artemisia_vulgaris's reviews
42 reviews

Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet

3.0

I guess I must have wanted a space opera romance with explicit sex scenes, because I bought this. It’s well-executed if outcasts-against-space-superpower-plus-the-start-of-a-love-story is your thing, but somehow didn’t light my star drive 

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

adventurous hopeful inspiring

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

At first I found this book exhilarating - the technological assumptions it made, the utopian promise of ecosystem balance as a value, the delightful strangeness and variety of it all. But as we moved over thousands of years from one point-of-view character to another, then a third, it began to pall.
It dawned on me that these were less characters and more world-and-ethics delivery devices, and that while it had some capacity to examine the underpinnings of that world and tensions of that ethical system, it didn’t have much. So, though it was all very exciting at times, and obviously I was rooting for the utopia-within-the-dystopia, it all came to feel a bit Toon Town, with the sentient tunnelling robots and the flying moose, and the mole rats and cows and

flying trains

all practicing direct democracy and inter-species sex…

One part of  the ethical system really came to bother me, but I got the feeling I was supposed to cherish and admire it as much as the careful ecology and egalitarian democratic process.

Spoilers of a sort (you figure this out in the first third of the book), not about plot, really, follow: 
 

 
Every sentient there was artificial, a designed being, decanted, not born. Many of them were designed for specific tasks, and so long as they weren’t limited to those tasks but gifted full intelligence and autonomy (or in one case, so long as they weren’t under constant surveillance), this was fine. Evolution ceases, basically. Or at least as a function of sexual selection. Individuals are made by design teams, parenting is the socialisation period after being decanted, and traits are passed on the way successful design ideas are retained for the new iteration of a product. Sex becomes recreational only, and possible, for example, between a robot remote carrying the consciousness of a train, and a “cat”. The quotes are because of course it’s not a cat, but a constructed being in the shape of and with some of the characteristics of a cat.

And this is, it turns out, the Great Bargain that saved Earth and brought ecological balance to the heart of this spacefaring civilisation - not so much communication with animals and nature as rebuilding animals into creatures that shared the values and culture of that civilisation. So, basically, the destruction of the original species in order to replace them with more cooperative life forms that share some of their traits. Ecocide and robolife.

Now, I don’t mind science fictional societies doing terrible things they believe to be good. In fact I’m all for it, but I’m pretty sure the author thinks they’re good too, and expects me to think so. Nope.
 

 

All that said, it was interesting, packed with ideas, and original, and might prove a kick up Science Fiction’s backside, which is always good. 

The Master of Samar by Melissa Scott

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

Like every Candlemark & Gleam book I’ve read, this is a well-crafted, interesting fiction that’s a pleasure to read. A bit lighter in texture perhaps, a bit less complex and cosier than the other Melissa Scott I’ve read, but still a fine read, with an interesting world and magic I’d like to revisit, politics, friendship, and love, and nothing too distressing, even though there’s risk and danger. 

The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

This is not an atmospheric thriller, but a descent into despair. Do not read if books upset you, this novel is a chronicle of errors and cruelty, with no justice and no redemption. 

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Liane Moriarty is so good! I thought it was going to be suspense, then a comic novel, then suspense again. 9 flawed human beings in various kinds of distress meet at a health spa, in an effort to transform their lives. Transformation duly ensues, though in unexpected ways. I found it very funny, oddly wise, and unexpectedly moving, despite some unsettling moments. 

The Dentist by Tim  Sullivan
Did not finish book.

Utterly plodding and predictable whodunnit.  No sooner do you receive the one piece of information that links the killer to the investigation than you know who, why, and how it remained secret. The lead detective’s neuro-atypicality is exhaustively, exhaustingly, and implausibly detailed, and as little other attempt at characterisation or atmosphere is made, there was no point in continuing. 

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Caroline Stevermer, Patricia C. Wrede

adventurous funny lighthearted

4.0

Oh, this is just delightful! 

Having slogged through a couple of very dull 21st C Regency romances, what a joy to find a 20th C one that knows its muslin from its sarsecenet and is so deftly and lightly put together. It’s the early 19th Century in England, and cousins Kate and Cecilia are writing each other letters - about balls, interfering aunts, the marriage market, magic, and the infuriating men who keep trying stop them *helping*. 

Just the thing if you’re looking for a bit of escapism. 

Unladylike Lessons in Love by Amita Murray
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.

emotional lighthearted

I wanted to enjoy this romance - the writer said she was inspired by Georgette Heyer, so I was hoping for attention to the material culture,clever dialogue, slow-burn desire, and intricate plotting, along with the raunch that modern romance tends to embellish Regency propriety with. 

Instead this is a warm, well-meaning, light little story that gets almost everything about the period wrong and has its protagonists super-horny at first meeting. Basically Bridgerton with an Indian spin. Sweet and sexually forthright but very shallow, plus servants apparently go home at night, women wear their hair down, and the rich have teak furniture. I imagine Bridgerton fans are the target audience, and I’m sure they will like it, but I need a lot more historical plausibility in my historical romance, and a lot more depth in my fiction of any genre.

Witch King by Martha Wells

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense

4.0

Wells’ world-building is top-notch, and absolutely nothing is handed to you on a plate, in fact some things still lie unexplained in the end (what’s with the pearls?). Shifting back and forth between the present and past of long-lived magic-wielding beings in the two-generations-later aftermath of having overthrown a genovidal magic-user’s invasion, it follows a character called Kai and his friends and allies as they unravel a conspiracy that endangers the Rising World, the society they helped they helped build when they were younger and toppled the tyranny of the Hierarchs,

It takes a while to work out that almost all the various titles (demon, witch, Blessed, expositor, Hierarch) are all about what powers the magic and what form manipulating it takes. As with all Wells’ work, there are a lot of new names and terms to remember, and this can sometimes take you away from events (I, at least had many “who the hell is this character?” moments), but damn this is an original and complex work of fantasy. Her imagination is unbeatable, and while it’s sometimes hard work to parse what the hell is going on, I appreciate the extent to which she expects her readers to be alert and intelligent.

Fallen Angels by Gunnar Staalesen

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

This is a frequently lyrical mystery, getting very poetic about the weather, the disappointments of middle age and the passions of youth. I got a sense of Norway, though a dated one, as the novel is from the 80s. There is some seriously upsetting subject matter, and it it is described more than once. There is also a great deal of sexism and sexual objectification of women. It’s hard to tell how much of it is the writer’s and how much the character’s, but there was an entire chapter I skipped most of, because as a mostly straight woman I found it pretty icky. I also skipped a couple of long bits of theology, which were just boring (unless you’re really into Christianity, I guess) and irritatingly placed really near the conclusion of the murder mystery. Mixed feelings. This was my first Staalsen novel, and I won’t be in a hurry to read another.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse