Drakeryn's bookshelf: time-loop en-US Sat, 25 Nov 2023 10:39:20 -0800 60 Drakeryn's bookshelf: time-loop 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)]]> 35965482 New York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in this standalone fantasy.

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 492 Seanan McGuire 1250195519 Drakeryn 3 Lady H's review sums up my thoughts well: Good book, but I liked the idea more than the execution.

Roger & Dodger were an iconic duo, instantly likable and easy to root for, but a lot of the book was spent on mundane details of their personal lives and it just dragged. [spoilers removed]

The payoff was worth it, though.]]> 4.01 2019 Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/23
date added: 2023/11/25
shelves: 2023, fantasy-present, time-loop
review:
Lady H's review sums up my thoughts well: Good book, but I liked the idea more than the execution.

Roger & Dodger were an iconic duo, instantly likable and easy to root for, but a lot of the book was spent on mundane details of their personal lives and it just dragged. [spoilers removed]

The payoff was worth it, though.
]]> The Light Brigade 40523931
Dietz, a fresh recruit in the infantry, begins to experience combat drops that don’t sync up with the platoon’s. And Dietz’s bad drops tell a story of the war that’s not at all what the corporate brass want the soldiers to think is going on.

Is Dietz really experiencing the war differently, or is it combat madness? Trying to untangle memory from mission brief and survive with sanity intact, Dietz is ready to become a hero—or maybe a villain; in war it’s hard to tell the difference.]]> 356 Kameron Hurley 1481447963 Drakeryn 4 There’s a tremendous moment of dissonance, like leaving your body, when you discover that one of the core defining moments of your life is mostly a lie.

“Dietz! Let’s roll.� Andria’s voice, over a two-way channel. At least she wasn’t calling me slow in front of the whole platoon.

I huffed after her and the rest of the company, off to make a show of protecting the interests of a CEO who had no qualms about murdering people like me with impunity.

This was a mindfuck (based on this + The Stars are Legion, I'm beginning to think that's just Kameron Hurley's brand). It's weird and brutal and uncompromising and ultimately hopeful and I kinda loved it?

Also, despite being published in 2019, it's a very 2020 book. A pandemic with flu-like symptoms! The military being called in to make protesters disappear! Hurley was very prescient imo ]]> 3.88 2019 The Light Brigade
author: Kameron Hurley
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/07/23
date added: 2023/10/21
shelves: 2020, dystopia, sci-fi, skeleton-war, time-loop
review:
There’s a tremendous moment of dissonance, like leaving your body, when you discover that one of the core defining moments of your life is mostly a lie.

“Dietz! Let’s roll.� Andria’s voice, over a two-way channel. At least she wasn’t calling me slow in front of the whole platoon.

I huffed after her and the rest of the company, off to make a show of protecting the interests of a CEO who had no qualms about murdering people like me with impunity.


This was a mindfuck (based on this + The Stars are Legion, I'm beginning to think that's just Kameron Hurley's brand). It's weird and brutal and uncompromising and ultimately hopeful and I kinda loved it?

Also, despite being published in 2019, it's a very 2020 book. A pandemic with flu-like symptoms! The military being called in to make protesters disappear! Hurley was very prescient imo
]]> <![CDATA[Minecraft: The End (Official Minecraft Novels, #4)]]> 43658932
The invaders are called humans, and they’ve come to steal artifacts and slay the ender dragon. Fin and Mo are ready to protect their home from the trespassers, but when they come face-to-face with the humans, they discover that they aren’t as prepared for battle as they’d thought. Caught off guard, the twins are trapped in the middle of a war between the endermen and the humans, with the future of their home at stake.]]> 256 Catherynne M. Valente 0399180729 Drakeryn 4 Also me: Oh hey, since I'm playing Minecraft with friends, let's buy and read a Minecraft novel

good life decision imo]]> 4.18 2019 Minecraft: The End (Official Minecraft Novels, #4)
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/15
date added: 2023/10/21
shelves: 2020, fantasy-high, rpg-cyoa, time-loop
review:
Me: It's mid-November, gotta buckle down and put the rest of my TBR on hold to finish the 2020 Popsugar challenge by year's end
Also me: Oh hey, since I'm playing Minecraft with friends, let's buy and read a Minecraft novel

good life decision imo
]]> <![CDATA[The Six Deaths of the Saint (Into Shadow, #3)]]> 62991463
Always mindful of the debt she owes, the girl finds her worth as a weapon in the hand of the Prince. Her victories make him a king, then an emperor. The bards sing her name and her enemies fear it. But the war never ends and the cost keeps rising—how many times will she repeat her own story?]]> 31 Alix E. Harrow 166250957X Drakeryn 3 4.32 2022 The Six Deaths of the Saint (Into Shadow, #3)
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/04
date added: 2023/09/04
shelves: 2023, fantasy-high, short-stories, time-loop
review:

]]> The Chronologist 60243198 29 Ian R. MacLeod 1250841704 Drakeryn 3 3.53 2022 The Chronologist
author: Ian R. MacLeod
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/09
date added: 2022/03/16
shelves: 2022, time-loop, short-stories
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The House of Always (A Chorus of Dragons, #4)]]> 55077705 For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss, The House of Always is the fourth epic fantasy in Jenn Lyons' Chorus of Dragons series that began with The Ruin of Kings.



