en-US Sat, 29 Mar 2025 07:31:28 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 218153843 From the internationally bestselling author of Tigana, All the Seas of the World, and A Brightness Long Ago comes a majestic new novel of love and war that brilliantly evokes the drama and turbulence of medieval France.

Thierry Villar is a well-known--even notorious-- tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.

But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.

As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king--and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.

A new masterwork from the internationally bestselling author of All the Seas of the World, A Brightness Long Ago, and Tigana, Written on the Dark is an elegant tour de force about power and ambition playing out amid the intense human need for art and beauty, and memories to be left behind.]]> 320 Guy Gavriel Kay 0593953983 Don 5 Cannot Wait! 4.57 2025
author: Guy Gavriel Kay
name: Don
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/03/29
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Cannot Wait!
]]> 34103858 December 1348. With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John and William fear that they will shortly die and go to Hell. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home and spend their last six days in their familiar world, or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries �� living each one of their remaining days ninety-nine years after the last.
��
John and William choose the future and find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on around them. The year 1546 brings no more comfort, and 1645 challenges them still further. It is not just that technology is changing: things they have taken for granted all their lives prove to be short-lived.
��
As they find themselves in stranger and stranger times, the reader travels with them, seeing the world through their eyes as it shifts through disease, progress, enlightenment and war. But their time is running out �� can they do something to redeem themselves before the six days are up?]]> 391 Ian Mortimer 147114657X Don 4 What an unusual story. 3.59 2017
author: Ian Mortimer
name: Don
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2017
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/28
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What an unusual story.
]]> 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X Don 2 4.22 2020
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Don
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
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]]> 220146676 «Світ змінюється, і навіть їй не уникнути цих змін. Священник казав правду. Вона була дурною, вперто лишаючись на Межі. Можна скільки завгодно втікати від світу, але ти лише пробіжиш по колу...»

Опинившись на Межі між країною людей і таємничих альвів, хлопець без пам’ят��, якого шукають по всіх закутках континенту, зустрічає сліпу жінку, що називає себе характерницею. Хто вона? І чому у двох незнайомців так багато спільного?]]> 440 Наталія Заруднюк 6178178778 Don 1 4.13
author: Наталія Заруднюк
name: Don
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 1
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date added: 2025/03/08
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]]> 213435937
«Діва, матір і третя» �� легке гумористичне фентезі про дружбу, жіночий досвід і дослідження власної (а)сексуальності.]]> 416 Юлія Нагорнюк 6175222210 Don 1 4.18
author: Юлія Нагорнюк
name: Don
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 1
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date added: 2025/03/08
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]]> 210709971
Роман Голубовський написав не просто збірку оповідань, а створив цілий альтернативний всесвіт, де абсурд легко сплутати з реальністю, а іронію �� зі щирістю. Вам стане боляче, вам буде добре, ви навіть встигнете злякатися. І ви точно будете сміятися. Будь ласка, лягайте на кушетку!]]> 208 Роман Голубовський 6178362986 Don 1 4.05
author: Роман Голубовський
name: Don
average rating: 4.05
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rating: 1
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]]> 210707525 Ця антологія �� перша спроба показати панораму трьох століть української фантастики в усьому її розмаїтті, від класиків до молодого покоління авторів. Окрім художніх текстів, антологія містить великий есей �� путівник по напрямках, творах і авторах; він допоможе зорієнтуватися у численних жанрах та творах української фантастики.]]> 480 Володимир Аренєв 6171701947 Don 1 4.27 2024
author: Володимир Аренєв
name: Don
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 1
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date added: 2025/03/08
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review:

]]> 42073573 416 Світлана Тараторіна 9669481171 Don 1 4.08 2018
author: Світлана Тараторіна
name: Don
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2018
rating: 1
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date added: 2025/03/08
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]]> 35961521
Після переїзду сім’�� чотирнадцятирічний Марк змушений піти до нової школи. Він сором’язливи��, начитаний і дуже розумний �� ідеальний об’єк�� для цькування. Щодень більше замикаючись у собі, хлопець мріє про світ, де немає знущань і безпричинної жорстокості.

Одного дня Марк знайомиться із Сонею, дівчиною з паралельного класу, яка розповідає йому про існування такого світу і про можливість туди потрапити�� просто скориставшись ліфтом у їхньому будинку. Він не розуміє, навіщо Соня вигадує нісенітниці, які легко спростувати, але зрештою вирушає за нею. Марк не підозрює, що звичайна мандрівка на десятий поверх загрожує чимось набагато гіршим за руйнування уявлень про реальний світ.]]> 512 Max Kidruk 6171238651 Don 1 4.40 2017
author: Max Kidruk
name: Don
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2017
rating: 1
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date added: 2025/03/08
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]]> 16077758 279 J.L. Doty 1938135296 Don 4 3.98 2012
author: J.L. Doty
name: Don
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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date added: 2025/03/06
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review:
A great Urban Fantasy. Would rank near the Top of Urban Fantasy written in the last 20 years. The Author also writes The Treason Cycle, an excellent SciFi story, 2 books so far.
]]> 36449535
The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.��

When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren't our enemy, our allies are.��

I'd better start at the beginning....]]> 299 Craig Alanson 1520126247 Don 5 4.25 2016
author: Craig Alanson
name: Don
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/20
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]]> 95558
When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.]]> 204 Stanisław Lem Don 3 4.00 1961
author: Stanisław Lem
name: Don
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1961
rating: 3
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date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
In it's day it must have been a pretty groundbreaking story.
]]> 58293284
The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne.�� 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 protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire.�� 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’ve sworn to uphold, in order to protect the Empire?]]> 496 Richard Swan Don 5 4.00 2022
author: Richard Swan
name: Don
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
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review:
Doing the Emperor's work in a Roman like society. The Magistrate and his Clerk act as a traveling judge in the farflung parts of the Empire. This is good stuff, definitely not YA. Part legal procedure, part hack'em and stack'em with a bit of sorcery.
]]> 56791389 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08BKGYQXW


The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.]]> 446 Matt Dinniman Don 2 If I was going to rate this by stars to my own personal preference, it would be 2.8 stars because it is funny, ridiculous.]]> 4.49 2020
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Don
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:
RPG Lit. and The Hunger Games walk into a bar, nine months later we have "Dungeon Crawler Carl". The five star rating is only for RPG Lit. Fans. I listened to this one in audio and the quality was exceptional in relationship to its peers, the narrator gave me that old Patrick Warburton vibe And I think Patrick's persona is hilarious.
If I was going to rate this by stars to my own personal preference, it would be 2.8 stars because it is funny, ridiculous.
]]> 6101718
Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.

