stardustrohrig's reviews
68 reviews

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

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

3.0

Note: Murdebot refers to itself with it/its pronouns so I will use those when referring to Murderbot. It does not consider itself human and does not want to be considered a person. 

I enjoyed this one as much as the previous story. I really liked the sort of friendship Murderbot develops with ART - I don’t think Murderbot would call it a friendship but it approaches that level. Murderbot does a lot to help ART figure things out by sharing the media it has watched and ART ends up helping Murderbot figure out what happened in the past. I also enjoyed how Murderbot ends up helping the group of humans it encounters while traveling back to where the massacre occurred to do its research to find out what happened to it in the past. There's a lot to be said about Murderbot learning from its past and how it interacts with people and other AIs. As much as I've enjoyed the first two books I have to say I have mixed feelings with the way intelligence is talked about in these books, and I've written more on my blog if you would like to read it.  

https://stardustrohrig.com/2024/08/30/artificial-condition-review/

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

adventurous funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this novella. Murderbot is a very interesting character and I liked the way they things developed over the course of the story. There are some world building details that I wish had been explained in more depth, but it's not a dealbreaker. The ending is a little abrupt, but not a surprising choice by Murderbot given their new found freedom to make that choice. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. 

Imago: A dystopia gothic by M. Zakharuk
Did not finish book. Stopped at 88%.

I couldn't really get into it. I don't understand enough of what is happening or the character's motivations.... 

Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey

challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

This was an interesting read. It starts out as one type of story but slowly expands into something else. The main character is complicated as he deals with combat related PTSD and the loneliness of being on the beacon without anyone nearby. As a result it's not always clear if the things that are happening are real or not. The reader is in his head for the story so really just has to go along for the ride and hopefully understand everything that the story is about in the end. The book was originally published as 5 short stories and then collected into one novel. Each story does its own thing but continues the overall plot of the main character being in charge of running the beacon. There is a vague ending and then an epilogue that concludes what happened. I believe I prefer the vague ending because it fit better with the overall concept of figuring out what is really going on. 

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

When I read this last year I wasn't in the best mood about books that had kids saving the world while adults are useless. I also must not have been as open to urban fantasy as I should have been, which resulted in an unfair review at the time. I decided to re-read it after reading "Sheine Lende" which is a prequel to "Elatsoe". 

I really enjoyed reading the book for the second time. The characters are great. And I do think the adults around Elatsoe are great too even though she does all the investigative work with her friend and solves the case. Her parents are very supportive of her gifts and how she uses them. I think I also failed to realize she’s actually seventeen the first time I read the book, so actually closer to being an adult than a child. For some reason I thought she as younger the first time around. 

The setting is really interesting and the word building made more sense this time. I think in some places the details could have been explained a little more but there’s also a sense that things are secret as part of the cultures involved. There are a couple places where Elatsoe was thinking of her Sixth-Great Grandmother and the scene shifts right into a story about her. I think those instances could have been separated a little more. Especially in once case there is something serious happening to Elatsoe and story switches POV before returning to solving the initial situation Elatsoe is in. 

It's still a bit annoying that Elatsoe does almost all the work to solve everything. Her mother has the same gifts she does but can’t use them as well for some reason. I don’t know if that was explained or not? I might have missed that explanation like I missed why her father suddenly disappears after driving her to her cousins house. There’s actually a line in the book about how he needs to go back to work, but that wasn’t entirely clear after all his talk of believing her and wanting to help her find out what had happened. None of this impacts my overall feelings of enjoying the book and I'm glad I read it again. 

Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book and the characters. I thought this one worked a bit better than “Elatsoe” for which this is a prequel. The main thing that makes this one work better for me is that Shane isn’t surrounded by adults who know as much as she does or more. She actually is the only one with the specific type of training for how to find people the way her mother does. The primary adults in this book are grandparents of those who are missing and her own grandparent who isn’t as helpful as he should be, and then a few additional teenagers she knows. In general I think this book just feels like it works better in the sense of being a book where a younger person solves the day while adults can’t help. 

I also felt like the world building was a little better in this book. A lot of things were explained more, or if not it as acknowledged that information was not available. The mimic rings are unknown to everyone in this situation as no one really knows why the exist. So Shane has to do the work of finding out what is going on and who might have the information. I really like how she handles everything while also looking after her little brother. I also like the friendships she has and develops along the way. 

