In a way this felt a lot like Red Rising. That's not a bad thing. Pretty good read, would recommend.

This is, at least to me, a fairly unique book and story. Not recommended for those that only like their books to have a happy ending. It's a frightening look at an all-too-possible future.

This was a surprising one honestly. I think I picked this up on sale through Audible, didn't know what to expect going into it. Was a genuinely surprising read.

Read this as a part of a book club. It was fine, but the characters are all so completely one-dimensional and the plot is so very forced that it made it difficult to enjoy it. Also suffers from a classic issue with books: having an antagonist that is described as charismatic that never actually comes off that way to me the reader.

Really phenomenal book here. Only my second Alistair Reynolds book and already the character work has improved significantly. I appreciate that this novel did not feel exactly the same as Revelation Space. Really ratchets up in scale, in terms of both distance and time. Doesn't spread out the story too much though, as it sticks with a core cast of characters.

Really great read. The start of the book was a little cliche but that's fine. Great sci-fi book, will look forward to it being adapted to film.

The story was pleasant enough. It's an obvious setup book for the rest of the series to follow, but it was a pretty weak book on its own. I do not think I will be sticking with the series.

Read this as a part of a book club. This one left me thinking about the book for weeks after I had finished it. Appreciated that the author was not afraid to go where others that play with time travel avoid going.

My intro to Alistair Reynolds. A whole lot of sci-fi in this sci-fi. Character work was not the best but the science aspect was phenomenal. Definitely recommend.

Started reading Revelation Space. Listening to the audiobook. Not sure if it's an issue with the material or with the narrator but so far I find my attention drifting a lot. The audio levels are also not great, with one syllable of each word highly emphasized and the rest sort of dropping off. Not sure if I'm imagining that or if it's just an accent thing.

Great debut novella from Daniel B. Greene. Really eager to get more time in this world, to learn a little bit of the lore and what came before the events of this book. Breach of Peace is a great blend of fantasy, mystery, and horror. There were a few weird things with perspective that were a little jarring. Not a big deal overall though. Definitely recommend this one.

Finally started this one. Will likely take me a while to finish these days, but looking forward to the journey.

I picked this up based on the recommendation from Daniel Greene. Unfortunately I was not as taken with it as he seemed to be. While I love the premise of the book, large swathes of the middle just felt to be dragging on to me. I was just not interested in much of what the book had to offer. The ending did provide some nice payoff though. The book is well-written and well-narrated in audio format.

Another great entry in the Bobiverse! Does manage to feel like a new story after the events of the first three books, with a focus on fewer Bobs and primarily centered around Bob. One thing did stand out to me more than in previous titles: the specific wish fulfillment of this series is just being able to solve any issue. Too many issues seem to be solved too easily.

Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit still.

Really phenomenal book. This is the first of Mary Robinette Kowal's works that I've read and it did not disappoint. The protagonist felt very realistic and grounded and like their motivations made sense. Loved the ending but could definitely see some people disliking it.

This was such a pleasure to read. I initially picked it up just because the title reminded me of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. What I found was an excellent mystery novel with masterfully handled turns and timeline. I don't read a lot of mysteries but I'm glad to have been able to enjoy this one, and would generally recommend it.

Been listening to The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle lately. Great book so far, I really have to start making more time in my day specifically for books to make up for lost commute audiobook time.

This is a really phenomenal book. So well written, the whole thing is akin to poetry. This is time travel espionage as a backdrop to a much more human story.

I finally managed to finish this one. The current state of the world has drastically reduced my audiobook listening time and so this one took a while. Absolutely fantastic series though, even if I did manage to predict a major part of the ending. Phenomenally well done.

This was an absolute blast! Great characters, great character work by the author to get you the reader to feel like you've been with these guys for ages. Super realistic dialog that will have you laughing or tearing up in equal parts. As a Wheel of Time fan, this book makes me think of the author asking "What if I wanted to do the last battle but without 13 books before it?" While the payoff is not as great, it still delivers.

I've started reading this one and am just impressed again and again by the well-written dialogue here. Not very far into it and already really enjoying this book.

This was a fairly mediocre book. Will Wheaton's narration in audiobook format was great, and had it not been for that I probably would not have kept going with the book.

Today I completed Blood of Elves, the latest #TAGBookClub book. I have to say that the writing style here is pretty different from what I'm used to for a fantasy series. The book is hyper-focused on character - and that is not at all a bad thing given how excellent these characters are. In terms of action and the advancement of a plot, there is very little that actually happens in this book. But I barely even noticed until it was over.

Started reading this for the #TAGBookClub. Had been meaning to get into this series, so this is a great excuse to do so. I'm enjoying the “booktrack edition“ on Audible, and so far the narration has been excellent. May be able to blow through this one pretty quick with the recent pandemic.

If you are a fan of epic fantasy, this series is a must-read in my opinion. Finished re-reading this earlier this month. Still such a phenomenal book and series up to this point. Hope to begin reading the next book in the series soon, being the only one I haven't read previously. An Echo of Things to Come does a great job of fleshing out more of the historical events, and in further developing a great cast of characters.

I've been re-reading this book as I work up to reading the most recent in the series. Really can't say enough good things about this series. The author does a fantastic job at world-building, and really getting across the feeling of history for the world.

Great book, very much in line with the sorts of things I would expect from Gladwell. The audiobook was phenomenal, and the influence from his podcast can definitely be felt.

His stances on some of the events that he covers in this book have caused some controversy. I can see where that controversy comes from, but Gladwell is always very intentional with his words and I feel like if he should be read with care to make sure he is fully understood.

Re-reading this one, working my way through the series since I finally got around to picking up the third in the series. One of my favorite fantasy series of recent history, I think in large part because I see a lot of Wheel of Time parallels in it. #TheLicaniusTrilogy

This one was fun! It was a pick from the #TAGBookClub. As I typically do, I took this one in through audiobook format and the narration by Starla Huchton was excellent. The action basically never stopped and the interactions between Amaranthe and the other characters were all great. Big Heist Movie vibes in a good way. Not a book that I would have picked up on my own, but glad that I read it.

Would recommend.

Great book overall. Listened through Audible with the excellent narration by Rosario Dawson. She nails it. Great to see Andy Weir get to try his hand at a full cast of characters, it feels like I've just seen him get significantly better as an author from The Martian to Artemis.

Will be reading this sometime this month as a part of the book club at The Adult Gamer. #TAGbookclub

Cringe-inducing dialogue, curse-inducing pacing, and characters about as deep as my sink. I wouldn't call myself a fan of the action archaeology genre, but I couldn't recommend this one to anybody. #TAGbookclub

Really struggling to keep on reading this one. #TAGbookclub