Critiques et Commentaires

David Bremner Compte verrouillé

bremner@book.dansmonorage.blue

A rejoint ce serveur il y a 3 années, 6 mois

computer scientist, mathematician, photographer, human. Debian Developer, Notmuch Maintainer, scuba diver

Much of my "reading" these days is actually audiobooks while walking.

FediMain: bremner@mathstodon.xyz

bremner@bookwyrm.social is also me. Trying a smaller instance to see if the delays are less maddening.

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Katherine Addison: The Angel of the Crows (Paperback, 2021, Tor Books)

This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you …

A lark that becomes something a bit more

Even before reading the afterword, this struck me as a whimsically conceived book. Nonetheless Addison does her usual excellent job of world building and characterization, and the book develops a compelling texture.

a publié une critique de Monsters We Defy par Leslye Penelope

Leslye Penelope: Monsters We Defy (2022, Orbit)

Washington D. C., 1925

Clara Johnson talks to spirits, a gift that saved her during …

Fascinating view of black DC in the 1920s, along with a decent fantasy novel.

First, I really appreciated that this book was not set in NYC, despite the author's initial intentions. NYC is cool and all, but not the only city.

The hero is based on a real young black woman who killed a cop in self defense during the 1919 riots in Washington. That incident is not central to the plot, but it does play an important part in explaining how the protagonist got to be who she is.

The book really centers the black characters, both heroes and villains. In a broader sense it includes a lot of discussion of the divisions of colourism and classism within the black community at that time. The external structural causes (hello white people!) are noted, but people have agency for good and ill.

Politics and history aside, the characters are fun and the plotting solid. If you squint at it the right way it turns …

a publié une critique de Paladin's Strength par T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel, #2)

T. Kingfisher: Paladin's Strength (Hardcover, 2021, Argyll Productions)

He’s a paladin of a dead god, tracking a supernatural killer across a continent. She’s …

Fluffy but clever

I thought the first book was a bit fantasy-autobiography with the nerdy heroine a stand-in for the author. That was probably silly (and maybe a bit condescending) of me. The characters in this are quite different, and I doubt that both heroines (or some combination of protagonists from both books) can be autobiographical.

Kingfisher's writing oozes cleverness, but in a fairly undemanding way. The romance tropes occasionally verge on the self parody, but I can't swear that isn't intentional.

As a fantasy (in the non-romantic sense), the world building and characterization are rather good.

a publié une critique de Deverry: Books 1-4 par Katherine Kerr (Deverry, #1-4)

Entertaining, occasionally thought provoking

Avertissement sur le contenu extremely mild spoilers