called-peace reviews Generally, *A Desolation Called Peace* is nearly as good as [A Memory Called Empire](/arkady-martine/a-memory-called-empire). It replaces parts of the intrical cultural commentary with very alien aliens who need to be communicated with, but surprisingly, the aliens are one of the weakest parts of the book. This is basially the anti-Tchaikovsky, where humans are inevitably more interesting than even hive mind aliens. The weak parts of the book echo the first book, really: The story wraps up too neatly, the character development is put off too much where inconvenient, and the book would like to spend more time on exploring the culture than on the plot. Which works for me, so no complaints there. I wish the aliens had been more intriguing, but I minded less than I expected. The aliens make a distinction between being a real person (aka undying hive mind) and the others, who they characterise as "thinking language". As somebody with a primarily nonverbal mode of thinking, that was exciting at first with … zero payoff, which is a wasted opportunity. In exchange, Martine does an *occasionally* very good job of portraying the trouble of learning an alien language during first contact – but then goes back to being really more into the culture and politics of the empire. What really got me is how Martine continues the commentary on cultural primacy and the feeling of being just outside a culture and language that you really love. The protagonist's position and feelings echo my experiences with English-speaking people and countries to a degree that is uncanny, particularly as written by an American. Being always not exactly included, never quite on solid ground, even while you feel yourself losing fluency and comfort in your native language hits hard, and made me reconsider some priorities. You may have noticed that in a 3-month, 18 book gap in reviews on here. I'll find words for it eventually, please hold the line. 2021-04-11 A Desolation Called Peace #ccbfb3       Teixcalaan 2 2021 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1591755604l/45154547._SY475_.jpg 496   4  
arkady-martine/a-memory-called-empire reviews A junior ambassador from one alien nation and planet to another, which boasts of a highly complex language and culture? Finding herself scrambling to catch up with her predecessor (rudely murdered, instead of being in her brain as would be appropriate), trying not to share his fate? Sudden conspiracies, even more complex cultural games, plus an assistent she's very much into? Hell yes. A Memory Called Empire by *Arkady Martine* is exactly what I like to read in sci-fi. All people in this novel are human – but they don't necessarily see each other this way. Our protagonist is the ambassador to a sprawling, huge empire that has a terribly lyrical culture, where everything is an allusion or a poem or a reference, and probably all of these rolled together. She has to come to grips with her new posting, and find her way in this world, while figuring out why her predecessor is dead, and … well, the empire collapses. This on its own would be fascinating, but we don't only get to see the culture clash between our protagonist and her empire assistant, oh no – without giving away too much, this story is also about neural implants, and self-modifications, and different definitions of being human. And as if that wasn't enough, we also get to think about the further reaching implications. What if my culture says that your culture does hideously brutal things that make it barely human at all – but I have to choose between allying with you and potentially dooming all thinking galactic life? Yeah, that. In one or two places, the book takes the easy way out of these moral quandaries, but then again, that's fair: We do the same in every-day life. We break problems down, or circumvent them, and don't always meet them with intellectual curiosity and honesty head on. I enjoyed this book very much, and I'm extremely impressed that this was the first published book by this author. Apparently a second volume is in the making, which I'm very much looking forward to. But to be honest, what spoke most to me in this book is how it mirro… 2021-03-26 A Memory Called Empire #c4bba2 1250186439 9781250186430   Teixcalaan 1 2019 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781250186430-L.jpg 462   4  
arkady-strugatsky/roadside-picnic reviews Roadside picnic was a good book to read, and I was surprised that I didn't find it depressing. It takes place in a small town in roughly-Canada, where an alien exclusion zone has spawned that is very much like a radioactive dump: People around it experience mutations, people at the site when it spawned lost their lives or were injured in weird ways, you should only enter the zone in a special suit, but of course people do enter without one anyways. This was published 14 years before Chernobyl, mind. Our protagonist a is working for the institute investigating the zone when he's not busy being in prison for his smuggling activities. He has a wife and a daughter <span class="spoilers">who looks like a little monkey. As I said, Chernobyl feeling</span>. He's extremely irreverent and snarky and his inner monologue was a joy to read. I read the German translation, but I've been told this goes for the English one, too. The German translation is an utter joy to read. I've been trying to put into words why this book is so very, very Russian. I think it's the interactions between people. There's a common assumption that everybody is scavenging and finding semi-legal ways of making do, and also that everybody could be an informer about to tattle. This common assumption is born with equanimy and alcohol, and a strong reliance on community bonds. While the protagonist is in prison, friends check in on his wife and stand up to her neighbours to end the ongoing bullying, for example. I'm waving hands here, but trust me: The whole book feels like it's taking place in the Russian steppe, not in Canada. I'm not sure I could've pointed this out before moving to Western Germany. I'm still trying to find better words. The book, of course, is slice-of-life – everything else would feel pretentious and wrong. There are starts and stops, and there is an end, but it doesn't follow a dramatic arc: one thing happens, and then the next. Sometimes one thing leads to the next, but sometimes it doesn't. It makes the book more real, more ser… 2020-08-03 Roadside Picnic #dbd19b 0575070536 9780575070530       1972 https://drop.rixx.de/aT0H/ 145   4  
