Scan barcode
herdingcats's reviews
9 reviews
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
This is very slow-burn, and in the end I was fine with it even if that meant I took a long time to finish this as I lacked a strong pull, but I can see how people would feel lied to, because they were.At the end of act 3, a new character shows up. Their arrival is the last line before part 4 begins and it’s meant to be a big moment but then… Nothing really comes of it? The status quo remains completely unchanged. The characters all just accept this new person in and this new person seamlessly blends into the norm and the routines of the rest of the cast's life… They were such a big foreshadowed character, and then nothing happens when they show up. That person should’ve been a wrecking ball that completely destroyed the status quo and disrupted everyone’s lives and routines and instead they’re just… Chilling together.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I picked this book up because I saw the kick-ass cover and read the back and saw that it was about sapient octopuses and because I’m writing a story with sapient squid aliens I knew I had to see how this was pulled off. Despite the rating and the length of this review, I did enjoy it! I came in wanting to know how intelligence and communication with aquatic invertebrates would be handled and I got some of that. But I was sorely missing a strong narrative to explore that through.
Despite what the blurb on the back says, this is not a thriller. It is indeed however very much a “meditation on the nature of consciousness, and an ecological call to arms.”
This is very slow-burn, and in the end I was fine with it even if that meant I took a long time to finish this as I lacked a strong pull, but I can see how people would feel lied to, because they were.
This book follows three points of view and honestly… All of the extras could be dropped. The book description is about Ha and the research of the intelligent octopuses, but then we have two other bonus unrelated POVs crammed in there as well. Like. Two out of the three POVs aren’t about the octopuses at all.
Really, this book isn’t about intelligent octopuses. It’s all about the nature of consciousness, on how it feels in humans and how it could possibly be replicated in AI or how it could manifest in an animal that exists in a way that is completely alien to us. And so it feels like the octopuses are just one of three narratives exploring that.
All three POVs feels completely separate, aside from the exploration of minds. There’s Dr. Ha and her research of the rumored intelligent octopuses, there’s Rustem the high-level hacker of AI systems, and then there’s Eiko, who is a slave aboard an automated fishing ship. We explore how different the mind of the octopus is from a human’s, how it feels to explore through the artificial minds of such advanced programs, and the reasoning skills of a ship’s AI that is concerned only with generating profit.
It always feels like the three POVs are about to intersect but they never do in any meaningful or satisfying way. The side stories could be cut entirely and the main plot would be completely unchanged.
I think Eiko’s story was such an interesting concept that he honestly could be the star of his own book rather than being crammed into this. Rustem, however, was boring to me. He showed up to spout nonsense about what it's like to hack the VR mainframe of hyper-advanced futuristic AI. His chapters feel more like the future-fantasy that a lot of sci-fis actually are, which I personally am not into and honestly feel doesn’t really fit into this book since everything else is hard speculative sci-fi, in my opinion.
All three POVs sound really similar and none of them have a very strong unique voice. The voice of the prose is pretty distant and disconnected and in a way bland. I think if it was just Ha it’d make sense since she has issues with dissociation, but then all the other characters are written with the same style so, yeah, it’s just a writing issue.
In the end I feel like the science and philosophy were really cool but the narrative itself just wasn’t there. I wanted more of it. Not only was the prose disconnected, but the story felt a bit meandering and meaningless.
None of the characters really take initiative at all. They’re all passive and simply react to the plot happening around them rather than instigating any of it. Which results in a book where everything is just aimlessly coasting along with no plans to reach its goal. The characters were mostly vessels for the author to talk about the philosophy first and characters second. Thankfully I was interested in what the author was talking about but if you’re not, then, you won’t have much fun.
I think a really clear example of how reactive yet complacent the characters and narrative are is a moment at the end of part 3. I’ll be vague but spoiler tag anyways.
But despite those issues I still enjoyed it and will definitely be referencing it more for personal uses when I need inspiration for writing aliens because one thing this book is amazing at is tackling the issue of interspecies translation and deconstructing just how many differences and issues could arise when interacting with nonhumanoid sophonts and how comparing those beings to humans is not only devaluing their uniqueness but also just asking for bias and miscommunication to occur.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.
Left at pg 166 will return later
Fire Time by Poul Anderson
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Fire Time's saving grace is its hard speculative science fiction elements. It's a lot easier to enjoy your ride through this frequently incoherent plot when you're marveling at Ishtar's richly detailed astronomy and biology.
The problem is that you're dropped into the middle of this detailed world without much of a starting point, especially when the foreword is setting up a story within a story and then chapter 1 is from the point of view of a character that won't return again soon. It's not until chapter 2 that you can start to settle into a respite that lasts long enough for you to get your bearings, but that doesn't last long. Confusion about what's happening to who and where lasted up until like 3/4ths into the book. I normally don't need to take notes for books, but I had to for this to make sure I was able to recall names and locations later on.
