Blood of Dragons

Robin Hobb

Book 4 in the Rain Wilds Chronicles

The wrap up of the story, the most dragon-like dragons we have yet seen as they thrive in the city built for them. And the keepers are turning to true elderlings, both from the dragons guidance and from the city memories they are partaking. Everyone is growing -- not together or apart, just growing. And the new rules are developing too as these dragons have also changed because of their journey. The down river intrigue is thicker, begging for a dramatic dragon intervention. I guess it is a sign of a well built world that even when everything in the end is solidly resolved, we still want to know more about the characters and where they go next. A bittersweet ending for the reader in that way. 

3 stars (out of 4)

City of Dragons

Robin Hobb

Book 3 in the Rain Wilds Chronicles

How do the dragons get to Kelsingra? Well, they must fly of course. And when they do, the keeper/dragon relationship changes. Add to that the parallel stories of what is happening down river in the Rain Wilds, and further down river in Chalced with the Duke who seeks dragon parts for healing. This definitely feels like an interstitial book, the big middle. But Hobb moves the story along and begins the weaving of plots that will be necessary for the big resolve. If the last book collapsed to a single thread, this book puts everything back on the loom. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Dragon Haven

 Robin Hobb

Book 2 in the Rain Wilds Chronicles

Book 2 collapses to a single story -- the keepers and dragons walking upriver to find Kelsingra. This is the story of their journey, their developing of community and the revealing of more secrets than they wanted. Alise and Sedric find their home, and the keepers are gaining confidence in their new selves. Tragedy and trauma force the issue, but in the end, the quest is (mostly) fulfilled as the caravan reaches nearish to Keslingra. At least, they can see it across the river.  

3 stars (out of 4)

The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life afterAI

Cory Doctorow

Renown sci-fi writer offers up a hot new take on the current state of the world vis-á-vis the AI invasion. Doctorow is not necessarily anti-AI, but he is decidedly anti-power and anti-techbro. He lays out a pretty clear picture of the status quo, describing the relationship between users, tech developers, content creators, copyright and money. In a nutshell, the thesis is:

When using technology, don't simply think about what the technology can do, consider who it is doing for and who it is doing to. 

This thinking will really lay bare the true purposes, the money trail and what to watch out for with nearly any technology. And probably also any legislation, new product, etc. It is a very fast read and since it makes you think, well worth it. 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Dragon Keeper

Robin Hobb

Book 1 in the Rain Wilds Chronicles

It took a minute to get invested, but this has all the things I like in a good fantasy epic. Several stories running parallel that we know will merge or intertwine at some point. An interesting new take within a fabulous new world. In the Rain Wilds, a new batch of dragons has metamorphed, the first in a generation. Unfortunately, most of them are malformed or weak, can't fly. The characters we are following include Thymara (a Rain Wilds touched young girl who volunteers to travel with the dragons),  Sintara (a dragon queen, one of the strongest of the small herd), Alise (a woman in a horrible marriage, but a self-taught dragon expert), and the Tarman (a liveship barge with its own secrets). In this installment, the characters are all introduced and join together for their quest for Kilsingra, the mythical dragon/Elderling city. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Code Girls

Liza Mundy

The Code Girls are the thousands of women who were recruited in WWII to work for the Army or Navy intelligence services on breaking codes and ciphers of Germans and Japanese. It is a well researched book and relies heavily on personal statements by the participants. We hear not only the story of the development of codebreaking skills, but also of life for women in the service during the war, the friendships that developed, and the massive & unifying effort that the war was. No-one in the US was not a participant or affected somehow. A fabulous telling of history for the next generations. The downside is the lack of a narrative thread. There are so many people involved (which is part of how astounding everything is) that there are too many to keep track of, and the resulting story is a meander through time and space that isn't always linear enough to be a story.

3 stars (out of 4)

The Warrior's Apprentice

Lois McMaster Bujold

Book 3 of The Vorkosigan Saga

Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is of age and planning to join the military academy. Since the emperor is also of age and inhabiting the throne, his dad is no longer the regent, but is named the Prime Minister. When Miles fails his test (his bones just can't hack it), he and Ellen (Sgt Bothari's girl and fellow Escobar War baby raised like Miles in a uterine replicator) travel to Beta Colony to visit Miles' grandmother. A series of chance meetings put Miles and Ellen on a ship to Tau Colony and their local war. Miles military logician mind get shown off as he "accidentally" creates a mercenary army and stops the planetary war. Of course there are repercussions when he gets home, but boy was that fun...

