ronpayne's reviews
1153 reviews

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The second novella in the Sworn Soldier series following Alex Easton, retired soldier, in their unintentionally creepy Victorian era adventures. This time they travel to their hunting lodge in the fictional country of Gallacia to host the intrepid mycologist, Miss Potter in her search for fungi, only to find the caretaker dead, and supernatural rumors of the cause. I love this character and the story is genuinely spooky. I hope we get more of these. 

Gateway by Frederik Pohl

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

 A sci-fi in which we follow an intensely unlikable character as he escapes an overpopulated earth to join speculators in using abandoned alien tech to travel to other worlds at great risk to find their fortunes. Kind of disappointing for a Hugo/Nebula/Locus award winning novel. The ending had an interesting twist, but overall the book was more about the main character’s outdated Freudian psychosexual hang-ups and therapy than it was about exploring alien worlds.

Exordia by Seth Dickinson

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A first contact sci-fi set in the 2010s in which the aliens are incredibly alien in their thinking. Imaging the cast of LOST investigating an alien object, except Dickinson knows what the proverbial red button does, and whether or not you push it has massive personal and galactic consequences. I'm reading reviews rating it from 1-5 stars and kind of agreeing with all of them. I'm giving it a high rating because parts are great, but honestly, some parts were a slog. 

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

dark funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

A mystery featuring Flavia de Luce, an improbable eleven-year-old girl, from an improbable family living in 1950s England, who uses her wits and chemistry skills to solve a murder. The mystery was pretty standard, so what makes this unique is the main character—if you can stand her—which I guess I can. It reads just quirky and self aware enough to not put me off. I’ll probably space out reads of the sequels as I continue, though. 

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A fairly entertaining contemporary fantasy about magic books which are created with the blood of special people. The characters were good and enjoyable to follow, and it did a nice job of playing out it's mysteries as the story went along, but once I got to the end, the plot felt very linear to me. Part of this was set in Vermont and it captured the local atmosphere well with only one immersion breaking detail. I give that part a solid B+.

Memory's Legion by James S.A. Corey

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 A story collection from The Expanse series which adds detail to the world and expands on characters. All of the stories were worth reading, and it may be good for those new to the series to read them alongside the novels in chronological order, with the exception of The Butcher of Anderson Station which I feel is best read after Caliban's War. My favorites were The Churn giving one character's backstory, and Sins of Our Fathers giving closure to another.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Another Murata book in which she looks at human society from an unusual perspective to point out its absurdities, this time following a woman who grows up believing she is an alien. The child sexual assault in this is hard to read, but central to showing how society fails the main character, and how trauma leads to a series of choices that culminate in a truly bizarre climax. If that sounds rough, the author’s other books do similar things with a lighter tone.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A gothic horror about a woman scraping by in a Tennessee mining town trying to give her younger brother a better life who gets a job at the local haunted house. While the story and characters were fine, I think i finally have to admit to myself that I just don't get along with Harrow's prose. Add to that some immersion breaking nitpicks like Corvettes with back seats, and swallows that come out at night, and I think this may be the last book of hers I read. 

Wild Cards II: Aces High by George R.R. Martin, Wild Cards Trust

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The second book in a long running alternate history anthology series about people given superpowers by an alien virus. It felt like Martin had a tighter reign on this one, getting authors to drive overarching plotlines. Some thrived at this, like Walter Jon Williams, others seemed too constrained by it, like Roger Zelazny, and one, Pat Cadigan, failed at it, flubbing the climax of a major story arc. But overall this was a good time.