Reviews and Comments

Abstract Reader

abs@books.ihatebeinga.live

Joined 2 years, 11 months ago

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reviewed The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (The Goblin Emperor, #1)

Katherine Addison: The Goblin Emperor (Hardcover, 2014, Tor) 5 stars

A vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics in a steampunk-inflected world, by …

Surprisingly comforting

5 stars

It starts out reading like a palace intrigue story, with many scary and daunting things looming in the future of the protagonist, once he starts making friend and allies, things turn around for him. The last ~100 pages are just pleasant pay off for all the characters introduced and bonds built, which was very pleasant to read. All of it still feels earned as well.

Glen Cook: The Black Company (The Chronicles of the Black Company #1) (1984, Tom Doherty Associates Book) 4 stars

Some feel the Lady, newly risen from centuries in thrall, stands between humankind and evil. …

Strange but fun

4 stars

The narration style takes a little bit to get used to and things are very confusing at first. However, it becomes great quite quickly. There are a lot of short timeskips in the book which mean you only every read some of the most exciting bits of this story.

Benjamín Labatut: The MANIAC 2 stars

A prodigy whose gifts terrified the people around him, John von Neumann transformed every field …

Ruined by technical inaccuracies

2 stars

The book generally is a fun fictionalization of von Neuman's life and work. However, many small inaccuracies in the explanations of the various technical topics central to the plot ruined the experience for me.

reviewed Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Imperial Radch, #1)

Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice (Paperback, 2013, Orbit Books) 5 stars

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing …

Excellent!

5 stars

Content warning extremely mild spoilers

Charles Stross: Accelerando (2005, Ace Books) 5 stars

The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits …

Excellent post-singularity SciFi

5 stars

Fascinating work of speculative SciFi. Also a lot of fun because it fundamentally embodies many of the outmoded ideas/ideologies of early-2000s open source enthusiasts. Absolutely worth reading.

reviewed Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe (The Book of the New Sun)

Gene Wolfe: Shadow & Claw (Paperback, 1994, Orb Books) 4 stars

Shadow and Claw is an omnibus of the first two books of Gene Wolfe's Book …

Fascinating worldbuilding

4 stars

This book features a somewhat mysterious story in an intriguing combination of fantasy and post-singularity science fiction. Many concepts are only ever half explained, adding to the intrigue. The prose is quite beautiful, too!