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Blitz

<Bronze Donator>
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Old Man's War by Scalzi - First foray into Scalzi, so I figured I'd jump into his most famous book. Actually ended up listening to all of it on a drive to visit some family. Really enjoyed it, was simply a fun book to read/listen to. Deepest, most evolved book I have ever read? No, not at all. Just purely fun. Hoping Ghost Brigades and the rest are solid. I also have Redshirts & Fuzzy Nation of his waiting.
 
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Campbell1oo4

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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The Norman Invasion by Marc Morris - I read another book by Marc Morris called A Great and Terrible King which was very good, and so I picked this one up. Definitely a great 'story.' It is filled with great 'characters,' political backstabbing, battles, Vikings and extensive castle building. Marc Morris is an amazing writer of history, and the story of William the Conqueror is a compelling one, but I liked A Great and Terrible King more. I believe the main reason for this is because there is just more historical evidence with which Morris could flush out the 'story.'

Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell - I read this book last summer, when I was in Belgium to see the battlefield of Waterloo, but I think I appreciated it more this second time around. It is a super straightforward adventure novel with lots of sword-fighting and shooting, revenge, and fragile women. Just as Napoleon intended.
 

Void

Experiencer
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Troll Nation (Book 3 of Rogue Dungeon) by James A Hunter - Worth the read if you're invested in the previous two books, but pretty mediocre and uninspiring. I gave it 3/5, but it is barely a 2.5 really. It was way more interesting to have him level up and evolve and get more skills in the previous books. Now, I honestly didn't care about most of it.

Raze (Book 4 of The Completionist Chronicles) by Dakota Krout - Slightly more interesting than Troll Nation, but again pretty mediocre and uninspiring. Maybe I'm getting litrpg burnout, but I honestly think it is much more the fact that the authors are trying to make them more "real" books and not just litrpg, and honestly they aren't interesting enough to qualify when you have so many truly great "real" authors out there. I mean, there is still leveling up and skills advancing and such, but none of it seems very important. Truthfully, the "Everyone Loves Large Chests" stuff is vastly more entertaining to me because I'm interested in the leveling up aspect there still. 2.5/5.

Super Powereds Year 1 and Year 2 (two different books) by Drew Hayes - There are two more after these, because it is basically the four years of college at a school that also has a "Superhero Academy" or whatever you want to call it. I didn't hate them, but I'm not sure I care enough to read any more. It just isn't what I expected it to be. While some of the stuff related to powers is fun and interesting, 80% of the books could have literally been shoved into a standard "non-powered" teen "coming of age" story and no one would notice. The vast majority of the books is about teen drama, with a little bit of super powers sprinkled in. I might not be describing it very well, but I feel like this is what Sweet Valley High would be like if that author decided to include super powers. Most of the plot points revolve around typical teen/college relationship drama, just with a backdrop of maybe your girlfriend can read minds. I want it to get better, and I feel it might as they get further into school...but am I willing to take that risk? Not sure. 3/5 but only for potential. And I actually like some of the characters.

One Word Kill (Book 1 of Impossible Times) by Mark Lawrence - Yes, the Mark Lawrence who wrote The Broken Empire series (and more) which was awesome. That, and the supposed Dungeons & Dragons link, is why I was super-excited to pick this series up. I came away from the first book kind of disappointed, to be honest. Maybe most of it is my false expectations. I expected it to be somehow tied into D&D, like maybe they went into the D&D world, or I'm not really sure what, but none of that even came close to happening. I feel like someone said, "Mark, have you watched Stranger Things? I bet you could write a WAY better Stranger Things, man!" And Mark Lawrence said that yes, yes he could. Because I feel like the D&D connection is simply there to grab that Stranger Things audience, and to give him a reason to set it in the 80s. Don't get me wrong, it is miles better than the other books I've listed above; it has real skill and plot and intrigue and all that shit, because this dude can clearly write. And maybe it is my fault for having totally wrong expectations (maybe due to all this litrpg shit I've been reading). So I'm going to give it a 4/5, but I'm honestly not sure if I want to read the other two books. I know that sounds pretty strange, but I can't really explain it. My friend that read it absolutely loved it, but he doesn't read any of the litrpg stuff, and he had no predispositions of what the book was about when he started it.