He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.]]> 402 Lev Grossman 0670020559 Don 3 3.53 2009
author: Lev Grossman
name: Don
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2009
rating: 3
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date added: 2025/01/23
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review:
harry potter + less than zero = the magicians.
]]> 8255917
Despite the reverence his name inspires Washington remains a waxwork to many readers, worthy but dull, a laconic man of remarkable self-control. But in this groundbreaking work Chernow revises forever the uninspiring stereotype. He portrays Washington as a strapping, celebrated horseman, elegant dancer and tireless hunter, who guarded his emotional life with intriguing ferocity. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, he orchestrated their actions to help realise his vision for the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency.

Ron Chernow takes us on a page-turning journey through all the formative events of America's founding. This is a magisterial work from one of America's foremost writers and historians.]]> 904 Ron Chernow 1594202664 Don 5 You don't get United States without Washington. At the Battle of Monongahela Washington got four musket ball holes in his hat and uniform and had two horses shot from underneath him]]> 4.14 2010
author: Ron Chernow
name: Don
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/01/07
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review:
He would have been a Great King BUT succession would have been tricky.
You don't get United States without Washington. At the Battle of Monongahela Washington got four musket ball holes in his hat and uniform and had two horses shot from underneath him
]]> 203647807
Based on the podcast with over 100 million downloads, Fall of Civilizations brilliantly explores how a range of ancient societies rose to power and sophistication, and how they tipped over into collapse.

Across the centuries, we journey from the great empires of Mesopotamia to those of Khmer and Vijayanagara in Asia and Songhai in West Africa; from Byzantium to the Maya, Inca and Aztecs of Central America; from Roman Britain to Rapa Nui. With meticulous research, breathtaking insight and dazzling, empathic storytelling, historian and novelist Paul Cooper evokes the majesty and jeopardy of these ancient civilizations, and asks what it might have felt like for a person alive at the time to witness the end of their world.]]> 576 Paul M.M. Cooper 1335013415 Don 5 4.32 2024
author: Paul M.M. Cooper
name: Don
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2024
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/01/07
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How delicate can civilization be? You might sleep easier if you don't know.
]]> 76718
Michael Morgan was not ready to die, but his funeral was carried out just the same. Trapped in the dark limbo between life and death as a ghost, he searches for an escape. Instead, he discovers the beautiful Laura...and a love stronger than the boundaries of the grave and the spirit world.]]> 291 Peter S. Beagle 0451450965 Don 5 4.01 1960
author: Peter S. Beagle
name: Don
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1960
rating: 5
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date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
A great story, rare and uncommon.
]]> 199798488
What happens next is not the fairy tale you may be expecting.]]> 278 Peter S. Beagle 1668025272 Don 3 3.62 2024
author: Peter S. Beagle
name: Don
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:
a story from the writer of "a fine and private place".
]]> 197351419 Dez Limerick, a man of many skills and a murky past, faces the impossible—a skilled, deadly opponent who anticipates his every move.

Desmond Aloysius Limerick ("Dez" to his friends and close personal enemies) is a man with a shadowy past, certain useful hard-won skills, and, if one digs deep enough, a reputation as a good man to have at your back. He was trained as a "gatekeeper"—he can open any door, keep it open as long as necessary, and control who does—and does not—go through. Now retired from his previous life, Dez still tries to keep his skills up to date.

Knocking around the country, picking up the occasional gig as a guitarist, Dez is contacted by a friend in urgent need of his musical skills. At his behest, Dez flies to the East Coast to a gig at the brand new massive complex, the Liberty Center. But he's barely landed before he finds himself in the midst of a terrorist attack, a group has taken over the whole center and thousands of hostage lives are in danger. With the semi-willing help of a talented thief, Dez takes on the impossible task of outfighting and outwitting a literal army. But that's just the beginning, as Dez learns he was actually lured there under false pretenses, by someone who knows more about Dez, his past and his skills than any living person should.]]> 390 James Byrne 125031979X Don 0 to-read 4.55
author: James Byrne
name: Don
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 215055415 The future of Anyar is being woven with threads spread across the planet. Secrets revealed. Coalitions to form. An implacable enemy to resist. One thing is certain. Once again, the future of Anyar has taken a new turn.

An enigmatic alien race scattered five human castaways across the planet Anyar, far enough apart they should never meet. Castaway Joseph Colsco, now known as Yozef Kolsko, finds himself at the center of resistance to an empire with ambitions to rule the world by any means necessary. Narthon must be thwarted. Alliances must be secured. Plans must be made. Complicating Yozef’s life is that he has studiously kept secret his origin despite questions about his innovations introduced centuries early for Anyar's civilizations. Now, he is not alone with his secret. Three other castaways find their way, on their own or not, to join him on the island nation of Caedellium. Joy at the latest arrival is severely tempered by learning castaway Robin Kelly had been held by Narthon and revealed everything Yozef had kept secret. Unable to discern Narthon's intent, he is forced to decide whether to reveal the secret to family, friends, colleagues, and potential allies in resisting Narthon. Thus, he must navigate a life too complex for multiple persons—and at times seemingly impossible for him alone.

]]> 530 Olan Thorensen Don 0 to-read 4.37
author: Olan Thorensen
name: Don
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> 8051458 Zombies have infested a fallen America. A young girl named Temple is on the run. Haunted by her past and pursued by a killer, Temple is surrounded by death and danger, hoping to be set free.

For twenty-five years, civilization has survived in meager enclaves, guarded against a plague of the dead. Temple wanders this blighted landscape, keeping to herself - and keeping her demons inside. She can't remember a time before the zombies, but she does remember an old man who took her in and the younger brother she cared for until the tragedy that set her on a personal journey toward redemption. Moving back and forth between the insulated remnants of society and the brutal frontier beyond, Temple must decide where ultimately to make a home and find the salvation she seeks.]]> 225 Alden Bell 0805092439 Don 5 3.90 2010
author: Alden Bell
name: Don
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
Very Underappreciated!!!Enjoyed the story. (post apocalyptic zombie). loved the voice of a mountain man poet coming out of a young woman. there are some technical issues with the end days but i chose to let them go. if you're that person(s) who knows that gasoline spoils after around a year or so and has a problem with someone refueling 25 years after the fall and driving on you will be irritated. I let the little stuff go and enjoyed what was done so well.
]]> 206305528
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride��) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.

Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.]]> 404 Bonnie Garmus Don 4 I liked it warts and all. 4.24 2022
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Don
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
I liked it warts and all.
]]> 207611551 A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna.

Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells "small" fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences��

Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.

Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.]]> 336 Julie Leong 0593815912 Don 5 3.82 2024
author: Julie Leong
name: Don
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:
An Excellent Cozy fantasy. No wet work here, just a "finding one's place in the world" type of story. My first by this Author, I look forward to reading more of her work.
]]> 203997467 He's been preparing for the apocalypse his entire life. Is he ready?
Miles "Shrug" Lindstrom received a quest years ago. He was the only person who could see the window, and in addition to the quest, he could also see a countdown to the end of the world.

