Kogiopsis's bookshelf: read en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 13:25:43 -0700 60 Kogiopsis's bookshelf: read 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Momo 27718
It is Momo, the ragged little waif, who discovers what is happening. And it is Momo, with her uncanny ability to listen, her simplicity and honesty, who holds the key to salvation. She is the only one who can resist these soulless, corrupt creatures.

In this intricate and compelling story of a fantastic country, Momo sets out to destroy the enemy. The mysterious Professor Hora and his strangely gifted tortoise, Cassiopeia, will help her.]]> 237 Michael Ende Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.27 1973 Momo
author: Michael Ende
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Dragonfly Gambit 210056729 A.D. Sui Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.18 The Dragonfly Gambit
author: A.D. Sui
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Countess 211428041
A queer, Caribbean, anti-colonial sci-fi novella, inspired by the Count of Monte Cristo, in which a betrayed captain seeks revenge on the interplanetary empire that subjugated her people for generations.

Virika Sameroo lives in colonized space under the 脝erbot Empire, much like her ancestors before her in the British West Indies. After years of working hard to rise through the ranks of the empire鈥檚 merchant marine, she鈥檚 finally become first lieutenant on an interstellar cargo vessel.

When her captain dies under suspicious circumstances, Virika is arrested for murder and charged with treason despite her lifelong loyalty to the empire. Her conviction and subsequent imprisonment set her on a path to justice, determined to take down the evil empire that wronged her, all while the fate of her people hangs in the balance.]]> 168 Suzan Palumbo 1770417575 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.58 2024 Countess
author: Suzan Palumbo
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Lost Ark Dreaming 195790767
Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region鈥檚 survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers鈥� most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level.

There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves.

Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living鈥昮or everyone.]]> 179 Suyi Davies Okungbowa 1250890756 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.63 2024 Lost Ark Dreaming
author: Suyi Davies Okungbowa
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus, #1)]]> 334123
If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.]]> 462 Jonathan Stroud 078681859X Kogiopsis 4 The Ring of Solomon is the missing piece.)

This book is still an absolute delight. I'd forgotten a lot - especially that Nathaniel is TWELVE in this first installment; and that it's a contemporary alternate timeline setting, not a period piece - but I remembered the wry humor and moral ambiguity of it fondly, and that still holds up. Bartimaeus is such a superb unreliable narrator, and he and Nathaniel make excellent foils - both untrusting of the other, both a lot more good at heart than they're supposed to be, or than is healthy for them. We get a hint in the first 20 pages that Bartimaeus doesn't hate all humans as much as he claims, and even though he goes on and on and postures about wanting to kill magicians and not caring about humans, his human body count in the book is... I think just a flat zero, actually. Paired with a magician who is at the same time wildly egotistical and ambitious and also a young boy who craves love, and you have a recipe for an interesting story about power and trust, as well as plenty of magical shenanigans.

I do think the worldbuilding feels a little off, but part of that may be because of how much the world has changed in the 22 years since this book was first published; a London plausible in 2003 looks much different than the London of today, and in particular the lack of technology in the story (even though a laptop is mentioned fairly early on) is odd. Bartimaeus' footnotes help a lot with understanding the broader alternate history context, as do throwaway lines from various characters, and I'm not overall averse to the setting being only loosely sketched, especially as both POV characters have reasons not to know or care much about historical details. The one thing that really sticks with me (other than a train leaving from, I'm pretty sure, the wrong side of the Thames) is the question of what happened to the British monarchy. Maybe that's mentioned in the later entries in the trilogy?

It's been a lot of fun to revisit this book, and I'm looking forward to rereading the rest of the series.]]> 4.03 2003 The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus, #1)
author: Jonathan Stroud
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: childhood-nostalgia, favorite-2025-reads, reviewed
review:
Wait, are you kidding me? I never marked the Bartimaeus books as read? I have definitely read (or listened to; the audiobook is really good) the trilogy multiple times. Not sure how I overlooked this, and I will be fixing it, as I'm on a mission to finally complete series which I own in full, but have never actually finished. (In this case, The Ring of Solomon is the missing piece.)

This book is still an absolute delight. I'd forgotten a lot - especially that Nathaniel is TWELVE in this first installment; and that it's a contemporary alternate timeline setting, not a period piece - but I remembered the wry humor and moral ambiguity of it fondly, and that still holds up. Bartimaeus is such a superb unreliable narrator, and he and Nathaniel make excellent foils - both untrusting of the other, both a lot more good at heart than they're supposed to be, or than is healthy for them. We get a hint in the first 20 pages that Bartimaeus doesn't hate all humans as much as he claims, and even though he goes on and on and postures about wanting to kill magicians and not caring about humans, his human body count in the book is... I think just a flat zero, actually. Paired with a magician who is at the same time wildly egotistical and ambitious and also a young boy who craves love, and you have a recipe for an interesting story about power and trust, as well as plenty of magical shenanigans.

I do think the worldbuilding feels a little off, but part of that may be because of how much the world has changed in the 22 years since this book was first published; a London plausible in 2003 looks much different than the London of today, and in particular the lack of technology in the story (even though a laptop is mentioned fairly early on) is odd. Bartimaeus' footnotes help a lot with understanding the broader alternate history context, as do throwaway lines from various characters, and I'm not overall averse to the setting being only loosely sketched, especially as both POV characters have reasons not to know or care much about historical details. The one thing that really sticks with me (other than a train leaving from, I'm pretty sure, the wrong side of the Thames) is the question of what happened to the British monarchy. Maybe that's mentioned in the later entries in the trilogy?

It's been a lot of fun to revisit this book, and I'm looking forward to rereading the rest of the series.
]]> Jade Fire Gold 56645963 In an empire on the brink of war...

Ahn is no one, with no past and no family.

Altan is a lost heir, his future stolen away as a child.

When they meet, Altan sees in Ahn a path to reclaiming the throne. Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and understand her arcane magical abilities.

But they may have to pay a far deadlier price than either could have imagined.

Ferocious action, shadowy intrigue, and a captivating romance collide in June CL Tan鈥檚 debut, a stunning homage to the Xianxia novel with a tender, beating heart, perfect for fans of The Bone Witch and We Hunt the Flame.]]> 464 June C.L. Tan 0063056364 Kogiopsis 3 reviewed, queer-stuff
I liked a lot of this, but I wanted to like it far more than I did. Here's the thing: we start off with an interesting Chinese-inspired fantasy setting, some cool magic and xianxia elements, and divided family loyalties. I was engaged almost instantly; Tan's writing is evocative, full of momentum, and she does a superb job introducing terms to readers who may be unfamiliar without distracting from the narrative, which felt like a carefully honed skill. As an example:
We leave the crowds behind and head west across stone bridges arching over narrow waterways, past sculptures of dragon turtles and fountains carved with yuefu. Some snippets of the classical poems are known to me, others less so.

(Apologies for the lack of accents!)

In two sentences, she's delivered an evocative but succinct description of the setting, introduced an unfamiliar word, and smoothly provided a definition in a way which also establishes information about the POV character. What I love about this is that, as much as it helps me (very white) understand this setting, it also doesn't feel like it would be distracting to someone who already knew what yuefu meant - IE, it's not written exclusively for an outsider POV.

After this strong start, though, at around the halfway point the story turned. In fact, it was almost exactly halfway through that something clicked - Altan unsheathed two sabers in a fight with bandits and all of a sudden, I realized that this part, at least, was... Zuko from ATLA. And it kept happening - he's got a scarred face and one damaged eye; his mentor is a gentle old man who loves jasmine tea; his sister is hinted to have been much crueler by nature than he was - he's not exactly Zuko, but the similarities are too strong to unsee. Ahn is not Katara (though she does have an affinity for water in addition to her life-stealing magic, and the impacts of life-stealing on plants around her sound a lot like the bloodbending episode), but their relationship from then on out just kind of... felt like Zutara fanfic. Nevermind that the interesting part of Zutara, the ideological friction, is what Ahn has with Leiye and not Altan...

The plot also moved at an odd pace in the second half of the book. Some of the most momentous events occur in the last 80 pages, and it felt extremely rushed and underdeveloped, which led to the ending in turn feeling easy and unearned. There were opportunities for very interesting, recontextualized character interactions that were just... skated over, which was very disappointing as the character interactions in the first half were great. Add to this the epilogue which clearly hints at a planned sequel - though I can find no information about such a sequel being forthcoming - and I was left feeling shortchanged. I know trilogies can get kind of old hat and we all long for a good standalone sometimes, but this book should have been two installments, with at least one subsequent book to address the epilogue.

With all that said, I liked enough of the story and the writing that I do want to read more from Tan, and if that sequel ever gets published, I'd absolutely want to pick it up.]]> 3.70 2021 Jade Fire Gold
author: June C.L. Tan
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: reviewed, queer-stuff
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Donated.

I liked a lot of this, but I wanted to like it far more than I did. Here's the thing: we start off with an interesting Chinese-inspired fantasy setting, some cool magic and xianxia elements, and divided family loyalties. I was engaged almost instantly; Tan's writing is evocative, full of momentum, and she does a superb job introducing terms to readers who may be unfamiliar without distracting from the narrative, which felt like a carefully honed skill. As an example:
We leave the crowds behind and head west across stone bridges arching over narrow waterways, past sculptures of dragon turtles and fountains carved with yuefu. Some snippets of the classical poems are known to me, others less so.

(Apologies for the lack of accents!)

In two sentences, she's delivered an evocative but succinct description of the setting, introduced an unfamiliar word, and smoothly provided a definition in a way which also establishes information about the POV character. What I love about this is that, as much as it helps me (very white) understand this setting, it also doesn't feel like it would be distracting to someone who already knew what yuefu meant - IE, it's not written exclusively for an outsider POV.

After this strong start, though, at around the halfway point the story turned. In fact, it was almost exactly halfway through that something clicked - Altan unsheathed two sabers in a fight with bandits and all of a sudden, I realized that this part, at least, was... Zuko from ATLA. And it kept happening - he's got a scarred face and one damaged eye; his mentor is a gentle old man who loves jasmine tea; his sister is hinted to have been much crueler by nature than he was - he's not exactly Zuko, but the similarities are too strong to unsee. Ahn is not Katara (though she does have an affinity for water in addition to her life-stealing magic, and the impacts of life-stealing on plants around her sound a lot like the bloodbending episode), but their relationship from then on out just kind of... felt like Zutara fanfic. Nevermind that the interesting part of Zutara, the ideological friction, is what Ahn has with Leiye and not Altan...

The plot also moved at an odd pace in the second half of the book. Some of the most momentous events occur in the last 80 pages, and it felt extremely rushed and underdeveloped, which led to the ending in turn feeling easy and unearned. There were opportunities for very interesting, recontextualized character interactions that were just... skated over, which was very disappointing as the character interactions in the first half were great. Add to this the epilogue which clearly hints at a planned sequel - though I can find no information about such a sequel being forthcoming - and I was left feeling shortchanged. I know trilogies can get kind of old hat and we all long for a good standalone sometimes, but this book should have been two installments, with at least one subsequent book to address the epilogue.

With all that said, I liked enough of the story and the writing that I do want to read more from Tan, and if that sequel ever gets published, I'd absolutely want to pick it up.
]]> <![CDATA[Darker by Four (Darker by Four, #1)]]> 212223164 A vengeful girl. A hollow boy. A missing god.

Rui has one goal in mind鈥攈oning her magic to avenge her mother鈥檚 death.

Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet鈥攈ad he been born with magic.

Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble鈥� and the human world will be next if the King is not found.

When an accident causes Rui鈥檚 power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King.

As darkness takes over, three paths intersect in the shadows. And three lives bound by fate must rise against destiny before the barrier between worlds falls and all Hell breaks loose鈥攍iterally.

Perfect for fans of This Savage Song and Only a Monster, Darker by Four will pull readers into a world of love and desperation and revenge鈥攁 world where every deal has a catch, no secret stays buried, and no one is exactly who they say they are.]]> 400 June C.L. Tan Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.96 2024 Darker by Four (Darker by Four, #1)
author: June C.L. Tan
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Queen of Sorcery (The Belgariad #2)]]> 587582 The Trail of Prophecy...

Legends told of how the evil God Torak had coveted the power of the Orb of Aldur, until defeated in a final battle. But prophecy spoke of a time when he would awake and again seek dominance over the world. Now the Orb has been stolen by a priest of Torak, and that time was at hand.

The master Sorcerer Belgarath and his daughter Polgara the arch-Sorceress were on the trail of the Orb, seeking to regain it before the final disaster. And with them went Garion, a simple farm boy only months before, but now the focus of the struggle. He has never believed in sorcery and wanted no part of it. Yet with every league they traveled, the power grew in him, forcing him to acts of wizardry he could not accept.

This continues the magnificent epic of The Belgariad, began in Pawn of Prophecy, set among strange lands against a background of a war of men, Kings, and Gods that had spanned seven thousand years - a novel of strange fate and a prophecy that must come true!]]> 326 David Eddings 0345335651 Kogiopsis 3 nicole-reads-to-me, reviewed my feelings on that book also apply here, especially regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the worldbuilding.

Ce'nedra was a pleasant surprise by the end of this installment! At first I thought she was going to be another exaggerated nagging woman, but while she's a bit shrill and dramatic in contrast to more weathered characters, she is also frequently a voice of reason, especially when Garion is being a dumb teenager (which is often). His idealism is clearly what will make him a good king at the end of this quest, but in order to get there he needs to be tempered by practical reality, and Ce'nedra has enough of a background in politics to understand that and remind him.

I do, however, feel weird about how insistent Eddings is on talking about her being small, tiny, and childlike... even as Garion is starting to feel attracted to her. That's often uncomfortable.]]> 4.14 1982 Queen of Sorcery (The Belgariad #2)
author: David Eddings
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: nicole-reads-to-me, reviewed
review:
In many ways this book is a smooth continuation of Pawn of Prophecy, and so many of my feelings on that book also apply here, especially regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the worldbuilding.

Ce'nedra was a pleasant surprise by the end of this installment! At first I thought she was going to be another exaggerated nagging woman, but while she's a bit shrill and dramatic in contrast to more weathered characters, she is also frequently a voice of reason, especially when Garion is being a dumb teenager (which is often). His idealism is clearly what will make him a good king at the end of this quest, but in order to get there he needs to be tempered by practical reality, and Ce'nedra has enough of a background in politics to understand that and remind him.

I do, however, feel weird about how insistent Eddings is on talking about her being small, tiny, and childlike... even as Garion is starting to feel attracted to her. That's often uncomfortable.
]]> <![CDATA[The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy, #1)]]> 217182392 From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar鈥檚 quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists鈥攖he best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor鈥檚 brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won鈥檛 let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.]]> 672 Antonia Hodgson 0316577227 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.58 2025 The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy, #1)
author: Antonia Hodgson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Horizon (Bone Universe, #3) 33398880 416 Fran Wilde 076537787X Kogiopsis 4 reviewed Cloudbound and therefore found it easier to remember details of the worldbuilding and larger cast, or perhaps because it expanded beyond the difficult-to-picture city and gave me a more grounded (pun intended) perspective on the world.

However, the series as a whole just... didn't resonate with me as much as I had hoped. I found most of the characters and their motivations/reactions felt distant, especially for secondary characters who often seemed to make decisions on the fly (again, pun intended) to move the plot forward more than anything else. The pacing of this installment was also odd; Macal and Nat's missions were urgent, but they spent long chapters in the midcloud waiting for... what? Again, I came back to the question of scale that I've had for this whole series - how long does it take for them to get back to the upper tiers, that they can afford to delay for days?

The glimpse into the biology of the wider world was nice, but the characters seemed remarkably incurious about most parts of it. Everyone was so focused on finding a new city to live as they had been; I wish that just one character had been more interested in the differences offered by the ground, especially as I think this would have played nicely into the themes of the final resolution.

[spoilers removed]

Overall, while I won't be rereading this series in particular, I am still interested in reading more from Wilde, as her ideas are unique and intriguing.]]> 3.73 2017 Horizon (Bone Universe, #3)
author: Fran Wilde
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: reviewed
review:
Hmmmm. I enjoyed this more than either of its predecessors - perhaps since I read it right after Cloudbound and therefore found it easier to remember details of the worldbuilding and larger cast, or perhaps because it expanded beyond the difficult-to-picture city and gave me a more grounded (pun intended) perspective on the world.

However, the series as a whole just... didn't resonate with me as much as I had hoped. I found most of the characters and their motivations/reactions felt distant, especially for secondary characters who often seemed to make decisions on the fly (again, pun intended) to move the plot forward more than anything else. The pacing of this installment was also odd; Macal and Nat's missions were urgent, but they spent long chapters in the midcloud waiting for... what? Again, I came back to the question of scale that I've had for this whole series - how long does it take for them to get back to the upper tiers, that they can afford to delay for days?

The glimpse into the biology of the wider world was nice, but the characters seemed remarkably incurious about most parts of it. Everyone was so focused on finding a new city to live as they had been; I wish that just one character had been more interested in the differences offered by the ground, especially as I think this would have played nicely into the themes of the final resolution.

[spoilers removed]

Overall, while I won't be rereading this series in particular, I am still interested in reading more from Wilde, as her ideas are unique and intriguing.
]]> <![CDATA[Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism]]> 198563691 Why don鈥檛 our schools work? Eve L. Ewing tackles this question from a new angle: What if they鈥檙e actually doing what they were built to do? She argues that instead of being the great equalizer, America鈥檚 classrooms were designed to do the opposite: to maintain the nation鈥檚 inequalities. It鈥檚 a task at which they excel.

If all children could just get an education, the logic goes, they would have the same opportunities later in life. But this historical tour de force makes it clear that the opposite is true: The U.S. school system has played an instrumental role in creating and upholding racial hierarchies, preparing children to expect unequal treatment throughout their lives.

In Original Sins, Ewing demonstrates that our schools were designed to propagate the idea of white intellectual superiority, to 鈥渃ivilize鈥� Native students and to prepare Black students for menial labor. Education was not an afterthought for the Founding Fathers; it was envisioned by Thomas Jefferson as an institution that would fortify the country鈥檚 racial hierarchy. Ewing argues that these dynamics persist in a curriculum that continues to minimize the horrors of American history. The most insidious aspects of this system fall below the radar in the forms of standardized testing, academic tracking, disciplinary policies, and uneven access to resources.

By demonstrating that it鈥檚 in the DNA of American schools to serve as an effective and underacknowledged mechanism maintaining inequality in this country today, Ewing makes the case that we need a profound reevaluation of what schools are supposed to do, and for whom. This book will change the way people understand the place we send our children for eight hours a day.]]> 400 Eve L. Ewing 0593243706 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.61 2025 Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism
author: Eve L. Ewing
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling]]> 57285589 248 Esi Edugyan 1487009879 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.31 2021 Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling
author: Esi Edugyan
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Ravenous Fate (This Ravenous Fate, #1)]]> 200174131 The first book in a decadent fantasy duology set in Jazz Age Harlem, where at night the dance halls come to life鈥攁nd death waits in the dark.

It's 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York. But the Saint family's thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire. Only one thing weighs heavier on Elise's mind than her family obligations: the knowledge that the Harlem reapers want her dead.

Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago. The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she'll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her.

But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. When Layla is framed for one of these attacks, the Saint patriarch offers her a deal she can't refuse: to work with Elise to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure. Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city's underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.]]> 457 Hayley Dennings 1728297869 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.43 2024 This Ravenous Fate (This Ravenous Fate, #1)
author: Hayley Dennings
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Are Prisons Obsolete? 108428
In Are Prisons Obsolete?, Professor Davis seeks to illustrate that the time for the prison is approaching an end. She argues forthrightly for "decarceration", and argues for the transformation of the society as a whole.]]> 128 Angela Y. Davis 1583225811 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.53 2003 Are Prisons Obsolete?
author: Angela Y. Davis
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Krik? Krak! 600404
When Haitians tell a story, they say "Krik?" and the eager listeners answer "Krak!" In Krik? Krak! Danticat establishes herself as the latest heir to that narrative tradition with nine stories that encompass both the cruelties and the high ideals of Haitian life. They tell of women who continue loving behind prison walls and in the face of unfathomable loss; of a people who resist the brutality of their rulers through the powers of imagination. The result is a collection that outrages, saddens, and transports the reader with its sheer beauty.]]> 224 Edwidge Danticat 067976657X Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.16 1996 Krik? Krak!
author: Edwidge Danticat
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition]]> 55921521
Vital and empowering What White People Can Do Next teaches each of us how to be agents of change in the fight against racism and the establishment of a more just and equitable world. In this affecting and inspiring collection of essays, Emma Dabiri draws on both academic discipline and lived experience to probe the ways many of us are complacent and complicit鈥攁nd can therefore combat鈥攚hite supremacy. She outlines the actions we must take, Stop the Denial
Interrogate Whiteness
Abandon Guilt
Redistribute Resources
Realize this shit is killing you too . . .聽 To move forward, we must begin to evaluate our prejudices, our social systems, and the ways in which white supremacy harms us all. Illuminating and practical, What White People Can Do Next is essential for everyone who wants to go beyond their current understanding and affect real鈥攁nd lasting鈥攃hange.]]> 176 Emma Dabiri 006311271X Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.39 2021 What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition
author: Emma Dabiri
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cloudbound (Bone Universe, #2)]]> 28220944
After the dust settles, the City of living bones begins to die, and more trouble brews beneath the clouds in this stirring companion to Fran Wilde's Updraft.

When Kirit Densira left her home tower for the skies, she gave up many things: her beloved family, her known way of life, her dreams of flying as a trader for her tower, her dreams. Kirit set her City upside down, and fomented a massive rebellion at the Spire, to the good of the towers鈥攂ut months later, everything has fallen to pieces.

In Cloudbound, with the Towers in disarray, without a governing body or any defense against the dangers lurking in the clouds, daily life is full of terror and strife. Naton, Kirit's wing-brother, sets out to be a hero in his own way鈥攕itting on the new Council to cast votes protecting Tower-born, and exploring lower tiers to find more materials to repair the struggling City.

But what he finds down-tier is more secrets鈥攁nd now Nat will have to decide who to trust, and how to trust himself without losing those he holds most dear, before a dangerous myth raises a surprisingly realistic threat to the crippled City.

In the sky-high city of living bone, to fall beneath the clouds is to be lost forever. But Nat Densira finds more in the grey expanse than he ever expected. To survive, he must let go of everything he believes.]]> 396 Fran Wilde 0765377853 Kogiopsis 3
My feelings on Cloudbound are much the same as my feelings on Updraft - I'm here for the worldbuilding and struggle to connect to the characters, and these books are way less about the worldbuilding than I would like. Also, I feel like this setting would really benefit from illustrations and/or maps - I have had significant trouble, especially in this book, getting a sense of blocking and scale in complicated scenes. The setting is so unique that I have very little frame of reference for it, and Wilde is very good at keeping her characters grounded in their context, so they often don't think of or explain concepts in a way that an outside observer understands. This is good writing! It's just... maybe a little too different for a purely textual medium, IMO.

[spoilers removed]

Wilde is clearly an incredibly creative person, and has put a lot of rich detail into her fabulously unusual idea. I'm just still not all that connected to the story that's wrapped around it.]]> 3.61 2016 Cloudbound (Bone Universe, #2)
author: Fran Wilde
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: I may change my mind when I finish the third, but right now I'm leaning towards not keeping this series.

My feelings on Cloudbound are much the same as my feelings on Updraft - I'm here for the worldbuilding and struggle to connect to the characters, and these books are way less about the worldbuilding than I would like. Also, I feel like this setting would really benefit from illustrations and/or maps - I have had significant trouble, especially in this book, getting a sense of blocking and scale in complicated scenes. The setting is so unique that I have very little frame of reference for it, and Wilde is very good at keeping her characters grounded in their context, so they often don't think of or explain concepts in a way that an outside observer understands. This is good writing! It's just... maybe a little too different for a purely textual medium, IMO.

[spoilers removed]

Wilde is clearly an incredibly creative person, and has put a lot of rich detail into her fabulously unusual idea. I'm just still not all that connected to the story that's wrapped around it.
]]> Segu (S茅gou, #1) 550571 Segu follows the life of Dousika Traore, the king鈥檚 most trusted advisor, and his four sons, whose fates embody the forces tearing at the fabric of the nation. There is Tiekoro, who renounces his people鈥檚 religion and embraces Islam; Siga, who defends tradition, but becomes a merchant; Naba, who is kidnapped by slave traders; and Malobali, who becomes a mercenary and halfhearted Christian.

Based on actual events, Segu transports the reader to a fascinating time in history, capturing the earthy spirituality, religious fervor, and violent nature of a people and a growing nation trying to cope with jihads, national rivalries, racism, amid the vagaries of commerce.]]> 493 Maryse Cond茅 014025949X Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.13 1984 Segu (S茅gou, #1)
author: Maryse Cond茅
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Terra Nullius 35603581 Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.

The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace, and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart, reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.

This is not Australia as we know it. This is not the Australia of our history.]]> 294 Claire G. Coleman 0733638317 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.74 2017 Terra Nullius
author: Claire G. Coleman
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Glory 58491879 From the award-winning author of the Booker-prize finalist We Need New Names, a blockbuster of a novel that chronicles the fall of an oppressive regime, and the chaotic, kinetic potential for real liberation that rises in its wake.

Glory centers around the unexpected fall of Old Horse, a long-serving leader of a fictional country, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the path to true liberation. Inspired by the unexpected fall by coup, in November 2017, of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president of nearly four decades, Bulawayo's bold, vividly imagined novel shows a country imploding, narrated by a chorus of animal voices who unveil the ruthlessness and cold strategy required to uphold the illusion of absolute power, and the imagination and bullet-proof optimism to overthrow it completely.

As with her debut novel We Need New Names, Bulawayo's fierce voice and lucid imagery immerses us in the daily life of a traumatized nation, revealing the dazzling life force and irrepressible wit that lies barely concealed beneath the surface of seemingly bleak circumstances. At the center of this tumult is Destiny, who has returned to Jidada from exile to bear witness to revolution--and focus on the unofficial history and the potential legacy of the women who have quietly pulled the strings in this country.

The animal kingdom--its connection to our primal responses and resonance in the mythology, folktales, and fairytales that define cultures the world over--unmasks the surreality of contemporary global politics to help us understand our world more clearly, even as Bulwayo plucks us right out of it. Glory is a blockbuster, an exhilarating ride, and crystalizes a turning point in history with the texture and nuance that only the greatest of fiction can.]]> 416 NoViolet Bulawayo 0525561137 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.69 2022 Glory
author: NoViolet Bulawayo
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Assembly 56646330 Go Home vans. Go to Oxbridge, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy a flat. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.

The narrator of Assembly is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can't escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?]]> 112 Natasha Brown 0316268267 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.84 2021 Assembly
author: Natasha Brown
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The King Must Die 200605425 From the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Splinter in the Sky comes a pulse-pounding blend of science fiction, dystopian adventure, and space opera as the daughter of imprisoned rebel instigators teams up with the heir of a power-drunk emperor to save the empire鈥r destroy it in the process.

Fen鈥檚 world is crumbling. Newearth鈥攁 once-promising planet gifted by the all-powerful alien Makers鈥攏ow suffers from failed terraforming, leaving its people on the brink of collapse. Fen, a skilled mercenary bodyguard, has spent her life working under a cunning magistrate, entangled in the politics of an empire that shattered her family. Her parents, labeled rebels, remained her only tether to hope鈥攗ntil the ruthless Sovereign executed them and marked Fen for death.

With nothing left to lose, Fen escapes with a single map and an old quarterstaff, embarking on a dangerous quest to seek out the last remnants of the rebellion. But the underground insurgents may be even more dangerous than the Sovereign鈥檚 army. At the center of it all stands Alekhai, the Sovereign鈥檚 heir鈥攁 brutal, power-hungry force of destruction. Though he embodies everything Fen despises, his dangerous plans might be the empire鈥檚 last chance at survival鈥r the final push to its doom.

Perfect for fans of fast-paced dystopian adventures, sci-fi intrigue, and morally complex heroes, The King Must Die weaves an unforgettable story of rebellion, survival, and impossible choices. Will Fen save her world鈥攐r ensure its destruction?]]> Kemi Ashing-Giwa Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.00 2025 The King Must Die
author: Kemi Ashing-Giwa
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Scout's Honor 55708513 Prudence Perry is a third-generation Ladybird Scout who must battle literal (and figurative) monsters and the weight of her legacy in this YA paranormal.

Sixteen-year-old Prudence Perry is a legacy Ladybird Scout, born to a family of hunters sworn to protect humans from mulligrubs鈥昳nterdimensional parasites who feast on human emotions like sadness and anger. Masquerading as a prim and proper ladies' social organization, the Ladybirds brew poisons masked as teas and use knitting needles as daggers, at least until they graduate to axes and swords.

Three years ago, Prue鈥檚 best friend was killed during a hunt, so she kissed the Scouts goodbye, preferring the company of her punkish friends lovingly dubbed the Criminal Element much to her mother and T铆a Lo鈥檚 disappointment. However, unable to move on from her guilt and trauma, Prue devises a risky plan to infiltrate the Ladybirds in order to swipe the Tea of Forgetting, a restricted tincture laced with a powerful amnesia spell.

But old monster-slaying habits die hard and Prue finds herself falling back into the fold, growing close with the junior scouts that she trains to fight the creatures she can鈥檛 face. When her town is hit with a mysterious wave of demons, Prue knows it鈥檚 time to confront the most powerful monster of all: her past.]]> 416 Lily Anderson 1250246733 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.78 2022 Scout's Honor
author: Lily Anderson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Warden (The Warden, #1) 127280686 A Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Editors' Pick for Amazon

For fans who have always wanted their Twin Peaks to have some wizards, The Warden is a non-stop action adventure story from author Daniel M. Ford.

There was a plan.

She had the money, the connections, even the brains. It was become one of the only female necromancers, earn as many degrees as possible, get a post in one of the grand cities, then prove she鈥檚 capable of greatness. The funny thing about plans is that they are seldom under your control.

Now Aelis de Lenti, a daughter of a noble house and recent graduate of the esteemed Magisters鈥� Lyceum, finds herself in the far-removed village of Lone Pine. Mending fences, matching wits with goats, and serving people who want nothing to do with her. But, not all is well in Lone Pine, and as the villagers Aelis is reluctantly getting to know start to behave strangely, Aelis begins to suspect that there is far greater need for a Warden of her talents than she previously thought.

Old magics are restless, and an insignificant village on the farthest border of the kingdom might hold secrets far beyond what anyone expected. Aelis might be the only person standing between one of the greatest evils ever known and the rest of the world.]]> 336 Daniel M. Ford 1250815673 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.68 2023 The Warden (The Warden, #1)
author: Daniel M. Ford
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Victories Greater Than Death (Unstoppable #1)]]> 53205810
But when the beacon activates, it turns out that Tina鈥檚 destiny isn鈥檛 quite what she expected. Things are far more dangerous than she ever assumed. Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachael, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she鈥檒l have to save herself.

Buckle up your seatbelt for this thrilling sci-fi adventure set against an intergalactic war from international bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders.]]> 288 Charlie Jane Anders 1250317312 Kogiopsis 0 did-not-finish
"I'm sorry I was being a butt."
"You were a total space butt."
"I was an interestellar cosmic super-butt."


This reads like it should have been middle grade. These characters are in high school - one of them can drive, and they've been to junior prom, so I assume they are at least 16/17 - and they do not talk, think, or act like it. If I had read this as a teen, I'd have felt incredibly patronized, and probably wouldn't have even made it 50 pages in.

I'm still open to reading CJA's adult books, but this... oof. Nothing about this was at all appealing.]]> 3.46 2021 Victories Greater Than Death (Unstoppable #1)
author: Charlie Jane Anders
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: did-not-finish
review:
DNF at page 52/end of Chapter 9. Specifically, at this exchange of dialogue:
"I'm sorry I was being a butt."
"You were a total space butt."
"I was an interestellar cosmic super-butt."


This reads like it should have been middle grade. These characters are in high school - one of them can drive, and they've been to junior prom, so I assume they are at least 16/17 - and they do not talk, think, or act like it. If I had read this as a teen, I'd have felt incredibly patronized, and probably wouldn't have even made it 50 pages in.

I'm still open to reading CJA's adult books, but this... oof. Nothing about this was at all appealing.
]]> Death of the Author 214283593 The future of storytelling is here.

Life has thrown Zelu some curveballs over the years, but when she's suddenly dropped from her university job and her latest novel is rejected, all in the middle of her sister's wedding, her life is upended. Disabled, unemployed and from a nosy, high-achieving, judgmental family, she's not sure what comes next.

In her hotel room that night, she takes the risk that will define her life - she decides to write a book VERY unlike her others. A science fiction drama about androids and AI after the extinction of humanity. And everything changes.

What follows is a tale of love and loss, fame and infamy, of extraordinary events in one world, and another. And as Zelu's life evolves, the lines between fiction and reality begin to blur.

Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world.]]> 448 Nnedi Okorafor 0063391147 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.10 2025 Death of the Author
author: Nnedi Okorafor
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Ladies of Mandrigyn (Sun Wolf and Starhawk, No. 1)]]> 1022658 311 Barbara Hambly 0345309197 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.96 1984 The Ladies of Mandrigyn (Sun Wolf and Starhawk, No. 1)
author: Barbara Hambly
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Skyfarer (The Drifting Lands, #1)]]> 33414576 An apprentice sorceress is dragged into a vicious quest across an endless sky in this Star Wars-inspired space fantasy

The Axiom Diamond is a mythical relic, with the power to show its bearer any truth they desire. Men have sought for it across many continents for centuries, but in vain. When trainee sorceress Aimee de Laurent's first ever portal-casting goes awry, she and her mentor are thrown into the race to find the gem, on the skyship Elysium. Opposing them are the infamous magic-wielding knights of the Eternal Order and their ruthless commander, Lord Azrael, who will destroy everything in their path...

File Under: Fantasy]]> 299 Joseph Brassey 0857666762 Kogiopsis 3 reviewed
Okay. Here's the thing. This book is exactly how Kylo Ren/Ben Solo's redemption arc should have been written, if Disney/Lucasfilm had planned the Star Wars sequel trilogy in advance instead of flying a multi-million-dollar franchise by the seat of their pants. The character development and reveals are good, the arc makes sense, it all works.

One problem for me, personally, is that I just freaking hate Kylo Ren. If I'd read this before watching 'Rise of Skywalker', this might not have been a stumbling block, but I couldn't unsee the parallels and thus couldn't stop thinking about something that massively pissed me off. So there's that, and that's not Joseph Brassey's fault. Which is why I have to rate this three stars, and not two out of sheer emotional reaction.

Setting the Star Wars parallels aside, though, this still didn't... quite strike me. The swordfighting sequences are good, as is the action in general, but that's kind of it. The setting (floating continents in the sky) is interesting, but not really used or explored. The magic has a cool scientific structure, but wasn't really a focus of the narrative. There's a McGuffin, and a quest, but the quest itself also wasn't particularly motivating to the plot; the good guys want to get the McGuffin to keep it away from the bad guys, but there's little sense of what it can do, why it would be dangerous in the wrong hands, or how it might be instrumental for good in the right hands.

And speaking of things that don't motivate the plot... Aimee. I didn't care for Aimee, and that was uncomfortable for me, because usually I'm an easy sell on badass female characters! But despite being half of the POVs, Aimee simply did not feel like a very important character in this story. She doesn't really face challenges or grow; even when she fails, it doesn't seem to impact her confidence or lead to self-reflection ([spoilers removed]). Her sheltered upbringing and naivete could be a weakness, except that when she's called out it by other characters, the narrative treats her as if she is justified - e.g., when Silas points out that she's not entitled to know all of his order's secrets, the last word still goes to Aimee, and no self-reflection occurs. She starts the story powerful, clever, confident, and excited for adventure, and she ends exactly the same way.

The only way in which she grows is in her attitude towards Azrael. Because, ultimately, this book is about him, and no one else. His actions push the plot forward; the crew of the Elysium are reacting to him at all times, trying to stay ahead, never given the chance to take initiative. Multiple special magical objects respond to him as they do to no one else. His choices determine how the story ends, and his final battle is much more detailed and complex than Aimee's [spoilers removed]. He grows, and changes, and experiences complex emotions and doubt, and no one else really does. I honestly think that if the entire book had been from his perspective, it would have been more compelling, because everyone else sort of feels like a distraction.

Ultimately, not for me. That said, I do think it's fucked up that Angry Robot hasn't put the third book out. If an author is contracted to deliver three books in a series, the publisher should be similarly bound to publish them!]]> 3.85 2017 Skyfarer (The Drifting Lands, #1)
author: Joseph Brassey
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: reviewed
review:
Call this more of a 2.5. Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit; this one's not a keeper.

Okay. Here's the thing. This book is exactly how Kylo Ren/Ben Solo's redemption arc should have been written, if Disney/Lucasfilm had planned the Star Wars sequel trilogy in advance instead of flying a multi-million-dollar franchise by the seat of their pants. The character development and reveals are good, the arc makes sense, it all works.

One problem for me, personally, is that I just freaking hate Kylo Ren. If I'd read this before watching 'Rise of Skywalker', this might not have been a stumbling block, but I couldn't unsee the parallels and thus couldn't stop thinking about something that massively pissed me off. So there's that, and that's not Joseph Brassey's fault. Which is why I have to rate this three stars, and not two out of sheer emotional reaction.

Setting the Star Wars parallels aside, though, this still didn't... quite strike me. The swordfighting sequences are good, as is the action in general, but that's kind of it. The setting (floating continents in the sky) is interesting, but not really used or explored. The magic has a cool scientific structure, but wasn't really a focus of the narrative. There's a McGuffin, and a quest, but the quest itself also wasn't particularly motivating to the plot; the good guys want to get the McGuffin to keep it away from the bad guys, but there's little sense of what it can do, why it would be dangerous in the wrong hands, or how it might be instrumental for good in the right hands.

And speaking of things that don't motivate the plot... Aimee. I didn't care for Aimee, and that was uncomfortable for me, because usually I'm an easy sell on badass female characters! But despite being half of the POVs, Aimee simply did not feel like a very important character in this story. She doesn't really face challenges or grow; even when she fails, it doesn't seem to impact her confidence or lead to self-reflection ([spoilers removed]). Her sheltered upbringing and naivete could be a weakness, except that when she's called out it by other characters, the narrative treats her as if she is justified - e.g., when Silas points out that she's not entitled to know all of his order's secrets, the last word still goes to Aimee, and no self-reflection occurs. She starts the story powerful, clever, confident, and excited for adventure, and she ends exactly the same way.

The only way in which she grows is in her attitude towards Azrael. Because, ultimately, this book is about him, and no one else. His actions push the plot forward; the crew of the Elysium are reacting to him at all times, trying to stay ahead, never given the chance to take initiative. Multiple special magical objects respond to him as they do to no one else. His choices determine how the story ends, and his final battle is much more detailed and complex than Aimee's [spoilers removed]. He grows, and changes, and experiences complex emotions and doubt, and no one else really does. I honestly think that if the entire book had been from his perspective, it would have been more compelling, because everyone else sort of feels like a distraction.

Ultimately, not for me. That said, I do think it's fucked up that Angry Robot hasn't put the third book out. If an author is contracted to deliver three books in a series, the publisher should be similarly bound to publish them!
]]> <![CDATA[A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace]]> 219520694 In this charming fantasy with a swoony friends-to-lovers romance, two soldiers must decide the futures they want in the wake of a last-chance hook-up on the night before the world was supposed to end.

On the eve of the battle that will decide the realm of Telrus鈥檚 fate, Katrien takes a hard look at her prospects. A mere legionnaire, she and her spear will be at the fore in the morning, facing off against the Demon Lord and his wretched army, and it鈥檚 all but certain she鈥檒l perish in the fight. But if the end of the world is mere hours away, there鈥檚 no reason not to hook up with her handsome, dedicated battle partner Emory鈥攄espite any anti-fraternization policies their centurion may have in place.

Only, the world doesn鈥檛 end the next day. Instead, an insufferable prince raised in hiding comes out of nowhere with a plucky band of heroes, defeats the Demon Lord, and seals the rift to the hellish plane. The realm is saved. The war is over. And Kat suddenly has a lot more future than she knows what to do with. It鈥檚 a future that could include Emory . . . if only he weren鈥檛 so set on staying enlisted with the very army Kat was unwillingly drafted into.

And while the Demon Lord has been destroyed, peace is still a long march away. When Kat inadvertently draws the eye of the prince, she, Emory, and the rest of their motley unit are pulled to the fore of the formation鈥攁nd the heart of the danger鈥攁s the army embarks on one last campaign. The mission: laying a road as a foundation for the prince鈥檚 future rule. The real mission: scouring the last of the Demon Lord鈥檚 servants from the material plane.

As Kat and Emory work to secure a lasting peace, they鈥檒l have to decide what they want their futures to look like鈥攁nd if there鈥檚 room for love at the end of the road.]]> 368 Emily Skrutskie 0593974077 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.37 2025 A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace
author: Emily Skrutskie
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Justice of Kings (Empire of the Wolf, #1)]]> 58293284
The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne.聽 Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his talented prot茅g茅, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire.聽 When the pair investigates the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of Imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: Will they abandon the laws they鈥檝e sworn to uphold, in order to protect the Empire?]]> 496 Richard Swan Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.00 2022 The Justice of Kings (Empire of the Wolf, #1)
author: Richard Swan
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing 123487430
Without any leads to follow, Harper enlists the help of Esther and her friends in the search for the killer. All she has to do is keep them all alive, keep her dangerous instincts in check, and keep a lid on her foolish crush.]]> 228 Amy Allen 1642474738 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.89 A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
author: Amy Allen
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Persephone Station 49295293 The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop in this high-stakes adventure.

Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds, becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.

Rosie鈥攐wner of Monk鈥檚 Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner鈥攃aters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drink at Monk鈥檚 back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who seek to employ them.

Angel鈥攅x-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing鈥攊s asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will affect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn鈥檛 mean she can鈥檛 damned well try.]]> 512 Stina Leicht 1534414584 Kogiopsis 2
An important disclaimer: the copy I read was an old ARC, so there may have been changes made before the final publication edition. However, I doubt they were on the structural level that, in my opinion, the story really needed. (I do hope that some of the typos and formatting/dialogue tag errors were fixed, as that was more distracting than most ARCs.)

This book... wants to be a lot of things, and it about half-succeeds at all of them. It felt a little bit like a trendy burger with all sorts of unexpected ingredients: maybe it could work if prepared just right, but mostly it's just a mess of mixed-up flavors competing with one another. There was an effort in the last ~50 pages to tie everything together, but I felt it was too little, too late.

The queerness of the cast is a good example of this sort of half-success. On the one hand, we've got a major nonbinary POV character (cool) and a cast of mostly women (cool), some of whom have relationships with other women and/or indiscriminate of gender (cool). However, other than Rosie's POV, there's very little onscreen queer visibility - and to be clear, I'm not inherently opposed to this, because there is definitely a need for representation of queer people as just a part of the average population. But. Then you get to the fact that the book treats 'nonbinary' as a third gender category, and somehow all genders (as in male, female, and nonbinary) are still completely identifiable on sight... I don't know. It starts to feel half-assed, like adding this third group suddenly means nobody's gender-nonconforming anymore; everyone fits neatly into boxes, just now with one more. Weird. Not fully rendered.

And then there's the alien plot. The prologue deals with these aliens in a confrontation with corporate forces, and one of them seems to unleash some sort of bioweapon against a corporate representative... which never comes up again. There's a conversation between two well-informed characters which could imply a larger threat to humanity which the aliens could help with... but that also never comes up again. In a setting where corporations can own entire planets and there's a whole corps of marines known for dying in combat and then being reanimated, everyone is somehow completely sure that if they just tell the government about the aliens, they will definitely punish the corporation and protect the defenseless (powerless) nonhumans! And etc. The aliens never feel fully rendered and honestly never feel like they're that relevant to the plot, despite nominally driving most of the page count.

What turns out to be more important is the AI subplot, which is weird because it comes up fairly early, and then gets dropped completely for around 250 pages before coming into the rushed resolution. I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers but - if a character has journeyed through space to track down a mystery signal, I would think??? she would keep looking??? actively???

Stylistically, I also didn't like the prose. Lots of telling when showing was an option, lots of pauses in scenes for semi-relevant flashbacks or infodumps, weird references to Earth culture and biology which detracted from the setting and characters (no, they're not aspen trees or cedars and yes, I AM tearing my hair out. Just describe the alien thing and let it be alien!). Limited sense of voice - even the non-sentient ship AI makes quips, and everyone says "Point." when someone has made a point. Action scenes that feel more like an NPR recap of a TV episode than prose narrative - ex: "At one point, they dropped the roll, but they were able to recover it before it rolled off." (No details like trembling hands or having to lunge towards the abyss, just dry description which adds nothing.)

Oh, and while the story takes place on the planet Persephone, I'm not sure who named this book because Persephone Station doesn't even show up until page 440 out of 500. Just a weird choice.

Mostly, this made me wish I was reading better SF with a more coherent idea behind it. However, it was a quick read when I actually sat down with it, and I didn't actively hate it, so two stars.]]> 3.43 2021 Persephone Station
author: Stina Leicht
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: queer-stuff, reviewed, space-ain-t-pretty
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Not for me, and I think my curiosity is satisfied re: Stina Leicht in general.

An important disclaimer: the copy I read was an old ARC, so there may have been changes made before the final publication edition. However, I doubt they were on the structural level that, in my opinion, the story really needed. (I do hope that some of the typos and formatting/dialogue tag errors were fixed, as that was more distracting than most ARCs.)

This book... wants to be a lot of things, and it about half-succeeds at all of them. It felt a little bit like a trendy burger with all sorts of unexpected ingredients: maybe it could work if prepared just right, but mostly it's just a mess of mixed-up flavors competing with one another. There was an effort in the last ~50 pages to tie everything together, but I felt it was too little, too late.

The queerness of the cast is a good example of this sort of half-success. On the one hand, we've got a major nonbinary POV character (cool) and a cast of mostly women (cool), some of whom have relationships with other women and/or indiscriminate of gender (cool). However, other than Rosie's POV, there's very little onscreen queer visibility - and to be clear, I'm not inherently opposed to this, because there is definitely a need for representation of queer people as just a part of the average population. But. Then you get to the fact that the book treats 'nonbinary' as a third gender category, and somehow all genders (as in male, female, and nonbinary) are still completely identifiable on sight... I don't know. It starts to feel half-assed, like adding this third group suddenly means nobody's gender-nonconforming anymore; everyone fits neatly into boxes, just now with one more. Weird. Not fully rendered.

And then there's the alien plot. The prologue deals with these aliens in a confrontation with corporate forces, and one of them seems to unleash some sort of bioweapon against a corporate representative... which never comes up again. There's a conversation between two well-informed characters which could imply a larger threat to humanity which the aliens could help with... but that also never comes up again. In a setting where corporations can own entire planets and there's a whole corps of marines known for dying in combat and then being reanimated, everyone is somehow completely sure that if they just tell the government about the aliens, they will definitely punish the corporation and protect the defenseless (powerless) nonhumans! And etc. The aliens never feel fully rendered and honestly never feel like they're that relevant to the plot, despite nominally driving most of the page count.

What turns out to be more important is the AI subplot, which is weird because it comes up fairly early, and then gets dropped completely for around 250 pages before coming into the rushed resolution. I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers but - if a character has journeyed through space to track down a mystery signal, I would think??? she would keep looking??? actively???

Stylistically, I also didn't like the prose. Lots of telling when showing was an option, lots of pauses in scenes for semi-relevant flashbacks or infodumps, weird references to Earth culture and biology which detracted from the setting and characters (no, they're not aspen trees or cedars and yes, I AM tearing my hair out. Just describe the alien thing and let it be alien!). Limited sense of voice - even the non-sentient ship AI makes quips, and everyone says "Point." when someone has made a point. Action scenes that feel more like an NPR recap of a TV episode than prose narrative - ex: "At one point, they dropped the roll, but they were able to recover it before it rolled off." (No details like trembling hands or having to lunge towards the abyss, just dry description which adds nothing.)

Oh, and while the story takes place on the planet Persephone, I'm not sure who named this book because Persephone Station doesn't even show up until page 440 out of 500. Just a weird choice.

Mostly, this made me wish I was reading better SF with a more coherent idea behind it. However, it was a quick read when I actually sat down with it, and I didn't actively hate it, so two stars.
]]> The Salvation Gambit 75495021 A hotheaded hacker must outwit the AI at the heart of a rogue warship鈥搕urned鈥損enal colony if she and her crew of con women want to escape with their lives in this electrifying sci-fi thriller from the acclaimed聽author of Bonds of Brass.

Murdock has always believed in Hark, the woman who shaped her from a petty thief and lowlife hacker into a promising con artist. Hark is everything Murdock aspires to be, from her slick fashion sense to her unfailing ability to plan under pressure. Together with Bea, a fearless driver who never walks away from a bet, and Fitz, Murdock鈥檚 infuriatingly mercurial rival who can sweet-talk the galaxy into spinning around her finger, they form a foursome with a reputation for daring heists, massive payoffs, and never, ever getting caught.

Well, until now.

Getting caught is one thing. Getting tithed to a sentient warship that鈥檚 styled itself into a punitive god is a problem this team has never faced before. Aboard the Justice is a world stitched together from the galaxy鈥檚 sinners鈥攕ome fighting for survival, some struggling to build a civilized society, and some sacrificing everything to worship the AI at the heart of the ship.

The Justice 鈥檚 all-seeing eyes are fixed on its newest acquisitions, Murdock in particular. It has use for a hacker鈥攊f it can wrest her devotion away from Hark. And Murdock鈥檚 faith is already fractured. To escape the Justice 鈥檚 madness, they need a plan, and Hark might not be up to the task.

If Hark鈥攂rilliant, unflappable Hark鈥攃an鈥檛 plot a way out, Murdock will have to use every last trick she鈥檚 learned to outwit the Justice, resist its temptation, and get her crew out alive.]]> 310 Emily Skrutskie 0593499751 Kogiopsis 4
I do wish this book had been a bit longer, mostly because I wanted more of it! There were several characters and relationships which I felt were sketched out in interesting shapes, but didn't have time to be really developed. (Specifically, I wanted more Fitz backstory and more about her perspective on Hark - it's clearly really different from Murdock's, but Murdock doesn't really register that, and it would have added interesting depth/nuance). The last few chapters went by very quickly considering the gravity of the decisions and developments they included, and I would have enjoyed more detail/depth there as well.

As a side note... the Justice and Scarlett's machinations would have worked on me. Like, almost immediately. Not sure how I feel about that...]]> 3.62 2023 The Salvation Gambit
author: Emily Skrutskie
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: favorite-2025-reads, queer-stuff, space-ain-t-pretty, reviewed
review:
At this point I think it's pretty much a guarantee that I will enjoy anything Emily Skrutskie writes. She's got a mix of funky SF worldbuilding, action, and messy queer characters that just works, and throws in plot twists and side characters which take me (pleasantly) by surprise.

I do wish this book had been a bit longer, mostly because I wanted more of it! There were several characters and relationships which I felt were sketched out in interesting shapes, but didn't have time to be really developed. (Specifically, I wanted more Fitz backstory and more about her perspective on Hark - it's clearly really different from Murdock's, but Murdock doesn't really register that, and it would have added interesting depth/nuance). The last few chapters went by very quickly considering the gravity of the decisions and developments they included, and I would have enjoyed more detail/depth there as well.

As a side note... the Justice and Scarlett's machinations would have worked on me. Like, almost immediately. Not sure how I feel about that...
]]> <![CDATA[The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds, #1)]]> 43301353 An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens her new home and her fragile place in it, in a stunning sci-fi debut that鈥檚 both a cross-dimensional adventure and a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging.

Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there鈥檚 just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying鈥攆rom disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn鈥檛 outrun. Cara鈥檚 life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.

On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works鈥攁nd shamelessly flirts鈥攚ith her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.

But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelg盲ngers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined鈥攁nd reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.]]> 336 Micaiah Johnson Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.90 2020 The Space Between Worlds (The Space Between Worlds, #1)
author: Micaiah Johnson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace]]> 211157322 In this charming fantasy with a swoony friends-to-lovers romance, two soldiers must decide the futures they want in the wake of a last-chance hook-up on the night before the world was supposed to end.

On the eve of the battle that will decide the realm of Telrus鈥檚 fate, Katrien takes a hard look at her prospects. A mere legionnaire, she and her spear will be at the fore in the morning, facing off against the Demon Lord and his wretched army, and it鈥檚 all but certain she鈥檒l perish in the fight. But if the end of the world is mere hours away, there鈥檚 no reason not to hook up with her handsome, dedicated battle partner Emory鈥攄espite any anti-fraternization policies their centurion may have in place.

Only, the world doesn鈥檛 end the next day. Instead, an insufferable prince raised in hiding comes out of nowhere with a plucky band of heroes, defeats the Demon Lord, and seals the rift to the hellish plane. The realm is saved. The war is over. And Kat suddenly has a lot more future than she knows what to do with. It鈥檚 a future that could include Emory . . . if only he weren鈥檛 so set on staying enlisted with the very army Kat was unwillingly drafted into.

And while the Demon Lord has been destroyed, peace is still a long march away. When Kat inadvertently draws the eye of the prince, she, Emory, and the rest of their motley unit are pulled to the fore of the formation鈥攁nd the heart of the danger鈥攁s the army embarks on one last campaign. The mission: laying a road as a foundation for the prince鈥檚 future rule. The real mission: scouring the last of the Demon Lord鈥檚 servants from the material plane.

As Kat and Emory work to secure a lasting peace, they鈥檒l have to decide what they want their futures to look like鈥攁nd if there鈥檚 room for love at the end of the road.]]> Emily Skrutskie Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.25 2025 A Legionnaire's Guide to Love and Peace
author: Emily Skrutskie
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life]]> 53487237 A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it鈥檚 more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.

In his introduction, Saunders writes, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn鈥檛 fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art鈥攏amely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?鈥� He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.]]> 403 George Saunders 1984856049 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.55 2021 A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
author: George Saunders
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wonderworks: Literary invention and the science of stories]]> 59389824 480 Angus Fletcher 1800750234 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.09 Wonderworks: Literary invention and the science of stories
author: Angus Fletcher
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Prince and the Dressmaker 34506912 Paris, at the dawn of the modern age:

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride鈥昽r rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia鈥晅he hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!

Sebastian鈥檚 secret weapon is his brilliant dressmaker, Frances鈥昲is best friend and one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone鈥檚 secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect her friend?

Jen Wang weaves an exuberantly romantic tale of identity, young love, art, and family. A fairy tale for any age, The Prince and the Dressmaker will steal your heart.]]> 277 Jen Wang 162672363X Kogiopsis 4
One of the things that stood out to me on reread is Sebastian's social power over Frances - a source of conflict but not something that's really fully addressed. Felt kind of weird!

Also, both Sebastian and the king kept trying to invoke their royal status ("As your prince"/"I'm the king") but like... they're Belgian royalty. In Paris. They have social power, but no royal authority, especially in a post-Revolution France. This isn't a big deal since the story as a whole embraces anachronism, but I kept waiting for someone to point it out.

2018 review:
Oh gosh, this was so sweet. The art is clear, charming, and expressive; the characters are lovely; and of course, I'm always here for stories about acceptance and affirmation, which this delivers in spades. That said, it actually does deal with the messiness of queer relationships in which one party is deep in the closet and so their partner is there with them - a painful situation, and one well-addressed here.

Hat-tip to the panel on page 109 which was an homage to the Studio Ghibli adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. It was a lovely gesture from one seamstress character to another.]]> 4.34 2018 The Prince and the Dressmaker
author: Jen Wang
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: favorite-2018-reads, graphic-novels, queer-stuff, reviewed
review:
Reread in 2025 as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: it's still cute, but I don't quite love it as much as I did on a first pass, and will not be keeping my copy.

One of the things that stood out to me on reread is Sebastian's social power over Frances - a source of conflict but not something that's really fully addressed. Felt kind of weird!

Also, both Sebastian and the king kept trying to invoke their royal status ("As your prince"/"I'm the king") but like... they're Belgian royalty. In Paris. They have social power, but no royal authority, especially in a post-Revolution France. This isn't a big deal since the story as a whole embraces anachronism, but I kept waiting for someone to point it out.

2018 review:
Oh gosh, this was so sweet. The art is clear, charming, and expressive; the characters are lovely; and of course, I'm always here for stories about acceptance and affirmation, which this delivers in spades. That said, it actually does deal with the messiness of queer relationships in which one party is deep in the closet and so their partner is there with them - a painful situation, and one well-addressed here.

Hat-tip to the panel on page 109 which was an homage to the Studio Ghibli adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. It was a lovely gesture from one seamstress character to another.
]]> The Girl from the Sea 54776523 From the author of The Witch Boy trilogy comes a graphic novel about family, romance, and first love.

Fifteen-year-old Morgan has a secret: She can't wait to escape the perfect little island where she lives. She's desperate to finish high school and escape her sad divorced mom, her volatile little brother, and worst of all, her great group of friends...who don't understand Morgan at all. Because really, Morgan's biggest secret is that she has a lot of secrets, including the one about wanting to kiss another girl.

Then one night, Morgan is saved from drowning by a mysterious girl named Keltie. The two become friends and suddenly life on the island doesn't seem so stifling anymore.

But Keltie has some secrets of her own. And as the girls start to fall in love, everything they're each trying to hide will find its way to the surface...whether Morgan is ready or not.]]> 256 Molly Knox Ostertag 1338540580 Kogiopsis 3
This book is sweet, and heartfelt, and it has a gay selkie in it, and honestly that last was all I really needed to know to read it. The fact that my girlfriend finished it and then immediately shoved it at me certainly didn't hurt in the recommendations department, though - she knows my tastes pretty well, after all.

I want to stress that the reason this is a four-star read for me is 100% about me and not really about the book. There are some common conflicts in coming-out narratives that cause me disproportionate secondhand discomfort; one of them is a closeted person not acknowledging the pain hiding a relationship can cause, and the other is someone being outed for spiteful reasons. Both occur in this book, and that impacted my experience, but I don't think that's a knock on the book itself.

I am, as always, just so grateful for the increasing variety of queer stories for different age groups - I imagine finding this in the library graphic novel section when I was in high school and I know I would have loved it, even if at that age I hadn't figured myself out yet. For people who are going through that awkward, nauseatingly anxious process of coming out, it's going to mean a lot.]]> 4.13 2021 The Girl from the Sea
author: Molly Knox Ostertag
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: graphic-novels, queer-stuff, reviewed
review:
2025 reread as part of my shelf audit: I still stand by the review below, but I think I'm going to pass this book along to someone else.

This book is sweet, and heartfelt, and it has a gay selkie in it, and honestly that last was all I really needed to know to read it. The fact that my girlfriend finished it and then immediately shoved it at me certainly didn't hurt in the recommendations department, though - she knows my tastes pretty well, after all.

I want to stress that the reason this is a four-star read for me is 100% about me and not really about the book. There are some common conflicts in coming-out narratives that cause me disproportionate secondhand discomfort; one of them is a closeted person not acknowledging the pain hiding a relationship can cause, and the other is someone being outed for spiteful reasons. Both occur in this book, and that impacted my experience, but I don't think that's a knock on the book itself.

I am, as always, just so grateful for the increasing variety of queer stories for different age groups - I imagine finding this in the library graphic novel section when I was in high school and I know I would have loved it, even if at that age I hadn't figured myself out yet. For people who are going through that awkward, nauseatingly anxious process of coming out, it's going to mean a lot.
]]> <![CDATA[Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)]]> 61219635 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250886088.

A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes.

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success鈥攏ot to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.]]> 304 Travis Baldree Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.17 2022 Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)
author: Travis Baldree
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mooncakes 44774415
Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.]]> 243 Suzanne Walker 154930304X Kogiopsis 3
This is a very charming little graphic novel with lovely art, but for me it didn't hit any notes beyond that. I imagine it will be meaningful for younger (teen or middle grade) readers who find representation in these characters, and I'm glad it exists for them! It just ultimately did not resonate with me. As my copy is an old ARC, it'll be headed for a Little Free Library, and I hope someone who needs this kind of book in their life will pick it up there.]]> 3.82 2019 Mooncakes
author: Suzanne Walker
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: queer-stuff, reviewed, graphic-novels
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Cute, but not a keeper.

This is a very charming little graphic novel with lovely art, but for me it didn't hit any notes beyond that. I imagine it will be meaningful for younger (teen or middle grade) readers who find representation in these characters, and I'm glad it exists for them! It just ultimately did not resonate with me. As my copy is an old ARC, it'll be headed for a Little Free Library, and I hope someone who needs this kind of book in their life will pick it up there.
]]> <![CDATA[Fable for the End of the World]]> 214466890 The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt鈥攅nough to qualify one of her children for Caerus鈥檚 livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb鈥檚 Gauntlet.

Melino毛 is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs鈥攖he Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she鈥檚 had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melino毛, this is a game she can鈥檛 afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there鈥檚 more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she鈥檚 capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.]]> 448 Ava Reid 0063430010 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.89 2025 Fable for the End of the World
author: Ava Reid
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dark and Deepest Red 44218347
Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva鈥檚 feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever鈥檚 history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there鈥檚 more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.

With McLemore's signature lush prose, Dark and Deepest Red pairs the forbidding magic of a fairy tale with a modern story of passion and betrayal.]]> 309 Anna-Marie McLemore 1250162742 Kogiopsis 3
This is the kind of book which feels like it's deeply personal to the author, so even when I was less than satisfied with the plot, I still had the overwhelming feeling that someone was baring their soul to me, and I respect that. The themes of generational trauma, racism, and navigating queerness and finding love on top of everything else were very well-rendered. The details of 14th-century Strasbourg were also clearly researched and made the setting feel rich and real.

My struggle, as mentioned, is with the plot. Namely... it took a long time for the protagonists in either timeline to really do anything proactive, and when they did, the story was pretty much over - so it felt like the resolution was too easy, because they hadn't really gone through much in terms of try/fail cycles. In a way it makes sense, because the story is largely about feeling powerless, but it just... doesn't make for a very engaging read, as there's little sense of progress or even attempted progress.

I also wasn't personally a fan of the heavy incidence of sentence fragments and one-sentence (or one-fragment) paragraphs; it felt choppy and pushed me out of the story rather than drawing me in with more continuous prose. I think it would have been alright if just one POV had had this style, but as all three did, the whole novel had the feeling of sort of... skating over details and description, because it rarely stopped and lingered. That's more a matter of personal taste, though.