God Touched (Demon Accords #1) by John Conroe - First in a series of urban fantasy that has at least ten books already out. Follows a guy that hunts demons, who saves a chick being attacked by one right at the beginning of the book, and she turns out to be the prodigal vampire Jesus basically. And she almost instantly falls in love with him, and since vampires pick one mate and then never waver, she's immediately his, no questions asked. Oh, and she's literally the most beautiful woman you've ever seen. And can absolutely destroy any other vampire in combat, despite being only 22 years old (vampires get stronger as they get older), and every other vampire either fears her or worships her. And since he got some of her blood, he transformed into some sort of super-duper demon-killing machine...oh, and he's super hot now too. I mean, to be fair, it is far more interesting than the litrpg shit I listed above, but it is one of those books where everything is super easy for the main character. I don't know if it is Harry Stu or just terrible writing, maybe a bit of both. But it is a super fast read, and it is somewhat compelling and interesting, so I've already started the second book, where it looks like the main dude has even MORE awesome abilities none of us knew about. I'd give it a 3/5 I guess, because I actually sort of enjoyed it compared to the other ones. What books like this really do, though, is piss me off that people like Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar /Richard Raley write books (The King Henry Tapes) that are vastly vastly better than this shit, but he doesn't get anywhere near the recognition. Maybe this Demon Accords stuff gets better as he writes more, but I can't see him approaching King Henry levels of entertaining.
 

velk

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God Touched (Demon Accords #1) by John Conroe - I'd give it a 3/5 I guess, because I actually sort of enjoyed it compared to the other ones. What books like this really do, though, is piss me off that people like Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar /Richard Raley write books (The King Henry Tapes) that are vastly vastly better than this shit, but he doesn't get anywhere near the recognition. Maybe this Demon Accords stuff gets better as he writes more, but I can't see him approaching King Henry levels of entertaining.

The first book is pretty bad, but they do improve, although IMO never above a 3.5 or so. Still decent popcorn action stuff. Despite the urban fantasy setup, I think the narrative arc of these is much closer to a superhero origin story. They certainly make a lot more sense that way.

From your comment on One Word Kill, I'd suggest skipping Limited Wish, as it has pretty much nothing to do with DND other than the title. I thought it was great, but it's certainly nothing like what you are after.
 
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Void

Experiencer
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From your comment on One Word Kill, I'd suggest skipping Limited Wish, as it has pretty much nothing to do with DND other than the title. I thought it was great, but it's certainly nothing like what you are after.
I will most likely finish the other two books, I just need to get my false expectations out of the way. As I said, it is a very good book, I was just expecting something totally different. No fault but my own there, really, because none of the descriptions or summaries say it is anything like what I was expecting, I just pre-supposed due to the title. And since I purposely don't read teasers and such if I already know I want to read something (as they often give away too much), I didn't even get those false notions wiped away before I started.

I do stand by my theory that he was influenced by Stranger Things somehow, though. Although I'm sure that now I'll find he actually wrote it 20 years ago or something, to make me doubly wrong about this whole series :p
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
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On my to-read-if-I-ever-manage-it pile (that still has like 30 books before)
So I am just finishing up Children of Time... imo, this is a badass book. Like, really really badass, some of the best sci fi I've read. Kind of riding that line between entertaining and realistic and pure wtf techno magic. Very excited for the sequel.
 
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slippery

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So I am just finishing up Children of Time... imo, this is a badass book. Like, really really badass, some of the best sci fi I've read. Kind of riding that line between entertaining and realistic and pure wtf techno magic. Very excited for the sequel.
First book way better than the second imo
 
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Kovaks

Mr. Poopybutthole
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I will most likely finish the other two books, I just need to get my false expectations out of the way. As I said, it is a very good book, I was just expecting something totally different. No fault but my own there, really, because none of the descriptions or summaries say it is anything like what I was expecting, I just pre-supposed due to the title. And since I purposely don't read teasers and such if I already know I want to read something (as they often give away too much), I didn't even get those false notions wiped away before I started.