Part of him was hoping that he was just insane and had been hallucinating when he first started seeing the window. Then again, if the quest was just his imagination, he was going to be massively in debt with a rental full of useless junk.

But when the countdown finally stops, what happens is nothing like he could have imagined. Miles prepared for almost any scenario, but a world full of monsters wasn't one of them.

Will finishing his strange quest help him survive the chaos?

Don't miss the next LitRPG Apocalypse Series from bestseller Blaise Corvin, author of Delvers LLC and Apocalypse Cultivation. Sometimes, being the chosen one isn't all it's cracked up to be.]]> 372 Blaise Corvin Don 3 RPG Lit. 4.48
author: Blaise Corvin
name: Don
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
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RPG Lit.
]]> 288132 Litany of the Long Sun contains the full texts of Nightside the Long Sun and Lake of the Long Sun, that together make up the first half of The Book of the Long Sun. This great work is set on a huge generation starship in the same future as the classic Book of the New Sun.

Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun tetralogy ranks as one of the greatest literary achievements of 20th-century science fiction. Litany of the Long Sun, comprising the first two books in the series, is suffused with looming transcendence and theophany. Wolfe takes familiar speculative fiction tropes and embeds them in a tale so complex and wonderful that readers may find themselves wondering whether what they're reading is science fiction, fantasy, or something different altogether. Or whether it matters.

The story of Patera Silk, a devout priest whose destiny is wrapped up with the gods he serves, takes place within the Whorl, a vast, cylindrical starship that has traveled for generations and is crumbling into disrepair. Through a strange and amazing series of events, Silk finds himself descending to base thievery, running afoul of a notorious crime lord, befriending a cyborg soldier, and encountering at least one of the gods of Mainframe.

But when Silk encounters the Outsider, who may be a God of a very different sort, all his beliefs are shaken to the core, and his life swiftly takes a messianic turn. In a rousing climax, Silk becomes the reluctant leader of a political rebellion against the corrupt Ayuntamiento, who rule the city-state of Viron.

It is not necessary to have read Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series, which takes place many centuries earlier, to enjoy the Long Sun novels, but keen-eyed readers will find many clues as to the origin of the Whorl and its gods in those stories. Further, although Wolfe's reputation for literary precision and trickery is well deserved, the Long Sun series (which continues in Epiphany of the Long Sun) is one of the more accessible places to start appreciating the author's treasures.
--Therese Littleton

]]> 543 Gene Wolfe 0312872917 Don 5 A hard Sci-fi novel, an impressive world build, a caper novel all wrapped up in a who done it story.]]> 4.25 1994
author: Gene Wolfe
name: Don
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
I started this book many times, re-picked it up, re-put it down. I was Deep into this story before I could classify it, It did not follow any of the formulas I've been used to lately. This is a unique book, written by an author of great power. My guess is that future writers in the science fiction and fantasy genre will be influenced by this book/author, but I can't imagine that the main-a-stream readers she's going to put up with something that demands instant gratification be put off for so many pages.
A hard Sci-fi novel, an impressive world build, a caper novel all wrapped up in a who done it story.
]]> 17910048 A lush tale of deadly court intrigue and a modern classic of fantasy by Locus award winner and Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award finalist Katherine Addison

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three half brothers in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne–or his life.]]> 446 Katherine Addison 076532699X Don 4 Amazing and vivid world building

You're spending about a year with the main character in a Royal Court with lots of intrigue and life lessons]]> 4.04 2014
author: Katherine Addison
name: Don
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:
The Author has great skills.
Amazing and vivid world building

You're spending about a year with the main character in a Royal Court with lots of intrigue and life lessons
]]> 57758152 A time travel historical adventure.

Jackson Lee is a well-known adventure vlog influencer. He and a small support crew have been cashing in on the video craze with phenomenal, hair-raising exploits for years.

Their latest undertaking is way beyond anything they’ve ever done. It’s extremely dangerous and, worse, highly illegal. Never would Jackson have imagined those risks to be the least of his worries.

After stumbling over the archaeological find of the century, Jackson and a local anthropologist suddenly find themselves transported to a different time and place. It’s a world of unbelievable sights, unimaginable marvels, and barbaric practices that violate all that is human. Despite treading lightly as they deal with this new reality, their intrusion results in unintended consequences for the world they left. Making it right is their top priority, along with surviving the ordeal. It may not be possible to do both.

Can they clean up the mess they’ve made? Or will the attempt just make it worse?]]> 359 Victor Zugg Don 5 4.37 2021
author: Victor Zugg
name: Don
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves:
review:
Love some Victor Zugg! Temporal disruptions are Zugg's thing and his stories are good!
]]> 199293064 438 Elliott Kay Don 4 4.60 2023
author: Elliott Kay
name: Don
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves:
review:
Tanner Malone ripping stuff up again.
]]> 39684440 Publishers Weekly's most anticipated books of the season. To get you excited for this phenomenal debut novel, Tor.com Publishing is releasing a free preview of the first eleven chapters of Witchmark. We dare you to read the beginning of this heart-pounding adventure and not come back for more.

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family's interest or to be committed to a witches' asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles�� healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 132 C.L. Polk 1250311314 Don 4 Rated PG-13 for LGB�� adult situations.]]> 4.03 2018
author: C.L. Polk
name: Don
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves:
review:
A decent urban fantasy sent in an alternate earth.
Rated PG-13 for LGB�� adult situations.
]]> 40665366
With civil war raging across human space, a Navy torn asunder can no longer protect frontier colonies, and barbarians long confined to the galactic badlands see an opportunity. After generations of hard existence on worlds beyond the bounds of human civilization, they hold life cheap, especially that of others. The barbarians will gladly steal everything they find and condemn defenseless star systems to technological and demographic collapse. That is if they don’t wipe them out entirely from sheer bloodlust or by selling survivors on alien slave markets.

One man, Captain Jonas Morane of the cruiser Vanquish, saw the empire’s collapse coming years before the first admiral rebelled. When he finds himself the senior surviving officer of a loyalist Navy unit almost entirely annihilated by rebels, Morane puts in motion a plan he developed long ago. This plan was designed to not only save his ships and crews from certain death but keep humanity’s accumulated knowledge from being obliterated by the long night of barbarism. However, before his dream can become a reality, Morane must lead the remains of the 197th Imperial Battle Group through an intricate wormhole network across a shattered empire, dodging his former colleagues from both sides, to the sanctuary he selected. Along the way, he rescues an Imperial Marine Corps Pathfinder battalion and the survivors of a religious order known for its mysticism from certain death, and enlists them in his cause. But will Morane’s sanctuary survive both the flames of rebellion and the depredations of invading marauders before his rag-tag fleet can reach it?]]> 304 Eric Thomson 1775343251 Don 4 4.19
author: Eric Thomson
name: Don
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves:
review:
Space Romans heading to a safe harbor to wait out The Empires fall.
]]> 43868109 The highly anticipated portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, by the prize-winning, bestselling author of Say Nothing.

