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hybridhavoc's reviews
336 reviews
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
adventurous
fast-paced
3.5
Good, quick read. I never read this when I was younger so I came into it without any particular expectations. I found the style, which is much more that of a story being told rather than witnessing events, somewhat refreshing. I don't think there are many fantasy authors that would tell this story with such a surface-level approach these days. On the other hand though I never once felt immersed in this world, nor did I feel like I related to or particularly understood the characters all that well.
Obviously there has been a lot of fantasy written since this was published, much of which likely took this as inspiration, either directly or indirectly. I can definitely see that in some popular works. This means that as I was reading this, it was a bit like reading the lyrics to a song that I know and love but only as a cover.
It's a quick read, and not offensive in any way. If you're a fan of fantasy and haven't read this, you probably should at some point.
Obviously there has been a lot of fantasy written since this was published, much of which likely took this as inspiration, either directly or indirectly. I can definitely see that in some popular works. This means that as I was reading this, it was a bit like reading the lyrics to a song that I know and love but only as a cover.
It's a quick read, and not offensive in any way. If you're a fan of fantasy and haven't read this, you probably should at some point.
Upgrade by Blake Crouch
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was a decent read. Of Blake Crouch's works that I've read so far, this one reads the most like it was written for film. I think a film adaptation would be pretty straightforward. Probably wouldn't be an entirely bad movie.
With that said, there's not much new ground covered here really. Nothing about this is offensive I don't think.
With that said, there's not much new ground covered here really. Nothing about this is offensive I don't think.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Confinement, Violence, Grief, Car accident
Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a fantastic book. I'm not typically a big fan of politics and diplomacy in stories, but wrapping the whole thing in a murder mystery I think really helped with the onboarding. The most fascinating facet has to be the cultural.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood
Minor: Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, Alcohol
Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Both stories are quite good, and welcome additions to the Revelation Space universe. Between the two I personally preferred Diamond Dogs just because it was a fair bit darker in tone. It did a phenomenal job of building tension. A fair bit of body horror to it though.
The second story, Turquoise Days, has us spending some more time with the Pattern Jugglers. They are such an interesting element of this universe. I especially appreciated how real and complex the relationship between the sisters felt.
The second story, Turquoise Days, has us spending some more time with the Pattern Jugglers. They are such an interesting element of this universe. I especially appreciated how real and complex the relationship between the sisters felt.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Medical content, Murder
Earthside by Dennis E. Taylor
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I appreciate Taylor's ability to come up with a cool premise but the execution here just leaves a lot to be desired. I ended up having a lot of problems with this one, including characters that feel mostly like specialized versions of the same character over and over, incredibly cliche bad guys, the clumsy use of a bad trope, and being entirely predictable.
The best thing I can say for this sequel is that at least coffee took a back seat.
If you like meetings, this book is for you.
The best thing I can say for this sequel is that at least coffee took a back seat.
If you like meetings, this book is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Rape, Slavery
City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is really just a phenomenal collection. Especially fond of "An Early History of Ambergris" and the performance of Bronson Pinchot. I almost never knew where any of the stories were going to take me.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
Saint Death's Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Overall I think this is a pretty good book. The structure gave me some pause part-way through, but only really because I'm so used to books that do the "Part 1/2/3" structure but are just delineating the three acts of their story. This book doesn't do that, and the parts are more akin to episodes of a mini-series.
I was also initially a little thrown off by wildly different tones in the book, but it turned out that there were pretty decent in-world reasons for this.On surge days the entire tone shifts into a sort of animated Disney movie sort of feel. Otherwise, outside of the surge days, this book's vibe reminds me a lot of Nettle & Bone.
That actually makes sense. Saint Death's Daughter and Nettle & Bone are both firmly fantastical fantasy. Nettle & Bone was likened to a modern fairy tale and I would agree with that. Saint Death's Daughter feels like it's walking a similar path to me.
If you're a fan of epic fantasy or Sanderson fantasy and you come into this book with that expectation, you may be disappointed.