I do stand by my theory that he was influenced by Stranger Things somehow, though. Although I'm sure that now I'll find he actually wrote it 20 years ago or something, to make me doubly wrong about this whole series :p
I felt the same, first one wasn't bad but just not "great" for some reason I couldn't place. I love everything else he has done so far, book of the ancestor is how you do bad ass women without any SJW feel and I cant wait for the girl and the stars but have been sitting on the last 2 of these.
 
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LachiusTZ

Rogue Deathwalker Box
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x post from Coronachan.

"one diskette"

damn that dean koontz guy been writing that long? i remember getting a few recent bestsellers of his for a plane

Since the 70s? Early 80s at the latest, maybe late 60s.

Dude is fucking old now, and got caught with TDS about 3 or 4 years ago. Now all his books are single black women struggling against corrupt magic cities of not black women etc.

By far my favorite author prior to 2015 or 2010.
 

Whidon

Blackwing Lair Raider
1,880
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A Great and Terrible King by Marc Morris

Details the life of Edward I also known as Longshanks, or the Hammer of the Scots. An amazing history book for two reasons; it is easy to follow, and the author tells a great story. I also enjoyed the concise way in which he describes English feudalism in the 1200s. I had no idea how complicated and decentralized it was. For example, there is one part in the book where Edward rides off to Wales to put down a rebellion. It takes about a year, and when he is done he returns to his court at Windsor. As soon as he is gone his borderlords start bickering with each other. How do they do this? They send armed gangs of men to the house of the other with the intention of burning it down. The book is filled with these little scenes and tidbits that make it such a fascinating read. I felt like I was visiting another world.

I found this book to be absolutely amazing and when I finished I went to amazon and bought another one by this fellow, this one about the Norman conquest.

Marengo and Hohenlinden: Napoleon's Rise to Power by James R. Arnold

Whenever you read about the Napoleon's coup it's always described as, "And then he took power." You rarely hear about the other two guys who selected Napoleon to be the poster boy of the coup, but were then pushed aside by his strong personality. This book helps elucidate some of those foggier moments of the end of first republic. All in all, I think it does an amazing job of outlining how Napoleon rose from a popular general to the First Consul of a republic that was no longer a republic. A dictator all but in name. Where this book fails is in the battle scenes. The author does a good job of leading you up to the very field of the battle, but then gets lost in the minutes. The names of both unit commanders and the specific geographically over which they fought all blended together. But as soon as the battle is over we're back into the good stuff; personality conflicts between the different generals (on both the French and Austrian side).

I have to say that I learned some very interesting things about 18-19th century warfare from this book. I'll try to be concise; Napoleonic warfare was less about destroying the enemy, than it was about scaring the enemy into running away before you got too scared and had to run away. It was, in effect, all a game of intimidation. In order to win this game soldiers were often dressed in gallant uniforms with tall hats or plumes. They would march with banners decorated with battle honors. Infantry would fire in mass to create a thunderous atmosphere, cavalry would threaten from the flanks as cannonballs whistled overhead. All together it created a frightening atmosphere for the common foot-soldier. With that in mind it makes sense that in the beginning of the book Napoleon stresses that marksmanship is not an important quality for a soldier, only discipline.

Another interesting thing I learned was the difference between the French and Austrian armies of this time. Kaiser Franz was a real paranoid guy, and routinely dismissed charismatic and successful generals from his service. This led the Austrian Army to be stocked with a bunch of old men who never made waves. On the other side, the French Army had been purged by the Terror. Many of the officers were young guys (almost all of them were in their twenties, I believe the oldest in the Italian campaign was 35 or 37). This led to a meeting of two different armies; one led by young guys who could think on their feet and the other being led by old men who had been trained to await orders whenever something on the battlefield changed. Seeing the results of Marengo and Hohenlinden, you can come to the conclusion of which system turned out to be the most effective.