The Sackler name adorns the walls of many storied institutions: Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing OxyContin, a blockbuster painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis.

Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.]]> 535 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385545681 Don 0 to-read 4.54 2021
author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: Don
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 195790571
The goblins have killed all of our horses and most of our men.

They have enslaved our cities, burned our fields, and still they wage war.

Now, our daughters take up arms.

Galva �� Galvicha to her three brothers, two of whom the goblins will kill �� has defied her family’s wishes and joined the army’s untested new unit, the Raven Knights. They march toward a once-beautiful city overrun by the goblin horde, accompanied by scores of giant war corvids. Made with the darkest magics, these fearsome black birds may hold the key to stopping the goblins in their war to make cattle of mankind.

The road to victory is bloody, and goblins are clever and merciless. The Raven Knights can take nothing for granted �� not the bonds of family, nor the wisdom of their leaders, nor their own safety against the dangerous war birds at their side. But some hopes are worth any risk.]]> 416 Christopher Buehlman 1250887674 Don 5 4.24 2024
author: Christopher Buehlman
name: Don
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/07/11
shelves:
review:
Probably the best fantasy written in the last couple years.
]]> 55858402 THE BATTLE FOR THE NEW WORLD IS A FIGHT TO THE FINISH! A NEW RING OF FIRE NOVEL BY BEST-SELLING WRITING TEAM ERIC FLINT AND CHARLES E. GANNON

A New Day in the New World

It’s 1637 in the Caribbean. Commander Eddie Cantrell and his ally and friend Admiral Martin Tromp start it off with some nasty surprises for Spain, whose centuries-long exploitation and rapine of the New World has run unchecked. Until now.

Yet life goes on in the Caribbean. Relationships among the allied Dutch, Swedes, Germans, up-timers, and even Irish mercenaries continue to evolve and deepen. New friendships must be forged with the native peoples, who will not only shape the colonists�� future in the Caribbean, but will also decide whether they will be given access to a Louisiana oilfield that could change the balance of power.

But for now, the only oil Imperial Spain knows about is the crude pouring out of the Allies�� pumps on Trinidad—which threatens its interests in both the New and the Old Worlds. So, following in the footsteps of the conquistadors, the empire’s commanders are resolved to show that they do not take threats lightly or lying down. Indeed, their historical reaction is to respond with overwhelming—and often genocidal—force.

The battle for the New World has not merely begun; it is a fight to the finish.]]> 736 Eric Flint 1625798245 Don 3 4.43 2020
author: Eric Flint
name: Don
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 35167685 A New York Times bestseller—the outrageous exploits of one of this century's greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original.

Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. Here he recounts in his inimitable voice his experience trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek; cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets; accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums; painting a naked female toreador. In short, here is Feynman's life in all its eccentric—a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.]]> 400 Richard P. Feynman 0393355624 Don 5 4.26 1985
author: Richard P. Feynman
name: Don
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/06/21
shelves:
review:
Definitely a fellow I'd buy a Coke.
]]> 182243886 A retired Lieutenant General, former head of the Army Corp of Engineers, lies dying at the age of ninety-two. Leading a full life, he is a decorated veteran of World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam.
After a long illness, he lies dying. His last thought is, "What a waste of such wonderful knowledge."
As he fades to black, the fun begins. He is to build a modern civilization without being burned as a witch!
The series continues with the Barony of Owen-nap being attacked from all sides.]]> 397 Ed Nelson 1953395848 Don 2 4.31 2023
author: Ed Nelson
name: Don
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/06/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 60531410 399 Brandon Sanderson 1938570332 Don 2 No bueno 3.75 2023
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Don
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/06/13
shelves:
review:
No bueno
]]> 944652 512 Charles T. Munger 157864366X Don 5 Thank You Charlie Munger.]]> 4.38 2005
author: Charles T. Munger
name: Don
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
review:
Charles T. Munger is a Benjamin Franklin level character. That he was kind enough to share his Wit and Wisdom is a gift. Mr. Munger's intelligence And Curiosity are at the Higher end of the Human spectrum. Intelligence wise, I'm guessing him to be in the 1 in 10,000 range but like Franklin he speaks Mortal. Mr. Munger doesn't offer secrets to a long life but it is clear that curiosity is one of those secrets (also aversion to vices).
Thank You Charlie Munger.
]]> 62957855
Escaped Imperial officer Dirk doesn't care his crew are runaways, revolutionaries, and alleged criminals, as long as they're adequately competent and don't kill each other too often. When a smuggling job goes badly wrong and they improvise, he'll trade competency for just non-suicidal. If one crime causes problems, a second should fix it.

But after a botched heist lands them in the freezing woods of a frozen planet, they need a new plan. What's in those containers they stole? Who wants it that bad? How can they make money out of this? And what if his crew isn't as trustworthy as he thought? And why doesn't that dog like him?

If you like Galactic Empires, honorable enemies, and snappy dialog, this one’s for you.]]> 382 Andrew Moriarty Don 4 4.34
author: Andrew Moriarty
name: Don
average rating: 4.34
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 198333277 A retired Lieutenant General, former head of the Army Corp of Engineers, lies dying at the age of ninety-two. Leading a full life, he is a decorated veteran of World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam.
After a long illness, he lies dying. His last thought is, "What a waste of such wonderful knowledge."
As he fades to black, the fun begins. He is to build a modern civilization without being burned as a witch!
Now James faces King Ine of Western Wessex, its Saxons against the Britons. More complications face his county of Cornwall as it wealth comes to the notice of more Kingdoms.]]> 327 Ed Nelson 1953395856 Don 0 4.35 2023
author: Ed Nelson
name: Don
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 61027313
Dirriken Friedel used his aristocratic connections to rescue his troops. He didn’t plan on starting a war or killing them himself. Now he spends his days in jail, waiting for an assassin sent by his dead officers' families to end his misery. When he’s broken out by off-duty marines he has a chance to start over, if he’s worthy. During his ramshackle escape he collects a broken-down trading ship, a bitter former army officer, a genetically altered religious fanatic, a runaway ingenue, a sham engineer, and a murderous femme fatal. Pursed by a fanatical imperial tribune bent on bloody justice, can he keep the crew from killing each other, the ship from exploding, and himself from the bottom of a bottle. Or would it be easier just to give up?]]> 372 Andrew Moriarty Don 4 Imperial Deserter and
Imperial Smuggler.
Space Opera with Space Romans.
If you like lots of cheeky banter from a dysfunctional crew this books for you.
Enjoyed the books enough to try the next in the series.]]> 4.34 2022
author: Andrew Moriarty
name: Don
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/27
shelves:
review:
Read books 1and 2
Imperial Deserter and
Imperial Smuggler.
Space Opera with Space Romans.
If you like lots of cheeky banter from a dysfunctional crew this books for you.
Enjoyed the books enough to try the next in the series.
]]> 128074368 Retired Lieutenant General, former head of the Army Corp of Engineers, lies dying at the age of ninety-two. Leading a full life, he is a decorated veteran of World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam. His love of Engineering has him taking university courses his entire life. When his health falters, and he can no longer continue his education, MIT awards him an honorary Ph.D. in Professional Studenting. After a long illness, he lies dying. His last thought is, "What a waste of such wonderful knowledge." As he fades to black, the fun begins. He is to build a modern civilization without being burned as a witch!]]> 251 Ed Nelson 195339583X Don 3 I rate them at 2.5.
Very derivative of some books that I really liked. "The Cast under an alien sun series", The Ring of fire series, The ArchMagus, not nearly as good though. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go dig around in the Ring of fire series, which is immense and try to find a grantville gazette I haven't read yet.]]> 4.26 2023
author: Ed Nelson
name: Don
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/05/27
shelves:
review:
Read books 1,2,3 of the series :"The Baron, The Baron of the Middle Counties and The Earl"
I rate them at 2.5.
Very derivative of some books that I really liked. "The Cast under an alien sun series", The Ring of fire series, The ArchMagus, not nearly as good though. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go dig around in the Ring of fire series, which is immense and try to find a grantville gazette I haven't read yet.
]]> 2064279 262 Thomas Sowell 0465003494 Don 5
470 AD... It's Rome! What could possibly happen?]]> 4.20 2007
author: Thomas Sowell
name: Don
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:
Of all the political and economic thinkers, my confirmation bias like Thomas Sowell best.

470 AD... It's Rome! What could possibly happen?
]]> 58008477
When a bee gets caught in Bizzy’s hair, Ryan acts so quickly and radically to save her from getting stung that he attracts the attention of a group of micropotents �� people with micropowers. He soon realizes that Bizzy and her mother also have such powers. It becomes Ryan’s job, with the help of the other micropotents, to protect the Horvats from a group of witch hunters from their native country, who are determined to kill Bizzy, her mother, and all the other “witches�� �� micropotents �� who have gathered to protect them]]> 293 Orson Scott Card 1799903176 Don 1 3.70 2021
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Don
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:
I mostly like OSC but not in Duplex. I had to use the brown Listerine to get that taste out of my mouth.
]]> 44686275
When former soldier Everett Cole signed on to help colony planets prepare for joining the Federation, his employers were more than a bit vague about their identity and his duties. Ditto when - 11 light-years from Earth - he met his partner, Edgar Millen, an enigmatic man with a fetish for the mythology and language of the American Wild West.

It wasn’t until they reached the colony world of Astrild that the mission became clear (somewhat). Cole and Millen were hired guns, tasked with removing impediments to order and justice - the methodology left open-ended.

On Astrild, that means starting by freeing a dusty backwater from the iron grip of the local strongman, Cherkoff. Given the ambiguities of frontier life, and the suspicions of the colony’s settlers, it will be no mean task.

Working in the shadows, Cole and Millen must walk the thin line between right and wrong if they are to bring justice, protect the weak, and truly become Paladins of Distant Suns.]]> 10 Olan Thorensen Don 4 3.24
author: Olan Thorensen
name: Don
average rating: 3.24
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:
Space Western. A space marshal and his new deputy kick @$$ and take names. Love me some Olan Thorensen! You keep writing them Olen, I'll keep buying them.
]]> 96594 ]]> 295 Jack Campbell 0441014763 Don 3 Solid writing in the genre 4.00 2007
author: Jack Campbell
name: Don
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:
Solid writing in the genre
]]> 112292
Captain John "Black Jack" Geary's legendary exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic "last stand" in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns from survival hibernation and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics.

Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Alliance's one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic "Black Jack" legend...]]> 293 Jack Campbell 0441014186 Don 4 I liked it, it was good 3.97 2006
author: Jack Campbell
name: Don
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:
I liked it, it was good
]]> 44492285
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known--and feared--as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne--and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.

And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 336 Frank Herbert 0593098234 Don 4 3.89 1969
author: Frank Herbert
name: Don
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 150247395
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.]]> 410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820702 Don 3 4.29 2024
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Don
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves:
review:
Not bad. The Bio-Technology was interesting, it reminded me of "The Wind-up Girl". A detective story with an existential crisis in the backdrop.
]]> 17934530 Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.]]> 195 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104093 Don 1 3.79 2014
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Don
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2014
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 22328546 This is a world divided by blood—red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.]]> 388 Victoria Aveyard 0062310631 Don 1 3.98 2015
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: Don
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 53639543
"An excellent military SF novel, part Hornblower, part Wiggins. It had me from the first page and held on for the rest of them."—KEVIN J. ANDERSON, NEW YORK TIMES-BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE DARK BETWEEN THE STARS on OF TREASONS BORN
"A roller coaster ride of a story which is one of the best books I've read in years."—SFFWORLD on A CHOICE OF TREASONS

For many the dying part is hard.
For some the living part is even harder.

At sixteen years of age, Mathius’s life is focused on scrounging bits of food in the midst of a five-way civil war on the planet Novalis III. Two government factions and three rebel factions are all hell-bent on killing one another, and the civilian population is caught in the middle. If Mathius doesn’t find food, he and his father, mother and sister will go hungry for the day, a not unusual occurrence. Mathius must also avoid the rebel factions, who frequently kidnap young boys and force them to become soldiers.

Will the Commonwealth of Allied Systems intervene? And what of the Blacksword Regiment, the elite soldiers of the Commonwealth Security Corps? Will they sweep in and make everything right?

And the Kelk Supremacy, a race of strange humans with blood-red eyes, and pale bluish-white skin? They're perfectly human, and yet they are not. Why does Mathius keep seeing signs that the Kelk are somehow involved in the unrest?
A gripping saga of war and redemption. Order it now.

All books in the series are being released this year:

Jul 1 2020: A Hymn for the Dying
Jul 25 2020: A Dirge for the Damned
Aug 1 2020: A Prayer for the Fallen
Aug 8 2020: A Requiem for the Forsaken]]> 275 J.L. Doty 1951744195 Don 5 4.37
author: J.L. Doty
name: Don
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/24
shelves:
review:
Great military science fiction. Is it hard science fiction? There's always a debate once you have FTL which this story does have. This story was kind of hard to read at the beginning, I didn't find the child soldier portion enjoyable. Once I got past that it was devoured very quickly. This author also penned the "The Treason Cycle".
]]> 16037931 443 J.L. Doty 1938135881 Don 5 3.75 2012
author: J.L. Doty
name: Don
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
review:
I started this excellent fantasy a while back then got sidetracked, very happy I returned to it, J.L. Doty doesn't disappoint.
]]> 18655587

Rhianne is held captive in Durin by Valso, and while he treats her well, he's trying to seduce her, to make her a slave to his whims with powerful compulsion spells. When she sleeps she finds herself in the Kingdom of Dreams, seeing Morgin through Rhiannead's eyes, and they're strongly attracted to one another.


Valso can sense that the sword is no longer on the Mortal Plane, so he concludes it must be in the Kingdom of Dreams. He calls upon ancient enemies from a far distant past, and sends them to the Kingdom of Dreams to assault the realm of the Unnamed King. In her dreams Rhianne warns Morgin, and they both must help defend Sabian, the castle, and seat of power, of the Unnamed King.


Back on the Mortal Plane the Lesser Clans are on the verge of all-out war, which will only weaken them, and leave them fodder for attack by Valso and the Greater Clans. Is Olivia really that foolish?


Will Morgin find his true name, for without it he cannot defeat the Dark God, and all the Mortal Plane will suffer for eternity?]]> 368 J.L. Doty 1942899106 Don 0 4.11 2015
author: J.L. Doty
name: Don
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Don 3 4.37 2020
author: T.J. Klune
name: Don
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/02/09
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]]> 3236307
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.]]> 471 Kristin Cashore 015206396X Don 2 4.07 2008
author: Kristin Cashore
name: Don
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2008
rating: 2
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]]> 8130423 In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.]]> 361 Rick Riordan Don 2 4.44 2008
author: Rick Riordan
name: Don
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2008
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/02/09
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]]> 76706470 576 Sarah J. Maas Don 2 4.44 2014
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Don
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2014
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/02/09
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]]> 40727118
But things don't stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: The magical borders which protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner by the Cyclops Polyphemus on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters--the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millenia--only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name...the Bermuda Triangle.

Now Percy and his friends--Grover, Annabeth, and Tyson--must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family--one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.]]> 279 Rick Riordan 0120000318 Don 2 4.24 2006
author: Rick Riordan
name: Don
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2006
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/02/09
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]]> 76705490 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.]]> 420 Sarah J. Maas 1639730966 Don 2 4.34 2013
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Don
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2013
rating: 2
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]]> 22299763
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.]]> 561 Leigh Bardugo Don 2 4.58 2016
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Don
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2016
rating: 2
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]]> 50659472 The epic third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's actions and learn what she can about the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit. One slip could bring doom not only for Feyre, but for everything-and everyone-she holds dear.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre endeavors to take her place amongst the High Fae of the land, balancing her struggle to master her powers-both magical and political-and her love for her court and family. Amidst these struggles, Feyre and Rhysand must decide whom to trust amongst the cunning and lethal High Lords, and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the fate of Feyre's world is at stake as armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy it.]]> 699 Sarah J. Maas 1635575605 Don 2 4.47 2017
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Don
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2017
rating: 2
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]]> 256683
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...]]> 485 Cassandra Clare 1416914285 Don 2 4.08 2007
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Don
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 2
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]]> 28187 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can't seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse - Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him. When Percy's mom finds out, she knows it's time that he knew the truth about where he came from, and that he go to the one place he'll be safe. She sends Percy to Camp Half Blood, a summer camp for demigods (on Long Island), where he learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea. Soon a mystery unfolds and together with his friends—one a satyr and the other the demigod daughter of Athena - Percy sets out on a quest across the United States to reach the gates of the Underworld (located in a recording studio in Hollywood) and prevent a catastrophic war between the gods.]]> 377 Rick Riordan 0786838655 Don 2 4.31 2005
author: Rick Riordan
name: Don
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/02/09
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review:

]]> 24397041
Monsters.

Long ago, the barriers between our world and the Otherworld were ripped open, and it’s taken centuries to bring back civilization in the wake of the catastrophe. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous creatures fighting to break through. Others are not so lucky.

To Joyeaux Charmand, who has been a Hunter in her tight-knit mountain community since she was a child, every Cit without magic deserves her protection from dangerous Othersiders. Then she is called to Apex City, where the best Hunters are kept to protect the most important people.

Joy soon realizes that the city’s powerful leaders care more about luring Cits into a false sense of security than protecting them. More and more monsters are getting through the barriers, and the close calls are becoming too frequent to ignore. Yet the Cits have no sense of how much danger they’re in—to them, Joy and her corps of fellow Hunters are just action stars they watch on TV.

When an act of sabotage against Joy takes an unbearable toll, she uncovers a terrifying conspiracy in the city. There is something much worse than the usual monsters infiltrating Apex. And it may be too late to stop them…]]> 374 Mercedes Lackey 1484707842 Don 3 Solid YA Fantasy. I am not the target audience for this book but it was fun though predictable at times.]]> 3.94 2015
author: Mercedes Lackey
name: Don
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets The Hunger Games.
Solid YA Fantasy. I am not the target audience for this book but it was fun though predictable at times.
]]> 56360345
Attempting to atone for her sins, she pulls a teenage girl from a crashed lifecraft. But Gabriella Ortiz is no ordinary girl—she is a genetically-engineered super soldier and decorated General, part of the army that kept Ten prisoner. Worse, Ten realises the crash was an assassination attempt, and that someone wants Ortiz dead...

To get the General off-world, they must cross the moon's lawless wastes, face military hit squads, savage bandits, organ sharks, and good old-fashioned treachery. But as they race to safety, something else waits in the darkness. Something ancient and patient. Something that knows exactly who Ten is, and what she is really running from.]]> 332 Stark Holborn 1789096626 Don 3 3.78 2021
author: Stark Holborn
name: Don
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/02/07
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review:
Good read. If you enjoy "Firefly", feels like the same universe.
]]> 61439040
Alternate cover edition can be found here.]]> 368 George Orwell 0452284236 Don 3 4.21 1949
author: George Orwell
name: Don
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1949
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/02/02
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]]> 24452990
He is the last to wake. The label on his sleeper pad identifies him as an admiral of the Evagardian Empire—a surprise as much to him as to the three recent recruits now under his command. He wears no uniform, and he is ignorant of military protocol, but the ship’s records confirm he is their superior officer.

Whether he is an Evagardian admiral or a spy will be of little consequence if the crew members all end up dead. They are marooned on a strange world, their ship’s systems are failing one by one—and they are not alone.]]> 309 Sean Danker 0451475798 Don 3 3.69 2016
author: Sean Danker
name: Don
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/02/01
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]]> 20893407 The secret is, vampires are real and I am one.

The secret is, I’m stealing from you what is most truly yours and I’m not sorry��

New York City in 1978 is a dirty, dangerous place to live. And die. Joey Peacock knows this as well as anybody—he has spent the last forty years as an adolescent vampire, perfecting the routine he now enjoys: womanizing in punk clubs and discotheques, feeding by night, and sleeping by day with others of his kind in the macabre labyrinth under the city’s sidewalks.