3 stars (out of 4)

Barrayar

Lois McMaster Bujold

Book 2 of The Vorkosigan Saga

Vorkosigan is named the Regent for the new Emperor (4 years old) and Naismith is his new bride. As near as I can tell, Barrayar is some version of a Tsar led Russia, with the Emperor holding together a tenuous cease of violence by the local oligarch/counts. Of course everyone assumes that Vorkosigan will seek to hold the throne when the Emperor comes of age, and therefore the next 16 years will be one assassination attempt after the other. When everything kicks off, it is Naismith who discovers and quells the rebellion with daring commando excursions behind enemy lines. For a space opera, this episode takes place entirely on planet...

What is strange about the Saga is the availability. I actually had to buy a paper version of this book since it was not available in my library. Strange, and likely to mean I won't be reading the entire series. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Shards of Honor

Lois McMaster Bujold

Book 1 of The Vorkosigan Saga

Commander Cordelia Naismith is a survey leader on a planet that is at the terminus of a "new" wormhole. She and her team are surveying the flora and fauna, the geology and preparing a report to the Beta Colony administrators so the planet is registered. They are attacked, and while most of her team gets away in the shuttle, she and one team member are injured and then rescued? by a Commander Vorkosigan, who seems to have also been left on the planet for dead by his Barrayaran buddies. Vorkosigan and Naismith turn out to be birds of a feather in terms of how they view the human condition, meaning they are fighting the same war, even though their political affiliations have put them on opposite sides. Maybe this is soft sci-fi, with the plasma reflectors and wormholes and arc guns and nerve disruptors just showing up where convenient.  But it is a fast read and sets the stage for an epic space opera series.

3 stars (out of 4)

Artemis

Andy Weir

This book was written between The Martian and Project Hail Mary. It is a departure for Weir, since it includes more than one character, but is still all about innovation and creativity and problem solving. Here we follow Jazz, a teenaged resident of the Artemis, the only permanent colony on the Moon. In the afro-sci-fi tradition, the colony was created and is managed by Kenyan Space Corp, which is a global space power. But really, earth is only a side character here. Jazz has lived nearly her whole life in Artemis and, like all teens, pushes against the hopes and expectations of her family and those in authority. Jazz's most hated comment to receive is "you have so much potential". She is forging her own path, wanting to get EVA certified, and has her side gig of smuggling contraband into Artemis. And then she gets pulled into a massive scheme to alter everything. Of course, it goes FUBAR and Jazz utilizes her engineering brain and her friends to save the day. Pretty fun, but for some reason not "page turner" like the other Weir novels. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Falling Free

Lois McMaster Bujold

The start of a space opera known as The Vorkosigan Saga, this book is the first chronologically, but stands alone from the series as having taken place 200 years before anything else. The world allows for wormhole travel, so the setting is a remote system with a planet that is purely a resource mine for, in this case, Galactech Corporation. Engineer Leo Graf arrives to a new job posting on an orbiting habitat in this system, and finds that the habitat is a genetic engineering home for "Quaddies", people who have been "manufactured" with four arms for appendages (instead of 2 arms, 2 legs). They are Galactech's foward thinking solution to space construction and there are now 1000 quaddies on the habitat (all 15 years or younger). Just before they are about to take on their first paying job, political and economic winds shift turning this into a story of independence and revolution. Bujold does a pretty good job with the hard science part of the sci-fi, and keeps the engagement high with the storyline. I'll be giving the rest of the series a try. 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Rage of Dragons

Evan Winter

Book 1 of The Burning Series

Fantasy novel where an entire people (The Omehi) have traveled across the sea to escape what I can only guess is some sort of magic induced plague. In their new land, they are not welcome and are immediately thrust into a 200 year war, where we pick up. The Omehi are a highly caste structured society, and our protagonist is Tau, a Lesser. Tau has noble friends, but has no real tolerance for caste castigation, which of course gets him into trouble. He joins the military and becomes a phenomenal fighter, taking advantage of the "magic source" in ways that others can't or won't.  In the end, Tau learns that he is not the only one who has concerns about caste, not the only one who questions the magic source, and not the only one fully gutted by the cost of war and violence. 

I'll definetly keep up with the series, but since Books 3 and 4 are not yet published, no hurry...

3 stars (out of 4)

Lotus and Thorn

Sara Wilson Etienne

Set on an expeditionary planet undergoing the woes of colonization, we are introduced to two populations. Those who live in the dome, protected from the elements and controlling all technology, and those living outside the dome, exposed to the elements. Sometime in the past a disease called Red Death decimated the population of the colony and now the outsiders scavenge old civilization for technology so they can trade the domers for food. Classic colonization power dynamics. And classic uprising/hero story. Etienne develops the characters well and gets buy in on the story. She has created a mystery (what is actually going on in the dome) that sustains the plot. While somewhat typical in the dystopian YA world, I found myself attached and read through pretty quickly. 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Invisible Man

H.G. Wells

A man has made himself invisible, thinking of all the benefits this would entail in his personal wealth and power. The story begins with the man experiencing all the detriments that were overlooked in his quest. Sort of a tragicomedy, I can imagine these themes being a modern telling of a Shakespeare story. As the story progresses, the protagonist becomes more and more convinced of his "right to power" which only makes things worse for him. Great short read - I'm surprised it took me this long...