Man you really seem to enjoy Napoleonic era histories. There's so many out there, but especially in English we have this romantic, yet terrifying view of the Revolution and Empire period thats based on a few book written nearly 200 years ago. Personally i really enjoy that sort of "old encyclopedia Britannica" type bias in histories. it's better the fraudulent Neutrality you often see in modern history.


A still great book on the French Revolution is Carlyle's 19th century classic. The French Revolution

I find myself trolling older 19th and 20th century histories all the time. but this one is of course timeless for a few reasons. Dickens used it for all the background and scene details set in Revolutionary paris in a "Tale of two Cities" Secondly because for about a century or so it was shockingly popular and basically the basis for most 19-20th century educated people's view of the revolutionary and Napoleonic period.

A modern reader might feel it's a bit archaic. but you can really feel how dickens took so much from this book. At it's best It's like that fake Woodrow Wilson quote about writing History with lightning and at times i can't help notice my sinus welling up a bit as i can't read many pages without thinking of the last scene and monologue from "Tale of Two Cities" that final few peoples always choke me up whenever i think of them. If like me you really enjoyed "A Tale do Two Cities" this book is basically the history bookend fit and you need to read it.

There's so many great old histories. often as good, or better then modern day ones. Written by the absolute giants of their times just wasting around on the internet and often readable for free. Whats even better is these are "Histories" in the classical sense. Modern History has become so safe and drool it's slowly killing itself.
 
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Campbell1oo4

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The Exploits of Baron de Marbot by Jean-Baptiste de Marbot

This book follows the military career of Jean-Baptiste de Marbot, who is referred to as Marcellin because everyone in France has 12 different names.

He starts off as a 16 or 17 year old kid on his way to Italy. Typical of France during the First Republic, he begins his military career as a common trooper, despite the fact his father is a baron of the ancien regime. During the first couple of chapters he is thrown under the wing of an ancient Alsatian sergeant named Pertelay, a man who spends most of his free time drinking, telling people to fuck off, and getting into fist fights with them when they don't fuck off.

I won't spoil the entire book, but Marbot sees some of the worst aspects of the Napoleonic Wars. He also undertakes some very brave actions such as saving a wounded enemy from drowning, protecting a general's son during a cavalry battle, and delivering a war declaration into the heart of Prussia.

I liked this book quite a bit, though it was an abridged version with notes. Sometimes I felt like the editor (a man named Christopher Summerville) failed to focus on the things that I really wanted to read about. He focused too much on the blood and guts of fighting, and not enough on the more human elements. If I wanted to see fighting I'd rent a war film. I'm trying to understand how these people lived their lives.

Also the last couple of chapters - covering the years 1814 and 1815 - felt really rushed. I felt like Mr. Summerville found these events tedious, and assumed the reader would as well.
 

Kharzette

Watcher of Overs
4,856
3,472
Finished a cool collection of short stories from a bunch of authors:


My friend David Benem did a story in it, so I got it for that reason, but some of the stories are really good. There's a few that are subpar but overall really great reading.
 
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Void

Experiencer
<Gold Donor>
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Finished a cool collection of short stories from a bunch of authors:


My friend David Benem did a story in it, so I got it for that reason, but some of the stories are really good. There's a few that are subpar but overall really great reading.
Well for $0 I think it is worth a purchase, thanks!
 

Ukerric

Bearded Ape
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It's been on the "to-read" folder of my ebook library for a few weeks.

Last reads were the first two volumes of David Drake's Time of Heroes, The Spark and The Storm (goodreads still thinks they're separate books). 30 years after his take on the Norse Edda in Northworld (omnibus edition is free on Baen), Drake does the same treatment on the Arthurian Myth. He takes a fantasy world that has strong science-fictional post-apocalyptic vibes, and puts Arthurian archetypal characters and stories through the grinder to make an entirely fresh version. And since it's David Drake doing it, it's of course very good. Weird, but good.