The subways are his playground and his highway, shuttling him throughout Manhattan to bleed the unsuspecting in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park or in the backseats of Checker cabs, or even those in their own apartments who are too hypnotized by sitcoms to notice him opening their windows. It’s almost too easy.

Until one night he sees them hunting on his beloved subway. The children with the merry eyes. Vampires, like him…or not like him. Whatever they are, whatever their appearance means, the undead in the tunnels of Manhattan are not as safe as they once were.

And neither are the rest of us.]]> 368 Christopher Buehlman 0425272613 Don 4 4.03 2014
author: Christopher Buehlman
name: Don
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2014
rating: 4
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date added: 2024/01/26
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review:
Haven't seen a better Vampire story since Ann Rice. Rated "R" for violence, adult situations and yuck. The opposite of cozy.
]]> 18122
But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him.

The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead...]]> 465 Philip Pullman 0440238153 Don 5 4.11 2000
author: Philip Pullman
name: Don
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/01/26
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]]> 35519109
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?]]> 163 Martha Wells Don 5 4.38 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Don
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 35519101
And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

]]> 158 Martha Wells 1250191785 Don 3 4.21 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Don
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2018
rating: 3
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]]> 46756 Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake–through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride. Margaret Atwood projects us into a near future that is both all too familiar and beyond our imagining.]]> 389 Margaret Atwood Don 2 4.01 2003
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Don
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2003
rating: 2
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]]> 13055592 Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:
(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces
(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations
(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues�� understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.]]> 320 John Scalzi 0765316994 Don 3 3.85 2012
author: John Scalzi
name: Don
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2012
rating: 3
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]]> 36223860 alternate cover for ISBN 9781250186928

It has a dark past �� one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A�� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.]]> 158 Martha Wells Don 3 4.23 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Don
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2018
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 29581 256 Isaac Asimov 0553803727 Don 5 4.23 1952
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Don
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1952
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 76778
The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.

But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them �� and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.

Contents:
Rocket Summer
Ylla
The Summer Night
The Earth Men
The Taxpayer
The Third Expedition
-And the Moon Be Still As Bright
The Settlers
The Green Morning
The Locusts
Night Meeting
The Shore
Interim
The Musicians
Way in the Middle of the Air
The Naming of Names
Usher II
The Old Ones
The Martian
The Luggage Store
The Off Season
The Watchers
The Silent Towns
The Long Years
There Will Come Soft Rains
The Million Year Picnic]]> 182 Ray Bradbury 0553278223 Don 3 4.16 1950
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Don
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1950
rating: 3
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]]> 350 NAME: Valentine Michael Smith
ANCESTRY: Human
ORIGIN: Mars

Valentine Michael Smith is a human being raised on Mars, newly returned to Earth. Among his people for the first time, he struggles to understand the social mores and prejudices of human nature that are so alien to him, while teaching them his own fundamental beliefs in grokking, watersharing, and love.]]> 525 Robert A. Heinlein Don 3 3.93 1961
author: Robert A. Heinlein
name: Don
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1961
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 1230752 Mary Gribbin 0340945346 Don 5 4.47 2003
author: Mary Gribbin
name: Don
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 64955 The No.1 bestselling classic from Dean Koontz, the master of chilling suspense, that will thrill fans of Stephen King and the Odd Thomas series.

A wealthy tech entrepreneur, intending to create superhumans by infecting them with nanotech to assist their physical and mental abilities, picks a California town as his secret pilot project, but things go terribly wrong. The citizens of Moonlight Cove, California, are changing, growing numbers of residents harbor a secret so dark it is sure to cost even more lives. Some are losing touch with their deepest emotions. Others are surrendering to their wildest urges. And the few who remain unchanged are absolutely terrified (if not brutally murdered in the dead of night). Survivors face a terror beyond the darkest realms of human nature.

Tessa Lockland and Sam Booker team up with natives Chrissie Foster and Harry Talbot to combat the evil that threatens the community. Tessa Lockland comes to town to probe her sister's seemingly unprompted suicide. Independent and clever, she meets up with Sam Booker, an undercover FBI agent sent to Moonlight Cove to discover the truth behind the mysterious deaths. They meet Harry Talbot, a wheelchair-bound veteran, who has seen things from his window that he was not meant to see. Chrissie Foster, a resourceful eleven-year-old, running from her parents who have suddenly changed and in whom darkness dwells, joins them. Together they begin to understand the depth of evil in Moonlight Cove and make a stand against darkness and terror.]]> 496 Dean R. Koontz 0425194515 Don 3 3.86 1989
author: Dean R. Koontz
name: Don
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1989
rating: 3
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]]> 302702
Contents:
The Gernsback Continuum (1981) by William Gibson
Snake-Eyes (1986) by Tom Maddox
Rock On (1984) by Pat Cadigan
Tales of Houdini (1981) by Rudy Rucker
400 Boys (1983) by Marc Laidlaw
Solstice (1985) by James Patrick Kelly
Petra (1982) by Greg Bear
Till Human Voices Wake Us (1984) by Lewis Shiner
Freezone (1985) by John Shirley
Stone Lives (1985) by Paul Di Filippo
Red Star, Winter Orbit (1983) by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
Mozart in Mirrorshades (1984) by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner]]> 239 Bruce Sterling Don 3 3.97 1986
author: Bruce Sterling
name: Don
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 190999
More than a hundred years before, an alien named Ulysses had recruited Enoch as the keeper of Earth's only galactic transfer station. Now, as Enoch studies the progress of Earth and tends the tanks where the aliens appear, the charts he made indicate his world is doomed to destruction. His alien friends can only offer help that seems worse than the dreaded disaster. Then he discovers the horror that lies across the galaxy...]]> 210 Clifford D. Simak 0020248717 Don 3 4.02 1963
author: Clifford D. Simak
name: Don
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1963
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> 61242426
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 �� not 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.]]> 296 Travis Baldree Don 3 Enjoyable, enjoyed via Audio book, narrated by the Author who did a First Rate job of narration.]]> 4.05 2022
author: Travis Baldree
name: Don
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/01/25
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review:
A story about new beginnings and friendships run through a D&D filter.
Enjoyable, enjoyed via Audio book, narrated by the Author who did a First Rate job of narration.
]]> 45100
For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy unjustly denied her--a legacy she will risk anything to reclaim. For Althea's young nephew Wintrow, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard ship, Vivacia is a life sentence.

But the fate of the Vestrit family--and the ship--may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider. The ruthless pirate Kennit seeks a way to seize power over all the denizens of the Pirate Isles...and the first step of his plan requires him to capture his own liveship and bend it to his will....


