Welcome to Litsy!

"... I have a briefing with the president in exactly half an hour, and because we all know he doesn't bother to read the daily intelligence briefing, it will fall to me to explain what the hell is going on. So explain it to me. Use small words on me so I can use smaller words on him...."

Mr Scalzi, you scare me. This book is supposed to be published next spring. Means you wrote it last year(?).

Opened my #NetGalley account to check the pub day of a different #ARC and finding this new addition to #MountARC ???

"One day, suddenly and without explanation, the moon turns into a ball of cheese.
For some, it‘s an opportunity. For others, it‘s time to question their life choices. How can the world stay the same in the face of such absurdity and uncertainty?"

Pub Day for UK is 27 March 2025

Two books I bought today judged solely by their covers.

The Alien Way has a cover by my favourite sci fi artist, Bruce Pennington, so the contents are secondary, but for what it's worth, it's an alien invasion story which sounds like it could be pretty good.
A Book of the Sea beguiled me with that sailing ship, but the contents are not short stories, which I'd assumed, but extracts from longer works, which I tend not to like, but 🤷‍♂️

As we know, 2001 as a novel/movie was a collaboration between Clarke and Kubrick. Without being similarly handcuffed for the sequel, we get a much more exciting story. Clarke loves to write about the pioneering spirit and endeavour of the human race but he simultaneously captures the sense of wonder and how small and insignificant we are within the vastness of space and time. Clarke is the speculative Galactus of sci-fi writing. Superb book.

When a scientist claims to have invented a machine that will create wormholes at the touch of a button, three different political systems send operatives to retrieve the device and the scientist. Mayhem, betrayals, unexpected alliances and murder happens as they vie to control this incredible device.

Interesting and fun, with lots of humor amidst the mayhem.

#Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

I technically rated How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen higher than Gravity Lost, but since this has ended up being an entirely fiction board, I think I'll stick with that theme (and maybe create a second non-fiction bracket for myself)

#readingbracket2024 #bookbracket2024 @CSeydel

93/150 Sequels are rarely better than the first book, but as much as I loved The Blighted Stars, I think this one was even better. The war against the canus goes on, with people switching sides and switching bodies. I think the author made a mistake by "killing" the main antagonist in this chapter. He was clever and dangerous, a perfect foil for Naira and Tarquin. There is an unusually upbeat and optimistic conclusion ⬇️

I really enjoyed the audiobook version of The Blighted Stars, and I couldn't wait to dive into the sequel. I'm only 2 hours into it, but I'm happy to say, so far, it has been as good as the first book.

4.5/5

The ambit crew is back and has been blackmailed to jail-break the man they just took into custody.

This is quickly becoming a favorite sci-fi series for me. It has found family, high stakes space battles, an AI ship captain, and a very fun collection of characters.

As in Pratt's delightful Doors of Sleep series, this book features a cheerful, kind protagonist who finds himself hopping across worlds. Glenn's getting his PhD at UC Santa Cruz when he learns his girlfriend (& domme) Vivy is actually a freedom fighter for the Interventionists, a group dedicated to stopping the spread of fascism between worlds. It is in no way explicit, but it's funny how the kink is a more surprising plot point than, say, aliens.