David Drake is one of those authors who can basically write anything, from alternate-history featuring roman generals allied with time-traveling AI to epic fantasy, to mil-fi, to... anything.
 

Void

Experiencer
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The first book is pretty bad, but they do improve, although IMO never above a 3.5 or so. Still decent popcorn action stuff. Despite the urban fantasy setup, I think the narrative arc of these is much closer to a superhero origin story. They certainly make a lot more sense that way.

This was your reply to my review of Demon Accords Book 1. I've since read many more, starting on 9 now (including 3.5, Black Frost), and I completely agree with you. I did give a couple of them 4*s, but most are 3s. Yet, I'm enjoying them quite a bit. The main character is pretty endearing, to be honest. He's MASSIVELY OP, but it kind of works to be fair. Granted, the books I rated at 4* were the two with Declan, the male witch/warlock, but honestly that dude is massively overpowered too. It just isn't quite as evident. Anyway, for a series of mostly 3* books, I'm burning through them, and truly enjoying it. A few things triggered the fuck out of me for several books, but those were author-related, not story-related. Like the fact that, apparently, he didn't know the difference between "arranged" and "arraigned" for like six books, and how that made it past beta readers/editors is just beyond me.

I'm also not too sure I like the way the series is headed in terms of the "bad guy" possibly being...
essentially Skynet
but he has done pretty well so far, I'll see where it goes.

The next part could be considered a little bit of a spoiler for this series, so don't read it if you intend to read these, but it is more about general themes. So, continue at your own risk, but if you read the plot summary/back jacket of any of the later Demon Accords books, you'll learn more than what I say below.

Anyway, not that anyone else will really care, but these books sort of rustle my jimmies a little bit, but not for any reasons you'd expect. Nope, I'm rustled because, for the past 30+ years, I've had two different stories rattling around in my head, wanting to get out. I've put pen to paper (so to speak) thousands of times, but never got anywhere really concrete with them, so I have no one to blame but myself and my own laziness/lack of motivation. Because, you see, one of those stories is a LOT like this series. Sure, there are some pretty big differences, but the basic premise was going to be a guy in our world of no powers that suddenly discovers he has super powers (think Superman-ish without all the bullshit powers like super breath and x-ray vision). Eventually he was going to discover that the supernatural world (vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc.) actually existed, but he wasn't any known type of them either. Eventually, he would discover that angels and demons actually exist too, and then the question would be whether or not he was perhaps one of them. And who the real bad guys are would possibly be related to that revelation. And he'd have a group of friends (based in a strip club, because I have awesomely hilarious (in my mind) scenes for some of that) that consisted of all manner of supernatural beings that help him figure out shit, just like Chris has his little team of super hotties around him. AND, my oldest drafts always included music lyrics from heavy metal songs at the beginning of each chapter, and this fucking author put some Disturbed lyrics in front of a few chapters! I'd have done it for every chapter, and he did it for like three or four, but you get the point!

Sorry, just a bit of a rant that is totally due to me being a lazy fuck. Someone was bound to write something similar eventually if I sat on it for over thirty years :( In a way I'm enjoying these books vicariously because they remind me of what mine could be, but even without that they are pretty damn good, all things considered. The writing is such that I just blast right through it without ever feeling like I'm bogged down in bullshit, but I don't skim over anything either; it all matters and is interesting to me. They are almost kind of like a mini Dresden for me. I don't know wtf I'm going to do when I finish all he's written though :( So anyway, so far (up through book 8), thumbs up from me. 3.5/5
 

velk

Trakanon Raider
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Year One/Of Blood and Bone - Nora Roberts
I read these two in honor the Coronavirus ;p

An accidental blood sacrifice in a place of power returns magic, both light and dark, to the world, along with a rapidly mutating and extremely virulent form of SARS. The majority of the world's population dies off, and the survivors are torn apart as some people begin to mutate into legendary creatures, or gain magical talents.