arno-gruen/wider-den-gehorsam to-read nonfiction. 2019-10-22 Wider den Gehorsam #ee3d22           2014 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1419826884l/24160407.jpg        
arthur-c-clarke/2001-a-space-odyssey to-read   2018-07-31 2001: A Space Odyssey #cac2a7 0451457994 9780451457998   Space Odyssey 1 1968 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432468943l/70535._SY475_.jpg 297      
arthur-c-clarke/the-nine-billion-names-of-god reviews I appreciated the woo, but. The Nine Billion Names of God is a short story typical of the Arthur C. Clarke times of scifi. Doesn't hurt to read, but by now it's predictable, and the premise was new then, but is ehhh today. 2019-02-19 The Nine Billion Names of God #dba65b 0451147553 9780451147554 https://urbigenous.net/library/nine_billion_names_of_god.html     1967 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1224576760l/149075.jpg 240   3  
arthur-c-clarke/the-songs-of-distant-earth reviews A future human settlement gets visited by the last travellers from the doomed planet earth, on their way to their final destination, a new earth. Very calm, slow, slightly utopian. I'm not really sure what to make of this book. On the one hand, it was utterly lovely: The calm, nearly slice-of-life story of the surviving members of the human race. Touching, simple, optimistic, … sweet? At the same time, the lack of tension made me take a long time reading this book, and the parts that were interesting to me (the other planet! the ALIEN LIFE!) were only mentioned in passing. Weirdly frustrating for such a nice and optimistic book. 2020-01-24 The Songs of Distant Earth #59729b 0007115865 9780007115860       1986 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780007115860-L.jpg 256   3  
arthur-c-clarke/the-star reviews A solid scifi short story. I probably shouldn't be surprised at Clarke's knowledge of the Jesuits. At only four pages, it felt well-written (but not quite as moving as it wants to be). 2022-03-05 The Star #2a91ba     https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf     1955 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1451214185l/13598725.jpg 6   4  
arthur-c-clarke/trouble-with-time reviews Trouble with Time is a nice enough short story by *Arthur C. Clarke*. My impression is good idea, okay-ish execution, nothing special. 2019-10-13 Trouble with Time             1960   10   2  
arthur-conan-doyle/sherlock-holmes reviews Reading Sherlock Holmes was a milestone in growing up. I remember starting the first story when I was barely eight. It started “To Sherlock Holmes, she is always THE woman.” I stopped reading and ran to my mother to complain that she hadn't handed me the first part: obviously there had to be another part beforehand! She explained to me that books for adults often worked in a less linear fashion, and that I should stick with it. Which I did. I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories during a particularly uneventful summer. I remember how the books smelled and behaved when I got sand between the pages. I remember the sun and the sea and the constant lure of the books. I remember my family poking fun at the fact that they never saw me and had to drag me outside (a lie! I could read outside) and into the water (true). My second stop that summer was visiting my father, who had moved to a new home. I got to stay in a tiny room that I had just to myself, and I loved everything about it. During the first night, I continued reading, and came to the tale of the Speckled Band – which takes place in tiny rooms where people get bitten by venomous snakes. I panicked, and had to be calmed down by the adults. Every other mystery had to measure up to Sherlock Holmes for years after that, until I found Dorothy Sayers. 2003-09-01 The Complete Sherlock Holmes: Volume II #d7403b 1593082045 9781593082048       1914 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9781593082048-L.jpg 752   4  
aspen-in-the-sunlight/a-family-like-none-other reviews Look, this is still farly decent in writing (though it continues the big fault of spending 90% of time on telling, not showing, and processing). But the "problems" posed are so contrived, so frustrating, that I really fail to see the point. An author is supposed to chase the protagonist up the tree and pelt them with coconuts, yes, but making the floor magically vanish, have them fall onto a tree, and have it rain coconuts is a bit much. 2020-02-29 A Family Like None Other         Like None Other 3     1786   1  
aspen-in-the-sunlight/a-summer-like-none-other reviews Doubles down on the weaknesses of the first part: excessive processing, repetitive and predictable. Okay writing, occasionally humorous dialogue, bug still little action spread out by virtue of extreme blathering. 2020-02-28 A Summer Like None Other #8a7559       Like None Other 2 2008 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416158403l/16171523.jpg 898   1  
