smritz's reviews
60 reviews

Armor by John Steakley

adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

3.0

This book isn't bad, but don't read it because you want good Sci-Fi. This is more of a psychological drama or something, and all of the actual plot points seem to just be haphazardly thrown together as a shell.

Also, while I get this was written in the 80s, the author was not very forward-thinking. This book just felt like the 80s with some standard sci-fi technology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Really good. The main crew of characters almost gives a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, except in a sci-fi world that is actually interesting. 

Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey

4.75

The Institute by Stephen King

3.5

Took me forever to read. Didn't think it was that great compared most Stephen King books. Pacing felt slow, and while I did really like the main character, there were a lot of characters that I did not like.

Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey

4.0

Not my favorite book in the series, but seems to have done a good job in setting up whatever is going to happen throughout the rest of the series.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

V.E Schwab is such a good writer that I barely noticed that I didn't like the story very much. 

I went into this book hoping to get something akin to Viscious, but this was much more of a romantic book, which is not usually something I would go for. I wouldn't go for it here either, but V.E. Schwab can evidently turn anything into gold.

We Are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.25

Exceptional. This book tackles a bunch of different high-level sci-fi concepts in extremely interesting ways. The action scenes/space battles were a lot different than anything I have read previously, but were executed well and were thrilling to read. The speculation in regards to future technology and space travel was very well thought out.

All this while still remaining a light, funny, and entertaining read. 

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.25

For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

This was even better than the first one. Without the need for any setup/wordbuilding chapters at the begging, we were right in the midst of the good stuff from start to finish.

I really like the pacing in these books. With all the storylines happening to all the different Bobs, there is never really a boring chapter. Ususally this might be a bit overwhelming, but the author does a good job of spacing out the different climaxes throughout the book. You're never more than a few chapters from something major happening, but you aren't getting overwhelmed by having them all at the end of the book.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75