The first book is viral apocalypse, fall of civilization stuff, and I thought it was good. The second book was more about the training of the 'promised savior' in a post-apocalyptic setting and I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. I will probably read the final book of the trilogy when it shows up, but I'm not excited for it.

Recursion - Blake Crouch
This was an interesting book with a surprisingly unique take on time travel. Sort of the opposite of Version Control, where noone knew what was changing - in this one, everyone affected by the changes gets memories of both timelines when the time traveler returns to the present, not just the time traveler. ( The traveler having a special privilege regarding memory is a usual trope of time travel, mostly for storytelling convenience ).

Unsurprisingly this quickly escalates to complete mayhem, especially among people who do not know who is doing it.

I liked this one.

Ancient Ruins trilogy - Benjamin Medrano
A demon is trapped in a soul-and-memory draining gem by a mage; and after millenia of being trapped, the gem is accidentally cracked, allowing the demon to escape and merge with a nearby magical seed. After years of drawing mana from the surroundings, she becomes something kind of like a dryad, with enough control over her surroundings that she is mistaken as a dungeon by the first people to stumble across her.

This was good fun. I liked it enough to read the two sequels in the series. There's a prequel as well, but I haven't read that yet. Some weird quirks of the author - most of the characters in it are either lesbians, sex slaves or rapists. No actual sex, but the author has some weird ideas about relationships.

The Land: Monsters - Aleron Kong
Also known as 'Richter walks down a tunnel'. Seriously - that's the only thing that happens in the entire book. He spends the rest of the time introducing and explaining elaborate new game systems. Still readable, but pretty much a crushing disappointment after how good the previous one was.

Privateer Tales 1-4 - Jamie McFarlane
Group of graduating students have their asteroid mining station attacked by pirates. During the battle they manage to disable one of the pirate frigates with ingenious application of common tools and objects, and end up laying a salvage claim on it. For not entirely straightforward reasons, the military ship captain that comes to investigate the incident ends up granting their claim, along with a letter of marque to fight the pirates.

This is fun, relatively low stakes stuff. The ship they have is kind of a shitbucket, but they decide to go into business as armed traders, with varying degrees of success. I will probably read these rest of these.

Vampire's Kiss - Ella Summers
Fantasy post-apocalypse setting - woman in search of her kidnapped brother joins the Legion of Angels, a xenophobic military force that can only be left as a corpse. Most trainees die during training, but those that survive gain progressively stronger magical abilities.

This had potential, but exceeded my maximum threshold for gushing about hot and angsty and brooding the romantic interest is. Will probably not read sequels.

Aspirant - Harrison Rex
Blue-collar worker wakes up after his accidental death to find he is in some futuristic rpg-like trial of some sort, along with a hot naked asian. Together they face life-and-death challenges and grow stronger as they triumph.

There was a fair amount of sex in this one, but the story and characters were engaging. Will probably read sequels.

Temple of Codicius - Max Whittaker
Wronged man on a mission of vengeance against the usurper king, enters the legendary temple of codicius to face it's challenges and claim the mystical artifacts contained within. Only the artifacts are hot women, and by claim them, he means fuck them - at great length and in excruciating detail.

This was tilted waaaaay too far to the porn end of the porn vs story scale. Did not finish.

Today I am Carey - Martin L Shoemaker
Caretaker android that was designed to emulate people to make dementia patients more comfortable develops a limited sentience. No-one understands why it did, and have no success in replicating it. After the android's primary patient dies, her children buy the android and keep it around.

There is no high-stakes action in this, it's mostly a story about family, grief, empathy and caring. It is strong in what is called 'the feels' ;p

I thought this one was really good. Will keep an eye out for this author in future.

Chilling Effect - Valerie Valdes
Reformed space pirate is blackmailed into working for the galactic crime syndicate that kidnapped her sister. To no-ones surprise, the jobs become increasingly sketchy and dangerous.

This was mostly serious, but goes for the amusement through absurdity, like the shipment of psychic cats, and what has to be the worst overreaction ever to being shot-down when propositioning a woman in bar.