aspen-in-the-sunlight/a-year-like-none-other reviews Decent Severitus, I suppose – okay writing, absurd amounts of processing, and follows the hurt/comfort rules to a t. 2020-02-28 A Year Like None Other #16350e     https://archiveofourown.org/works/742072 Like None Other 1 2006 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1416158195i/16171495.jpg 3160   2  
astrid-lindgren/emil-in-the-soup-tureen reviews Adorable book for kids. Emil is wonderful, as is everybody else. As usual, Astrid Lindgren doesn't flinch away from real life, so Emil is for instance regularly locked away because his parents don't know how to deal with him. ## Fun Fact Emil is called Michel in German, because [Emil](/erich-kastner/emil-and-the-detectives) was already taken. 2001-04-01 Emil in the Soup Tureen #d1c140 0670826588 9780670826582       1963 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780670826582-L.jpg 96   4  
astrid-lindgren/immer-dieser-michel reviews Michel is delightful and sweet and a prankster and a rascal. He's never malicious, but always in the thick of it. I liked him a lot, and have always been impressed how much Lindgren can make me feel like I too live on a farm in the middle of Sweden. It's all so real and true. ## Fun Fact Emil is called Michel in German, because [Emil](https://books.rixx.de/erich-kastner/emil-and-the-detectives) was already taken. 2001-12-01 Immer dieser Michel #fac122 3789129461 9783789129469         https://bilder.buecher.de/produkte/00/00358/00358471z.jpg 335   4  
astrid-lindgren/kalle-blomquist reviews My first, own, **serious** book! Serious in that it was long, and the book I got for my first day at school. Despite its length – it's a collection of three individual books – I got through it within the first week of school. I re-read it often after that. The stories are so vivid and real and relevant – Astrid Lindgren was an author who never talked down to kids, and I loved her to pieces. I read all of her books, in time. But this one, with the epic fights and discoveries and sneaking, and undiluted childhood has a very special place for me. Apparently he's known as [Bill Bergson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bergson) in English. ## Further Reading Kalle Blomquist alway stood out to me for being real in a way that other detective books did not and could not reach. The three ???, or TKKG, or similar books could not compete because they were too excited, too dramatised. The best I can recommend are all the other books by [Astrid Lindgred](https://books.rixx.de/astrid-lindgren/), who is consistently good or great. 1998-09-01 Kalle Blomquist #f5ba05 3789141305 9783789141300     1 1946 https://drop.rixx.de/ia0/ 473   5  
astrid-lindgren/lotta-on-troublemaker-street reviews Lotta and her siblings are some of Lindgren's most adorable characters. Her teddy (which looks suspiciously like a pig, but don't tell her!), her siblings, their games, their whole family – it's all lovely without being overly sweet. Lotta is very real, often angry and finds creative (and not always nice) ways to deal with her anger. And the adults are just that: adult about it. It's great. 2003-06-01 Lotta on Troublemaker Street #efce0b 0689846738 9780689846731       1958 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9780689846731-L.jpg 55   3  
astrid-lindgren/madita reviews Madita is a somewhat less intense Pippi: she has a younger sister and is up to all sorts of ridiculous nonsense, but doesn't go to society-breaking extremes. Well, usually. I really admire how Lindgren just manages to make children sound exactly their age, without making them seem stupid or annoying (much). She manages to make their thoughts relatable to anybody, and it's just magic. The German translation is also, by several accounts, really good, while you should skip the English one. 2021-01-12 Madita #bf402c 3423712694 9783423712699       1960 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9783423712699-L.jpg 222   3  
astrid-lindgren/marchen reviews Lindgren is best known for her books for children: They are beautiful, sometimes hauntingly so. They are deep and won't seem cheap after you grow up. They are always grounded in reality, and everybody talks and acts like a real person. Her fairy tales are the same, only more so. They are also grounded in reality, only in the darker and scarier parts. Children who feel alone, who are poor, who are abandoned. Children who die (never outright, but it's blatantly between the lines). Children who are poor and nearly die of a fever, and the fairy tale is their fever dream (this is my favourite one). And yet: It's never quite too dark. Both Lindgren's humanity and her grounding in reality and her dedication to storytelling always show through. I have never forgotten even a single of the stories in this book. Not all are amazing, but all are wildly above fairy tale average, and there are several that are vividly part of my … fantastical grounding? My ambient knowledge of fantasy realms? If you consider reading this book, take this as your +1. 2007-05-01 Märchen #8ada5e 378912947X 9783789129476       1989 http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/9783789129476-L.jpg 222   5  
astrid-lindgren/mio-my-son reviews Mio, my Mio. A book for children, with heart-breaking beauty. The beauty is in how it uses fairytale and lyrical resonance to spin a story that is both familiar and strange. It meant a lot to me: The unhappy boy who runs away from home, only to find out that he's the prince of a magical realm – but the realm is in trouble. There is love in every word. It's *This Is How You Lose The Time War*, only for children. 2001-02-01 Mio, My Son #ec8927 1930900236 9781930900233       1954 https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388962567l/181087.jpg 178   5  

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