Finally, one slightly spoilery element: [spoilers removed]]]> 3.55 2020 Dark and Deepest Red
author: Anna-Marie McLemore
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: author-to-return-to, queer-stuff, reviewed
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Definitely an author I want to explore more, but not a book I see myself rereading.

This is the kind of book which feels like it's deeply personal to the author, so even when I was less than satisfied with the plot, I still had the overwhelming feeling that someone was baring their soul to me, and I respect that. The themes of generational trauma, racism, and navigating queerness and finding love on top of everything else were very well-rendered. The details of 14th-century Strasbourg were also clearly researched and made the setting feel rich and real.

My struggle, as mentioned, is with the plot. Namely... it took a long time for the protagonists in either timeline to really do anything proactive, and when they did, the story was pretty much over - so it felt like the resolution was too easy, because they hadn't really gone through much in terms of try/fail cycles. In a way it makes sense, because the story is largely about feeling powerless, but it just... doesn't make for a very engaging read, as there's little sense of progress or even attempted progress.

I also wasn't personally a fan of the heavy incidence of sentence fragments and one-sentence (or one-fragment) paragraphs; it felt choppy and pushed me out of the story rather than drawing me in with more continuous prose. I think it would have been alright if just one POV had had this style, but as all three did, the whole novel had the feeling of sort of... skating over details and description, because it rarely stopped and lingered. That's more a matter of personal taste, though.

Finally, one slightly spoilery element: [spoilers removed]
]]> <![CDATA[I Forced a Bot to Write This Book: A.I. Meets B.S.]]> 50898146
Ever wonder what an AI bot might come up with if tasked with creative writing? From Olive Garden commercials to White House press briefings to Game of Thrones scripts, writer and comedian Keaton Patti鈥檚 鈥渂ot鈥� recognizes and heightens the tropes of whatever it鈥檚 reproducing to hilarious effect. Each 鈥渂ot-generated鈥� piece can be enjoyed as surrealist commentary on the media we consume every day or simply as silly robot jokes鈥攅ither way, you鈥檒l probably end up laughing.]]> 192 Keaton Patti 152485834X Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.72 I Forced a Bot to Write This Book: A.I. Meets B.S.
author: Keaton Patti
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Yesterday's Kin 20694897
A deadly cloud of spores has already infected and killed the inhabitants of two worlds. Now that plague is heading for Earth, and threatens humans and aliens alike. Can either species be trusted to find the cure?

Geneticist Marianne Jenner is immersed in the desperate race to save humanity, yet her family is tearing itself apart. Siblings Elizabeth and Ryan are strident isolationists who agree only that an alien conspiracy is in play. Marianne鈥檚 youngest, Noah, is a loner addicted to a drug that constantly changes his identity. But between the four Jenners, the course of human history will be forever altered.

Earth鈥檚 most elite scientists have ten months to prevent human extinction鈥攁nd not everyone is willing to wait.]]> 192 Nancy Kress 1616961759 Kogiopsis 5 After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall to be - smart, science-based, thoughtful, and ultimately satisfying. There were some twists which I saw coming from the start, and some which snuck up on me and I only fully processed a few pages before they were revealed. The concepts which underpin the story are interesting ideas; I felt that Kress put a lot of thought into the biology and culture of her aliens, and their motivations and choices felt just the right degree of inscrutable.

I found the human dynamics less interesting than the interspecies interactions and scientific research, but the relationships did feel plausible and carefully crafted to underscore the themes of the story as a whole. Marianne is alienated from her children emotionally long before she is more literally alienated from them, and there is a strong contrast between her family and the intensely communal, matrilineal aliens. Is it a bit on the nose? Yeah, but this is a novella, and a little convenience is often necessary for a smaller wordcount.

I'm incredibly curious about the expanded novel version of this story and its sequels.]]> 3.49 2014 Yesterday's Kin
author: Nancy Kress
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: favorite-2025-reads, reviewed, space-ain-t-pretty
review:
This novella was everything I wanted After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall to be - smart, science-based, thoughtful, and ultimately satisfying. There were some twists which I saw coming from the start, and some which snuck up on me and I only fully processed a few pages before they were revealed. The concepts which underpin the story are interesting ideas; I felt that Kress put a lot of thought into the biology and culture of her aliens, and their motivations and choices felt just the right degree of inscrutable.

I found the human dynamics less interesting than the interspecies interactions and scientific research, but the relationships did feel plausible and carefully crafted to underscore the themes of the story as a whole. Marianne is alienated from her children emotionally long before she is more literally alienated from them, and there is a strong contrast between her family and the intensely communal, matrilineal aliens. Is it a bit on the nose? Yeah, but this is a novella, and a little convenience is often necessary for a smaller wordcount.

I'm incredibly curious about the expanded novel version of this story and its sequels.
]]> Echo North (Echo North, #1) 40046030
In his enchanted house beneath a mountain, each room must be sewn together to keep the home from unraveling, and something new and dark and strange lies behind every door. When centuries-old secrets unfold, Echo discovers a magical library full of books-turned-mirrors, and a young man named Hal who is trapped inside of them. As the year ticks by, the rooms begin to disappear, and Echo must solve the mystery of the wolf鈥檚 enchantment before her time is up, otherwise Echo, the wolf, and Hal will be lost forever.]]> 394 Joanna Ruth Meyer 1624147151 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.82 2019 Echo North (Echo North, #1)
author: Joanna Ruth Meyer
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Lesson 41459037
An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super-advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders and a peace that cannot last. A year after the death of a young boy at the hands of an Ynaa, three families find themselves at the center of the inevitable conflict, witness and victim to events that will touch everyone and teach a terrible lesson.]]> 286 Cadwell Turnbull 1538584646 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.52 2019 The Lesson
author: Cadwell Turnbull
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora]]> 510342

Fiction.
Sister Lilith - Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
The Comet - W.E.B. Du Bois
Chicage 1927 - Jewelle Gomez
Black No More (novel excerpt) - George S. Schuyler
separation anxiety - Evie Shockley
Tasting Songs - Leone Ross
Can You Wear My Eyes - Kalamu ya Salaam
Like Daughter - Tananarive Due
Greedy Choke Puppy - Nalo Hopkinson
Rhythm Travel - Amiri Baraka
Buddy Bolden - Kalamu ya Salaam
Aye, and Gomorrah... - Samuel R. Delany
Ganger (Ball Lightning) - Nalo Hopkinson
The Becoming - Akua Lezli Hope
The Goophered Grapevine - Charles W. Chestnutt
The Evening and the Morning and the Night - Octavia E. Butler
Twice, at Once, Separated - Linda Addison
Gimmile's Songs - Charles R. Saunders
At the Huts of Ajala - Nisi Shawl
The Woman in the Wall - Steven Barnes
Ark of Bones - Henry Dumas
Butta's Backyard Barbecue - Tony Medina
Future Christmas (novel excerpt) - Ishmael Reed
At Life's Limits - Kiini Ibura Salaam
The African Origins of UFOs (novel excerpt) - Anthony Joseph
The Astral Visitor Delta Blues - Robert Fleming
The Space Traders - Derrick Bell
The Pretended - Darryl A. Smith
Hussy Strutt - Ama Patterson

Essays.
Racism and Science Fiction - Samuel R. Delany
Why Blacks Should Read (and Write) Science Fiction - Charles R. Saunders
Black to the Future - Walter Mosley
Yet Do I Wonder - Paul D. Miller
The Monophobic Response - Octavia E. Butler]]> 427 Sheree Ren茅e Thomas 0446677248 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.17 2000 Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora
author: Sheree Ren茅e Thomas
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Scent of Magic (Five Senses, #3)]]> 285175 Book 3: The Five Senses Set

An orphaned child and captive scullery maid, young Willadene possesses an uncanny ability to sense and understand the magical odors that pervade her world. It is this remarkable talent--or curse--that carries her far from the fetid kitchen into an apprenticeship with a revered herbalist and ultimately to the highest circle of the Ducal court. But there is depravity lurking within the castle's walls, inspiring brazen treacheries and usurpations--and a foul abduction as unthinkable as it is unexpected. Something horribly strange and forbidden has struck at the dawn of a new day of corruption and terror. And an innocent girl finds the heightened sense that has been her fortune is now drawing her down into a maelstrom of evil.]]> 350 Andre Norton 0380784165 Kogiopsis 2 reviewed
I have long found it interesting to read old SFF, especially by those considered masters of the genre, but between this and Elvenblood, I'm afraid one of the genre's most famous masters may just have a style I'm not compatible with. My struggle with this book was that it was so slow, both in prose and in plot. Sentences felt overwrought, and it took FOREVER for things to actually happen, and even after a significant character is kidnapped and a supposedly desperate chase begins, there's minimal sense of urgency. The magic also felt ill-defined, and the scent connection felt tenuous most of the time and didn't add much interest to the plot.

This book is definitely not a keeper for me, and while I still want to try at least one more Norton (I have to read one Witch World book, right?), I won't be surprised if I conclude that she's just not for me.]]> 3.76 1998 Scent of Magic (Five Senses, #3)
author: Andre Norton
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: reviewed
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: it's possible that, despite everything, I just... don't like Andre Norton.

I have long found it interesting to read old SFF, especially by those considered masters of the genre, but between this and Elvenblood, I'm afraid one of the genre's most famous masters may just have a style I'm not compatible with. My struggle with this book was that it was so slow, both in prose and in plot. Sentences felt overwrought, and it took FOREVER for things to actually happen, and even after a significant character is kidnapped and a supposedly desperate chase begins, there's minimal sense of urgency. The magic also felt ill-defined, and the scent connection felt tenuous most of the time and didn't add much interest to the plot.

This book is definitely not a keeper for me, and while I still want to try at least one more Norton (I have to read one Witch World book, right?), I won't be surprised if I conclude that she's just not for me.
]]> Wool - Holston (Wool, #1) 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Kogiopsis 0 not-with-a-ten-foot-pole 4.14 2012 Wool - Holston (Wool, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: not-with-a-ten-foot-pole
review:
If the misogyny on its own wouldn't have sealed the deal, the ableism of the second paragraph of his rant took care of that just fine. Good riddance, Mr. Howey. I hope someday you learn to keep your angry crotch-grabbing to yourself.
]]> <![CDATA[Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, #1)]]> 44659 BOOK 1 OF THE BELGARIAD, the worldwide bestselling fantasy series by master storyteller David Eddings. Discover the epic story that inspired thousands - from Raymond Feist's The Riftwar Cycle series to George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.

A battle is coming...

...And in that battle shall be decided

the fate of the world

Myths tell of the ancient wars of Gods and men, and a powerful object - the Orb - that ended the bloodshed. As long as it was held by the line of Riva, it would assure the peace.

But a dark force has stolen the Orb, and the prophecies tell of war.

Young farm boy Garion knows nothing of myth or fate. But then the mysterious Old Storyteller visits his aunt, and they embark on a sudden journey. Pursued by evil forces, with only a small band of companions they can trust, Garion begins to doubt all he thought he knew...]]> 304 David Eddings 0345468643 Kogiopsis 3 nicole-reads-to-me, reviewed
This is not a bad fantasy novel, especially considering where it falls in the history of the genre's development. Its flaws are flaws that are common to a lot of fantasy from the 70s and 80s - heavily stereotyped racial groups, a tendency to write all women as nagging (even, maybe especially, when they're right) and lean hard into gender roles, and a plot about traveling a long distance for a McGuffin - IE, LOTR with the serial numbers filed off.

However, I was repeatedly struck by Eddings' skill at making the setting, specifically, feel realistic and complex. The story is slowly paced and much of it is a travelogue, but that time isn't wasted; it's spent developing the environment, economics, and cultures of the nations through which the characters travel. There's a sense of depth to it that I really appreciate - these places feel like they have complex systems of trade and agriculture, and when characters discuss war, some of their first thoughts are of logistics. The characters themselves are practical in how they move through the world, too, and above all it comes off as grounded. The stakes of the plot may be world-ending, but we actually get to see the world, and with particular attention paid to the broad base of farmers and laborers who support everything else.

I don't think this is a series I would particularly be motivated to read on my own, but I'm really enjoying having Nicole read it to me, so we'll keep going.]]> 4.17 1982 Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad, #1)
author: David Eddings
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1982
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: nicole-reads-to-me, reviewed
review:
I've apparently read this before, though it was a long time ago; with that said, I think the three-star rating... stands.

This is not a bad fantasy novel, especially considering where it falls in the history of the genre's development. Its flaws are flaws that are common to a lot of fantasy from the 70s and 80s - heavily stereotyped racial groups, a tendency to write all women as nagging (even, maybe especially, when they're right) and lean hard into gender roles, and a plot about traveling a long distance for a McGuffin - IE, LOTR with the serial numbers filed off.

However, I was repeatedly struck by Eddings' skill at making the setting, specifically, feel realistic and complex. The story is slowly paced and much of it is a travelogue, but that time isn't wasted; it's spent developing the environment, economics, and cultures of the nations through which the characters travel. There's a sense of depth to it that I really appreciate - these places feel like they have complex systems of trade and agriculture, and when characters discuss war, some of their first thoughts are of logistics. The characters themselves are practical in how they move through the world, too, and above all it comes off as grounded. The stakes of the plot may be world-ending, but we actually get to see the world, and with particular attention paid to the broad base of farmers and laborers who support everything else.

I don't think this is a series I would particularly be motivated to read on my own, but I'm really enjoying having Nicole read it to me, so we'll keep going.
]]> I Shall Never Fall in Love 199531795
Eleanor has always wanted to do everything "right," including falling in love鈥攂ut she鈥檚 never met a boy she was interested in. She鈥檇 much rather spend time with her best friend, George, and beloved cousin Charlotte. However, when a new suitor comes to town, she finds her closest friendships threatened, forcing her to rethink what "right" means and confront feelings she never knew she had.

Inspired by Jane Austen and queer history, I Shall Never Fall in Love shines a light on what it means to be true to yourself and rewrites the rules for what makes a happily ever after.]]> 288 Hari Conner 035868238X Kogiopsis 5 Finding Home Volume 1: The Traveller, pausing only to throw money at them for PDF copies of Finding Home because goddamn, that was one of my favorite reads in recent years.

I Shall Never Fall in Love is lighter fare, and shorter, but has all the excellent writing and art I expected based on Finding Home - complex and engaging queer characters, charming designs, beautiful backgrounds, and a plot which balances romantic tension (pining!) with a hard look at characters' flaws. I was immediately onboard with the main couple, and I loved seeing them get to their unorthodox happy ending despite bumps in the road and misunderstandings. The confession scene was ADORABLE.

I am of two minds re: the history bibliography at the back of the book - on the one hand, I love and respect the research and care that went into the book, but on the other hand, I wish that creators didn't have to literally CITE SOURCES to just... tell stories about queer people or people of color in certain historical periods. It sucks that it's hard to determine what citations are just the author enjoying research, and what's them feeling like they have to justify their story. On the other hand, this might lead some readers to new resources about queer and black history, so...?]]> 4.29 2024 I Shall Never Fall in Love
author: Hari Conner
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: graphic-novels, queer-stuff, reviewed
review:
I preordered this book very shortly after finishing Conner's superb other comic, Finding Home Volume 1: The Traveller, pausing only to throw money at them for PDF copies of Finding Home because goddamn, that was one of my favorite reads in recent years.

I Shall Never Fall in Love is lighter fare, and shorter, but has all the excellent writing and art I expected based on Finding Home - complex and engaging queer characters, charming designs, beautiful backgrounds, and a plot which balances romantic tension (pining!) with a hard look at characters' flaws. I was immediately onboard with the main couple, and I loved seeing them get to their unorthodox happy ending despite bumps in the road and misunderstandings. The confession scene was ADORABLE.

I am of two minds re: the history bibliography at the back of the book - on the one hand, I love and respect the research and care that went into the book, but on the other hand, I wish that creators didn't have to literally CITE SOURCES to just... tell stories about queer people or people of color in certain historical periods. It sucks that it's hard to determine what citations are just the author enjoying research, and what's them feeling like they have to justify their story. On the other hand, this might lead some readers to new resources about queer and black history, so...?
]]> Snapshot 31176804
Davis鈥檚 job as a cop on Snapshot Duty is straight forward. Sometimes he is tasked with finding where a criminal dumped a weapon. Sometimes he is tasked with documenting domestic disputes. Simple. Mundane. One day, in between two snapshot assignments, Davis decides to investigate the memory of a call that was mysteriously never logged at the precinct, and he makes a horrifying discovery.

As in all many stories, Snapshot follows a wonderfully flawed character as he attempts to solve a horrific crime. Sanderson proves that no matter the genre, he is one of the most skilled storytellers in the business.]]> 123 Brandon Sanderson 0998559903 Kogiopsis 3
Lines like "In here, they were the only ones with rights. In here, they were gods" ring a bit different after the George Floyd protests and the ensuing conversations about police culture, you know? A little too on the nose, and I found it pretty uncomfortable to be in Davis's head for a lot of this book. [spoilers removed]]]> 4.01 2017 Snapshot
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
Hmmmm. I'm not really sure how I feel about this, to be honest. Specifically, I think I hesitate at the way Sanderson writes about police violence here - Chaz is really, uncomfortably eager to hurt and kill people, in a way that feels uncomfortably on the nose given conversations about police brutality in the years since this novella was published. It's to the point where [spoilers removed].

Lines like "In here, they were the only ones with rights. In here, they were gods" ring a bit different after the George Floyd protests and the ensuing conversations about police culture, you know? A little too on the nose, and I found it pretty uncomfortable to be in Davis's head for a lot of this book. [spoilers removed]
]]> Heart of Iron 10799644 311 Ekaterina Sedia 160701257X Kogiopsis 3 reviewed
Ultimately, not a book I would have picked up if it hadn't been part of a bundle deal, but not one I hated either.]]> 3.09 2011 Heart of Iron
author: Ekaterina Sedia
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves: reviewed
review:
This is an interesting alternate history concept, with a bit of steampunk-esque technology thrown in for flavor, but as a narrative it's not quite captivating. As other reviews have pointed out, the plot unfolds a little bit too easily, with relatively little feeling of conflict or threat. Despite one character pointing out, early in the book, to Sasha that "you Europeans have an unfortunate tendency to assume the rest of the world exists to assist you and to help you," later events sort of... validate this exact assumption. Obstacles are easily overcome, often with the unquestioned help of well-intentioned strangers, and there's rarely a catch or a twist to it.

Ultimately, not a book I would have picked up if it hadn't been part of a bundle deal, but not one I hated either.
]]> Kariba 35396653 223 Daniel Clarke 0639935001 Kogiopsis 3 graphic-novels, reviewed
Also, the art is just lovely all the way through. Definitely a fun little read.]]> 3.80 2018 Kariba
author: Daniel Clarke
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: graphic-novels, reviewed
review:
This is a very pretty, interesting, and dreamy sort of graphic novel about a part of history which, I suspect, was probably a lot more fraught than the story here represents. To their credit, the authors are blunt about this in the author's note at the end of the book; they did not intend to retell the story of the actual Kariba Dam's development, but to tell a fantastical tale around the historical event. I think that, setting the question of historical accuracy aside, the conclusion of the story here is very interesting: [spoilers removed]

Also, the art is just lovely all the way through. Definitely a fun little read.
]]> <![CDATA[Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame]]> 217388174 A new Queer, Asian-inspired fantasy novella about a renowned dragon slayer who never takes her armor off in public, Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame reads like She Who Became the Sun meets The Mandalorian, with dragons!

The fiercely independent nation of Quanbao is isolated, reclusive, and something of a mystery to the rest of the world. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper but instead loved and worshiped.

Yeva is perhaps a strange emissary to these people. Not only because their face has never been seen in public, but because they are a hero born to a birthright that makes them suited for their task鈥攈unting dragons.

And so the dragon hunter must woo Quanbao's queen鈥攖he Lady Sookhee鈥攖o understand what secrets she is hiding. A woman reasonably suspicious of Yeva's intentions, and the imperial might of the throne she represents, Sookhee bears the burden of the safety of her entire people. How can she trust this stranger newly arrived to her court, a weapon forged in blood and fire, to understand what her people need and how best to safeguard their future?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 176 Neon Yang 1250357349 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.97 2025 Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame
author: Neon Yang
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dracula 17245 You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here.

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

Criticism collects seven theoretical interpretations of Dracula by Phyllis A. Roth, Carol A. Senf, Franco Moretti, Christopher Craft, Bram Dijkstra, Stephen D. Arata, and Talia Schaffer.

A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are included.]]> 488 Bram Stoker 0393970124 Kogiopsis 3 classics, reviewed get it at the time.

So! Read again via Dracula Daily, which is a very fun way to experience the book especially if you do it with one or more other people. And, I mean, this is not a worldshaking statement, but I see how this book became a classic - it evokes atmosphere and vague menace very well, and I imagine even more so if you don't go in knowing all of the vampire lore this book made famous. The prose can be a little dense, but this is another area where Dracula Daily improves the experience; by reading it in bite-sized chunks, it's more tolerable.

