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wilt's reviews
91 reviews
Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
This translation was rough to get through at certain times, and by the end the only character I found interesting was Zabulon. I especially wasn't a fan of real world historical atrocities being tied into this apparent magic fantasy war thats been going on from the beginning of time or whatever.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson
mysterious
tense
4.25
Wholly unique, a sensory delight. I was intimidated at first by the quality and depth of writing - this was a clear and honest challenge. Was I up for it? Did I have what it takes to understand this fantastic story? It seemed it didn't matter, because by some magic possesed within the pages I ate word after word, drinking as if from a crystalline waterfall, at times bitter with viscera, sweet with ichor. Though occasionally I had to slow or stop to reread certain passages and phrases to parse their meaning, more often than not the fluid pacing kept pulling me forward, urging me to trust the structure of the work like guiding me over riverslick rocks by my hand. And by that twisted sorcery, the veil pulled from my eyes, I understood.
Masterful work.
Absolute treasure of storytelling.
Top shelf gay fantasy.
Masterful work.
Absolute treasure of storytelling.
Top shelf gay fantasy.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Did not finish book. Stopped at 55%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 55%.
DNF @ 55%
I can't stand any of these characters except for Theodore but even he is not enough to save this sinking ship. As someone who loves marine biology everything about this book depresses the fuck out of me. The capitalism, the rich and young and pretty scientists, and the lack of actually interesting marine biology. Also why are there honest to god cartoon villains in this? No idea who the target audience is but I'd rather spend my time rereading Down by Ally Blue, another deepsea horror that's actually good and gay, and where the love interests are actuallyalive and together in the end .
I can't stand any of these characters except for Theodore but even he is not enough to save this sinking ship. As someone who loves marine biology everything about this book depresses the fuck out of me. The capitalism, the rich and young and pretty scientists, and the lack of actually interesting marine biology. Also why are there honest to god cartoon villains in this? No idea who the target audience is but I'd rather spend my time rereading Down by Ally Blue, another deepsea horror that's actually good and gay, and where the love interests are actually
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
This is an okay read.
Not bad, but not entirely gripping and here's why. My biggest issue was the POV switches that frequently occured mid-scene, which always stopped the flow cold in its tracks and made it difficult to stay invested in what was going on. Not that there was much to keep track of, the plot is very secondary to the romance, which is not something I personally tend to enjoy. But in this case the romance was fine, and the MCs were interesting enough (especially Evemer. hello big man who struggles to express himself, i have a soft spot for youuu).
But there were definitely a few moments that felt like, 'yeah, ok, i'm reading a romance right now' in that i was being told about their feelings more than i was experiencing their impact. But I digress.
Another thing I didn't really like was the dialogue. At times it was great, but other times it sounded like a bad netflix adaptation - disgustingly modern and trife. The dissonance was upsetting and made it difficult to continue to like certain characters.
The world building also felt promising but frequently sidelined for the sake of lengthy internal monologues about how the characters don't understand their feelings and how that's so hard on them </3 The whole thing about touch-tasting felt very strange and underexplored. Every time it was brought up I had already forgotten that it was a part of the story. (And what's up with the sea serpents?)
Overall I don't think this book needed to be as long as it was, in fact its length was to its detriment with how anticlimactic the ending was. But it had its fun moments, especially in the first 60~70% or so. Not a bad book for a casual romance read, but not one that will likely stick with me for very long.
Not bad, but not entirely gripping and here's why. My biggest issue was the POV switches that frequently occured mid-scene, which always stopped the flow cold in its tracks and made it difficult to stay invested in what was going on. Not that there was much to keep track of, the plot is very secondary to the romance, which is not something I personally tend to enjoy. But in this case the romance was fine, and the MCs were interesting enough (especially Evemer. hello big man who struggles to express himself, i have a soft spot for youuu).
But there were definitely a few moments that felt like, 'yeah, ok, i'm reading a romance right now' in that i was being told about their feelings more than i was experiencing their impact. But I digress.
Another thing I didn't really like was the dialogue. At times it was great, but other times it sounded like a bad netflix adaptation - disgustingly modern and trife. The dissonance was upsetting and made it difficult to continue to like certain characters.
The world building also felt promising but frequently sidelined for the sake of lengthy internal monologues about how the characters don't understand their feelings and how that's so hard on them </3 The whole thing about touch-tasting felt very strange and underexplored. Every time it was brought up I had already forgotten that it was a part of the story. (And what's up with the sea serpents?)
Overall I don't think this book needed to be as long as it was, in fact its length was to its detriment with how anticlimactic the ending was. But it had its fun moments, especially in the first 60~70% or so. Not a bad book for a casual romance read, but not one that will likely stick with me for very long.