I really liked the resolution of everything with what had happened to her mother and also another person that disappeared years ago. The clues are there to be had, and while the solution was little more whimsical than I’d usually enjoy, it totally worked for this book. 

The Seep by Chana Porter

emotional mysterious reflective fast-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

4.0

This was an interesting read! It would appear that in the aftermath of the invasion Earth has become a utopia of sorts but there's a lot of questions about how it all works and how good things actually are for everyone. While there were some hints, the story was focused almost entirely on Trina dealing with her grief over losing Deeba, so we don't really get any definite answers to those questions beyond how she was impacted. The ending got very weird and I'm still not entirely sure what all happened (beyond what were apparently some Seep fueled hallucinations). Overall I enjoyed it even though I was left with more questions than answers. 

Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This was such a weird book (and a bit more sexually explicit, in a couple brief scenes, than I’d usually read), but also very good. The story is split into four sections with different narrators for each one – Magos, her best friend, her husband, and finally Monstrilio. Monstrilio’s section is probably the most complex as he is working out who he actually is and how he will continue to live. He ends up making a choice in the end that isn’t really a surprise considering all that has happened. Overall I felt like all four of the characters were unlikeable but sympathetic in their own ways, which made the book interesting to read. Monstrilio was obviously the most sympathetic because of how he was created and forced to be something he’s not by the choices others made. 

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

4.5

I really enjoyed reading this book. Rumi has a lot to work through and her time in Hawaii helped put a lot of things into perspective. Her anger is a lot and she does come across as very mean but it’s also very understandable. I’m glad she developed such good friendships with Kai (along with his friend group) and Mr. Watanabe. While the situation with her mother seems horrible at first I ended up liking the way it was handled. It’s a lot more complicated than it first seems. Rumi isn’t always a reliable narrator in what’s happening due to her anger and grief, but there’s also things her mother needs to work as well. I thought the ending worked well for the story being told. There is a good outcome for the future as Rumi and her mother are dealing with their grief.

Season One: Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space! by Cait Gordon

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed the characters, (which included both disability and LGBQIA+ representation), and the various adventures they all had. I thought showing how well they all worked together worked for the book and it’s a great concept. Here’s the thing – I would have enjoyed this more if the first chapter hadn’t contained the scene mentioned in the description where the intergalactic janitor calls the crew disabled and the crew has no idea what it means. 

I understand the intent behind the book with all access needs being taken care of and everything is just fine – similar to the Star Trek: The Next Generation universe where everything is taken care of (with some exceptions once you look beyond the Enterprise). But I also felt like the author wanted to have it both ways. Never mentioning disability, just accessibility needs but there are still moments in the book where needs aren’t always met completely or in a way that works for everyone. Also there was a sub-plot about one character who was not sensitive to diverse body-minds and had to be made to be more aware of his behavior. 

Now it could also be said that the reason “disability” is never mentioned is that several, if not all, of the crew members are actually aliens who have different access needs that present as real world disabilities (autistic, d/Deaf, vision issues, non-speaking with mouth words, etc). Which would be the actual reason why disability is never brought up because they’re not disabled in a way that we’d call it. But other terminology related to disability is used the same way we would use it, accessibility, wheelchairs, guide bots (as apposed to guide dogs) and so on. While you may be able to talk about various access needs without using the word disabled it makes it awkward to read about as a disabled person. 

Also everything is ideal for the crew but no mention is made of anyone with higher support needs or intellectual disabilities. How are they taken care of in this universe? Are they helped or is all of this access for only the elite? It’s implied at one point that healthcare is paid (for some at least) but there are gaps in the world building that lead to more questions.

I honestly fee torn about this review, because I think without the scene thing at the beginning I would have been focusing on the characters and the plot which are very good. In many ways the book does what the author appears to want to do with regard to showcasing how things could be. Unfortunately, for me the scene in the beginning brought up all the various questions about how the universe works. How did they get where they are without needing to use the word disabled? I also do wonder if I’m being hyper critical because I’m disabled too and have certain ideas about what we need to be saying about disability seem to be different from the author’s ideas.