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manuphoto's reviews
836 reviews
Murder Falcon by Daniel Warren Johnson
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A very compelling read. Mad Max meets Godzilla with a deep emotional message within the plot.
The story is too bonkers to sum up and really serves to talk about the themes of the book: perseverance, hope, friendship and love. Behind the metal and action mask lies a profound message that resonates on multiple fronts.
A nice discovery (thanks to the great guys at Z Bookstore in Montreal). An action-packed graphic novel that will stay with me for quite some time, that’s rare!
The story is too bonkers to sum up and really serves to talk about the themes of the book: perseverance, hope, friendship and love. Behind the metal and action mask lies a profound message that resonates on multiple fronts.
A nice discovery (thanks to the great guys at Z Bookstore in Montreal). An action-packed graphic novel that will stay with me for quite some time, that’s rare!
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What a lovely read, Gaiman is such a great writer. His characters are always beautifully depicted, his stories flow effortlessly and his ideas are bonkers. I just love his work.
Although aimed at a young public, this book is compelling, elegantly written and fun to read. The story is appealing, the characters relatable and Gaiman’s prose is as good as ever. I just couldn’t put it down, I always wanted to know what was coming next!
The novel oscillates between tender moments for the young protagonist Bod and more somber events, all perfectly balanced. I was touched by the characters and the story, but I was also entertained and curious because of the plot.
It’s the kind of story you can read to children by the fire, but also the kind that you read as an adult to reflect on childhood, family and friends. Gaiman’s masterful writing makes all these themes potent in his novel, without ever becoming cumbersome or boring.
I really enjoyed that one and I think it’ll stay with me for quite some time.
The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber
adventurous
mysterious
slow-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? No
2.25
The premise is quite classic: big dumb object shows up, havoc ensues, how will humanity manage? Dun, dun, duuuun.
Ok, been there, done that, but the story has some scope and interesting elements, at least on the surface. Sadly, the execution is very disappointing.
Leiber choses to have multiple viewpoints for the same storyline, which is ok but he bounces around too much and we lose track and interest somewhat for the main characters.
The prose is alright, nothing fancy but very readable and clear. It’s also pretty bland, which I don’t honestly mind that much if the story or characters captivate me. Here.. I was interested, but never truly captivated.
After a little over a hundred pages I started to find the book quite repetitive and a bit tedious. But the story made it look like there’ll be a big jump, another big event that would elevate the novel to another level or add a layer of complexity that would make it exciting.
But it never really came about. Some parts are fine, others plain boring and useless. It just makes for a disjointed whole that was slow and not that interesting. Overall, a very underwhelming read. It has some nice ideas and moments, but as a novel, it is bloated and really not that good. Not utterly terrible I’d say.. but not far from it. If I didn’t want to read all the Hugo award winning novels, I’d have DNFed it, and I very rarely do that.
There is also some weird sex in there.. I’m not shocked or anything (remember, I’m French), but I thought it was strange and served no purpose at all except to satisfy some urge. I guess old Fritz needed to get some action and couldn’t… oh well.
Also, I’ve read books written by Leiber in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s and his sexism and racism haven’t evolved nor improved over those decades. This guy was retrograde even by those days’ standards, really rough. To him, women are irrational and chaotic (although I will say that Margo has some nice moments in this novel) and black people are savages who smoke
weed all day, and only white males can figure things out and actually do something coherent. Brutal… I understand that these feelings were sadly common at the time, but he could have avoided rubbing our noses in them that much.
Conjure Wife by Fritz Leiber
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Definitely an interesting story, well plotted and written, but with some caveats.
The first one is that parts of it didn’t age well. The sexism and racial slurs are the main culprit here, although they are quite mellow for the time period. They never feel aggressive or vindictive, it’s just the way white male perceived life back in the 1940’s and one has to acknowledge that, even if it’s not pleasant.
That aside, Leiber provides a good story with multiple layers, acted out in an original way, with clever and capable prose to guide us. I enjoyed reading this book, I found it was a decent page turner, with good pacing and twists. The horror elements are pretty tame but effective.
The first one is that parts of it didn’t age well. The sexism and racial slurs are the main culprit here, although they are quite mellow for the time period. They never feel aggressive or vindictive, it’s just the way white male perceived life back in the 1940’s and one has to acknowledge that, even if it’s not pleasant.
That aside, Leiber provides a good story with multiple layers, acted out in an original way, with clever and capable prose to guide us. I enjoyed reading this book, I found it was a decent page turner, with good pacing and twists. The horror elements are pretty tame but effective.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexism
Valérian et Laureline l'Intégrale, volume 1 by Pierre Christin, Jean-Claude Mézières
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
C’est la première fois que je lis Valérian. J’ai beaucoup aimé. Le graphisme est excellent, un bon mix entre BD classique et réalisme, et les histoires sont divertissantes avec une profondeur s’accroît au fil des albums.
Je savais que Lucas avait beaucoup « emprunté » à Valerian pour Star Wars.. mais pas à ce point là. J’ai repéré beaucoup d’éléments calqués, tant au niveau visuel que narratif. Pas gêné le Georges !
Bref, une belle bd de science-fiction et j’ai hâte de lire la suite.
Je savais que Lucas avait beaucoup « emprunté » à Valerian pour Star Wars.. mais pas à ce point là. J’ai repéré beaucoup d’éléments calqués, tant au niveau visuel que narratif. Pas gêné le Georges !
