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Tak! reviewed Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic. "No maids, no …

Siren Queen

3 étoiles

This one just wasn't for me. I feel like it was one of those books that's all setting and no plot - and the setting was great, but I just couldn't engage with it.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! reviewed Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss (The Wess'har Wars, #2)

Shan Frankland forever abandoned the world she knew to come to the rescue of a …

Crossing the Line

4 étoiles

It kept very much to the themes of the original: genocide, greed, betrayal, and the sheer amount of damage a few bad-faith actors can do in a system not designed to account for them

Finished just in time for #SFFBookClub sequels month 😅

Tak! commented on Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic. "No maids, no …

#SFFBookClub pick for April 2024

Tak! reviewed Babel : Or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret …

Babel

5 étoiles

Content warning I don't think I can review this without some vague spoilers

Babel is a story of colonialism, racism, sexism, whiteness, Englishness, loss, betrayal, and despair. It's basically a modern parable grittily illustrating the causes and consequences of colonialism.

I love the translation magic mechanism, and I found the embedded etymology tidbits super interesting.

I also appreciate that the author had the courage to allow Bad Things to happen to major characters - not in a GRRM torture porn kind of way, but just as a kind of natural consequence of the world and the characters' interactions.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! reviewed How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work …

How High We Go in the Dark

4 étoiles

A series of bleak, gritty glimpses of what's in store for us over the next few decades.

The tone is lightened a bit here and there with injections of optimism, but I think it works against itself a little when the optimism feels unwarranted.

The way that the characters from the different stories are linked reminds me a bit of Cloud Atlas (although I only saw the movie (sorry)).

#SFFBookClub

Tak! commented on How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work …

Wow, the second story is bleak. Do not recommend for people with children in their lives.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! commented on How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work …

The #SFFBookClub January pick is How High We Go In The Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu. Thank you to all who voted and/or suggested books.

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Tak! reviewed Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands by Sonia Nimr

Pas de couverture — Sonia Nimr, Marcia Lynx Qualey: Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands (Paperback, 2020, Interlink)

Award-winning historical fantasy and literary folktale. Winner of the presigious Etisalat award.

In a tent …

Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands

3 étoiles

I enjoyed the setting, and some of the substories were compelling, but as a whole it was too rambling and incohesive for me.

I feel like it would have worked better as a series of stories about different people from the same village or whatever instead of repeatedly being like "despite being in the middle of this incredibly urgent life crisis, the main character decides to spend six months teaching an older woman to fold laundry" or "despite having a very bad outcome two chapters ago, the main character decides to engage in exactly the same dangerous behavior with no additional precautions"

#SFFBookClub