From the Paperback edition.]]> 880 Robin Hobb 000649885X Don 4 4.20 1998
author: Robin Hobb
name: Don
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/20
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review:
Imagine a story and after reading 880 pages and hardly anything is resolved and lots questions. Some kind of world building going on here.
]]> 41804
I, ROBOT

They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on perhaps its greatest adventure: the invention of the first positronic man. It was a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities—and unforeseen risks. For the scientists who invented the earliest robots weren't content that their creations should ' remain programmed helpers, companions, and semisentient worker-machines. And soon the robots themselves; aware of their own intelligence, power, and humanity, aren't either.

As humans and robots struggle to survive together—and sometimes against each other—on earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligences that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity obsolete?

In l, Robot Isaac Asimov changes forever our perception of robots, and human beings and updates the timeless myth of man's dream to play god. with all its rewards—and terrors.
--front flap]]> 224 Isaac Asimov 0553803700 Don 5 Science Fiction Bedrock. 4.22 1950
author: Isaac Asimov
name: Don
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/01/14
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review:
Science Fiction Bedrock.
]]> 123206298 Master storyteller and internationally bestselling author Christopher Paolini returns to the World of Eragon in this stunning epic fantasy set a year after the events of the Inheritance Cycle. Join Dragon Rider—and fan favorite—Murtagh and his dragon as they confront a perilous new enemy!

The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society.

Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air—and Murtagh senses that something wicked lurks in the shadows of Alagaësia. So begins an epic journey into lands both familiar and untraveled, where Murtagh and Thorn must use every weapon in their arsenal, from brains to brawn, to find and outwit a mysterious witch. A witch who is much more than she seems.

In this gripping novel starring one of the most popular characters from Christopher Paolini’s blockbuster Inheritance Cycle, a Dragon Rider must discover what he stands for in a world that has abandoned him. Murtagh is the perfect book to enter the World of Eragon for the first time . . . or to joyfully return.]]> 688 Christopher Paolini 1774882965 Don 2 4.10 2023
author: Christopher Paolini
name: Don
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/01/13
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review:
I am Murtagh and there's nothing I enjoy more then walking into traps and then fighting my way out.
]]> 34807427
After more than five hundred years of exile, the heir to the empyre is wary about his sudden reinstatement to active duty on the Goblin War’s front lines. His assignment to rescue an outpost leads to a dead-end canyon deep inside enemy territory, and his suspicion turns to dread when he discovers the stronghold doesn't exist. But whoever went to the trouble of planning his death to look like a casualty of war didn't know he would be assigned to the Seventh Sikaria Auxiliary Squadron. In the depths of an unforgiving jungle, a legend is about to be born, and the world of Elan will never be the same.

From Michael J. Sullivan, the three-time New York Times, two-time USA Today, and three-time Washington Post bestselling author, a new adventure begins with the first book in The Rise and Fall trilogy. Although this series is set in the same world as the Riyria novels and the Legends of the First Empire books, no prior knowledge of the other works is required to enjoy this tale to its fullest.]]> 480 Michael J. Sullivan 1944145648 Don 3 # 4.15 2021
author: Michael J. Sullivan
name: Don
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/01/13
shelves:
review:
#
]]> 157265081
From dawn to midnight over the course of a single day, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle's most charming fae as he schemes and sneaks, dancing into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace.

The Narrow Road Between Desires is Bast's story. In it he traces the old ways of making and breaking, following his heart even when doing so goes against his better judgement.

After all, what good is caution if it keeps him from danger and delight?]]> 240 Patrick Rothfuss 0756419182 Don 5 4.01 2023
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Don
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/01/04
shelves:
review:
Elite level Fantasy literature. Better than almost everything in the last ten years and as Mr. Rothfuss alludes to in the Authors Note, crafted to be read out loud.
]]> 50659467
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.]]> 419 Sarah J. Maas 1635575567 Don 1 4.16 2015
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Don
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 18079804 394 Sally Green 0670016780 Don 0 currently-reading 3.79 2014
author: Sally Green
name: Don
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Don 3 4.22 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: Don
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 180270
Ammonite is an unforgettable novel that questions the very meanings of gender and humanity. As readers share in Marghe’s journey through an alien world, they too embark on a parallel journey of fascinating self-exploration.]]> 416 Nicola Griffith 0345452380 Don 4 3.90 1992
author: Nicola Griffith
name: Don
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:
"Ammonite" is a second cousin to "Dune", and has an all female cast. Very original and engaging. I've read 2 books by this author and liked them both (Hild, being the other).
]]> 38169 323 Pat Frank 0060741872 Don 4 4.07 1959
author: Pat Frank
name: Don
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1959
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
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review:

]]> 60931 The visionary author’s masterpiece pulls us—along with her Black female hero—through time to face the horrors of slavery and explore the impacts of racism, sexism, and white supremacy then and now.

Dana, a modern Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana’s life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.]]> 288 Octavia E. Butler 0807083690 Don 4 4.30 1979
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Don
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 9532
Growing up is never easy. But try living on the mean streets as a child begging for food and fighting like a dog with ruthless gangs of starving kids who wouldn't hesitate to pound your skull into pulp for a scrap of apple. If Bean has learned anything on the streets, it's how to survive. And not with fists. He is way too small for that. But with brains.

Bean is a genius with a magician's ability to zero in on his enemy and exploit his weakness.

What better quality for a future general to lead the Earth in a final climactic battle against a hostile alien race, known as Buggers. At Battleschool Bean meets and befriends another future commander - Ender Wiggins - perhaps his only true rival.

Only one problem: for Bean and Ender, the future is now.

Ender's Shadow is the book that launched The Shadow Series, and the parallel novel to Orson Scott Card's science fiction classic, Ender's Game.]]> 469 Orson Scott Card 0765342405 Don 4 4.32 1999
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Don
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
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]]> 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Don 3 4.12 1993
author: Lois Lowry
name: Don
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
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review:

]]> 13335037
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.]]> 487 Veronica Roth 0062024035 Don 2 4.13 2011
author: Veronica Roth
name: Don
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
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review:

]]> 8909
Inspiring films, radio dramas, comic-book adaptations, television series and sequels,The War of the Worlds is a prototypical work of science fiction which has influenced every alien story that has come since, and is unsurpassed in its ability to thrill, well over a century since it was first published.]]> 192 H.G. Wells 0375759239 Don 3 3.84 1898
author: H.G. Wells
name: Don
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1898
rating: 3
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date added: 2023/11/26
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review:

]]> 70535
So great are the implications of this discovery that for the first time men are sent out deep into our solar system.

But long before their destination is reached, things begin to go horribly, inexplicably wrong...

One of the greatest-selling science fiction novels of our time, this classic book will grip you to the very end.]]> 297 Arthur C. Clarke Don 2 4.17 1968
author: Arthur C. Clarke
name: Don
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1968
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 20518872 472 Liu Cixin Don 3 4.08 2006
author: Liu Cixin
name: Don
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]>