I don't think it'll every be a favorite, but it's definitely a worthwhile read.]]> 4.02 1897 Dracula
author: Bram Stoker
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1897
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves: classics, reviewed
review:
Huh. Apparently when I first read this, back in high school, I hated it. Who knew? I have vague memories of reading it late at night and being creeped out, but I honestly didn't remember disliking it to a one-star degree. And... at this point I feel comfortable saying that I probably just didn't get it at the time.

So! Read again via Dracula Daily, which is a very fun way to experience the book especially if you do it with one or more other people. And, I mean, this is not a worldshaking statement, but I see how this book became a classic - it evokes atmosphere and vague menace very well, and I imagine even more so if you don't go in knowing all of the vampire lore this book made famous. The prose can be a little dense, but this is another area where Dracula Daily improves the experience; by reading it in bite-sized chunks, it's more tolerable.

I don't think it'll every be a favorite, but it's definitely a worthwhile read.
]]> <![CDATA[When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1)]]> 195790597 When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear.

We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword.

On Kupala Night, Dymitr arrives in Chicago鈥檚 monstrous, magical underworld with a perilous mission: pick the mythical fern flower and offer it to a cursed creature in exchange for help finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga.

Ala is a fear-eating zmora afflicted with a bloodline curse that鈥檚 slowly killing her. She's just desperate enough to say yes to Dymitr, even if she doesn鈥檛 know his motives.

Over the course of one night, Ala and Dymitr risk life and limb in search of Baba Jaga, and begin to build a tentative friendship. . . but when Ala finds out what Dymitr is hiding, it could destroy them both.]]> 166 Veronica Roth 1250855489 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.71 2024 When Among Crows (Curse Bearer, #1)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water]]> 198563669 A captivating exploration of how underwater animals tap into sound to survive, and a clarion call for humans to address the ways we invade these critical soundscapes鈥攆rom an award-winning science writer

For centuries humans ignored sound in the 鈥渟ilent world鈥� of the ocean, assuming that what we couldn鈥檛 perceive, didn鈥檛 exist. But we couldn鈥檛 have been more wrong. Marine scientists now have the technology to record and study the complex interplay of the myriad sounds in the sea. Finally, we can trace how sounds travel with the currents, bounce from the seafloor and surface, bend with temperature, and even saltiness; how sounds help marine life survive; and how human noise can transform entire marine ecosystems.

In Sing Like Fish , award-winning science journalist Amorina Kingdon synthesizes historical discoveries with the latest research in a clear and compelling portrait of this sonic undersea world. From plainfin midshipman fish, whose swim-bladder drumming is loud enough to keep houseboat-dwellers awake, to the syntax of whalesong, from the deafening crackle of snapping shrimp, to underwater earthquakes and volcanoes, sound plays a vital role in feeding, mating, parenting, navigating, and warning - even in animals that we never suspected of acoustic ability.

Meanwhile, we jump in our motorboats and cruise ships, oblivious to the impact below us. Our lifestyle is fuelled by oil in growling tankers and furnished by goods that travel in massive container ships. Navies deploy underwater sonar, and prospectors use seismic imaging to seek oil and gas under ocean floors. Our seas echo with human-made sound, but we are just learning how these pervasive noises can mask mating calls, chase animals from their food, and even wound creatures as from plankton to lobsters.

With intimate and artful prose, Sing Like Fish tells a uniquely complete story of ocean animals鈥� submerged sounds, envisions a quieter future, and offers a profound new understanding of the world below the surface.]]> 336 Amorina Kingdon 0593442776 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.86 Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water
author: Amorina Kingdon
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Blood of the Old Kings (The Bleeding Empire, #1)]]> 203579293 Blood of the Old Kings begins an epic adventure in which three strangers journey through a vast Empire that uses the power of dead wizards to conquer and subdue, from award-winning author Sung-il Kim and translated by the highly-acclaimed Anton Hur.

Powered by the corpses of sorcerers, the Empire has conquered the world. It claims to have brought peace and stability to its conquered lands, but some see that peace for what it is鈥攁 lie鈥攁nd will give everything in the fight against it.

Loran is desperate for revenge after the Empire killed her family, so much so that the swordswoman climbs the volcano where the legends say an ancient dragon slumbers and leaps in. She finds that the legends are true, and Loran leaves the mountain with a sword made of dragon鈥檚 fang and a great purpose before her.

Cain arrived in the Imperial Capital lost and orphaned, and it鈥檚 only thanks to the kindness of a stranger-turned-mentor that he survived on the city鈥檚 streets. When his friend is found murdered, he will leave no stone unturned to find those responsible, even if it means starting a war.

Arienne鈥檚 future has never been in question鈥攂orn a sorcerer, she鈥檒l be a Power Generator for the Empire upon her death. But when she starts to hear the voice of a powerful necromancer in her head, she realizes the only thing more terrifying than dying for the Empire is never getting to truly live in the first place.

When peace is a lie, there is power in truth鈥攁nd as Loran, Cain, and Arienne hunt for answers in their own lives, any one of their small rebellions could be the stone that brings the Empire toppling down.]]> 368 Sung-Il Kim 1250895332 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.73 2016 Blood of the Old Kings (The Bleeding Empire, #1)
author: Sung-Il Kim
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Dark and Drowning Tide 174146852 A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she鈥檚 only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader鈥擫orelei鈥檚 beloved mentor鈥攊s murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again鈥攁nd a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth鈥攁nd resist their growing feelings for one another鈥攖hey discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.]]> 384 Allison Saft 0593722345 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.59 2024 A Dark and Drowning Tide
author: Allison Saft
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Alien Clay 195443798
On the distant world of Kiln lie the ruins of an alien civilization. It鈥檚 the greatest discovery in humanity鈥檚 spacefaring history 鈥� yet who were its builders and where did they go?

Professor Arton Daghdev had always wanted to study alien life up close. Then his wishes become a reality in the worst way. His political activism sees him exiled from Earth to Kiln鈥檚 extrasolar labour camp. There, he鈥檚 condemned to work under an alien sky until he dies.

Kiln boasts a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem like nothing seen on Earth. The monstrous alien life interacts in surprising, sometimes shocking ways with the human body, so Arton will risk death on a daily basis. However, the camp鈥檚 oppressive regime might just kill him first. If Arton can somehow escape both fates, the world of Kiln holds a wondrous, terrible secret. It will redefine life and intelligence as he knows it, and might just set him free . . .]]> 396 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1035013770 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.98 2024 Alien Clay
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wings Upon Her Back 198821102
Five gods lie mysteriously sleeping above the city of Radezhda. Five gods who once bestowed great technologies and wisdom, each inspiring the devotion of their own sect. When the gods turned away from humanity, their followers built towers to the heavens to find out why. But when no answer was given, the collective grief of the sects turned to desperation, and eventually to war.

Zenya was a teenager when she ran away from home to join the mechanically-modified warrior sect. She was determined to earn mechanized wings and protect the people and city she loved. Under the strict tutelage of a mercurial, charismatic leader, Zenya became Winged Zemolai.

But after twenty-six years of service, Zemolai is disillusioned with her role as an enforcer in an increasingly fascist state. After one tragic act of mercy, she is cast out, and loses everything she worked for. As Zemolai fights for her life, she begins to understand the true nature of her sect, her leader, and the gods themselves.]]> 336 Samantha Mills 1616964146 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.96 2024 The Wings Upon Her Back
author: Samantha Mills
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Minor Mage 52369824
He only knew three spells, and one of them was to control his allergy to armadillo dander. His attempts to summon elementals resulted in nosebleeds, and there is nothing more embarrassing than having your elemental leave the circle to get you a tissue, pat you comfortingly, and then disappear in a puff of magic. The armadillo had about wet himself laughing.

He was a very minor mage.

Unfortunately, he was all they had.]]> 176 T. Kingfisher Kogiopsis 5 reviewed
I love the mixture of classic fable story structure (plucky kid goes out into the world and learns they had the power inside them all along) with some VERY dark stuff (murder harps, flesh-eating ghouls, etc), all served with a side of Fun Armadillo Facts (tm). As someone who listened to all of The Hidden Almanac, this had the same quirky vibe that I loved in that podcast, and it's a very satisfying story to read.]]> 4.19 2019 Minor Mage
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: reviewed
review:
I've... definitely read this before, and I don't know why I didn't review it. Ah well - there are far worse things in this world than accidentally rereading a T. Kingfisher novella.

I love the mixture of classic fable story structure (plucky kid goes out into the world and learns they had the power inside them all along) with some VERY dark stuff (murder harps, flesh-eating ghouls, etc), all served with a side of Fun Armadillo Facts (tm). As someone who listened to all of The Hidden Almanac, this had the same quirky vibe that I loved in that podcast, and it's a very satisfying story to read.
]]> Slow Bullets 23013875
A vast conflict, one that has encompassed hundreds of worlds and solar systems, appears to be finally at an end. A conscripted soldier is beginning to consider her life after the war and the family she has left behind. But for Scur鈥攁nd for humanity鈥攑eace is not to be.

On the brink of the ceasefire, Scur is captured by a renegade war criminal, and left for dead in the ruins of a bunker. She revives aboard a prisoner transport vessel. Something has gone terribly wrong with the ship.

Passengers鈥攃ombatants from both sides of the war鈥攁re waking up from hibernation far too soon. Their memories, embedded in bullets, are the only links to a world which is no longer recognizable. And Scur will be reacquainted with her old enemy, but with much higher stakes than just her own life.
]]> 192 Alastair Reynolds 1616961937 Kogiopsis 2 space-ain-t-pretty, reviewed
I finished this novella feeling frustrated and like I'd missed something, but I figured that it connected into something else larger and made sense in that context. But it's apparently a standalone, at least at this time, and that... baffles me, because it does not, in fact, stand up on its own.

There are a lot of interesting concepts here, but they're all thrown haphazardly together, and there are frankly too many ideas to be fully addressed in a story this short. Every time a new element was added, I kept waiting for the idea, character, or event to be tied back to something else, but it was just... something completely new and different. It didn't help that despite all these novel concepts, the narrative was repetitive, so it didn't really feel to me like things were explored to the fullest extent possible.

Also, two specific things really, really bothered me. One - nobody in this book seems to have a sense of the scale of time. [spoilers removed]

Two, the ending given to one character was honestly upsetting to read. [spoilers removed]

I'm interested in reading more of Alastair Reynolds' work, but I kind of wish I hadn't started with this one, because this was not a satisfying read at all.]]> 3.57 2015 Slow Bullets
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: space-ain-t-pretty, reviewed
review:
I'm sorry, what the fuck do you mean this isn't part of an existing series/universe?

I finished this novella feeling frustrated and like I'd missed something, but I figured that it connected into something else larger and made sense in that context. But it's apparently a standalone, at least at this time, and that... baffles me, because it does not, in fact, stand up on its own.

There are a lot of interesting concepts here, but they're all thrown haphazardly together, and there are frankly too many ideas to be fully addressed in a story this short. Every time a new element was added, I kept waiting for the idea, character, or event to be tied back to something else, but it was just... something completely new and different. It didn't help that despite all these novel concepts, the narrative was repetitive, so it didn't really feel to me like things were explored to the fullest extent possible.

Also, two specific things really, really bothered me. One - nobody in this book seems to have a sense of the scale of time. [spoilers removed]

Two, the ending given to one character was honestly upsetting to read. [spoilers removed]

I'm interested in reading more of Alastair Reynolds' work, but I kind of wish I hadn't started with this one, because this was not a satisfying read at all.
]]> <![CDATA[A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift, #1)]]> 6186355
Two years after his untimely death, Matthew Swift finds himself breathing once again, lying in bed in his London home.

Except that it's no longer his bed, or his home. And the last time this sorcerer was seen alive, an unknown assailant had gouged a hole so deep in his chest that his death was irrefutable...despite his body never being found.

He doesn't have long to mull over his resurrection though, or the changes that have been wrought upon him. His only concern now is vengeance. Vengeance upon his monstrous killer and vengeance upon the one who brought him back.]]> 458 Kate Griffin 0316041254 Kogiopsis 5 reviewed
Additionally, Matthew Swift is an unusual type of unreliable narrator, in that he's unreliable to himself as much as to the reader - which is a tricky thing to pull off in a first-person POV without feeling that information is being deliberately withheld, and adds satisfyingly to the tension of the story. Rereading, paying more attention to the change between 'I' and 'we'... it's not subtle, really, if you're looking, but it is VERY neatly executed.

It's probably not possible for one person to write this concept in multiple cities, given the depth and intimacy of the local knowledge needed, but it really does make me wonder - in this world, what does sorcerous magic look like in, say, Kyoto versus in a planned, modern city like Brasilia? And what is the magic of the suburbs, because that's got to be its own unique thing... it's a very compelling idea.

I'm very much looking forward to (finally) reading the rest of the quartet.]]> 3.76 2009 A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift, #1)
author: Kate Griffin
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: reviewed
review:
I've finally reread this book, and have designs on actually reading the rest of the series, and man - I still just love it. The concept is so rich and creative, and Griffin's love of London in all its messy glory shines through. As it happens, by the time I finished this reread I'd actually visited the city for the first time, and being able to picture even a few of the locations described definitely enhanced the reading experience.

Additionally, Matthew Swift is an unusual type of unreliable narrator, in that he's unreliable to himself as much as to the reader - which is a tricky thing to pull off in a first-person POV without feeling that information is being deliberately withheld, and adds satisfyingly to the tension of the story. Rereading, paying more attention to the change between 'I' and 'we'... it's not subtle, really, if you're looking, but it is VERY neatly executed.

It's probably not possible for one person to write this concept in multiple cities, given the depth and intimacy of the local knowledge needed, but it really does make me wonder - in this world, what does sorcerous magic look like in, say, Kyoto versus in a planned, modern city like Brasilia? And what is the magic of the suburbs, because that's got to be its own unique thing... it's a very compelling idea.

I'm very much looking forward to (finally) reading the rest of the quartet.
]]> <![CDATA[The Fireborne Blade (The Fireborne Blade, #1)]]> 195791340
It鈥檚 that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor.

Maddileh is a knight. There aren鈥檛 many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she鈥檚 a knight, and made of sterner stuff.

A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it's that 鈥渄ie trying鈥� is where to wager your coin.

Maddileh鈥檚 tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately, The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world.]]> 168 Charlotte Bond 1250290317 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.75 2024 The Fireborne Blade (The Fireborne Blade, #1)
author: Charlotte Bond
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fable for the End of the World]]> 209594872 The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything.

By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society.

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt鈥攅nough to qualify one of her children for Caerus鈥檚 livestreamed assassination spectacle: the Lamb鈥檚 Gauntlet.

Melino毛 is a Caerus assassin, trained to track and kill the sacrificial Lambs. The product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, she is a living weapon, known for her cold brutality and deadly beauty. She has never failed to assassinate one of her marks.

When Inesa learns that her mother has offered her as a sacrifice, at first she despairs鈥攖he Gauntlet is always a bloodbath for the impoverished debtors. But she鈥檚 had years of practice surviving in the apocalyptic wastes, and with the help of her hunter brother, she might stand a chance of staying alive.

For Melino毛, this is a game she can鈥檛 afford to lose. Despite her reputation for mercilessness, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on livestream, she desperately needs redemption.

As Mel pursues Inesa across the wasteland, both girls begin to question everything: Inesa wonders if there鈥檚 more to life than survival, while Mel wonders if she鈥檚 capable of more than killing.

And both wonder if, against all odds, they might be falling in love.]]> 384 Ava Reid 0063211556 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.82 2025 Fable for the End of the World
author: Ava Reid
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall]]> 13163688
Fifteen-year-old Pete is one of the Six鈥攃hildren who were born deformed or sterile and raised in the Shell. As, one by one, the survivors grow sick and die, Pete and the Six struggle to put aside their anger at the alien Tesslies in order to find the means to rebuild the earth together. Their only hope lies within brief time-portals into the recent past, where they bring back children to replenish their disappearing gene pool.

Meanwhile, in 2013, brilliant mathematician Julie Kahn works with the FBI to solve a series of聽inexplicable kidnappings. Suddenly her predictive algorithms begin to reveal more than just criminal activity. As she begins to realize her role in the impending catastrophe,聽simultaneously affecting聽the Earth and the Shell, Julie closes in on the truth. She and Pete are converging in time upon the future of humanity鈥攁 future which might never unfold.

Weaving three consecutive time lines to unravel both the mystery of the Earth's destruction and the key to its salvation, this taut post-apocalyptic thriller offers a topical plot with a satisfying twist.]]> 189 Nancy Kress 1616960655 Kogiopsis 3 reviewed, space-ain-t-pretty
The idea is great; the collision course between pre- and post-apocalyptic stories, interspersed with little snippets of the cause of the apocalypse itself, has an inherent tension and momentum with a lot going for it. The thing is, all that momentum builds up to... a deeply unsatisfying deus ex machina, which leaves some of the biggest questions of the entire novella unanswered in a way that make no sense. [spoilers removed]

It feels a little like the story started off in one direction, and then needed to come to a more abrupt ending than Kress had originally planned, and so it changed course and a lot of detail was lost. Ultimately, pretty unsatisfying.]]> 3.45 2012 After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall
author: Nancy Kress
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: reviewed, space-ain-t-pretty
review:
I wanted to love this so much, because I've enjoyed what Nancy Kress I've read in the past and remember all the hype around this novella when it came out but...

The idea is great; the collision course between pre- and post-apocalyptic stories, interspersed with little snippets of the cause of the apocalypse itself, has an inherent tension and momentum with a lot going for it. The thing is, all that momentum builds up to... a deeply unsatisfying deus ex machina, which leaves some of the biggest questions of the entire novella unanswered in a way that make no sense. [spoilers removed]

It feels a little like the story started off in one direction, and then needed to come to a more abrupt ending than Kress had originally planned, and so it changed course and a lot of detail was lost. Ultimately, pretty unsatisfying.
]]> Starstuff 18881821 114 Kaylim Kogiopsis 2 3.56 2012 Starstuff
author: Kaylim
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: reviewed, queer-stuff, space-ain-t-pretty
review:
This is an interesting SF concept which is HUGELY let down by an unsatisfying ending. Thematically, it felt like it was trying to be a story about humanity, but without very many connections between humans, and that lack really undercut the narrative. Plus... there was a spectacularly unnecessary sex scene, which didn't feel at all in keeping with the tone or the characters. Could have been more than it was.
]]> Falling in Love with Hominids 23846151 Brown Girl in the Ring, Skin Folk) has been widely hailed as a highly significant voice in Caribbean and American fiction. She has been dubbed 鈥渙ne of our most important writers,鈥� (Junot Diaz), with 鈥渁n imagination that most of us would kill for鈥� (Los Angeles Times), and her work has been called 鈥渟tunning,鈥� (New York Times) 鈥渞ich in voice, humor, and dazzling imagery鈥� (Kirkus), and 鈥渟imply triumphant鈥� (Dorothy Allison).

Falling in Love with Hominids presents over a dozen years of Hopkinson鈥檚 new, uncollected fiction, much of which has been unavailable in print. Her singular, vivid tales, which mix the modern with Afro-Caribbean folklore, are occupied by creatures unpredictable and strange: chickens that breathe fire, adults who eat children, and spirits that haunt shopping malls.]]> 240 Nalo Hopkinson 1616961988 Kogiopsis 4 reviewed
Favorites:
- "The Smile on the Face": This story made me anxious, as it seemed like it was preparing to tread a well-worn and uncomfortable path. Without giving anything away, it subverted that expectation in an extremely satisfying way, and I loved everything about it.
- "A Young Candy Daughter": A very interesting and charming concept, though just a little vignette here. I'd read a novel of this, though.
- "Shift": I'm a bit biased towards reinterpretations of The Tempest courtesy of Une temp锚te and this was a very interesting take, though it mostly made me want to reread Aime Cesaire.
- "Blushing": Again, I had expectations and Hopkinson took them on a merry dance.

"The Smile on the Face" was by far my favorite, but in general I really enjoyed the richness of both ideas and prose in these stories.]]> 3.93 2015 Falling in Love with Hominids
author: Nalo Hopkinson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: reviewed
review:
Short story collections are always a bit uneven by nature, but honestly, this is one of the strongest I've read. No out-and-out duds; even the ones I didn't particularly connect with were well-written, and almost all had really interesting concepts.

Favorites:
- "The Smile on the Face": This story made me anxious, as it seemed like it was preparing to tread a well-worn and uncomfortable path. Without giving anything away, it subverted that expectation in an extremely satisfying way, and I loved everything about it.
- "A Young Candy Daughter": A very interesting and charming concept, though just a little vignette here. I'd read a novel of this, though.
- "Shift": I'm a bit biased towards reinterpretations of The Tempest courtesy of Une temp锚te and this was a very interesting take, though it mostly made me want to reread Aime Cesaire.
- "Blushing": Again, I had expectations and Hopkinson took them on a merry dance.

"The Smile on the Face" was by far my favorite, but in general I really enjoyed the richness of both ideas and prose in these stories.
]]> <![CDATA[Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)]]> 9565548 Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts鈥攁nd a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae鈥檚 most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany鈥攚here she finds herself woefully under prepared鈥攏ot only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death鈥檚 vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?]]> 549 Robin LaFevers 054762834X Kogiopsis 4 reviewed could attack her, which just felt wildly out of character for him.