Bref, une belle bd de science-fiction et j’ai hâte de lire la suite.
Napoleon's Library by Louis Sarkozy
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A great read for anyone interested in Napoleon. The author really digs in a lesser known aspect of his life and does it with gusto. It’s well researched, easy to read and very informative.
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.0
Ready Player One meets Neuromancer, but with better writing than either of them.
This book is very different from the other Vinge novels that I’ve read, those from the Zone of Thoughts. Here, things are a lot closer to home, literally.
Vinge still uses some of his old tricks, including the technological singularity and stories told in parallel to converge in the final act of the book, all very well executed.
I’m not a huge fan of cyberpunk, and the parts with the virtual reality “fights” were slogs to be, but luckily the book is not about those. It’s more about how major technological change will affect people, all sorts of people. Also about security and privacy.
To that effect, Vinge has Robert Gu for main character. An interesting choice. A former remarkable poet, considered the best of the best, but also an intimidating persona and.. a complete a**hole. I won’t spoil the story but let’s say Vinge takes Gu to unexpected places during the story.
I’ll be clear, I didn’t find this book nearly as compelling as A Deepness in the Sky for example, but it’s still a solid novel, and a very well crafted one. The plot is interesting; if sometimes confusing, the characters are very distinct and well developed, and some experience great arcs.
All-in-all, and nice piece of science-fiction by one of the masters of the genre. It will make you think about the implications of many things: communication, healthcare, privacy, weaponry, etc. It’s certainly a book that deserves to be analyzed and studied. Plus, it’s Vinge, so it’s still very readable, with even some pretty funny moments.
Among Others by Jo Walton
emotional
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is probably the worst well written book I have ever read.
Let me explain.
This story is elegantly written, well paced, and has some very interesting elements in it. The main character, Mori, is actually very relatable. But the whole thing feels like a bragging effort by the author to talk about her knowledge of Science Fiction and fantasy. The plot is never really there and serves as an excuse to chat about reading books and being a nerd.
I am certain that I would enjoy a conference given by her. Or that I would greatly appreciate a talk with her about the genre. I can relate with Mori, I’m a book nerd myself. But in this case, we are talking about a work of fiction, and I don’t think it works.
It is a love letter to Science-fiction fans, but I would rather have that in a short story or novella than in a full-fledged novel. Here, it seems like 300 pages about almost nothing, or at least not much.
Hence the low rating, which is quite rare for a Hugo and Nebula award winner. It gets them for the quality of the writing and for touching on a subject matter that I care about, but overall it was a very underwhelming read. Walton quotes Louis XVI’s diary on July 14th 1789 a couple times in this novel and I’m going to do the same: “aujourd’hui, rien”. Quite appropriate.
The City & the City by China Miéville
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book is basically a “whodunnit” with a science fiction twist.
On one hand it’s very classic, even reminiscent of old sci-fi stories from the 50’s (old cop, walking in dark alleys at night under the rain), but it also takes clues from cyberpunk and other more modern stuff.
I like the core concept of the book, and the fact that it’s never totally explained. It’s a “show don’t tell” approach and I prefer that. I do have some small issues with the execution though.
The characters are interesting if a bit clichéd. The main one, Tyador, is your typical cop who gets emotionally invested in a case. The supporting cast gets convinced by him and everybody does stuff they’d never do normally to move the plot forward. Effective but not very original.
Also, and that’s typical of cyberpunk-type books (even though it isn’t a typical book from that sub genre), Miéville throws in brand names and specific technologies (Windows, 486, MySpace) which date the book very firmly… and will mean nothing to readers in a couple of decades.
I mean, why make your book look dated by design? There is not that much of it but it made me cringe each time. Although to be fair, it’s a relatively minor issue in this novel.
That being said, the book is well paced, very readable, funny at times and quite clever. The action scenes are also well executed. Miéville plays a lot with his concept of the two cities and does it with gusto and talent.
So overall, I liked this book, I enjoyed reading it, a lot actually, but it belongs to a sub genre that I appreciate less. Nevertheless, I recommend it, it is interesting and entertaining.
On one hand it’s very classic, even reminiscent of old sci-fi stories from the 50’s (old cop, walking in dark alleys at night under the rain), but it also takes clues from cyberpunk and other more modern stuff.
I like the core concept of the book, and the fact that it’s never totally explained. It’s a “show don’t tell” approach and I prefer that. I do have some small issues with the execution though.
The characters are interesting if a bit clichéd. The main one, Tyador, is your typical cop who gets emotionally invested in a case. The supporting cast gets convinced by him and everybody does stuff they’d never do normally to move the plot forward. Effective but not very original.
Also, and that’s typical of cyberpunk-type books (even though it isn’t a typical book from that sub genre), Miéville throws in brand names and specific technologies (Windows, 486, MySpace) which date the book very firmly… and will mean nothing to readers in a couple of decades.
I mean, why make your book look dated by design? There is not that much of it but it made me cringe each time. Although to be fair, it’s a relatively minor issue in this novel.
That being said, the book is well paced, very readable, funny at times and quite clever. The action scenes are also well executed. Miéville plays a lot with his concept of the two cities and does it with gusto and talent.
So overall, I liked this book, I enjoyed reading it, a lot actually, but it belongs to a sub genre that I appreciate less. Nevertheless, I recommend it, it is interesting and entertaining.