Book Review

#Fantasy Worth Reading: The Invisible Library #BookReview

Book Review, Fantasy, Science Fiction Books, Speculative Fiction / /

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman is a delightful cozy mystery fantasy. Cozy fantasy is my favorite genre of fantasy.

Irene is a Librarian who works for a mysterious organization called the Library. Her job is to travel to different worlds and collect rare books for the Library’s collection. Along the way, she teams up with a dashing apprentice named Kai for a mission to a very chaotic world. Chaos worlds are rife with fantastical creatures such as fae and vampires.

The concept of a library that exists outside of time and space, with the ability to travel to alternate worlds, is both intriguing and highly imaginative. The author does an excellent job of fleshing out the details from the different factions within the Library to the various magical creatures that inhabit the alternate worlds.

The characters in The Invisible Library are fabulously fun. Irene is strong and resourceful and is both competent and likable. Kai, her apprentice, provides a perfect complement for her, with his devil-may-care attitude and penchant for trouble. The relationship between the two is well-developed and provides a solid emotional anchor for the story.

The plot is well-paced and kept me engaged throughout. The mystery at the heart of the story is juicy, and the various twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. The balance between action and exposition is wonderful.

Highly recommended! And, there are lots more books in this series. If you like the Thursday Next novels, you’ll enjoy this one. Here’s the blurb:

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it’s already been stolen.

London’s underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.

Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself…

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#SciFi Worth Reading: Klara and the Sun #BookReview

Book Review, Science Fiction Books / /

best in science fiction book review Klara and the SunKlara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

If you’re looking for a science fiction worth reading book, this is a novel you won’t want to miss. This thought-provoking and deeply emotional, this work of fiction is a testament to the power of storytelling, and it explores themes of love, sacrifice, and what it means to be human.

Set in a not-too-distant future, Klara and the Sun follows the story of an Artificial Friend named Klara, who is designed to provide companionship to children. Through her unique perspective, Klara becomes increasingly aware of the complexities of human emotions and relationships.

Ishiguro is a master storyteller, and his writing style is both sparse and precise, yet it conveys a tremendous amount of emotion and depth. His ability to peel away layers of the story, revealing unexpected depths and complexities, is truly remarkable. The result is a wothy work of science fiction that transcends the genre and speaks to the human experience.

The novel is a reminder that even in a world that is increasingly driven by technology, human emotions and relationships remain at the heart of our existence. That’s a worthy epiphany to walk away with and chew on when reading time is over.

Overall, Klara and the Sun is a science fiction worth reading that deserves all the accolades it has received. It is a deeply moving and engaging work of fiction. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant read.

Book Blurb:

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

 

 

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Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory, A Murderbot Short Story: #BookReview #scifi #scifibooks #sciencefiction #BookLover

Book Review, Science Fiction Books, Space Opera / /

“Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory” by Martha Wells was a treat I saved for my first chemo treatment. What better companion for battle than Murderbot? Of course, I loved it. Murderbot is my new obsession. As a treat, I pre-ordered the next book due out at end of November. Not only am I excited about the new novel, but I’ll be done with chemo then, done with surgery, and done or nearly done with radiation. So come quickly end of November!

“Home” is a fascinating and thought-provoking short story that expands the world of the Murderbot series in new ways. Unlike previous installments, the story is not told from Murderbot’s perspective, but rather from the point of view of Dr. Mensah, the human who freed him at the end of book one. This story takes place between books 1 and 2 in the timeline.

The story explores the concept of “home” and what it means for different characters in the series. From the perspective of humans, “home” can be a place of safety and security, while for bots like Murderbot, it can be a more elusive concept, tied more to personal freedom and autonomy.

One of the strengths of “Home” is Wells’ ability to create vivid and compelling characters in just a few pages. Despite the brevity of the story, each character is well-drawn and fully realized, with their own motivations and desires.

Wells continues to expand and deepen the world of the series. The themes of family, belonging, and identity are explored in a nuanced and compelling way, making for a satisfying and thought-provoking read.

If there’s one downside to “Home,” it’s that the story is over too soon. Of course, I wanted more. I always want more Murderbot. For a person who doesn’t usually care for robot stories, I’m quite surprised that this series has become such an obsession for me. This story made me laugh out loud a few times. Not an easy feat with chemo drugs being pumped into your veins. Murderbot is always good for some laughs. It has a sense of humor. So yeah, go read you some Murderbot.

