Reviews and Comments

Another book I'm reading because of the Hugo nomination. This wasn't quite as much of a "nothing" novel as I was expecting. It has some real heart and a lot of great found family aspects. I did especially appreciate the way the villain was dealt with at the end. This is a very enjoyable book and I look forward to more from Baldree. Like the 4 other nominees I've read this year, this book just doesn't do anything that I feel a "Best Novel" should be doing. I need to write a longer post on that, but the review of the book isn't the place for it.

I was not intending to read this, but did since it was nominated for the Hugo Best Novel. I read Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's earlier novel and thought it was just ok, but had been told by a co-worker this was a stronger book. Unfortunately, I didn't come away with that same opinion. There was no suspense, no big twist or revelation, and the final quarter of the book seemed to drone on forever. I know there is a lot of love out there for this book, but none from me.

This is the third of Sanderson's "Secret Novels" and the strongest so far. It starts off slower than the previous two, but ultimately builds more emotional attachment between the reader and the characters than its predecessors. I do like that Sanderson is wringing some things that aren't of epic scope (and length), but still tell an good story with impressive worldbuilding.

This book brought the series to a satisfying end. My only complaint is that the whole thing seems to run long with a lot of repetition. Probably about a third of the entire saga could have been cut. But still a fun ride regardless.

I love the world Malka Older created and the two main characters are wonderful. But I would have liked the story to be longer. The resolution felt very rushed.

Mostly a rom-com, but slides into science fiction a little, with just a pinch of social activism. The less you know going into it, the better.

This is one of my favorite books from 2022. It investigates how difficult communications will be when the two parties have almost no common reference. It takes a swipe (perhaps not intentionally) at the books and movies where alien communication moves rapidly from no commonality to complete sentences conveying complex abstract topics. Along with language, the book also explores consciousness and what makes a person a person.

The environmental message never feels heavy handed, and while it often paints a disturbing picture, it also offers a hopeful outlook.

As I neared the end I worried that it would take a sloppy shortcut to wrap up so much, but the ending was quite satisfying, although perhaps not in the ways I was expecting.

This is incredibly imaginative, but sometime maybe too smart for its own good. There are parts that don't make a lot of sense and are occasionally a slog to get through, but they all weave together by the end. There is a lot of insightful commentary on the current state of social media, and this was published before Musk took over Twitter. This is likely to be one of the 6 novels I nominate for the 2023 Hugo (assuming nominations ever open).

As always, Annalee Newitz is astoundingly smart. She fills this book with many interesting ideas. Unfortunately, the story she writes around the ideas in this book is a little weak. The most notable example is in the first section where two factions have little reason to trust each other, yet they do so in only a couple pages.

Terraformers is still worth reading for the concepts, but Newitz's previous two works of fiction are easily superior.