3 stars (out of 4)

Karen Memory

Elizabeth Bear

Set in the NW in the 1800's where lawman Bass Reeves is a legend, but with a subtle steampunk thread including mechanical surgical machines, airships and tesla coils. The protagonist is Karen Memory, a young woman working in a brothel. She meets Reeves and helps solve a series of murders while protecting other young women and learning her own loves and passions in life. Pretty fun, easy read. 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Brass Giant

A Chroniker City Story - Book 1

Brooke Johnson

A cyberpunk feel set in an early 20th century London where mechanism is king. The engineering college is the highest caste and Petra Ward is going to find a way in. Unfortunately, she is battling history since women are not allowed to be engineers. But when a self driven automaton walks by with a bunch of engineering students, she puts herself in the middle of the pack, knowing they will mock her and knowing that she sees a better way to build the thing. Fast forward and she gets involved with a project to do exactly that, but as with everything mechanical and political (and we see this coming a mile away) machines always end up being made for war. Petra, like many scientists and engineers, struggles with the love of discovery and knowledge and the ethical implications of her work. Sort of a lightweight, YA writing style. Not sure if it is engaging enough to continue the series. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Sourdough: A Novel

Robin Sloan

Set in the tech world of Silicon Valley, Lois is a programmer working for a robotics startup. The goal is to develop robot arms that can reliably reproduce repetitive human motion in the workforce. In typical startup fashion, Lois lives her work - long days, no social life, the apartment is really just a place to crash between work sessions. Into this world breaks a local food delivery with the best spicy soup and sourdough bread in the existence of humanity. When the owners of the restaurant move back to europe, Lois is bequeathed a starter of the sourdough, and the charge to keep it alive. So begins the life-changing journey of sourdough. For the first 2/3 of the book, this is a fascinating story and really an enjoyable read. Completely believable in the wacky silicon valley trope. Unfortunately, the last 1/3 makes a major shift and starts telling a story from the perspective of the sourdough culture itself. It just gets weird and (for me) was not meaningful at all. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Spinning Silver

Naomi Novik

In the same vein as Uprooted, Novik has created a magical fantasy world with flavors of Polish culture. Miryam is a Jewish moneylender. She picked up the trade from her father, who was not good at it, and from her Grandfather, who was. She lives in the rural villages an is finally making enough to feel comfortable. That is when the Staryk notice her, and make a deal with her to turn silver into gold. Miryam doesn't know the rules of the Staryk world and what it means to make a deal. She is pulled into a conflict that will either destroy all humanity in her country, or save it from endless winter. Enthralling. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Midnight Bargain

C.L. Polk

A magical fantasy world set around the Bargaining Season, the six weeks of the year where all the wealthy and important men spend time courting the wealthy and important women in order to secure a spousal match that benefits the family. Often these matches are arranges to that women who have the ability to do magic are paired with men who are mages in order to further strengthen the magical genetics. The problem is that since pregnant women are in danger of having their fetus taken over by a spirit, they are warded from all magic during their childbearing years. And for Beatrice, who's only purpose in life is to wield magic, to become a mage who partners with a greater spirit, this arrangement is unacceptable. Using magic wielding as the mechanism by which we can explore women's autonomy makes this less about the mechanics of the magic and more about the social structures that Beatrice (and we) are subject to and perpetuate. Polk offers all the right perspectives and sadly ends up exactly where you would expect, with the masses of men unable to comprehend a different way of life. But the journey is fun and exploring the spirit / corporeal mixing reveals the extent to which Polk is a great storyteller.

3 stars (out of 4)

Thornhedge

T. Kingfisher

A tower in a wasteland surrounded by an impenetrable hedge (yes...) of thorns. The narrator is a beautiful woman who is a changeling (her name is Toadling) and throughout the story, we get her point of view and through flashback her origin story. Upon this scene comes a knight of ill fortune who has read old stories of a princess in this tower. He has come to investigate/rescue/explore. Basically, he is bored (he doesn't like the "normal" knight stuff) and curious. An interesting variation on the Sleeping Beauty theme which is fun, but not enthralling. 

3 stars (out of 4)