What if you were imprisoned for all eternity?

In the aftermath of the Ritual of Night, everything has changed.

The Eight Immortals have catastrophically failed to stop Kihrin's enemies, who are moving forward with their plans to free Vol Karoth, the King of Demons. Kihrin has his own ideas about how to fight back, but even if he's willing to sacrifice everything for victory, the cost may prove too high for his allies.

Now they face a choice: can they save the world while saving Kihrin, too? Or will they be forced to watch as he becomes the very evil they have all sworn to destroy.]]> 523 Jenn Lyons 1250175674 Drakeryn 3 2021, fantasy-high, time-loop 4.13 2021 The House of Always (A Chorus of Dragons, #4)
author: Jenn Lyons
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/21
date added: 2021/10/21
shelves: 2021, fantasy-high, time-loop
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1)]]> 9460487 9781594744761

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.]]> 352 Ransom Riggs 1594744769 Drakeryn 1 3.92 2011 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #1)
author: Ransom Riggs
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2011
rating: 1
read at: 2017/10/28
date added: 2020/09/07
shelves: 2017, young-adult, fantasy-present, ghost-town, fantasy-portal, time-loop
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle]]> 36337550
There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.

We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.

Understood? Then let's begin . . .

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others . . .

The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity it will leave listeners guessing until the very last second.]]> 432 Stuart Turton Drakeryn 4 2020, time-loop
The good: The plotting in this is incredible. Blackheath is full of secrets and hidden agendas and plots and counter-plots. The reveals were wild and the time loop was stunningly executed. I loved how the main character's experiences in eight hosts all dovetailed to form the full picture of the day. I just finished the book and want to read it again immediately now that I have context for everything.

The bad: The main character, mostly. He alternates between bland and annoyingly judgy, and his internal narrative is so flowery/overwrought. Here he is at the start, preparing to walk out of the woods:

I search the forest again. Every direction looks the same, trees without end beneath a sky filled with spite.
How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?
This lost, I decide. Precisely this lost.
Easing myself off the tree, I lay the compass flat in my palm. It yearns for north, so I point myself east, against the wind and the cold, against the world itself.
Hope has deserted me.
I'm a man in purgatory, blind to the sins that chased me here.


zzz less talking more walking dude

(now imagine this style of narration for 400 more pages)

I also really didn't care about the main character's past, or his relationship with Anna, or the whole metagame aspect of things. I just wanted to know what was up with the Hardcastle family.

But I loved the main plot enough to barrel through the book despite its flaws. Recommended for fans of time loops, family intrigue, and intricate plotting.]]> 3.78 2018 The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
author: Stuart Turton
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/08/29
date added: 2020/08/29
shelves: 2020, time-loop
review:
time loop body-hopping murder mystery, yes plz

The good: The plotting in this is incredible. Blackheath is full of secrets and hidden agendas and plots and counter-plots. The reveals were wild and the time loop was stunningly executed. I loved how the main character's experiences in eight hosts all dovetailed to form the full picture of the day. I just finished the book and want to read it again immediately now that I have context for everything.

The bad: The main character, mostly. He alternates between bland and annoyingly judgy, and his internal narrative is so flowery/overwrought. Here he is at the start, preparing to walk out of the woods:

I search the forest again. Every direction looks the same, trees without end beneath a sky filled with spite.
How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?
This lost, I decide. Precisely this lost.
Easing myself off the tree, I lay the compass flat in my palm. It yearns for north, so I point myself east, against the wind and the cold, against the world itself.
Hope has deserted me.
I'm a man in purgatory, blind to the sins that chased me here.


zzz less talking more walking dude

(now imagine this style of narration for 400 more pages)

I also really didn't care about the main character's past, or his relationship with Anna, or the whole metagame aspect of things. I just wanted to know what was up with the Hardcastle family.

But I loved the main plot enough to barrel through the book despite its flaws. Recommended for fans of time loops, family intrigue, and intricate plotting.
]]> Permafrost 40048442 A 2019 Locus Award finalist
A USA Today Bestseller

Fix the past. Save the present. Stop the future. Master of science fiction Alastair Reynolds unfolds a time-traveling climate fiction adventure in Permafrost.