This is definitely inspired by the Vietnam war, with lots of reflection on war and what wars if any are worth anything. There's two wars in Fire Time, the Northern "barbarians" raiding against the "civilized" South in order to secure territory safe from an approaching star that swings by on its ovular orbit once every thousand years. And a distant war in space held between Human and the seal-like Naqsan colonists on some random planet that neither planet wants to fully commit to.
The human war on that other planet means that Earth refuses to send any sort of supplies to help the sword-and-shield level technology-having Ishtarians survive Fire Time. The war could be avoided if the Northerners could survive up there, but alas.
We get a variety of POV characters. Two south-aligned humans who have grown up on a scientific base or something on Ishtar, a southern legion Ishtarian, a northern Ishtarian war leader, and a human sent down to Ishtar to reinforce Earth's decision. As time goes on, all of these characters grow to be sympathetic in their own ways as we learn that all of them are being pressured in one way or another. Navy guy can't help much when all his appeals would all be denied, Northern warrior can't just sit back and let himself and his family be scorched into nothing when there's livable land within reach. Not that they're excused for what they do, I think. All of it just sucks and is a shame more than anything.
It's all pretty character-driven, big overarching plot stuff takes forever to set up and even when something does occur we always get a few chapters of characters reacting to and discussing it.
I loved the worldbuilding of the liontaur Ishtarians but I feel like it could have been better in some regards. A lot is underutilized, like their lifespans and constant lucid dreaming. It'd be fun to get more into those things. And the cultural impact of the Fire Time itself on their world history. I dunno, I can recall these things all being mentioned a lot but maybe its not that I want more, but I want it DEEPER.
In regards to critical examination, I can't really tell what the author's opinions are. Which I suppose is fine, but then it makes me confused when the book states things like brushing off imperialism allegations and defending the Navy. Like, is that you Poul? Or is that the character talking? Maybe this could be solved if each character had more extreme opinions rather than all being same-y aside from sudden dropping sudden bombs like that.
Also, I will say I was a bit confused on the state of sexual equality on Ishtar. It's stated that at least the society that the main Ishtarian characters are in have equality, but then all the main characters are male and all the warriors are male and their multiple wives stay at home the whole time. While the females do handle farming and trade which is interesting, in the end this equal society is still run by masculine men who run off and do battle while the women stay at home and tend to the home. It's absolutely not as bad as it could have been, at least we HAD female Ishtarian's with speaking roles.
The problem is that you're dropped into the middle of this detailed world without much of a starting point, especially when the foreword is setting up a story within a story and then chapter 1 is from the point of view of a character that won't return again soon. It's not until chapter 2 that you can start to settle into a respite that lasts long enough for you to get your bearings, but that doesn't last long. Confusion about what's happening to who and where lasted up until like 3/4ths into the book. I normally don't need to take notes for books, but I had to for this to make sure I was able to recall names and locations later on.
This is definitely inspired by the Vietnam war, with lots of reflection on war and what wars if any are worth anything. There's two wars in Fire Time, the Northern "barbarians" raiding against the "civilized" South in order to secure territory safe from an approaching star that swings by on its ovular orbit once every thousand years. And a distant war in space held between Human and the seal-like Naqsan colonists on some random planet that neither planet wants to fully commit to.
The human war on that other planet means that Earth refuses to send any sort of supplies to help the sword-and-shield level technology-having Ishtarians survive Fire Time. The war could be avoided if the Northerners could survive up there, but alas.
We get a variety of POV characters. Two south-aligned humans who have grown up on a scientific base or something on Ishtar, a southern legion Ishtarian, a northern Ishtarian war leader, and a human sent down to Ishtar to reinforce Earth's decision. As time goes on, all of these characters grow to be sympathetic in their own ways as we learn that all of them are being pressured in one way or another. Navy guy can't help much when all his appeals would all be denied, Northern warrior can't just sit back and let himself and his family be scorched into nothing when there's livable land within reach. Not that they're excused for what they do, I think. All of it just sucks and is a shame more than anything.
It's all pretty character-driven, big overarching plot stuff takes forever to set up and even when something does occur we always get a few chapters of characters reacting to and discussing it.
I loved the worldbuilding of the liontaur Ishtarians but I feel like it could have been better in some regards. A lot is underutilized, like their lifespans and constant lucid dreaming. It'd be fun to get more into those things. And the cultural impact of the Fire Time itself on their world history. I dunno, I can recall these things all being mentioned a lot but maybe its not that I want more, but I want it DEEPER.
In regards to critical examination, I can't really tell what the author's opinions are. Which I suppose is fine, but then it makes me confused when the book states things like brushing off imperialism allegations and defending the Navy. Like, is that you Poul? Or is that the character talking? Maybe this could be solved if each character had more extreme opinions rather than all being same-y aside from sudden dropping sudden bombs like that.
Also, I will say I was a bit confused on the state of sexual equality on Ishtar. It's stated that at least the society that the main Ishtarian characters are in have equality, but then all the main characters are male and all the warriors are male and their multiple wives stay at home the whole time. While the females do handle farming and trade which is interesting, in the end this equal society is still run by masculine men who run off and do battle while the women stay at home and tend to the home. It's absolutely not as bad as it could have been, at least we HAD female Ishtarian's with speaking roles.