This very much feels like a first installment, as it just begins to hint at more nuance re: Mortain's daughters and their role in the world. There are also frustratingly few interesting interactions between those daughters themselves - I'm hoping that the second and third books feature more of the sisterhood working together, because I am genuinely interested in reading more!]]> 3.89 2012 Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin, #1)
author: Robin LaFevers
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: reviewed
review:
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book; I expected it to be more like an early version of the 'romantasy' subgenre, but it turned out to be much more deeply rooted in history and politics, and have a satisfying amount of complication and nuance. The romance plot was not my favorite part; it felt like attraction came on too fast, which didn't really fit with Ismae's characterization. However, there was a good amount of mutual respect to it, which I appreciate. My one major complaint is a scene in which it felt like Duval was... not threatening Ismae with assault, per se, but for some reason reminding her that he could attack her, which just felt wildly out of character for him.

This very much feels like a first installment, as it just begins to hint at more nuance re: Mortain's daughters and their role in the world. There are also frustratingly few interesting interactions between those daughters themselves - I'm hoping that the second and third books feature more of the sisterhood working together, because I am genuinely interested in reading more!
]]> <![CDATA[Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, #2)]]> 9943270
The convent has returned Sybella to a life that nearly drove her mad. Her father's rage and brutality are terrifying, and her brother's love is equally monstrous. When she discovers an unexpected ally imprisoned in the dungeons, will a daughter of Death find something other than vengeance to live for?]]> 387 Robin LaFevers 0547628382 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.13 2013 Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin, #2)
author: Robin LaFevers
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption]]> 40026731
In The End of Ice, we follow Jamail as he scales Alaska鈥檚 Denali, the highest peak in North America, dives in the warm crystal waters of the Coral Sea only to find bleached coral reefs, and explores the tundra of St. Paul Island where he meets the last subsistence seal hunters of the Bering Sea and witnesses its collapsing food web.

Accompanied along the way by climate scientists and people whose families for centuries have fished, farmed, and lived in the areas he visits, Jamail begins to accept the fact that Earth, most likely, is in a hospice situation. Ironically, this allows him to renew his passion for the planet鈥檚 wild places, cherishing Earth in a way he has never been able to before.

The End of Ice offers an essential firsthand chronicle of the catastrophic reality of our situation and the incalculable necessity of relishing this vulnerable, fragile planet while we still can.]]> 264 Dahr Jamail 1620972352 Kogiopsis 2 nonfiction, reviewed
We are already facing mass extinction. There is no removing the heat we have introduced into the ocean, nor the 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere every single year. There may be no changing what is happening, and far worse things are coming. How, then, shall we meet this?


How indeed? One might think answering this question would be the central point of this book; Jamail offers few actual thoughts on this topic. After that paragraph, he quotes an author named Stephen Jenkinson, whose background he mentions is in palliative care:
"Grief requires us to know the time we're in," Jenkinson continues. "The great enemy of grief is hope. Hope is the four-letter word for people who are willing to know things for what they are. Our time requires us to be hope-free. To burn through the false choice of being hopeful and hopeless. They are two sides of the same con job. Grief is required to proceed."


Okay, that makes sense to me in the context of palliative care and grieving the end of a human life. I'm going through the Long Goodbye of Parkinson's with my grandmother right now; I get it. But... I am more than 20 years younger than Jamail. I have to live on this planet, with the consequences of everything humans have done to it, for more of the future than he does (barring accidents). And there's something infuriating about reading an entire book that's just... beyond hopeless, beyond grief, to a sort of near-nihilism.

Seriously, what is the objective of this book? To convince people that climate change is real? Well, the ones who need convincing probably aren't going to pick up a book titled "The End of Ice". To 'bear witness'? Jamail, for all his love of the landscapes he describes, is not a particularly good ambassador for them; he doesn't spend much time actually 'bearing witness', either to the harms of climate change or to the ecosystems we are losing. To 'find meaning'? As best I can tell, the extent of 'meaning' is Jamail's determination to 'live without hope', as expressed in conclusion, and that's a goddamn depressing meaning.

(Is the objective to jet around to beautiful and exotic locales before they're destroyed? Because man, I couldn't help thinking about the jet fuel that went into the writing of this book...)

I'm not saying that everyone who writes about climate change has to also offer their singlehanded solution to save the planet; that would be ridiculous. But I just don't see the purpose in wasting time, energy, and paper with something that's relentlessly depressing and ends with throwing up one's hands and saying "we're cooked, may as well give up now".

P.S. sideswipes at people on antidepressants and comments about how oil field workers would never visit northern Alaska outside of work because "there are no distractions; it's too open, beautiful, quiet" really left a sour taste in my mouth. Or, hear me out, maybe we need to consider people as part of the ecosystems as well, and maybe the folks who work lonely, grimy, and spectacularly dangerous jobs are ALSO being exploited by petrochemical companies, and would much prefer to enjoy an open, beautiful, quiet landscape if they could do that and still feed their families. Just a thought.]]> 4.23 2019 The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption
author: Dahr Jamail
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/30
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: nonfiction, reviewed
review:
This book is hopeless. By definition and by intent, by the way; the conclusion spells this out clearly:

We are already facing mass extinction. There is no removing the heat we have introduced into the ocean, nor the 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere every single year. There may be no changing what is happening, and far worse things are coming. How, then, shall we meet this?


How indeed? One might think answering this question would be the central point of this book; Jamail offers few actual thoughts on this topic. After that paragraph, he quotes an author named Stephen Jenkinson, whose background he mentions is in palliative care:
"Grief requires us to know the time we're in," Jenkinson continues. "The great enemy of grief is hope. Hope is the four-letter word for people who are willing to know things for what they are. Our time requires us to be hope-free. To burn through the false choice of being hopeful and hopeless. They are two sides of the same con job. Grief is required to proceed."


Okay, that makes sense to me in the context of palliative care and grieving the end of a human life. I'm going through the Long Goodbye of Parkinson's with my grandmother right now; I get it. But... I am more than 20 years younger than Jamail. I have to live on this planet, with the consequences of everything humans have done to it, for more of the future than he does (barring accidents). And there's something infuriating about reading an entire book that's just... beyond hopeless, beyond grief, to a sort of near-nihilism.

Seriously, what is the objective of this book? To convince people that climate change is real? Well, the ones who need convincing probably aren't going to pick up a book titled "The End of Ice". To 'bear witness'? Jamail, for all his love of the landscapes he describes, is not a particularly good ambassador for them; he doesn't spend much time actually 'bearing witness', either to the harms of climate change or to the ecosystems we are losing. To 'find meaning'? As best I can tell, the extent of 'meaning' is Jamail's determination to 'live without hope', as expressed in conclusion, and that's a goddamn depressing meaning.

(Is the objective to jet around to beautiful and exotic locales before they're destroyed? Because man, I couldn't help thinking about the jet fuel that went into the writing of this book...)

I'm not saying that everyone who writes about climate change has to also offer their singlehanded solution to save the planet; that would be ridiculous. But I just don't see the purpose in wasting time, energy, and paper with something that's relentlessly depressing and ends with throwing up one's hands and saying "we're cooked, may as well give up now".

P.S. sideswipes at people on antidepressants and comments about how oil field workers would never visit northern Alaska outside of work because "there are no distractions; it's too open, beautiful, quiet" really left a sour taste in my mouth. Or, hear me out, maybe we need to consider people as part of the ecosystems as well, and maybe the folks who work lonely, grimy, and spectacularly dangerous jobs are ALSO being exploited by petrochemical companies, and would much prefer to enjoy an open, beautiful, quiet landscape if they could do that and still feed their families. Just a thought.
]]> <![CDATA[Aliens Stole My Body (Alien Adventures, #4)]]> 676015 BRING BACK MY BODY!

Rod Allbright has found his father鈥攂ut lost his own body! It's been stolen by BKR, the most fiendish villain in the galaxy. Which leaves Rod sharing the body of a one-eyed blue alien named Seymour.

Alas, when it comes time to go after BKR, Rod is forced to stay behind so that the little villain won't be able to get at the world-destroying secret locked in Rod's brain.

Stranded on an alien planet with only Madame Pong, Seymour, Snout, and his annoying cousin Elspeth for company, Rod fumes at being left behind. Little does he know he's about to be drawn into a web of alien plots that will test his courage to the utmost鈥攁nd ultimately bring him face-to-face with BKR!]]> 192 Bruce Coville 0671798359 Kogiopsis 3 childhood-nostalgia, reviewed 3.93 1998 Aliens Stole My Body (Alien Adventures, #4)
author: Bruce Coville
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/27
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: childhood-nostalgia, reviewed
review:
A nice, satisfying end to the series. One thing I appreciate about the way Coville writes is that even though these books are clearly for kids, he still gives most of his characters plenty of depth and nuance, and his protagonist demonstrates a lot of empathy and awareness. Sure, Elspeth is a Eustace-Scrubb-esque annoying cousin, but she also gets to be helpful and even heroic, while still being annoying! Rod cares deeply for his younger siblings and his mom, has complex feelings about his dad being back in his life, and develops different relationships with each member of the alien crew. It's a very emotionally wise silly sci-fi romp.
]]> <![CDATA[Shoggoths in Bloom and Other Stories]]> 18363420
Content

Tideline
Sonny Liston Takes the Fall
Sounding
The Something-Dreaming Game
The Cold Blacksmith
In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns
Orm the Beautiful
The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe
Love Among the Talus
Cryptic Coloration
The Ladies
Shoggoths in Bloom
The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder
Dolly
Gods of the Forge
Annie Webber
The Horrid Glory of Its Wings
Confessor
The Leavings of the Wolf
The Death of Terrestrial Radio]]> 308 Elizabeth Bear 1607013789 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.11 2008 Shoggoths in Bloom and Other Stories
author: Elizabeth Bear
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[No One Else Can Have You (Kippy Bushman)]]> 19420188 The Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard meets the cult-classic film Fargo in this gripping and darkly humorous murder mystery by debut author Kathleen Hale.

A quiet town like Friendship, Wisconsin, keeps most of its secrets buried . . . but when local teen Ruth Fried is found murdered in a cornfield, her best friend, Kippy Bushman, decides to uncover the truth and catch the killer. Since the police aren't much help, Kippy looks to her idol, journalist Diane Sawyer, for tips on how to conduct her investigation. But Kippy soon discovers, if you want to dig up the truth, your hands have to get a little dirty, don'tcha know.

In this riveting young adult novel, Kathleen Hale creates an intricately plotted murder mystery that will keep readers guessing, laughing, and cringing until the surprising final pages.

]]> 389 Kathleen Hale 0062211226 Kogiopsis 0 not-with-a-ten-foot-pole 3.35 2014 No One Else Can Have You (Kippy Bushman)
author: Kathleen Hale
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: not-with-a-ten-foot-pole
review:
Nope. Author known to . I'm not touching this.
]]> <![CDATA[The Search for Snout (Alien Adventures, #3)]]> 776896 Somewhere Snout is waiting.

Rod Allbright and his alien friends face the biggest mystery of their lives: where in the wide, wide galaxy is their missing friend Snout, the Master of the Mental Arts?

Their death-defying search for their friend leads them across the stars to the Mentat, the mysterious home of the Mental Masters. But the clues they uncover there only deepen the mystery 鈥� and the danger.

For Rod and his friends have stumbled into something far bigger and more dangerous than any of them had dreamed of. At stake are their honor, their lives, their sanity, and (just possibly) the fate of the universe.]]> 192 Bruce Coville 0671798340 Kogiopsis 4 childhood-nostalgia, reviewed
Other things I liked on reread:
- Rod is genuinely conflicted about leaving his mother and younger siblings; they're treated as equally important parts of his family to his missing father, and his choice to go is partly about them, not just himself. (In general, the way this series handles the 'hero missing his father' plotline is nuanced and sympathetic, and doesn't have the... weird attitude that fathers are more important than all other family, which can come up in similar plots.)
- Phil comments that Earth is not far from having whole libraries stored on a single flat piece of technology: 1995. Original Kindle e-reader released: 2007.
- The Mentat is just cool, and in general this series does a great job of making its alien people and planets downright weird.
- Grakker's conflict over Snout is, once more, convincing me that Coville is a Spirk shipper. Like dang.]]> 4.01 1995 The Search for Snout (Alien Adventures, #3)
author: Bruce Coville
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: childhood-nostalgia, reviewed
review:
I remember this book being my favorite of the quartet, when I was a kid, and I think I know why: it's a worldbuilding dump, including [spoilers removed] and I will always be weak for fun worldbuilding reveals.

Other things I liked on reread:
- Rod is genuinely conflicted about leaving his mother and younger siblings; they're treated as equally important parts of his family to his missing father, and his choice to go is partly about them, not just himself. (In general, the way this series handles the 'hero missing his father' plotline is nuanced and sympathetic, and doesn't have the... weird attitude that fathers are more important than all other family, which can come up in similar plots.)
- Phil comments that Earth is not far from having whole libraries stored on a single flat piece of technology: 1995. Original Kindle e-reader released: 2007.
- The Mentat is just cool, and in general this series does a great job of making its alien people and planets downright weird.
- Grakker's conflict over Snout is, once more, convincing me that Coville is a Spirk shipper. Like dang.
]]> <![CDATA[The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)]]> 15810910
Captain Marcus d鈥橧voire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire鈥檚 colonial garrisons, was resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost. But that was before a rebellion upended his life. And once the powder smoke settled, he was left in charge of a demoralized force clinging tenuously to a small fortress at the edge of the desert.

To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must win the hearts of her men and lead them into battle against impossible odds.

The fates of both these soldiers and all the men they lead depend on the newly arrived Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, who has been sent by the ailing king to restore order. His military genius seems to know no bounds, and under his command, Marcus and Winter can feel the tide turning. But their allegiance will be tested as they begin to suspect that the enigmatic Janus鈥檚 ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural鈥攁 realm with the power to ignite a meteoric rise, reshape the known world, and change the lives of everyone in its path.]]> 513 Django Wexler 0451465105 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.03 2013 The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)
author: Django Wexler
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X (Alien Adventures, #2)]]> 215853
DIMENSION X!

When Rod Allbright's cousin Elspeth arrived for a visit the day after school let out for the summer, Rod thought his vacation was ruined. But after they are kidnapped to Dimension X by a monster named Smorkus Flinders, Rod realizes that Elspeth is the least of his problems. After all, what's a bratty cousin compared to cranky monsters, furious aliens, and the discovery that you are stuck in the middle of an interstellar power play?

And that doesn't begin to take into account the horrifying personal decision that Rod will be forced to make before his adventures are over.]]> 192 Bruce Coville 1416938826 Kogiopsis 2 childhood-nostalgia, reviewed 3.92 1994 I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X (Alien Adventures, #2)
author: Bruce Coville
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1994
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: childhood-nostalgia, reviewed
review:
Still fun/silly/charming, but this is very much a 'middle book' and it shows; I remember not enjoying it as much as the rest of the series when I was a kid, too. There's an adventure, of course, but it's pretty clear that the point of this book is to set up the larger conflict involving BKR and Rod's father which drives the third and fourth installments of the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Gods of the Wyrdwood (Forsaken, #1)]]> 74870054 鈥淎 splendid fantasy work, full of RJ鈥檚 trademark invention." 鈥擜drian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author聽

Our lands are wild with gods. Our woods are wild with monsters...

Cahan is known as a Forester鈥攁 man capable of navigating the dangerous forests of Crua like no one else. But once he was more. Once he was a warrior.

Udinny serves the goddess of the lost, a keeper of the small and helpless. When Udinny needs to venture into the Wyrdwood to find a missing child, she asks Cahan to be her guide.

But in a land where land is won and lost for uncaring gods, where the forest is full of monsters, Cahan will need to choose between his past life and the one leads now鈥攁nd his choice will have consequences for his entire world.

Praise for Gods of the Wyrdwood:

"A sweeping story of destiny and redemption. Weighty, deliberate, tender and brutal, this is a big, wonderful book and an utterly involving read." 鈥�Daily Mail
聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽
"A triple-threat of world-building, character and plot." 鈥�SFX Magazine

The Forsaken Trilogy
Gods of the Wyrdwood

For more from RJ Barker, check

The Wounded Kingdom
Age of Assassins
Blood of Assassins
King of Assassins

The Tide Child Trilogy
The Bone Ships
Call of the Bone Ships
The Bone Ship's Wake
听闭闭> 641 R.J. Barker 0316401781 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.00 2023 Gods of the Wyrdwood (Forsaken, #1)
author: R.J. Barker
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Outrun the Wind 36639897
To earn back Artemis鈥檚 favor, Kahina must complete a dangerous task in the kingdom of Arkadia鈥� where the king鈥檚 daughter is revealed to be none other than Atalanta. Still reeling from her disastrous quest and her father鈥檚 insistence on marriage, Atalanta isn鈥檛 sure what to make of Kahina. As her connection to Atalanta deepens, Kahina finds herself in danger of breaking Artemis鈥� second rule.

She helps Atalanta devise a dangerous game to avoid marriage, and word spreads throughout Greece, attracting suitors willing to tempt fate to go up against Atalanta in a race for her hand. But when the men responsible for both the girls鈥� dark pasts arrive, the game turns deadly.]]> 302 Elizabeth Tammi 1635830265 Kogiopsis 2 queer-stuff, reviewed

Ohhh, I hate giving a low rating to a sapphic book but this just... was not... good. Two stars because I didn't hate it and it was quite readable, but that's about all I have to say.

I spent the entire book asking 'why' and I got no answers. Why did Kahina save Atalanta? (A question characters ask, repeatedly, with the same lack of resolution.) Why did she then decide to hate Atalanta? Why would gods like Artemis and Apollo be both so present and so passive? For that matter, why were the twins at odds with each other?

And why are there forks in this story set in ancient Greece?

The characters, relationships, and settings are all so... flat. Other reviewers have commented on the lack of sense of place (which is a shame, as Tammi mentions in her afterword that the story was inspired by time spent studying in Greece) so I'm not going to go into depth about that, but it did really bother me that the setting felt completely generic.

Characters, especially the two leads, are the story's biggest weakness. They feel like cardboard cutouts being moved around for the plot - Kahina saves Atalanta because the story needs her to, hates her because the story needs her to, kisses her because the story needs her to. There's very little sense of what she wants outside of 'not going back to Delphi' - and even there, the descriptions of her time in Apollo's temple are so vague that her motivations feel weak. Yes, being kidnapped by her cousin is awful, but there's no heart, no emotion behind it. Atalanta has a bit more depth, as her desires for freedom and family are in direct contention, but she is still rarely an active character.

In a fundamental way, both Kahina and Atalanta do very little to move the plot forward, or to resolve it (with the exception of [spoilers removed]). Their romance - I almost hesitate to call it that, because there's so little spark, and little sense of them knowing each other as people - also has no sense of momentum, just moving through the steps. The final conflict is a power play between Artemis and Apollo, with both girls pretty much sidelined to bit parts, and there's no sense of resolution to personal arcs.

(This book also made me think of about retellings of Greek myth, and the ultimate question of who has a 'right' to these stories, but that's not something I'm qualified to speak more about.)

Listen, I want more sapphic books, and I want more approachable sapphic YA, but... seriously, can they please be good books first?]]> 3.56 2018 Outrun the Wind
author: Elizabeth Tammi
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: queer-stuff, reviewed
review:


Ohhh, I hate giving a low rating to a sapphic book but this just... was not... good. Two stars because I didn't hate it and it was quite readable, but that's about all I have to say.

I spent the entire book asking 'why' and I got no answers. Why did Kahina save Atalanta? (A question characters ask, repeatedly, with the same lack of resolution.) Why did she then decide to hate Atalanta? Why would gods like Artemis and Apollo be both so present and so passive? For that matter, why were the twins at odds with each other?

And why are there forks in this story set in ancient Greece?

The characters, relationships, and settings are all so... flat. Other reviewers have commented on the lack of sense of place (which is a shame, as Tammi mentions in her afterword that the story was inspired by time spent studying in Greece) so I'm not going to go into depth about that, but it did really bother me that the setting felt completely generic.

Characters, especially the two leads, are the story's biggest weakness. They feel like cardboard cutouts being moved around for the plot - Kahina saves Atalanta because the story needs her to, hates her because the story needs her to, kisses her because the story needs her to. There's very little sense of what she wants outside of 'not going back to Delphi' - and even there, the descriptions of her time in Apollo's temple are so vague that her motivations feel weak. Yes, being kidnapped by her cousin is awful, but there's no heart, no emotion behind it. Atalanta has a bit more depth, as her desires for freedom and family are in direct contention, but she is still rarely an active character.

In a fundamental way, both Kahina and Atalanta do very little to move the plot forward, or to resolve it (with the exception of [spoilers removed]). Their romance - I almost hesitate to call it that, because there's so little spark, and little sense of them knowing each other as people - also has no sense of momentum, just moving through the steps. The final conflict is a power play between Artemis and Apollo, with both girls pretty much sidelined to bit parts, and there's no sense of resolution to personal arcs.