The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley
mysterious
3.75
Very weird (affectionate) little book that reads surprisingly modern in its style and subject. It has a very interesting female MC (something still lacking in scifi) and I really enjoyed all the ways bisexuality and transgenderism were portrayed. When I heard this series featured casual/normalized sex changes I didn't know what to expect, but ended up really enjoying the role it played and the different ways it was explored. Surprisingly forward and weird, in a good way. Though none of the characters are explicitly stated as trans its easy to see how trans people can seamlessly exist in this world and do very cool and morally ambiguous things with their epic bodies.
Very cool read, definitely interested in reading more in the series.
Very cool read, definitely interested in reading more in the series.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 43%.
DNF at 40%
the experience of reading this book was like getting dropped into a filler episode in season 2 of a podcast. that is to say i felt lost, zero investment in the characters, and utter confusion about why i kept hearing such great things about this author.
im sure this cast of characters could have been interesting if only they were written by someone else. this is the most shallow writing ive encountered in a while and if this is supposed to be an example of good lgbt scifi i find that insulting. none of these characters have depth beyond quirky jokes and dialogue that never let us access their sincere selves. and when they do try to be sincere it just falls flat under the zero weight being applied to anything whatsoever. everything is either grossly over simplified and dropped on us point-blank with no effort encouraged from the reader to use their brain (ever heard of show, not tell? this author apparently hasnt) or overshadowed by another quirky string of dialouge and i simply couldnt take it anymore.
to call this a work of character driven fiction is also misleading. i like character driven fiction. i like it a lot. this is not that. this is like reading someone's worldbuilding document. disjointed, disconnected from the character's personal stories, and weirdly stated in monologues rather than introduced naturally within the story. because again, there is no story. the only part of this that could have promised to be a story was Jenks and Lovey's hunt for a flesh body. but i wasnt willing to put up with the equivalent of eating stale air for the rest of the book to see how that played out.
this is low-stakes frivolous drivel. this is the marvel movie of queer scifi.
the experience of reading this book was like getting dropped into a filler episode in season 2 of a podcast. that is to say i felt lost, zero investment in the characters, and utter confusion about why i kept hearing such great things about this author.
im sure this cast of characters could have been interesting if only they were written by someone else. this is the most shallow writing ive encountered in a while and if this is supposed to be an example of good lgbt scifi i find that insulting. none of these characters have depth beyond quirky jokes and dialogue that never let us access their sincere selves. and when they do try to be sincere it just falls flat under the zero weight being applied to anything whatsoever. everything is either grossly over simplified and dropped on us point-blank with no effort encouraged from the reader to use their brain (ever heard of show, not tell? this author apparently hasnt) or overshadowed by another quirky string of dialouge and i simply couldnt take it anymore.
to call this a work of character driven fiction is also misleading. i like character driven fiction. i like it a lot. this is not that. this is like reading someone's worldbuilding document. disjointed, disconnected from the character's personal stories, and weirdly stated in monologues rather than introduced naturally within the story. because again, there is no story. the only part of this that could have promised to be a story was Jenks and Lovey's hunt for a flesh body. but i wasnt willing to put up with the equivalent of eating stale air for the rest of the book to see how that played out.
this is low-stakes frivolous drivel. this is the marvel movie of queer scifi.
The Ragged Blade by Christopher Ruz
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Scottish Boy by Trungles, Alex de Campi
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.0
I'm giving this a 1 star because I think there's some entertainment value to be had in how bad it is. Also, the illustrations at the start of every chapter are really, really good. I don't regret buying a physical copy for the art alone, and the sheer insane experience of having read whatever the hell this is.
Apparently this is a repackage of a Stucky fanfic, which I only found out about after the fact. Had I known this beforehand I would not have even attempted to read this. My expectations thus were for a romantic fantasy with maybe some dark or violent elements. I expected Scottish themes, angst, politics. Fantastic landscapes and gruesome battles. Instead I got 80% bad sex, 10% wondering why this was titled the Scottish Boy when there is in fact no Scottish Boy to speak of, and 10% cheering whenever the two main characters hated each other too much to have sex.
I only recommend this to those who want a good laugh, a hearty cringe, and an absolutely absurd experience to tell your friends about.
Apparently this is a repackage of a Stucky fanfic, which I only found out about after the fact. Had I known this beforehand I would not have even attempted to read this. My expectations thus were for a romantic fantasy with maybe some dark or violent elements. I expected Scottish themes, angst, politics. Fantastic landscapes and gruesome battles. Instead I got 80% bad sex, 10% wondering why this was titled the Scottish Boy when there is in fact no Scottish Boy to speak of, and 10% cheering whenever the two main characters hated each other too much to have sex.
I only recommend this to those who want a good laugh, a hearty cringe, and an absolutely absurd experience to tell your friends about.