 

 

Ooo! And here’s the cover of the next one. Can’t wait!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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#ScfiFi Worth Reading: Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits #BookReview

Book Review, Science Fiction Books / /

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong is a wild and imaginative ride through a futuristic world filled with colorful characters and over-the-top action. The story follows Zoey, a young woman who is thrust into a world of danger and intrigue when her estranged father is killed and she inherits his role as the leader of a powerful crime family.

As Zoey inherits the complex and often dangerous world of the future, she encounters a cast of memorable characters, including gangster-like employees, comic book-like villains, and a group of misfits who are all fighting for their own piece of the action. The dialogue is clever and the plot is full of twists and turns, making for a highly entertaining read.

Overall, I really enjoyed Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits and would highly recommend it to fans of science fiction and action-packed novels. David Wong has created a unique and immersive world that is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish. If you’re looking for a fun and fast-paced read, this book is definitely worth checking out.

 

Here’s the official blurb:

Nightmarish villains with superhuman enhancements.

An all-seeing social network that tracks your every move.

Mysterious, smooth-talking power players who lurk behind the scenes.

A young woman from the trailer park.

And her very smelly cat.

Together, they will decide the future of mankind.

Get ready for a world in which anyone can have the powers of a god or the fame of a pop star, in which human achievement soars to new heights while its depravity plunges to the blackest depths. A world in which at least one cat smells like a seafood shop’s dumpster on a hot summer day.

This is the world in which Zoey Ashe finds herself, navigating a futuristic city in which one can find elements of the fantastic, nightmarish and ridiculous on any street corner. Her only trusted advisor is the aforementioned cat, but even in the future, cats cannot give advice. At least not any that you’d want to follow.

Will Zoey figure it all out in time? Or maybe the better question is, will you? After all, the future is coming sooner than you think.

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Science Fiction Worth Reading: Project Hail Mary #BookReview #scifi #sciencefiction

Book Review, Science Fiction Books, Space Opera / /

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is an engrossing read. He has a real flare for writing hard science fiction and making it exciting and readable. I liked it as much as The Martian.

It was full of adventure and problems and solutions through science. One surviving scientist wakes from an induced coma with no memory and has to solve humanity’s biggest dilemma. Then he discovers he’s not alone.

What started as a bleak mission – a suicide mission to hopefully save Earth and humanity – ended up being inspiring and full of hope. Weir shows us how humans can be low and how we can be at our best. Why can’t we always be so amazing, question? (You’ll get that when you read the book)

If you loved The Martian, you’ll love this book, too. We spend most of the story in space and discover new life and new worlds. Discovery of new life and worlds is my favorite part of sci-fi, so I was glad to see those two things in this story. Usually, I find a lot of award-winning books don’t stand up to the hype, but this one does.

Here’s the official blurb:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

 

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#SciFi Worth Reading: A Desolation Called Peace #BookReview #booklovers

Book Review, Science Fiction Books, Space Opera / /

Book 2 in the Teixcalaan series, A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, is an exciting return to the Empire.  Detailed and imaginative, her world-building is extraordinary and thought-provoking.

Having enjoyed the first book, I was keen to delve into the second. I think this book is actually better than the first. Perhaps because I didn’t have to work as hard to understand the world and people she created. I already knew them. But I also think the story is better.

Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass team up once again to help negotiate with an enemy that inspires fear among the most hardened war veterans.

Don’t ask me how to pronounce a lot of names, but it was easy to fill in my own pronunciations, which I’m sure are very wrong. But that doesn’t matter. The story is beautiful and the language often aching. The Empire loves its poetry, and I feel as if the story immerses me in the culture of the Empire and that I see it through the lens of their poetry. It’s quite an extraordinary feat in writing.

I definitely recommend reading this one, especially if you liked the first, A Memory Called Empire.

Here’s the official description:

An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options.

In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass—still reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empire—face the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity.

Their failure will guarantee millions of deaths in an endless war. Their success might prevent Teixcalaan’s destruction—and allow the empire to continue its rapacious expansion.

Or it might create something far stranger . . .

 

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