smartflutist661's reviews
1281 reviews

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

3.5

Didn't feel like the worldbuilding was used as well as it could have been, despite being creative, and I didn't get much character growth from Cheris/Jedao. Overall, a fine conclusion to a fine series, but could have been better.

Boundary Haunted by Melissa F. Olson

4.0

Continues to be fun, and I enjoyed the change of scenery.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

4.5

I'm a sucker for broken people hunting monsters. (See also: The Witcher short stories.) Great characterization, fascinating backdrop, and well-paced monster hunting.

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

4.0

Some of the stories were repetitive, but all of them were good and quite a few of them were excellent. Some favorites: "The Perfect Match" (not a particularly novel idea, but extremely well done); "All the Flavors"; "State Change"; "The Regular".

The Last Dance by Martin L. Shoemaker

4.25

Effectively a scf-fi legal drama, which is not at all what I was expecting. But turned out to be a lot of fun, though the quality of the writing occasionally left a little to be desired, particularly around some strange character moments.

Blindsight by Peter Watts

3.0

Had a lot of interesting ideas, none of which were particularly well-explored. And the ideas were the only thing the book had going for it, with a pretty disjointed plot and the barest sketch of some characters that could have been fascinating. Disappointing, from all the good things I'd heard about it.

No Man's Land by Elliott Kay

adventurous hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

More aliens! More war crimes! It's book 6, ought to know what you're getting into at this point.

Gunmetal Gods by Zamil Akhtar
Did not finish book.

Scorpio by Marko Kloos

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

5.0

As much as I enjoyed Frontlines, it was great to get a new protagonist starting from a very different background in this book. Despite the strong connections, it's surprisingly independent of the first series. Also loved Alex's relationship with Ash.

Hope she gets another furry friend.

Will eagerly await the next.

Paladin's Faith by T. Kingfisher

funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.75

If you're reading book 4, hopefully you know what to expect. Marguerite and Shane are probably my second-favorite relationship so far. And the plot with the Saint's death is clearly going to be more than a two-book arc, unlike the clay wonderworker.