My only issues with the book are:
I was also initially a little thrown off by wildly different tones in the book, but it turned out that there were pretty decent in-world reasons for this.
That actually makes sense. Saint Death's Daughter and Nettle & Bone are both firmly fantastical fantasy. Nettle & Bone was likened to a modern fairy tale and I would agree with that. Saint Death's Daughter feels like it's walking a similar path to me.
If you're a fan of epic fantasy or Sanderson fantasy and you come into this book with that expectation, you may be disappointed.
My only issues with the book are:
- The structure thing I've already mentioned, which stopped being a real issue once I reoriented.
- Action and tension are often paused for exploring a character's feelings/thoughts or touching moments.
- The ending felt a bit unsatisfactory.
Yes, Miscellaneous saved the day but granting mercy and being banished just wasn't what I wanted there.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Slavery, Suicide attempt
Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
It's basically The Matrix in a fantasy setting.
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I find myself kind of genuinely surprised at the amount of praise that has been showered on this book. About halfway through the book I was willing to write off a lot of the issues I had with it as being the result of a first-time author. Unfortunately that is not the case.
My largest issue with the book is that the author seems very taken with their magic system and everything else seems to mostly be in service to that. Most of the characters seem flat and inconsistent; knowledge of the world is info-dumped on us very abruptly; dialogue is often to-the-point in a way that feels incredibly unnatural and isn't even necessary. Sometimes the book just skips over what should be important dialogue. Need to convince this character to betray their own family? "He told her only what she needed to hear." That's not a conversation, that's a cop-out.
I know that the trend for modern fantasy is all about hard magic systems, and it seems like that is maybe where the love for this book comes from. After all, it does have what seems to be a clever magic system. I hesitate to call it a hard magic system though, as there are almost no actual details provided, and very little in the way of hard boundaries set. That makes sense, given that the magic system is basically programming, and when you're programming reality there aren't many boundaries beyond your knowledge and imagination. But by its very nature, then, I can't view this as a hard magic system. There is no point at which the author can't simply say "Sure they're in a pickle right now, but what's this? They just got cleverer and came up with a new bit of programming."
I think the part of the book that had me eye-rolling the hardest has to be the villains. They are absolute caricatures, the flattest of flat characters. I suspect that this, at least, gets better in future books in the series. But I honestly can't know for certain because almost none of the characters are consistent in this book.
There is more positive than negative in Foundryside, but I don't think there's enough positive for me to keep going with the series.
My largest issue with the book is that the author seems very taken with their magic system and everything else seems to mostly be in service to that. Most of the characters seem flat and inconsistent; knowledge of the world is info-dumped on us very abruptly; dialogue is often to-the-point in a way that feels incredibly unnatural and isn't even necessary. Sometimes the book just skips over what should be important dialogue. Need to convince this character to betray their own family? "He told her only what she needed to hear." That's not a conversation, that's a cop-out.
I know that the trend for modern fantasy is all about hard magic systems, and it seems like that is maybe where the love for this book comes from. After all, it does have what seems to be a clever magic system. I hesitate to call it a hard magic system though, as there are almost no actual details provided, and very little in the way of hard boundaries set. That makes sense, given that the magic system is basically programming, and when you're programming reality there aren't many boundaries beyond your knowledge and imagination. But by its very nature, then, I can't view this as a hard magic system. There is no point at which the author can't simply say "Sure they're in a pickle right now, but what's this? They just got cleverer and came up with a new bit of programming."
I think the part of the book that had me eye-rolling the hardest has to be the villains. They are absolute caricatures, the flattest of flat characters. I suspect that this, at least, gets better in future books in the series. But I honestly can't know for certain because almost none of the characters are consistent in this book.
There is more positive than negative in Foundryside, but I don't think there's enough positive for me to keep going with the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma
Moderate: War, Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery
The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Had a good time with it but I don't feel particularly compelled to continue with the story.