(This book also made me think of about retellings of Greek myth, and the ultimate question of who has a 'right' to these stories, but that's not something I'm qualified to speak more about.)

Listen, I want more sapphic books, and I want more approachable sapphic YA, but... seriously, can they please be good books first?
]]> <![CDATA[The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, #1)]]> 25819519
The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive.

The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive.]]> 212 Kai Ashante Wilson 0765385244 Kogiopsis 3
In a lot of ways it's very, very good. The worldbuilding is immersive and drew me in; I found myself thinking about the setting after I finished the book, and wanting to get back to it. Technically, Wilson does some really cool things with the use of language/codeswitching, and he gives his characters richly varied voices and cultural backgrounds. The nonlinear style is interesting, though I'm not sure it's as well-executed as it could have been.

Ultimately, I'd have been willing to overlook my second-biggest gripe (that the prose style often felt unnecessarily overwrought - I see what Wilson is going for in using different styles, but at times it approached unreadability), but the biggest complaint I have is a hurdle I couldn't get over: the first 2/3 and the last 1/3 of the book felt like they came from different stories. As in, the first 2/3 set up a lot of character relationships, conflicts, misunderstandings and desires... and then the actual resolution didn't really turn on that. The final 1/3 could have been a satisfying ending if coupled to a different beginning - [spoilers removed] - but as-is, it just didn't feel cohesive. [spoilers removed]

The time actually spent in the Wildeeps also felt too short, particularly the climactic pursuit sequence. Had this book been a full novel, that would have been an interesting place to explore the nuances of the characters' relationship outside of social stigma, and in a place where they're both free to be their whole selves, but at this length it just ended up feeling rushed (except for a surprisingly lengthy description of dinosaur gore, which... why did that get page time?).

Also, the footnotes - would have read better as parentheticals IMO; they didn't need to be footnotes and break up the flow of the story, and they were so infrequent it felt like the author hadn't quite committed to the idea of them.

If Wilson ever publishes a full-length novel in this setting, I'd love to read it, but I think for now I'm less interested in A Taste of Honey.]]> 3.51 2015 The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, #1)
author: Kai Ashante Wilson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves: not-for-the-sensitive, queer-stuff, reviewed
review:
Oof. This book left me so conflicted.

In a lot of ways it's very, very good. The worldbuilding is immersive and drew me in; I found myself thinking about the setting after I finished the book, and wanting to get back to it. Technically, Wilson does some really cool things with the use of language/codeswitching, and he gives his characters richly varied voices and cultural backgrounds. The nonlinear style is interesting, though I'm not sure it's as well-executed as it could have been.

Ultimately, I'd have been willing to overlook my second-biggest gripe (that the prose style often felt unnecessarily overwrought - I see what Wilson is going for in using different styles, but at times it approached unreadability), but the biggest complaint I have is a hurdle I couldn't get over: the first 2/3 and the last 1/3 of the book felt like they came from different stories. As in, the first 2/3 set up a lot of character relationships, conflicts, misunderstandings and desires... and then the actual resolution didn't really turn on that. The final 1/3 could have been a satisfying ending if coupled to a different beginning - [spoilers removed] - but as-is, it just didn't feel cohesive. [spoilers removed]

The time actually spent in the Wildeeps also felt too short, particularly the climactic pursuit sequence. Had this book been a full novel, that would have been an interesting place to explore the nuances of the characters' relationship outside of social stigma, and in a place where they're both free to be their whole selves, but at this length it just ended up feeling rushed (except for a surprisingly lengthy description of dinosaur gore, which... why did that get page time?).

Also, the footnotes - would have read better as parentheticals IMO; they didn't need to be footnotes and break up the flow of the story, and they were so infrequent it felt like the author hadn't quite committed to the idea of them.

If Wilson ever publishes a full-length novel in this setting, I'd love to read it, but I think for now I'm less interested in A Taste of Honey.
]]> <![CDATA[Aliens Ate My Homework (Alien Adventures, #1)]]> 343301 IT'S THE WEIRDEST ALIEN

INVASION EVER!

"I cannot tell a lie," says Rod Allbright. And it's the truth. Ask him a question and he's bound to give you an honest answer. Which is why, when his teacher asks what happened to last night's math assignment, Rod has to give the only answer he can: "Aliens ate my homework, Miss Maloney!"

Of course, no one believes Rod this time, so they don't bother to ask him why the aliens are here. It's just as well, since he is sworn to silence about their secret mission and the fact that he has been drafted to help them!

]]> 192 Bruce Coville 1416938834 Kogiopsis 3 childhood-nostalgia, reviewed
This book is very silly, in the best way. It's got a bit of Star Trek sendup to it (the later series even more so), but mostly it's one of those 'ordinary kid accidentally gets involved in Adventure' stories which, especially when you are yourself a kid, are so much fun. There's some juvenile humor (the aliens have somehow decided that 'booger' is an absolutely devastating Earth epithet), but also some real heart.

As an aside, it's kind of wild to pick up a book from 1993 and get:
- A member of the cast using it/its pronouns, who specifically mentions that using 'he' or 'she' for it would be extremely rude
- "If you try to protect children, why do you let them live where people are shooting at each other all the time?"
- "Biology is strange and wonderful, and not subject to moral judgement, Young Rod Albright."
- The captain and his science officer bunking together (see above re: Star Trek sendup)

But then again, Bruce Coville's always been great.]]> 3.88 1993 Aliens Ate My Homework (Alien Adventures, #1)
author: Bruce Coville
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves: childhood-nostalgia, reviewed
review:
Reread as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Belongs in the hands of a younger reader, but I'm gonna reread the whole series for nostalgia's sake before I put it in a Little Free Library.

This book is very silly, in the best way. It's got a bit of Star Trek sendup to it (the later series even more so), but mostly it's one of those 'ordinary kid accidentally gets involved in Adventure' stories which, especially when you are yourself a kid, are so much fun. There's some juvenile humor (the aliens have somehow decided that 'booger' is an absolutely devastating Earth epithet), but also some real heart.

As an aside, it's kind of wild to pick up a book from 1993 and get:
- A member of the cast using it/its pronouns, who specifically mentions that using 'he' or 'she' for it would be extremely rude
- "If you try to protect children, why do you let them live where people are shooting at each other all the time?"
- "Biology is strange and wonderful, and not subject to moral judgement, Young Rod Albright."
- The captain and his science officer bunking together (see above re: Star Trek sendup)

But then again, Bruce Coville's always been great.
]]> <![CDATA[Goblins in the Castle (Minstrel Book)]]> 299085 What moans at midnight in Toad-in-a-Cage Castle?

Toad-in-a-Cage Castle was filled with secrets鈥攕ecrets such as the hidden passages that led to every room, the long stairway that wound down to the dungeon, and the weird creature named Igor who lived there. But it was the mysterious night noises that bothered William the most鈥攖he strange moans that drifted through the halls of the castle where he was raised.

He wanted to know what caused them.

Then one night he found out....]]> 224 Bruce Coville 0671727117 Kogiopsis 3
I love Bruce Coville's books, and the way he tells stories which are fun and exciting for kids without feeling at all patronizing or oversimplified. This is a fun adventure story about a castle full of hidden passages, and it's also a story about dealing with the consequences of past wrongs, and neither of those aspects takes away from the other.

Bonus of rereading as an adult: picking up on the 'don't call me Ishmael' joke.]]> 4.15 1992 Goblins in the Castle (Minstrel Book)
author: Bruce Coville
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves:
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: a great little middle-grade book which belongs in the hands of a younger reader than my current self.

I love Bruce Coville's books, and the way he tells stories which are fun and exciting for kids without feeling at all patronizing or oversimplified. This is a fun adventure story about a castle full of hidden passages, and it's also a story about dealing with the consequences of past wrongs, and neither of those aspects takes away from the other.

Bonus of rereading as an adult: picking up on the 'don't call me Ishmael' joke.
]]> <![CDATA[The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks]]> 1629601
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15: A knockout figure. A sharp tongue. A chip on her shoulder. And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.

Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16: No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer and possibly a criminal mastermind. This is the story of how she got that way.

Frankie Landau-Banks. No longer the kind of girl to take "no" for an answer. Especially when "no" means she's excluded from her boyfriend's all-male secret society. Not when her ex-boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places. Not when she knows she's smarter than any of them. When she knows Matthew's lying to her. And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.]]> 345 E. Lockhart 0786838183 Kogiopsis 3 reviewed
If I'd read this book when I first got it, when I was close to Frankie's age, I think I would have enjoyed it, so I don't really want to knock the story. Lockhart also has some insightful angles on the gender politics of teenage romance, and the way wealth and privilege gives people a veneer of security which is appealing to others. Frankie's struggle to define herself outside of how others perceive her (Bunny Rabbit, adorable, etc etc) is one I think a lot of teens of any gender can identify with.

The let-down for me - and perhaps this is just a 'me' thing - is that Frankie's solution is not to challenge the exclusionary institution of the Loyal Order, but the fact that it won't include her, specifically. This is a story about a young woman being angry that she can't be 'one of the boys', and that anger is justified, but it still centers 'the boys' as the arbiters of what is cool, desirable, admirable. As much as Frankie sees the ridiculousness of the Loyal Order, she spends the entire book trying to gain their approval, literally until the last page.

There's a feeling of emotional truth to that, but at the same time it is an unsatisfying end for Frankie as a character; her coming-of-age story doesn't actually end with a sense of self-actualization, but with a feeling that she's given up. Give it one more chapter at least (or cut a hundred pages from the beginning of the book, where things happen very slowly, and add them to the end) to show her not just letting go of the Loyal Order but moving beyond them, finding validation outside of them. Maybe, I don't know, actually putting energy into being friends with other women? Just... something.]]> 3.81 2008 The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
author: E. Lockhart
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/11
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves: reviewed
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: it will find a better home elsewhere.

If I'd read this book when I first got it, when I was close to Frankie's age, I think I would have enjoyed it, so I don't really want to knock the story. Lockhart also has some insightful angles on the gender politics of teenage romance, and the way wealth and privilege gives people a veneer of security which is appealing to others. Frankie's struggle to define herself outside of how others perceive her (Bunny Rabbit, adorable, etc etc) is one I think a lot of teens of any gender can identify with.

The let-down for me - and perhaps this is just a 'me' thing - is that Frankie's solution is not to challenge the exclusionary institution of the Loyal Order, but the fact that it won't include her, specifically. This is a story about a young woman being angry that she can't be 'one of the boys', and that anger is justified, but it still centers 'the boys' as the arbiters of what is cool, desirable, admirable. As much as Frankie sees the ridiculousness of the Loyal Order, she spends the entire book trying to gain their approval, literally until the last page.

There's a feeling of emotional truth to that, but at the same time it is an unsatisfying end for Frankie as a character; her coming-of-age story doesn't actually end with a sense of self-actualization, but with a feeling that she's given up. Give it one more chapter at least (or cut a hundred pages from the beginning of the book, where things happen very slowly, and add them to the end) to show her not just letting go of the Loyal Order but moving beyond them, finding validation outside of them. Maybe, I don't know, actually putting energy into being friends with other women? Just... something.
]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Kogiopsis 5
This book is frustrating and fantastic at the same time. When I finished it, I was beaming. Jules Verne is, IMHO, one of the first science fiction authors and this book is nonetheless half romance. No, not kidding; it really does hinge on that. Marvelous.

Verne clearly did his research. The detail in this book is astounding, especially considering the time period in which it was written. There was a part of me that wanted to be offended when he took pot shots at Americans, but it was drowned out by the part of me that was boggling because I could somewhat recognize what he described. (And anyhow, a) he was right about us Yanks and b) a lot of the pot shots were actually half complimentary.)

I... am not really sure where this review is going. I guess the point is this: while the writing is clunky and the descriptions can be distracting, you ought to read this book. It's better than the abridged version, and it makes a great snapshot of the shape of the world and its technology at the time of writing.]]> 3.95 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 5
read at: 2011/01/01
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: reviewed, the-onerous-halls-of-learning, classics, favorite-2011-reads
review:
So after reading an atrocious abridged version in my French class, I went down to the library and got the original. (Which, by the way, got short shrift on cover. Have you SEEN the Apple Classics version? I don't think they could have made it look lamer if they tried.)

This book is frustrating and fantastic at the same time. When I finished it, I was beaming. Jules Verne is, IMHO, one of the first science fiction authors and this book is nonetheless half romance. No, not kidding; it really does hinge on that. Marvelous.

Verne clearly did his research. The detail in this book is astounding, especially considering the time period in which it was written. There was a part of me that wanted to be offended when he took pot shots at Americans, but it was drowned out by the part of me that was boggling because I could somewhat recognize what he described. (And anyhow, a) he was right about us Yanks and b) a lot of the pot shots were actually half complimentary.)

I... am not really sure where this review is going. I guess the point is this: while the writing is clunky and the descriptions can be distracting, you ought to read this book. It's better than the abridged version, and it makes a great snapshot of the shape of the world and its technology at the time of writing.
]]> <![CDATA[World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)]]> 17849112 Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world. When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans, where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

]]> 320 Susan Ee 1477867287 Kogiopsis 2 to-read, reviewed
There's some plot elements here which felt repetitive - in particular, one of the first things that happens is Paige getting lost and Penryn going to look for her (again); and near the end of this installment Penryn gets dolled up fancy to infiltrate the angels' aerie* (again). Like a true middle book, much of the purpose seems to be moving pieces into place for further development.

The worldbuilding gets expanded on a bit, which intrigued me. I love the idea that angels cause some kind of... interdimensional disruption just by coming to Earth, and that Earth is a battlefield for cosmic armies which just happens, coincidentally, to also be inhabited by humanity. There's a really neat story there, but it's not clear that's the story being told in this trilogy. Uriel, who is shaping up as the series antagonist, doesn't seem to have motives other than 'wanting to be in charge', and that lack of definition makes me think that maybe the bigger picture isn't going to matter, in the end.

Also, I still just don't really care about the romance. It's especially hard to buy into when Penryn is literally seeing visions of Raffe's life thousands of years ago from his magic sword and neither she nor the narrative acknowledge any potential difficulties other than the fact that he's an angel and she's human. There's some prime immortality angst missing here, is what I'm saying.

(*it's so clearly The Lodge at Pebble Beach and I find that kind of hilarious.)]]> 4.09 2013 World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)
author: Susan Ee
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2021/09/06
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, reviewed
review:
On the one hand, this book answered some of my questions. On the other, it left me with a LOT more.

There's some plot elements here which felt repetitive - in particular, one of the first things that happens is Paige getting lost and Penryn going to look for her (again); and near the end of this installment Penryn gets dolled up fancy to infiltrate the angels' aerie* (again). Like a true middle book, much of the purpose seems to be moving pieces into place for further development.

The worldbuilding gets expanded on a bit, which intrigued me. I love the idea that angels cause some kind of... interdimensional disruption just by coming to Earth, and that Earth is a battlefield for cosmic armies which just happens, coincidentally, to also be inhabited by humanity. There's a really neat story there, but it's not clear that's the story being told in this trilogy. Uriel, who is shaping up as the series antagonist, doesn't seem to have motives other than 'wanting to be in charge', and that lack of definition makes me think that maybe the bigger picture isn't going to matter, in the end.

Also, I still just don't really care about the romance. It's especially hard to buy into when Penryn is literally seeing visions of Raffe's life thousands of years ago from his magic sword and neither she nor the narrative acknowledge any potential difficulties other than the fact that he's an angel and she's human. There's some prime immortality angst missing here, is what I'm saying.

(*it's so clearly The Lodge at Pebble Beach and I find that kind of hilarious.)
]]> <![CDATA[The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us]]> 60637598 New from the author of the acclaimed bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs ("A masterpiece of science writing." --Washington Post) and "one of the stars of modern paleontology" (National Geographic), a sweeping and revelatory history of mammals, illuminating the lost story of the extraordinary family tree that led to us.

National Bestseller - Top 10 Nonfiction of 2022: Kirkus - Best Science Books of 2022: The Times UK

We humans are the inheritors of a dynasty that has reigned over the planet for nearly 66 million years, through fiery cataclysm and ice the mammals. Our lineage includes saber-toothed tigers, woolly mammoths, armadillos the size of a car, cave bears three times the weight of a grizzly, clever scurriers that outlasted Tyrannosaurus rex, and even other types of humans, like Neanderthals. Indeed humankind and many of the beloved fellow mammals we share the planet with today--lions, whales, dogs--represent only the few survivors of a sprawling and astonishing family tree that has been pruned by time and mass extinctions. How did we get here?

In his acclaimed bestseller The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs--hailed as "the ultimate dinosaur biography" by Scientific American--American paleontologist Steve Brusatte enchanted readers with his definitive history of the dinosaurs. Now, picking up the narrative in the ashes of the extinction event that doomed T-rex and its kind, Brusatte explores the remarkable story of the family of animals that inherited the Earth--mammals-- and brilliantly reveals that their story is every bit as fascinating and complex as that of the dinosaurs.

Beginning with the earliest days of our lineage some 325 million years ago, Brusatte charts how mammals survived the asteroid that claimed the dinosaurs and made the world their own, becoming the astonishingly diverse range of animals that dominate today's Earth. Brusatte also brings alive the lost worlds mammals inhabited through time, from ice ages to volcanic catastrophes. Entwined in this story is the detective work he and other scientists have done to piece together our understanding using fossil clues and cutting-edge technology.

A sterling example of scientific storytelling by one of our finest young researchers, The Rise and Reign of the Mammals illustrates how this incredible history laid the foundation for today's world, for us, and our future.]]> 528 Steve Brusatte 0062951521 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.50 2022 The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us
author: Steve Brusatte
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction]]> 429983 250 Ursula K. Le Guin 0060168358 Kogiopsis 5 4.25 1979 The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mistress of Lies (The Age of Blood, #1)]]> 203164328 Fate is a cruel mistress.

The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeClaire has spent her entire life perfecting her blood magic, building her network of spies, and gathering every scrap of power she could. Now, to protect her brother, she assassinates their father and takes her place at the head of the family. And that is only the start of her revenge.

Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a magical serial killer, he's drawn into the world of magic and intrigue he's worked so hard to avoid - and is pulled deeply into the ravenous and bloodthirsty court of the vampire king.

Tasked by the Eternal King to discover the identity of the killer cutting a bloody swath through the city, Samuel, Shan and mysterious Royal Bloodworker Isaac find themselves growing ever closer to each other. But Shan's plans are treacherous, and as she lures Samuel into her complicated web of desire, treason and vengeance, he must decide if the good of their nation is worth the cost of his soul.]]> 464 K.M. Enright 0316565350 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 3.53 2024 Mistress of Lies (The Age of Blood, #1)
author: K.M. Enright
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)]]> 10429092 Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king鈥攁 king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn鈥檛 die young.

Most of the chosen do.]]> 423 Rae Carson 0062026488 Kogiopsis 3
Well, better late than never, I guess, even if I'm late by 11 whole years.

This book... does not work for everyone. As I started my reread, I expected it wouldn't work for me - the beginning is very heavy-handed with Elisa's weight-centric self-hatred, and while I think Carson may have meant Elisa's over-eating to be a coping mechanism for other insecurities, it's still hard to read, especially because it's not handled with much nuance. There's a direct correlation between Elisa losing weight and becoming more confident, and the way some of her emotional issues are resolved does really make it seem like being fat is the source of her insecurity, not the other way around.

So yeah, no points for that. Negative points, honestly.

And yet. There's some stuff going on here which intrigues me, and some writing choices I really like which make me interested in finishing the series (finally). The mentions of a 'First World' are intriguing, as are the different relationships various cultures have to the magic of the world. From a writing standpoint, especially considering the YA market when this book was first published, the choice to [spoilers removed] was unusual.

The handling of religion is... complicated. I'll fully admit that, as someone raised atheist, I'm not always able to pick up on religious themes or allusions, but to me this book didn't come off as preachy. I got a few things from it - one, an approximation of the omnipresence of religion in actual medieval life, which fantasy so often ignores; two, a commentary on how everyone can claim to be doing 'God's will', raising the question of whether anyone truly is; and three, an examination of what it might actually mean to be a 'Chosen One', from birth.

That last bit is, I think, the strongest element of this book. When you take a step back and look ate Elisa's character, you find that her whole life has been defined by the expectations of others, long before she had any say whatsoever. The Godstone appears before its bearers can even speak, and shaped her relationships with literally everyone around her, as well as her sense of self. Along with that comes a question, which she wrestles with off and on: if someone can be a Chosen One, who did the choosing, and what do they actually want?

This crisis-of-faith angle is slightly undermined by the climax of this book (which was also a bit hokey if you ask me), but not entirely ruled out. There's room for interesting further exploration in the later installments and, somewhat to my surprise, I do think I want to read them.

(They'll have to be pretty good to get me to read Empire of Dreams, though. The barrier to entry of a main character named 'Red Sparkle Stone' is TOWERING.)]]> 3.78 2011 The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns, #1)
author: Rae Carson
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: author-to-return-to, favorite-2013-reads
review:
Huh. I read this in 2013, really liked it (apparently) and never bothered to review it.