Spider-Man 2099 Classic, Vol. 3 by Peter David
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
Will resume again, currently into the word type of novel rather than the picture type.
The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
I will finish this eventually. But I was reading this as a group with my friends, and my little friend book club has fallen onto a hiatus for now.
I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I do not read memoirs and I do not read quickly and yet I was captivated by this book and finished it in one day. I found the writing style easy to follow, and I greatly enjoyed how the chapters were split up. Each chapter is about a certain experience or moment in life, so some chapters ran longer and others were only 1 page. I'm glad there was no pressure to pad shorter chapters out, and instead what was written was all that Jennette wanted to say, no extra fluff.
The book goes chronologically, and as Jennette matures so does the writing style, which felt very engaging. Writing from the perspective of how she felt at the time as a naive child hit harder and let us in to how she felt far more than writing from the perspective of an adult and looking back. This book was raw, honest, and cathartic. I did not catch much of the humor that other people report this book to have, but I assume that's because I read it and did not listen to Jennette's own delivery in the audio book version. Jennette does have a dark and sardonic wit, but in this book it's not the kind that makes you laugh.
I see a lot of criticism towards the title but personally I enjoy it and the cover. I can't believe I've seen people say that the title should be something "nicer." The book itself acknowledges that flawed line of thinking, the idea that mothers should be propped up just because they're mothers and that their children should love them no matter how abusive they are. It speaks to me as someone who's own abuse has been downplayed and called false simply because people can not comprehend that a mother could harm her children. You're allowed to hate your mother.
I highly recommend reading this if it interests you at all. It has a lot of heavy stuff in it, but luckily Storygraph already has all the content warnings written out. I relate a lot to Jennette's experiences and I found this book to be painfully cathartic. But seeing such open depictions of things such as child abuse and eating disorders could easily trigger someone, so read the CWs and be mindful of your own limitations.
The book goes chronologically, and as Jennette matures so does the writing style, which felt very engaging. Writing from the perspective of how she felt at the time as a naive child hit harder and let us in to how she felt far more than writing from the perspective of an adult and looking back. This book was raw, honest, and cathartic. I did not catch much of the humor that other people report this book to have, but I assume that's because I read it and did not listen to Jennette's own delivery in the audio book version. Jennette does have a dark and sardonic wit, but in this book it's not the kind that makes you laugh.
I see a lot of criticism towards the title but personally I enjoy it and the cover. I can't believe I've seen people say that the title should be something "nicer." The book itself acknowledges that flawed line of thinking, the idea that mothers should be propped up just because they're mothers and that their children should love them no matter how abusive they are. It speaks to me as someone who's own abuse has been downplayed and called false simply because people can not comprehend that a mother could harm her children. You're allowed to hate your mother.
I highly recommend reading this if it interests you at all. It has a lot of heavy stuff in it, but luckily Storygraph already has all the content warnings written out. I relate a lot to Jennette's experiences and I found this book to be painfully cathartic. But seeing such open depictions of things such as child abuse and eating disorders could easily trigger someone, so read the CWs and be mindful of your own limitations.
Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future by Dougal Dixon
2.0
Interesting, but doesn't compare to other books like it. Man After Man is bleak and feels like it holds a disdain towards humanity and holds a primitivist misanthropic idea that intelligent beings paired with technology could only result in a pathetically weak and overpopulated species that destroy everything around them.
The speculative science behind it doesn't feel very realistic, evolution runs way too fast and I couldn't suspend my disbelief for some of the traits that the species developed seemingly out of nowhere. A random one-off experience in an individual can jumpcut to the entire species rocking a dedicated lifestyle centered around that unlikely experience. Definitely a lot more fiction than science, and not in the way that can be excused by the rule of cool either. I think the issue is it's inconsistent in its realism. If everything was semi-grounded in relative reality or if everything was out-there and goofy then it'd all fit in, but instead there's this mix of both that does not blend together well.
But on a positive note, I did like that it was a series of very short stories from the perspectives of various members of each species. I think there was a good mix of general species-wide statements and the perspectives of random individuals.
Also apparently that "Seasons Greasons" meme is from this book. Was not expecting to see that here.
The speculative science behind it doesn't feel very realistic, evolution runs way too fast and I couldn't suspend my disbelief for some of the traits that the species developed seemingly out of nowhere. A random one-off experience in an individual can jumpcut to the entire species rocking a dedicated lifestyle centered around that unlikely experience. Definitely a lot more fiction than science, and not in the way that can be excused by the rule of cool either. I think the issue is it's inconsistent in its realism. If everything was semi-grounded in relative reality or if everything was out-there and goofy then it'd all fit in, but instead there's this mix of both that does not blend together well.
But on a positive note, I did like that it was a series of very short stories from the perspectives of various members of each species. I think there was a good mix of general species-wide statements and the perspectives of random individuals.
Also apparently that "Seasons Greasons" meme is from this book. Was not expecting to see that here.
More...