Intro
Hello beauties!
Welcome again to my own brand of mini reviews! I never thought I'd do minis, until I recapped a few of my long reviews in some digest post in 2014, and then guest-posted some shorties for a blogging event in 2015. And Karen from For What It's Worth started praising my short recs/recaps 😊. Just to be clear, I'm NOT taking a break from writing long reviews - no such luck LOL. But while I'm making up my mind about a new book I've read, I might as well give you the short version 😉. Just be warned - this feature will be VERY random!
Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.
Note: all the mini blurbs (in italics) are of my own creation.
A 30-something AI research engineer, the survivor of a space terrorist attack that left her with a metal-patched body and destroyed her creature and her career, investigates a fellow survivor's death on a small asteroid and stumbles onto a web of conspiracies and unexpected finds.
Rated 4.5 really.
A tight space thriller with surprisingly moving moments (I say "surprisingly" because heck, we're talking about machines - and yet) and a (literally) damaged but stop-at-nothing protagonist. I'm pretty sure that hardcore sci-fi readers will find something familiar here, but Wallace takes the genre tropes and uses them to address very earthly xenophobia, fear of otherness, greed and exploitation, in a way that feels fresh and genuine. Bonus point for diversity (especially the inclusion of a non-binary character); extra bonus points for the creative-bordering-on-poetical AI depiction.
Full review to come on February 20th. Thank you Edelweiss and Berkley/Penguin Publishing Group! (Goodreads pre-review)
After the war that broke time itself, the last man living in the last future goes out on a limb to preserve his never-ending peace, until an unexpected visit changes everything.
***
A complex, clever and perversely funny time-travel story with the perfect anti-hero, and an ironic twist (or more than one, in fact) on the Arcadia trope and the grandfather paradox. Outrageous on purpose, entertaining the whole way through, this novella nevertheless manages to ask the reader one serious question: is there anything man can be trusted not to break, even with the best of intentions?
Full review to come on February 25th. Thank you NetGalley and Solaris/Rebellion Publishing! (Goodreads pre-review)
The Apocalypse Seven by Gene Doucette
★★★Seven strangers awake in a post-apocalyptic world taken over by wild animals, try to rebuild a semblance of "normal" life while looking for answers, and ultimately find one that shocks them to the core.
***
Rated 3.5 really.
A nice variation on the post-apocalypse trope, with lots of diversity (though most of it remains on the surface), a good dose of high stakes and an unexpected twist. On the other hand, despite a few quirky/solid characters and the amount of time we get to spend in their heads - plus some enjoyable dynamics among them - the book lacks the extra layer that only a strong connection with its protagonists can generate. Entertaining, with a rewarding (if somehow shocking) denouement that gives off some serious Doctor Who vibes, it will probably work better for readers who care more about the actual story than they do about getting attached to the humans in it.
Full review to come closer to publication date. Thank you NetGalley and John Joseph Adams/Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt! (Goodreads pre-review)
So, have you read/are you planning to read any of the above? And if you have, what do you think of them? Do you post mini reviews? Do you like to read them?
I love stories with sentient machines. Alright!
ReplyDeleteThey're so fascinating!
DeleteOne Day All This Will Be Yours sounds like a fun book.
ReplyDeleteIt is! Short and sweet and fun 😉.
DeleteThe time travel one sounds interesting, though idk if I could handle the paradoxes lol. Nice that there's some diversity in the other two! And I'm kind of curious about the AI in the first one.
ReplyDeleteThe time travel isn't THAT overwhelming, but then again, I'm in my element when it comes to it, so maybe I'm biased LOL. Dead Space is spot-on about the diversity, especially since, after the "incident" in space, the protagonist underwent a surgery that made her "part machine" but still left her with a shit-ton of medical and disability issues, and is partly despised, partly looked up to for her condition. The AI is awesome!
DeleteOoh, lots of sci-fi here. Probably not for me, but I still have Wallace's Shallow Graves on my list! 💛
ReplyDeleteYep...and all adult books LOL. Sorry for the lack of variety, but they were all ARCs I wanted to post a mini-review for before I wrote the long version, and they're all coming out between March and May, so there was a narrow window.
DeleteWallace is an awesome writer! I would also recommend The Memory Trees (contemporary with a hint of magical realism).
Oh, no worries! I kind of like that there's a theme with the minis. 😊 Glad you're getting some enjoyable ARCs too!
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DeleteWow you have me intrigued with all of these! The Tchaikovsky one in particular, but the first one too. Super curious. And I love mini reviews!
ReplyDeleteHa! I was thinking of you because of course - sci-fi 😉. Thank you!
DeleteI'm super curious about One Day All This Will Be Yours.
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's Worth
I think it's still available on NG, and when I got approved, I was able to download a version that was mine to keep!
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