Jules > Recent Status Updates

The pick for my sci-fi book club and I'm already chafing at the bit at not having free will about what to read. I'm in a stressful period of my life and I want to read to relax, damnit, not too think about science all the time. Damn, that book club adores their hard sci-fi.

Mycroft Canner strikes me as a fedora-tipping m'lady type who starts talking to you on your way to the bathroom, who thinks his only way to impress you it's by name-dropping famous people and how cool they think he is, while never telling anything about himself. He's like this weird try-hard Mary Sue and I still resent that I keep on reading for the amazing world building.

What is going on? Why am I reading this? Why do I keep on reading this? I'm pretty sure I'm not having a good time, but somehow I keep coming back for more, hoping it'll finally become a kind of story any moment now. This book is keeping me hostage, send help!

I just finished chapter 1 and it was an electrifying read! My initial skepticism ("Oh really? Heart of Darkness in space?") was quickly washed away by the intensity of the narration. I adore stories with an anthropology feel that explore the logic of mysterious and unknown peoples, so the Bikura were of great interest to me. This is turning into a horror book!

"Bruise-black clouds silhouetted a forest of giant gymnosperms while stratocumulus towered nine kilometers high in a violent sky."

I hit a low point after that sentence, but I made myself believe the Consul is just a bit of a pompous ass and it gets better - and it really does!