K.N. Salustro's Blog, page 18

Review – The Fifth Season

[image error]What an incredible book!

I will admit it took me a couple of chapters to fall in love with this book, but I fell hard once I got to the second or third chapter. The prologue is very dense but paints the world in vivid colors, and the first chapter is written in second person POV, which I had a little trouble getting into when combined with the fragmented, feverish style of that chapter’s writing. Looking back, those stylistic choices make perfect sense, and I strongly, strongly encourage any...

Review – Copper Chain

[image error]4 stars on Goodreads, 3.5 in my mind.

The third installment of the Shifting Tides series, Copper Chain follows Silver Road. I think this third installment was better than Silver Road by far. The characters return to as they were in Golden Age, by which I mean they move through the story with far more agency, and it’s their personalities and decisions that dictate the flow of events. They’ve grown but they’re once again actively shaping their destinies and the world around them.

Chloe especial...

Star Federation Database: Dominant Hyrunian Species

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Hyrunians are one of the three dominant races of the galaxy, but the Hyrunian race consists of a number of subspecies. Only one of those subspecies is considered the “main” Hyrunian race, but because the dominant Hyrunian species is a reclusive race self-contained within their own boundaries, little is known about their culture and society. Explorers and diplomates are often forcefully pushed out of Hyrunian-controlled space, or fail to return from expeditions. Their fates remain unknown. Re...

Review – The ABC Murders

[image error]This is my second Agatha Christie read, and the first Hercule Piroit book I’ve read. I enjoyed it very much!

I was worried while reading that some of the interluding chapters were ruining the suspense, but they’re written in such a way as to be intriguing on their own. And with the final grand reveal, you learn exactly why you shouldn’t take anything from Agatha Christie at face value.

I really enjoyed Piroit as a character, too. He’s definitely arrogant, but he does have the brains to back i...

Review – Cloudbound

[image error]Before you read this review, take a moment to appreciate this cover art with me.

I drool over this cover art. I think it’s stunning.

Now, to get into the book itself, this is the sequel to Updraft, which I really enjoyed. In some ways, Cloudbound is better. In some ways it’s worse. Oddly enough, there were a LOT of typos throughout this book, which was so strange considering how tightly written Updraft was. And this time around, I had a great deal of trouble with spatial thinking and understa...

Review – An Accident of Stars

[image error]This was… not good. It was not terrible, but typos and formatting errors aside, it could have been so much better. I found myself wanting to shelve it under Did Not Finish at several points, but the flashes of good plot / character moments kept me going. Those were few and far between, though.

The author does a good job of making a very inclusive, wide-ranging cast, but at times, it felt more like a checklist of elements to incorporate rather than actual characters impacting the story through...

Action & Some Words

In light of recent events in this country and the emboldenment of white supremacist groups, I wanted to take this week to give some attention to two groups that actively work against this evil.

They are the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Anti Defamation League.

Both do great work, and I’m hoping that you’ll join me in making a donation to one, both, or another organization like them. It may be hard to believe that we have a very real need for groups like, but if you’ve spent some time l...

Star Federation Database: Mezoran Law

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For information on the planet, see Mezora. For information on the dominant species, see Mezoran Species.

Mezoran law is best explained through its emphasis on the truth. Following the last Warring Period, Mezoran leaders sought a way to unite and rebuild the decimated population, and established a justice system that would severely punish anyone who threatened Mezoran unity. This includes using falsehoods or mistruths to further personal gain. The system remains in place today, and while mo...

Thoughts on “Brilliance”

[image error]So this book went on my Did Not Finish shelf, but not because I think it’s a bad book. In a lot of ways, I actually think it was very good.

High points include:

A clear prose style Really nice character interactions between the protagonist and his children Even better character interactions between the protagonist and his ex-wife, with whom he has a good relationship with, even if their marriage did not work out A very cool concept centered around the idea of “gifted” humans, also known as “...

Review – In the Woods

[image error]5 stars on Goodreads, 4.5 in my mind.

Wow.

So I don’t often read murder mysteries. It’s not really my favorite genre, and I tend to not enjoy the criminal investigation stuff I sometimes try to watch when it comes on TV. I guess that filtered into my reading habits, so when I picked up a copy of In the Woods, I did not expect to actually like the book.

To say I was surprised is an understatement.

It starts a little slow, with Adam Ryan–the main character and narrator–taking his sweet time to...