Justine’s Comments (group member since Jan 27, 2015)

Justine’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

Christine, that copy of Malice you linked to...did you mean to link to the one by John Gwynne?

I've been reading the Throne of Glass series and I'm currently on book 4, Queen of Shadows. It's turned out to be a very enjoyable YA fantasy series:)

Sorry you didn't like The Raft, Christine. I liked it, but I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone. Malice is good, but the next two books in the series, Valour and Ruin are excellent, so keep that in mind if you decide to read the series. I haven't read Otherbound yet but I'm sure it will be excellent if On the Edge of Gone is any indication.

Here are the SFF books I have been reading recently -

HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt- I finished this one and would recommend it; it is pretty creepy actually and has a similar feel to some old style King.

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard - this is a YA fantasy novel starting a new series. It was OK, but not great for me. I can't really recommend it without reservations, although a lot of people really did like it a lot more than I did. The magic system was pretty interesting, but the characters were only moderately so and there were way too many plot lines floating around at once.

Starflight by Melissa Landers - this is a really entertaining YA romantic adventure SF that is heavy on the adventure and light on the actual science. If you enjoyed Firefly, you might enjoy this book. I would recommend this one.

Dissension by Stacey Berg - this is a solid post apocalyptic tale about a cloned female warrior who starts to question herself and her place in the system she is helping to keep intact. The book is low key but well executed, and a nice surprise from a new author.

Arena by Holly Jennings - I can't really recommend this one either. It was OK on the entertainment scale I guess, but ultimately there are so many problems with this book it's probably easier if I just put a link to my review and if you are interested you can read more about them there:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Daughters of Ruin by K.D. Castner - solid YA political fantasy told in four alternating POV's. The story didn't have a lot of surprises but I thought the writing was good, particularly for a debut novel. I would recommend giving this one a try. Whether you like it would depend on whether the author's writing style appeals to you because from the other reviews, it seems that is where a lot of people were put off. It worked for me though.

I'm currently reading Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.

It's funny that you say that Ian because as I was reading it yesterday I was thinking that the tone reminds me a bit of Pet Sematary:)

Children of Time was one of my favourite books last year, it's absolutely brilliant. I haven't read The Glorious Angels, but I keep meaning to get around to it.

Here is what I've been reading lately:

Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan - this is a YA fantasy standalone loosely based on a retelling of A Tale of Two Cities. I didn't think it was very good though, so I wouldn't recommend it unless you happen to be a real fan of this author.

Zeroboxer by Fonda Lee - a YA SF standalone on the Andre Norton shortlist for 2015. I thought this one was very good. I'm not a sports fan, but the story here kept my interest and the world building was quite good. I thought it held its own amongst the other very impressive books that made the shortlist. (Those are here, for anyone who is interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...)

Ruin by John Gwynne - this is the third book in the epic fantasy series The Faithful and the Fallen. Although the storyline in this series isn't very original, it is very good and well told, particularly in books 2 and 3, where the writing and the pacing improved markedly over book 1. I would recommend this one if you like epic fantasy. The final book in the series comes out in December, so you can read the whole thing this year even:)

Double Dead by Chuck Wendig- vampire wakes up to find that zombie apocalypse has occured. The tropes aren't very original but the genre mash up itself is and is done quite well. The story falls apart a bit towards the end, but overall it was entertaining and was well written. I would recommend this if you like your zombie apocalypse books.

I'm currently reading HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt with Viv!

Hi Ian...welcome to the group:)

I reread Golden Son right before reading Morning Star; I agree it was a great finish to the series. I'm really looking forward to Iron Gold:)

Lol:) Lindsay I don't have high hopes to be honest but I might enjoy it more going in with lowered expectations.

Here is what I've been reading lately:

I finished The Rose & the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh, the conclusion to the duology that started with The Wrath & the Dawn. It tied up the storyline fine, but it felt a bit rushed to me and I didn't like it as much as the first book. Overall, though, I liked the duology as a whole.

The Map of Bones by Francesca Haig - this is the second book in The Fire Sermon trilogy. I liked the book fine, but WOW, it was really, really, depressing. The post-nuclear setting, the story, everything about it was absolutely sad and depressing. The series itself is pretty well written though, and I'm planning to read the final book when it comes out next year.

Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh - this one I can't recommend. At all. This was McIntosh's first foray into YA and it just didn't work as far as I'm concerned. Firstly, the book reads like it was written by someone who thought "this is how you write YA" and feels like the author is really talking down to an audience that he feels is less sophisticated than him. Secondly, the story itself just kind of falls apart about 2/3 of the way through and the end is a mess. There are much better YA books in the SF genre out there.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston - this is a contemporary YA book about a teenage cheerleader who is drugged and raped while she is away at a cheerleading camp. The book deals with the subject in an idealized way, but it is excellent, and extremely well written. I would recommend this book if you have any interest in contemporary YA. Johnston is the author of the fantasy book A Thousand Nights, which is also excellent.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley - this is a book lots of people love, but for me it was just OK. The backstory is given in the form of letters written by the main character to herself because she has lost her memory. It's an interesting technique, but to me it felt like too much of an info-dumping device, particularly in the first half of the book. Also, the humour felt a bit misplaced to me. But, as I said, I seem to be in the minority, because a lot of people loved this book and although I wanted to, I just didn't. I was just OK for me.

