Lowell > Recent Status Updates

Bleak, brilliant.

It rides that deepest line between cyberpunk and hard SF beautifully.

Do recommend.

I came into this expecting a good time and not much more.

This is far better than that. If it keeps up at this pace and quality it will easily be a five star read.

Metafictional mysteries are sooooo in right now. Okay, it’s not like they’ve ever gone out of style.

This was a snarky good time (with footnotes).

This was amusing, and It's easy to tell that the author deeply loves some of the silly-ass shonen jump style assassin anime and manga out there. Not mind-blowing, but a good time.

I have been waiting for this book for five years.

Hell yes.

Well….

That…
Umm.

Holy exposition dumps, Batman!

Amusing. Not particularly deep, but a fun romp. 3.5/5

After a couple false starts, I finished listening to this one today.

It’s reasonably good - a silly concept executed with a little more seriousness than I was expecting.

Definitely doesn’t have the same level of zany humor I found in DCC; that’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t hold the same heart either.

Well, time to get started on this year’s Hugo shortlist books that I haven’t read yet.

Enjoyable to just grab a chapter here or there. She’s witty as ever.

So…

Was browsing a bookstore and said bookstore was breaking street date. Apparently Ace doesn’t embargo some fairly big name releases…

Oh well, more for me

Chugging along. Finished chapter 4.

Through chapter 3.

The kid is loving this. Completely into the snark and the science and the story. Noticing pieces of relevant info that come in.

Her mother thinks she doesn’t like sci-fi, but that’s not it. Kiddo doesn’t like *star wars* (or trek) or cheesy looking visual sci-fi. She like the Martian and is liking this… I think I have a hard SF fan on my hands here…

Kiddo will be 12 I. A couple weeks so we are shifting our evening read aloud books to “adult level with supervision.”

She was giggling at the first chapter and had no trouble following. This should be fun!

we stalled out on reading for a few months, but did finally finish it together. Winter vacation is great!

despite what he might say about it... this is absolutely still a cozy fantasy!

Well shit, it’s cozy southwest slightly horror that’s so damn familiar it just works.

This one brought giggles of delight and a few outright laughs. And I didn’t figure it out before the de-noo-mah, which is even better.

One star, absolutely grotesque. (Inside joke, actually 4.5 and rounding up).

This was sweet and amusing, if entirely predictable. Cozy enough, though the main character is a walking anxiety ball.

Well this was an absolute hoot.

I quite like the white rat; reminds me of another rather interesting deity(bujold’s bastard) while being entirely different.

The book was slow and flavorful for three quarters of its length. Easy to drift in and out of… and then the real plot came roaring in on wings of air and salt and flame.

Highly looking forward to the next volume!

I enjoyed this, but maybe not as much as the last two? There was a lot more happening, which is great, but I found the chapters too short to really dig in to any one character.

Perhaps it’s just a general frame of mind I am in right now, though.

Look, these aren’t high art. They aren’t masterful worldbuilding. They are cozy, competent fantasy that is a nice light read.

The books accomplish what they set out to do. And I enjoy them for what they are.

Thus far, this is a far less narratively complex book than Holes, which I find somewhat disappointing for a book marketed as an “adult debut.”

Nevertheless there are hints of mystery and threads of wonder that might pull it all together in the back half.

We shall see.

Well this was an absolute hoot of a book. Maybe two hoots, even!

the current ear-read, i'm finally getting around to it. trying to remember what had happened in the first two, but remembering how DENSE the cultural references are in this series.

Hugo read 4 of 6 done.

Honestly? I am unimpressed. This is, at best competent.

Well, here’s to yet another radical tonal shift in my reading.

Hugo nominated book 3, and away we go…

And now the game is truly afoot…

Well, this is spectacular.

The world building is Organic techno magic (bio punk?) meets Pacific Rim (the movie), and the story is a murder mystery.

I can see clearly why this one was nominated for the Hugo.