2080: at a remote site on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a group of scientists, engineers and physicians gather to gamble humanity’s future on one last-ditch experiment. Their to make a tiny alteration to the past, averting a global catastrophe while at the same time leaving recorded history intact. To make the experiment work, they just need one last an ageing schoolteacher whose late mother was the foremost expert on the mathematics of paradox.

2028: a young woman goes into surgery for routine brain surgery. In the days following her operation, she begins to hear another voice in her head... an unwanted presence which seems to have a will, and a purpose, all of its own � one that will disrupt her life entirely. The only choice left to her is a simple one.

Does she resist ... or become a collaborator?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 133 Alastair Reynolds 1250303559 Drakeryn 4 Now we were cross-braided, futures and pasts eating their own tails. A box of snakes.

yes I bought this just because I saw "time travel" in the blurb and have zero impulse control. I make good life decisions.

if you want to read about a 71-year-old schoolteacher and her co-conspirators traveling back in time to save the world from a climate change disaster, this is the book for you

solid 3.5, maybe a 4]]> 3.88 2019 Permafrost
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/02/14
date added: 2020/08/29
shelves: 2020, apocalyptic, sci-fi, time-loop
review:
Now we were cross-braided, futures and pasts eating their own tails. A box of snakes.


yes I bought this just because I saw "time travel" in the blurb and have zero impulse control. I make good life decisions.

if you want to read about a 71-year-old schoolteacher and her co-conspirators traveling back in time to save the world from a climate change disaster, this is the book for you

solid 3.5, maybe a 4
]]> NOT A BOOK 50992902 . 2882 NOT A BOOK Drakeryn 4 2020, fantasy-high, time-loop
"Mother," he interrupted her, "I just woke up via Kiri jumping on me..."
"She did it again?" his mother asked, amusement obvious in her voice.


Zorian, an ordinary mage academy student, finds himself trapped inside a one-month time loop that culminates in a large-scale invasion of the city. Can he use his foreknowledge, combined with multiple resets to hone his magical skills and learn the invaders' strategies, to stop the invasion? And can he find a way to stop the time loop?

It takes a while for the story to hit its stride. The first month, before we know there's a loop, is dead boring. And even after that, Zorian is a little slow to take advantage of his situation. Dude is still going to class because he has no idea what else to do with himself.

But things ramp up in very satisfying fashion. Airship heists! Imperial treasury heists! Ambushing a millennia-old lich to steal his crown! Turns out you can do a lot of ridiculous things with patience and a time loop on your side. And Zorian's growth, both personal and magical, is also very satisfying; I liked his development from resident shut-in/grump to mastermind and hero.

It's a very plot-focused story. The prose never moves beyond adequate. The cast is big and sprawling and a tad flat, with a few notable exceptions. (Shout-outs to Xvim, who is hilarious; Novelty, who is adorable; and of course my boy Quatach-Ichl.) Nevertheless, if you want cunning and audacious plotting then this is your book.]]> 4.66 2011 NOT A BOOK
author: NOT A BOOK
name: Drakeryn
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/21
date added: 2020/08/29
shelves: 2020, fantasy-high, time-loop
review:
Basically an all-you-can-eat buffet of absurd time loop shenanigans. And who doesn't like absurd time loop shenanigans?

"Mother," he interrupted her, "I just woke up via Kiri jumping on me..."
"She did it again?" his mother asked, amusement obvious in her voice.


Zorian, an ordinary mage academy student, finds himself trapped inside a one-month time loop that culminates in a large-scale invasion of the city. Can he use his foreknowledge, combined with multiple resets to hone his magical skills and learn the invaders' strategies, to stop the invasion? And can he find a way to stop the time loop?

It takes a while for the story to hit its stride. The first month, before we know there's a loop, is dead boring. And even after that, Zorian is a little slow to take advantage of his situation. Dude is still going to class because he has no idea what else to do with himself.

But things ramp up in very satisfying fashion. Airship heists! Imperial treasury heists! Ambushing a millennia-old lich to steal his crown! Turns out you can do a lot of ridiculous things with patience and a time loop on your side. And Zorian's growth, both personal and magical, is also very satisfying; I liked his development from resident shut-in/grump to mastermind and hero.

It's a very plot-focused story. The prose never moves beyond adequate. The cast is big and sprawling and a tad flat, with a few notable exceptions. (Shout-outs to Xvim, who is hilarious; Novelty, who is adorable; and of course my boy Quatach-Ichl.) Nevertheless, if you want cunning and audacious plotting then this is your book.
]]>