The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier - this is a standalone YA fantasy novel (yay!) It's a quiet fantasy with no romance sub-plot and I actually liked it quite a bit. I would recommend it if you are a fan of old style Robin McKinley, particularly books like Chalice, as it had a similar type of feel to it although perhaps a bit less developed than McKinley at her best.

Railhead by Philip Reeve - this is another standalone novel. So, above when I was saying that there are better YA novels in the SF genre? Well this is one of them. It absolutely puts Burning Midnight to shame. This book is fabulous and I completely recommend it. It is incredibly imaginative, the worldbuilding is first rate and the story is fast paced from start to finish. This book and The Lie Tree were my favourite reads this month to date.

The Raft by Fred Strydom - this is a very interesting book and one of those that you can't really talk about too much without giving the whole story away. It is a real mind trip type of story and probably would be enjoyed by people who like a bit of a mystery. I haven't finished my review on this one since I just finished it tonight. I'm still kind of thinking about it. It was good though.

Next up for me to read is Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan.

Yes I think this is one of those books that in a way is like pile of pick up sticks - there's a great big jumble of ideas in here and if you start pulling out too many at a time the entire ting just falls apart in a big mess. Maybe not the best analogy, but I think now that you've read it, you understand what I mean. Pulling out one idea and elucidating on it might have thrown the balance off on the rest of the story. I'll be interested to read your review on this one Mark:)

Thank you Viv:) I had some things I had written about this book from when I read it back in September to draw on. I'm really interested to see what some of the other members think because this book really seems to be something you either love or hate.

Great Christine! I look forward to hearing how you enjoyed them:)

Morning Star is awesome! I read it as soon as it came out this year after painfully waiting for it since the cliffhanger ending in Golden Son.

Here's what I've been reading in the last week or so:

I finished Going Dark by Linda Nagata - this was the last book in The Red trilogy. It was OK, but suffered a bit in comparison to the previous two books because it lacked a bit of the emotional content the other two had. Not a bad finish though, and I would recommend the trilogy for people who like near future military SF.

On the Edge of Gone - by Corinne Duyvis - this is a very good standalone book about an autistic girl who tries to secure a place on a generation ship for herself and her family after the Earth is devastated by the impact of a comet. A nice undertaking of the theme of what constitutes usefulness in society, and done quite differently.

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge - what can I say? It won Costa Book of the Year 2015 for a reason. Hardinge is in top form and I completely recommend this one to everyone.

Shatter Me, Unravel Me and Ignite Me - the Shatter Me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi - this is a YA series about a girl whose touch means death to those around her. It has an outline of a war/revolution story, but really it is at its heart a relationships and romance book and it does that part very well. So, I would recommend these if you like YA romance dystopia.

And speaking of romance, I am currently reading the desert fantasy The Rose & the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh.

I'm kind of laughing as I look at this list of books as it's probably easy to see that that I read pretty indescriminately widely in the SFF genre:)

I read this book last September and loved it. The conversations between Steve and Carolyn were so well done and were one of my favourite parts.

Although it is true that it proceeds quickly and there is a lot going on, I didn't think it was too much and it still fell together. The last part of the book was really Carolyn working out her issues after her successful coup. I thought it was good that although she mentions factions moving against her and other things going on, that is kept strictly peripheral, otherwise it could have become muddled.

Carolyn showed that she had really lost touch with her humanity from being in the Library too long and spending all her time planning her revenge. Or, rather, the problem of becoming all-powerful had left her unable to recall and empathize with the "small problems" of the mere mortal living creatures of the Earth. But then I think we saw her regain some of her feeling back in the end and that scene with Steve becoming the new sun was especially poignant.

I thought one of the turning points for her on this issue (her loss of her own humanity and ability to empathize with it) was actually when Naga referred to Steve as Great Hunter - it was such a shock to her to hear it, that I think it started her rewinding her thinking a little. She still had a ways to go, but I do think it might have been the little push that started things.

I thought the whole thing overall was very well executed. I wish I had had the time to reread it because I think this is the kind of book that would yield a lot on a reread when you had more knowledge in advance of what was to come.

I don't think there is any general hate of the ending; one person felt it came off perhaps a bit too convenient, but other than that, I don't think there were any complaints here.

I just finished Nemesis Games, so I'm all caught up on The Expanse books now and ready for Babylon's Ashes.

I'm now reading Going Dark by Linda Nagata, the final book in The Red trilogy.

I have read this one before and I will be following the discussion.

I've finished as few books recently:

Half Lost by Sally Green, the last book in the Half Bad trilogy. I know there was a bit of controversy around the way the author chose to end the story, but I thought it was really good. I think the series as a whole is great and I would recommend it.

The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury; this is a retelling of the Aladdin and the lamp story but with the role of the jinni as a woman. It is a romance tale done well I thought with lots of very strong female characters.

Valour by John Gwynne, the second book in The Faithful and The Fallen series. I liked the first book, Malice, but this book is definitely superior. I would recommend that if you were wavering on the first book that you try the second before giving up on the series altogether.

Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson; this is an interesting book. It is for the most part a near future espionage tale, but then takes sort of a sharp turn into SF at about 80% through the book. It's intriguing anyway. The first book doesn't end on a cliffhanger per se, but it is definitely a set up book in the sense that the story arc does not come to a close. So keep that in mind. The second book, Europe at Midnight, is already out and just made the shortlist for the 2016 Clarke Award.

I think with Ancillary Justice you have to commit to reading the whole thing before you make a decision on it because it really is one of those books that everything comes together around the 75 percent mark and then just takes off. That's my feeling anyway; other people may want to chime in on that.