Well, better late than never, I guess, even if I'm late by 11 whole years.

This book... does not work for everyone. As I started my reread, I expected it wouldn't work for me - the beginning is very heavy-handed with Elisa's weight-centric self-hatred, and while I think Carson may have meant Elisa's over-eating to be a coping mechanism for other insecurities, it's still hard to read, especially because it's not handled with much nuance. There's a direct correlation between Elisa losing weight and becoming more confident, and the way some of her emotional issues are resolved does really make it seem like being fat is the source of her insecurity, not the other way around.

So yeah, no points for that. Negative points, honestly.

And yet. There's some stuff going on here which intrigues me, and some writing choices I really like which make me interested in finishing the series (finally). The mentions of a 'First World' are intriguing, as are the different relationships various cultures have to the magic of the world. From a writing standpoint, especially considering the YA market when this book was first published, the choice to [spoilers removed] was unusual.

The handling of religion is... complicated. I'll fully admit that, as someone raised atheist, I'm not always able to pick up on religious themes or allusions, but to me this book didn't come off as preachy. I got a few things from it - one, an approximation of the omnipresence of religion in actual medieval life, which fantasy so often ignores; two, a commentary on how everyone can claim to be doing 'God's will', raising the question of whether anyone truly is; and three, an examination of what it might actually mean to be a 'Chosen One', from birth.

That last bit is, I think, the strongest element of this book. When you take a step back and look ate Elisa's character, you find that her whole life has been defined by the expectations of others, long before she had any say whatsoever. The Godstone appears before its bearers can even speak, and shaped her relationships with literally everyone around her, as well as her sense of self. Along with that comes a question, which she wrestles with off and on: if someone can be a Chosen One, who did the choosing, and what do they actually want?

This crisis-of-faith angle is slightly undermined by the climax of this book (which was also a bit hokey if you ask me), but not entirely ruled out. There's room for interesting further exploration in the later installments and, somewhat to my surprise, I do think I want to read them.

(They'll have to be pretty good to get me to read Empire of Dreams, though. The barrier to entry of a main character named 'Red Sparkle Stone' is TOWERING.)
]]> <![CDATA[The Final Strife (The Ending Fire Trilogy, #1)]]> 63428316 The Priory of the Orange Tree), three women band together against a cruel empire that divides people by blood.

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.
Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.
Clear is the blood of the slaves, of the crushed, of the invisible.

Sylah dreams of days growing up in the resistance, being told she would spark a revolution that would free the empire from the red-blooded ruling classes' tyranny. That spark was extinguished the day she watched her family murdered before her eyes.

Anoor has been told she's nothing, no one, a disappointment, by the only person who matters: her mother, the most powerful ruler in the empire. But when Sylah and Anoor meet, a fire burns between them that could consume the kingdom--and their hearts.

Hassa moves through the world unseen by upper classes, so she knows what it means to be invisible. But invisibility has its uses: It can hide the most dangerous of secrets, secrets that can reignite a revolution. And when she joins forces with Sylah and Anoor, together these grains of sand will become a storm.

As the empire begins a set of trials of combat and skill designed to find its new leaders, the stage is set for blood to flow, power to shift, and cities to burn.

Book One of The Ending Fire Trilogy]]> 624 Saara El-Arifi 0593356969 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.06 2022 The Final Strife (The Ending Fire Trilogy, #1)
author: Saara El-Arifi
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trigun Maximum Volume 4: Bottom of the Dark]]> 555474 This time with feeling!

So, you thought since Vash and Wolfwood survived the battle with hoppered the Gauntlet and Leonoff the Puppet Master, maybe they'd get some peace, have a little rest? You thought wrong.

There are more Gung-Ho Guns where those other oddballs came from, and you can bet those coming are just as strange as those who came before. Meet Midvalley the Hornfreak, a man who carries a saxophone and plays some really "killer" tunes. And then there's Zazie the Beast, a cute little fellow, but he's got something up his sleeve, or tucked into his eyelid (and it's probably got wings and multiple legs). Sound interesting? It is.

Trigun Maximum marches into more crazy battles, full of gunfire and humanity and frantic energy, a freaky mixture of pain, comedy, and mystery. Never a moment of rest for Vash the Stampede, a man whose body contains a planet-destroying gun, and whose credo is "Peace and Love!"

From the the talented & twisted mind of Yasuhiro Nightow (1967鈥�), here comes another volume full of huge guns, signature characters, wild shoot-em-up action, and funny writing. Celebrated for both his narratives and art style, the Japanese manga artist is well known for his magnus opus 'Trigun' (1998). Beloved by many, it has also been adapted into a hit anime series and film. He is also behind the design of the characters for the iconic video game and anime series 'Gungrave' (2003-2004).

Edition MSRP: 9鈦光伒 US / 拢5鈦光伖 UK (ISBN 1-59307-314-3)
Printed in Canada]]> 192 Yasuhiro Nightow 1593073143 Kogiopsis 3 fangirl-alert, reviewed On the other: I still don't know what the fuck Hoppered the Gauntlet's deal is, and I understand fight scenes involving him even less than most of the action in this manga. ]]> 4.28 2000 Trigun Maximum Volume 4: Bottom of the Dark
author: Yasuhiro Nightow
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves: fangirl-alert, reviewed
review:
On the one hand: Zazie! Worm lore!
On the other: I still don't know what the fuck Hoppered the Gauntlet's deal is, and I understand fight scenes involving him even less than most of the action in this manga.
]]> <![CDATA[Trigun Maximum Volume 3: His Life As A ...]]> 555473 Puppets are people too!

Vash the Stampede carries a big gun, unmatched speed and skill, a seemingly unkillable body, and a rock hard motto... "Peace and Love!" But he may have met his match this time, up against two fo the toughest Gung-Ho Guns: the Puppetmaster Leonoff and Gray the Ninelives.

These are two of the most mysterious and hard-to-stop bad guys, and they won't let Vash and his reluctant budy Wolfwood get away without measurable injury, both mental and physical. Learn more about Vash's history! Capture the crazy gunslinging action of Trigun Maximum!

From the the talented & twisted mind of Yasuhiro Nightow (1967鈥�), here comes another volume full of huge guns, signature characters, wild shoot-em-up action, and funny writing. Celebrated for both his narratives and art style, the Japanese manga artist is well known for his magnus opus 'Trigun' (1998). Beloved by many, it has also been adapted into a hit anime series and film. He is also behind the design of the characters for the iconic video game and anime series 'Gungrave' (2003-2004).

Edition MSRP: 9鈦光伒 US (ISBN 1-59307-266-X)
Printed in Canada]]> 192 Yasuhiro Nightow 159307266X Kogiopsis 4 fangirl-alert, reviewed
On the other hand - all the stuff in the hospital sequence, but especially Vash thanking Wolfwood for killing Ninelives... oof. I feel like this can be an underappreciated moment as it comes not too long before the 'true gunman' panels, but this is much more striking to me because it's such a deviation from the norm for Vash, and it may be the first time he acknowledges, at all, that sometimes the death of one person saves hundreds more. Is it different because of the number of people on the ship, or the people in cold sleep? Or is it different because these are his people, and as he and Wolfwood have already discussed, people will pick up a gun when their loved ones are killed?

The foreshadowing... ]]> 4.30 1999 Trigun Maximum Volume 3: His Life As A ...
author: Yasuhiro Nightow
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/07
date added: 2024/07/07
shelves: fangirl-alert, reviewed
review:
Oof. The Puppetmaster and Ninelives fights are SO hard to follow, especially without being able to read the sound effects. I think I caught most of the emotional beats, but it's difficult to be sure, and I wish there was at least a little explanation of how/where Vash met Emilio as a kid - surely he wasn't from the ship, or he wouldn't have needed to follow Brad to find it. That part felt a little too coincidental, though I think it was supposed to be about how many people Vash has met, cared about, and remembered.

On the other hand - all the stuff in the hospital sequence, but especially Vash thanking Wolfwood for killing Ninelives... oof. I feel like this can be an underappreciated moment as it comes not too long before the 'true gunman' panels, but this is much more striking to me because it's such a deviation from the norm for Vash, and it may be the first time he acknowledges, at all, that sometimes the death of one person saves hundreds more. Is it different because of the number of people on the ship, or the people in cold sleep? Or is it different because these are his people, and as he and Wolfwood have already discussed, people will pick up a gun when their loved ones are killed?

The foreshadowing...
]]> <![CDATA[Seven Devils (Seven Devils, #1)]]> 38822981
Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated.

When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire's inner workings.

Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire鈥檚 continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can't, millions may die.]]> 458 L.R. Lam 0756415802 Kogiopsis 2
This book comes off as something the authors had a lot of fun writing, and I don't mean that to be patronizing - the genuine enthusiasm for the characters which comes through on the page is one of its strongest aspects. However... it also feels under-refined to me, and that ultimately made it less compelling than I think it could have been.

There are two overlapping problems here: pacing and proactivity. Ultimately, they're two aspects of the same plotting choice, namely that the characters are unaware of what they're actually up against until about 70% of the way through the book. The first 300 pages or so are nominally propelled by their attempt to figure out why the Tholosian Empire is transporting a mysterious rock under high security, but because neither the characters nor the reader know what the rock actually is, the only stakes that exist are nebulous. This is a problem I had with The Disasters as well - early-book 'tension' is based around the question of what the antagonists' scheme is, and honestly there's only so far you can stretch that.

So, pacing-wise, the plot doesn't really get going until the book is nearly 3/4 gone, and that also means that the characters don't get much time to be proactive. This is a classic writing problem - protagonists can easily end up just reacting to antagonists, rather than actually taking initiative and doing things, and that causes them to come off as passive and ineffective at best. It also means that, since the characters have to progress towards finding the actual plot, they don't go through the sort of try/fail cycles which are so useful to explore and develop characterization. If they failed, it would take even longer to reach the actual crux of the story - so they try/succeed, and the reader (as well as the characters) learns nothing in the process.

The way the last quarter of the book unfolds, it does feel like the sequel may have more going on, in no small part because the stakes have been established and the characters (mostly) know what's going on. But I won't be reading it, because I'm simply not invested at all.

As an aside - this is more about the marketing department than the book - I really don't think the blurb is accurate in describing this as a 'feminist space opera'. I mean, it's got a lot of female characters, and they are all fairly well-rounded and equally active in the plot (within limitations; see above), but just because a book isn't anti-feminist doesn't mean it should be labelled 'feminist'. There's potential in this concept to engage with feminist ideas: delving deeper into the idea of rigid, biologically determined social roles in the Tholosian Empire; or the way that sexism still clearly pervades its structure (no previous female rulers, and women still being exploited for sex by the ruling classes, for example). But avenues like that aren't explored, and without any deeper engagement, I feel like 'feminist' is misapplied here.]]> 3.91 2020 Seven Devils (Seven Devils, #1)
author: L.R. Lam
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves: queer-stuff, reviewed, space-ain-t-pretty
review:
Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Removed.

This book comes off as something the authors had a lot of fun writing, and I don't mean that to be patronizing - the genuine enthusiasm for the characters which comes through on the page is one of its strongest aspects. However... it also feels under-refined to me, and that ultimately made it less compelling than I think it could have been.

There are two overlapping problems here: pacing and proactivity. Ultimately, they're two aspects of the same plotting choice, namely that the characters are unaware of what they're actually up against until about 70% of the way through the book. The first 300 pages or so are nominally propelled by their attempt to figure out why the Tholosian Empire is transporting a mysterious rock under high security, but because neither the characters nor the reader know what the rock actually is, the only stakes that exist are nebulous. This is a problem I had with The Disasters as well - early-book 'tension' is based around the question of what the antagonists' scheme is, and honestly there's only so far you can stretch that.

So, pacing-wise, the plot doesn't really get going until the book is nearly 3/4 gone, and that also means that the characters don't get much time to be proactive. This is a classic writing problem - protagonists can easily end up just reacting to antagonists, rather than actually taking initiative and doing things, and that causes them to come off as passive and ineffective at best. It also means that, since the characters have to progress towards finding the actual plot, they don't go through the sort of try/fail cycles which are so useful to explore and develop characterization. If they failed, it would take even longer to reach the actual crux of the story - so they try/succeed, and the reader (as well as the characters) learns nothing in the process.

The way the last quarter of the book unfolds, it does feel like the sequel may have more going on, in no small part because the stakes have been established and the characters (mostly) know what's going on. But I won't be reading it, because I'm simply not invested at all.

As an aside - this is more about the marketing department than the book - I really don't think the blurb is accurate in describing this as a 'feminist space opera'. I mean, it's got a lot of female characters, and they are all fairly well-rounded and equally active in the plot (within limitations; see above), but just because a book isn't anti-feminist doesn't mean it should be labelled 'feminist'. There's potential in this concept to engage with feminist ideas: delving deeper into the idea of rigid, biologically determined social roles in the Tholosian Empire; or the way that sexism still clearly pervades its structure (no previous female rulers, and women still being exploited for sex by the ruling classes, for example). But avenues like that aren't explored, and without any deeper engagement, I feel like 'feminist' is misapplied here.
]]> Half of a Yellow Sun 58456361 --back cover]]> 543 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.37 2006 Half of a Yellow Sun
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trigun Maximum Volume 2: Death Blue]]> 555467 Vash the Stampede rises again!

Vash the Stampede can't seem to escape peril since he came out of two years' hiding. Travelling across a dusty planet back to his old hometown, Vash survives a duel with a samurai on skull-skates and delivers a town from the terror of a local thug, only to arrive home to a mysterious and grim surprise. The popular manga story continues into new territory, as Trigun Maximum follows our hero's promotion of "peace and love" further into comedic conflict and daring despair with volume 2, "Death Blue."

From the the talented & twisted mind of Yasuhiro Nightow (1967鈥�), here comes another volume full of huge guns, signature characters, wild shoot-em-up action, and funny writing. Celebrated for both his writing and art style, the Japanese manga artist is well known for his magnus opus 'Trigun' (1998). Beloved by many, it has also been adapted into a hit anime series and film. He is also behind the design of the characters for the iconic video game and anime series 'Gungrave' (2003-2004).

Format: Soft Cover, 200 pages, B&W, 5 1/8" x 7 1/4
Edition MSRP: $9鈦光伒 U.S. (ISBN 1-59397-197-3)
Printed in Canada]]> 200 Yasuhiro Nightow 1593071973 Kogiopsis 3 fangirl-alert, reviewed
An aside: I think the fandom needs to talk about Rai-Dei's Heelys more.

And that cliffhanger... ugh. It hurts to see Vash so happy, so relieved, so at home and then to lose it all in an instant.]]> 4.40 1999 Trigun Maximum Volume 2: Death Blue
author: Yasuhiro Nightow
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/06/30
shelves: fangirl-alert, reviewed
review:
I have to leave this volume at a 3/5 because despite the fact that it has some ICONIC moments (specifically, Vash and Wolfwood's standoff and the first clear articulation of their clashing moral perspectives), I found the fight scenes especially hard to follow here. The confrontation between Vash and Rai-Dei, in particular, felt very chaotic and difficult to track; I am sure part of that is because conveying high-speed action in a static format is inherently stilted, but oof.

An aside: I think the fandom needs to talk about Rai-Dei's Heelys more.

And that cliffhanger... ugh. It hurts to see Vash so happy, so relieved, so at home and then to lose it all in an instant.
]]> <![CDATA[Trigun Maximum Volume 1: Hero Returns (Trigun Maximum, #1)]]> 555469 Vash the Stampede Rises again!

It's been two years since the mysterious and super-nice gunman went into hiding, and the people of his desert planet are suffering. It takes a friend in peril to bring him out, and when he does, his enemies are chasing... as well as those crazy insurance girls, Millie and Meryl. And Wolfwood the wandering priest? Well, that's who found him in the first place! The gang's all back, and the trouble is coming in Trigun Maximum.

As an anime series, Trigun generated a wave of passionate fans across the otaku landscape, before later breaking into the huge mainstream manga audience as a stellar hit. Now, Trigun goes beyond the storyline laid out in the anime and the first two volumes of the manga into brand new territory! Count on more crazy gunslinger action, new dastardly villains鈥� and a new outfit to boot!

This story comes straight from the talented and twisted mind of Yasuhiro Nightow (1967-), a Japanese manga artist well known for his magnus opus 'Trigun' (1998). Beloved by many, it has also been adapted into a hit anime series and film. He also designed the characters for the video game and anime series 'Gungrave' (2003-2004),

Edition MSRP: $9鈦光伒 U.S. (ISBN 1-59307-196-5)
Printed in Canada]]> 192 Yasuhiro Nightow 1593071965 Kogiopsis 4 fangirl-alert, reviewed - WOLFWOOD POURING TABASCO ON THE INSURANCE ASSASSIN'S FACE
- On that note, I had somehow completely forgotten that the insurance assassin guy existed, as he tends to get ignored by adaptations, and I think that interlude adds interesting nuance to both the worldbuilding and to Meryl's character.
- One thing I like about this series is that it makes me ask questions about my own morality, and as much as I love Vash and enjoy him as a character, I find I can't agree/share in his absolute faith in redemption. Case in point, the standoff at the end of this volume.

On that note, TW for mentions of sexual violence in this one, though mostly oblique.

--------------------

2023 Review as of finishing all of Trigun and Trigun Maximum:

Story-wise, there's a lot I love here. Vash hits several of my favorite character tropes, and I've always enjoyed a good space western, and any sort of western which turns all the genre's gunslinging sideways and asks questions about all that inherent violence.

I watched the original anime first, back in high school, and read a few volumes of the manga, but didn't finish it until now - I admit, the Stampede hype got me; my plan is to rewatch the original anime and then watch TriStamp to see how all the three versions vary. One thing that I think the anime has going for it over the manga: clarity of fight scenes. There are a LOT of whole chapters of manga which are just one ongoing fight, and between the art style, the use of unusual visual angles, and the onomatopoeia, it is damn hard to figure out what's happening. [spoilers removed]

The later volumes of Maximum really delivered on what I was most intrigued by, namely the plants and the sand worms. That was absolutely fascinating, as was [spoilers removed] which is something that I wish had been explored further, as those interactions seemed very interesting.

From what I've heard about the plot and planned length, I don't think TriStamp is going to get all the way to the end of the story, and that's... honestly a shame. While I, personally, would prefer a slight levels adjustment to the ration of fight:exposition, an FMA:B-esque loyal adaptation of the manga could be great, and there are some scenes particularly in the last few chapters which I think would be just beautiful animated.

Until and unless another adaptation happens, if you're curious about the world, it's well-worth reading the manga even if you're only skimming the fight scenes.]]> 4.31 1998 Trigun Maximum Volume 1: Hero Returns (Trigun Maximum, #1)
author: Yasuhiro Nightow
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves: fangirl-alert, reviewed
review:
2024 volume-specific notes:
- WOLFWOOD POURING TABASCO ON THE INSURANCE ASSASSIN'S FACE
- On that note, I had somehow completely forgotten that the insurance assassin guy existed, as he tends to get ignored by adaptations, and I think that interlude adds interesting nuance to both the worldbuilding and to Meryl's character.
- One thing I like about this series is that it makes me ask questions about my own morality, and as much as I love Vash and enjoy him as a character, I find I can't agree/share in his absolute faith in redemption. Case in point, the standoff at the end of this volume.

On that note, TW for mentions of sexual violence in this one, though mostly oblique.

--------------------

2023 Review as of finishing all of Trigun and Trigun Maximum:

Story-wise, there's a lot I love here. Vash hits several of my favorite character tropes, and I've always enjoyed a good space western, and any sort of western which turns all the genre's gunslinging sideways and asks questions about all that inherent violence.

I watched the original anime first, back in high school, and read a few volumes of the manga, but didn't finish it until now - I admit, the Stampede hype got me; my plan is to rewatch the original anime and then watch TriStamp to see how all the three versions vary. One thing that I think the anime has going for it over the manga: clarity of fight scenes. There are a LOT of whole chapters of manga which are just one ongoing fight, and between the art style, the use of unusual visual angles, and the onomatopoeia, it is damn hard to figure out what's happening. [spoilers removed]

The later volumes of Maximum really delivered on what I was most intrigued by, namely the plants and the sand worms. That was absolutely fascinating, as was [spoilers removed] which is something that I wish had been explored further, as those interactions seemed very interesting.

From what I've heard about the plot and planned length, I don't think TriStamp is going to get all the way to the end of the story, and that's... honestly a shame. While I, personally, would prefer a slight levels adjustment to the ration of fight:exposition, an FMA:B-esque loyal adaptation of the manga could be great, and there are some scenes particularly in the last few chapters which I think would be just beautiful animated.

Until and unless another adaptation happens, if you're curious about the world, it's well-worth reading the manga even if you're only skimming the fight scenes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Death and Life of the Great Lakes]]> 35187180
The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan鈥檚 compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.]]> 364 Dan Egan 0393355551 Kogiopsis 0 to-read 4.32 2017 The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
author: Dan Egan
name: Kogiopsis
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>