Tizzy's Blog, page 2

Book Review: Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2), by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells May 8, 2018 Review rating 4/5 Murderbot is back for seconds.

Now, I wish I could say this book is better than All Systems Red, but in truth, it isn’t. No that that is a problem, anyway. All Systems Red was outright excellent, so I’m fine with Artificial Condition being just great.

While Artificial Condition picks up right where ASR left off, with Murderbot trying to find out exactly what happened to get labeled a murder, the pro...

Book Review: Leah on the Offbeat (Creekwood #2), by Becky Albertalli

Leah on the Offbeat (Creekwood #2) by Becky Albertalli April 24, 2018 Review rating 3/5

Light spoilers for Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Leah on the Offbeat follow. Read at your own risk.

There’s a saying about sequels never being as good as the original, and it’s usually applied to works originally meant as standalone where popularity or profitability leads the creator to produce a part two.

This saying usually rings true. And Leah on the Offbeat, I’m sad to report, isn’t the...

Book Review: Of Magic and Memory, by Cristy Zinn

Of Magic and Memory by Cristy Zinn November 28, 2017 Review rating 4/5 Very much a modern-day fairy tale.

After her mother’s sudden passing, Ava finds herself alone as the world lacks what everyone used to think of as her mother’s magic, that touch and attitude with which she made everywhere a better place.

Only, it turns out it was actually magic. Hiding in plain sight, as it happens. And with her magic gone not only is her hometown a sadder place, but those close to her are in danger...

Book Review: Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein June 1, 1961 Review rating 2/5

The thing about reading books considered classics is that one often approaches them with the expectation that it will be great, the preconception that it will be great, or both.

I grabbed Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land with such a preconception, and why not? The book is mostly lauded – although perhaps not so much, if we judge by its Goodreads page, – won a Hugo award, and appears in about every list...

Book Review: Maintenant qu’il fait tout le temps nuit sur toi, by Mathias Malzieu

Maintenant Qu’il Fait Tout Le Temps Nuit Sur Toi by Mathias Malzieu March 2, 2005 Review rating 3/5 A different kind of book.

I picked up this book a few years ago while traveling through france, specifically in a small library in Paris that I shall remember if only because it’s one of the few times during that trip I felt somebody (in this case the bookseller, of all people) was being straight up rude against me. It took me a while to get to it, because I have a tendency to buy books...

Book Review: The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan October 8, 2013 Review rating 5/5 It just keeps getting better

And that’s something I’m very happy about. As I’ve said before, the first two books in the Heroes of Olympus saga were rather… wanting. While the original Percy Jackson and the Olympians was a very interesting chronicle of how our dear Percy managed to get everyone to hate him in record time, the overall mood for these books was too serious, too dense, and the books themselves a bit stuff...

Book Review: The Upside of Unrequited, by Becky Albertalli

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli April 11, 2017 Review rating 4/5 I believe Albertalli has done it again.

A bit over a month ago, I absolutely fell in love with Simon Vs. The Homo-sapiens Agenda, Becky Albertalli’s debut novel about a gay teen dealing with coming out in what’s likely the least stressing environment anyone has ever faced such dilemma in. Hungering for more of that incredibly happy, light on drama storytelling, I grabbed The Upside of Unrequited just a few da...

Book Review: Caliban’s War (Expanse #2), by James S. A. Corey

Caliban’s War The Expanse, #2 by James S. A. Corey June 26, 2012 Review rating 4/5 Whose’s war?

I came back to The Expanse faster than I originally expected. Thing is, I really enjoyed Leviathan Wakes, so from the moment I finished reading it I felt curious about how the story would go ahead – particularly now that a certain annoying, limerence-stricken main character was dead for good.

To be honest, the trip wasn’t much better this time around. It wasn’t bad either; there were just se...

Book Review: The Toyminator (Eddie Bear, #2) by Robert Rankin

The Toyminator Eddie Bear, #2 by Robert Rankin August 01, 2006 Review rating 3/5 Toytown was a fun place.

I’ll open my review of this book by stating a bit of a fact: I really liked The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. I liked it enough that I went and got a physical copy of the book to give to a friend, who also really liked it. It was funny, light-hearted, inventive, and completely absurd. It was great.

I also didn’t quite like The Toyminator or, at least I didn’t like it...

Book Review: Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1), by James S. A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes The Expanse, #1 by James S. A. Corey June 02, 2011 Review rating 4/5 I like my sci-fi light.

I’m usually cautious when it comes to sci-fi. I’ve never had a bad experience with it – in fact, one of my favorite novels (The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke) belongs square to that genre. However, I’m always afraid I’ll one day grab a sci-fi book and find instead of a novel a manual on how a warp drive spaceship is supposed to work. You all know the type: Sci-fi so har...