Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory

Martha Wells

Book 7 in The Murderbot Diaries

Not even a novella, this is a very short story. Murderbot and Dr. Mensah have a moment of shared PTS and begin to explore their value to each other as survivors. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Civilizations

Laurent Binet

I had heard about this awhile back and had been looking forward to it. The basic premise -- if the "new world" civilizations had come across the Atlantic to colonize the "old world". And I love alternate histories, so it is right up my alley. The specifics: Two Inca brothers are ruling the empire and a civil war results from their disagreements. When one brother is on the brink of decimation, he utilizes some of the ships from the Columbus expedition to escape and seek out new land to rule. He and his 200 or so followers end up in Portugal, where a land devastated by plague and internal conflict is easily conquered. We then see play out the development of how a new power integrates to the French/English/Spanish/Rome/etc. machinations. 

Observations that I enjoyed: Machiavelli becomes a sort of strategist for this new ruler, the Inca are ultimately interested in egalitarian society (farming, freedom of religion, shared resources) and not a power acquisition society, Luther/Rome don't come of looking so good (which is probably true to history), the colonial desires of European countries is not erased.

Unfortunately, the novel didn't end strong. I could have done with a more detailed vision about how things worked well, or went of the rails, or ended up the same anyway. But instead, Binet ended without a real vision, opting instead for a vignette of life for one particular character involved in all the plot lines from the periphery. But overall, fun to imagine...

3 stars (out of 4)

Happy-Go-Lucky

David Sedaris

Continuing his m.o. of memoir style collections of stories (a la Calypso), Sedaris provides as series of vignettes ranging from Covid stories to family relationships. His observations are astute, funny, personal, occasionally revealing his generational point of view and insightful snippets of the American condition. 

4 stars (out of 4)

The Mask Falling

Samantha Shannon

Book 4 of The Bone Season series

Having defeated the poltergeist that powered SenShield, Paige, Scion's most wanted voyant, is whisked off to Paris. She is connected with Domino, an international intelligence operation working to destabilize Scion, and she is working on her own to connect with the French voyant society. Warden has traveled with her as her bodyguard / fellow revolutionary. And the twists keep coming. Paige begins to fully embrace her role as Black Moth, Underqueen the London. She is learning about international politics, and reliving the french version of her experience in Sheol. Shannon does a great job of keeping this story interesting and new, with each reveal feeling necessary and natural. In hindsight, this does feel like a filler book in the story arc. But you have to have that at some point in a 7 book series. Now just to wait until the end of the decade for the remaining volumes to be written. 

4 stars (out of 4)