Not great, but good fun. Will keep an eye out for sequels.

The Ruin of Kings - Jenn Lyons
This had an unusual story structure - it's a mind-reading shapeshifter forcing their prisoner to tell their story to a magical recording device. The prisoner begins the story when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery, and the shapeshifter objects and begins to tell his story from the point of view of other people from much further back. They alternate the two story threads and timelines.

It seems a bit wanky, like Westworld, but it worked really well in practice. It helped a lot that the plot was both tight-knit and convoluted - it was almost impossible to predict where things were going, even knowing what happened several years in the future, but everything made perfect sense in retrospect.

This was great, will definitely read sequels.

Delta-V - Daniel Suarez
Near future setting - cave diver James Tighe is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame after a daring rescue during an earthquake when he's approached by an eccentric billionaire who offers to pay him a $25k bonus to sign up with his harebrained asteroid mining idea. As time goes by, Tighe becomes increasingly suspicious that everything is not on the level.

This was interesting, all very near-future plausible tech and science. Some of the real world figures being put in with name changes was kind of distracting, especially when the author had one of his fictional characters school TotallyNotElonMuskReally in a live tv debate.

Ending kind of trailed off - I am not sure if there's any planned sequels but it was enjoyable enough I'd check them out if there are.

Spinward Fringe - Randolph Lalonde
Mind-wiped spaceship captain becomes an infamous bounty hunter until one last shady job pushes him over the edge into rebellion.

This was ok, but I didn't really care about the main character's tragic backstory and found it a bit boring. Won't read the rest.

One thing that bugged me was the idea that evil-corp(tm) would care enough about bad publicity that they'd carpet bomb someone for saying bad things about them, but at the same time give so little fucks about what other people think that they'd carpet bomb someone for saying bad things about them.

------------- Web Serials ------------------------

Mother of Learning
This web serial recently finished up, which entirely fixes the biggest shortcoming of this series - the glacial update pace. If you are interested in it but don't like unfinished things, now is your chance.

Unsong
This is a completed web serial. It has a pretty unusual premise - basically, what the world would be like if the Kabbalah was literally true. All evidence that contradicts it is actually part of an incredibly complicated cosmic machine that is simulating real physics etc, which is accidentally broken when apollo 9 crashes into the crystal sphere surrounding the Earth.

It's a mix of a pretty funny story, with a more serious story, some random insanity, a lot of biblical allusion and some philosophical musings. I quite liked it, although a lot of jokes and puzzles went straight over my head due to unfamiliarity with Judaism. Probably gets extra levels of entertainment if you are Jewish.

Metaworld Chronicles
Web serial - management consultant wakes up as a teenage version of herself in a world where magic has run amok, and humanity is limited to living in heavily warded major cities, with the rest of the globe being wilderness areas infested with various powerful monsters.

The writing quality on this is absolutely terrible, the characters are flat and one-dimensional, the main character is a terrible mary-sue, the dialogue is ludicrously overdramatic, the author keeps using words he obviously doesn't understand the meaning of, the world-building is lazy, and it actually gave me the literary equivalent of the uncanny valley effect, where he went into so much detail about Australian geography and culture that the mistakes were even more painful than if he'd just winged it.

Despite this, for some reason, I enjoyed it, and have read up to current. The writing improves over the course of it, but it is trash for a long time. If the previous list of faults don't scare you off, might be worth a read.
 
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Zapatta

Krugman's Fax Machine
<Gold Donor>
76,225
396,368
Only 80 pages in, the fictional story is more a vehicle to talk about the mechanics of how the dark web and places like the silk road function and the services you can purchase on them and how they delivered. Dont know how accurate or up to date it is, and some RL jargon seems to have been renamed by the writer, but enjoying it so far.


 

Mudcrush Durtfeet

Hungry Ogre
2,428
-758
Unsong was great.

Wandering Inn is having a new mini chapter every day for a week. The author is a machine when it comes to writing chapters...