Toby

Toby is currently reading The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, #732) by C.C. Finlay (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In A Wide Sky, Hidden, William Ledbetter. Another trans/post-humanism science fiction piece. Kid wants to be an explorer when he grows up, robots took his job. Galaxy's a big place, so he gets the job anyway. His sister's an artist; is a natural deat ...more
Apr 01, 2019 11:20AM · 1 like · like · see review
Toby is on page 163 of 258 of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, #732) by C.C. Finlay (Goodreads Author) progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 01, 2019 11:15AM · like · see status
Toby is currently reading The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, #732) by C.C. Finlay (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In A Wide Sky, Hidden, William Ledbetter. Another trans/post-humanism science fiction piece. Kid wants to be an explorer when he grows up, robots took his job. Galaxy's a big place, so he gets the job anyway. His sister's an artist; is a natural deat ...more
Mar 20, 2019 07:41AM · 1 like · like · see review
Toby rated a book really liked it Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Mar 19, 2019 07:54AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Seveneves by Neal Stephenson <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Toby is currently reading Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February 2019 (Vol 139, Nos. 1&2) by Trevor Quachri	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
"Ring Wave," Jolly, Tom. Cover story (novelette). Planet-killer asteroid takes out Earth. Plucky would-be survivors surf the impact's "ring wave" into orbit and try to survive. Is there a name for this genre of Space Disaster, like The Martian or Apo ...more
Jan 30, 2019 10:50AM · like · see review
Toby rated a book liked it Death's Heretic (Pathfinder Tales) by James L. Sutter (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Pathfinder Tales series is the fiction line that supports the Pathfinder fantasy role-playing game, a Dungeons & Dragons clone (literally, based on the open-source 3rd-edition rules). Its primary purpose is to drive sales for the game books, ...more
Jan 27, 2019 08:25PM · like · see review
Toby rated a book really liked it The Paul Chowder Chronicles: The Anthologist and Traveling Sprinkler, Two Novels (The Paul Chowder Chronicles #1-2) by Nicholson Baker	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Anthologist There's something about the way Nicholson Baker puts a microscope to the English language that make this plotless poetry textbook masquerading as a novel engaging and necessary. I've always loved reading Baker. His prose is obsessive, h ...more
Jan 15, 2019 07:48PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Paul Chowder Chronicles by Nicholson Baker. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Paul Chowder Chronicles by Nicholson Baker <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Toby rated a book it was ok Shadowrun #2: Poison Agendas A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun) by Stephen Kenson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Shadowrun is one of those underdog stories where you're happy to see it succeed but you're more than a little surprised. A tabletop roleplaying game first and foremost, Shadowrun's been around since the late 1980s, a weird blend of fantasy tropes wit ...more
Jan 05, 2019 07:20PM · like · see review
Toby is currently reading Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February 2019 (Vol 139, Nos. 1&2) by Trevor Quachri	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 03, 2019 04:27PM · 1 like · like
Toby rated a book it was amazing Dragons of a Vanished Moon (Dragonlance: The War of Souls, #3) by Margaret Weis (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
At a certain age, it's easy to look for allegory where none might exist. Are the Dragonlance elves surrogates for the Jewish people? Is the celestial clockwork of Krynn's metaphysics a lesson in Tracy Hickman's Mormon faith? Who cares. Dragons of a Van ...more
Jan 03, 2019 07:41AM · like · see review

Toby is currently reading

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 by C.C. Finlay

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, #732)
by C.C. Finlay (Goodreads Author)

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In A Wide Sky, Hidden, William Ledbetter. Another trans/post-humanism science fiction piece. Kid wants to be an explorer when he grows up, robots took his job. Galaxy's a big place, so he gets the job anyway. His sister's an artist; is a natural deat ...more

Toby is on page 163 of 258 of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, #732)
by C.C. Finlay (Goodreads Author)

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Toby is currently reading

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August 2017 (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, #732)
by C.C. Finlay (Goodreads Author)

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In A Wide Sky, Hidden, William Ledbetter. Another trans/post-humanism science fiction piece. Kid wants to be an explorer when he grows up, robots took his job. Galaxy's a big place, so he gets the job anyway. His sister's an artist; is a natural deat ...more

Toby rated a book really liked it

Seveneves
by Neal Stephenson (Goodreads Author)

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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

There's a folk origin for the military salute that posits that it arose when knights wore visored helmets and had to raise them in order to see or be seen. This may or may not be true, but Neal Stephenson takes the opportunity in Seveneves to make it ...more

Toby is currently reading

Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February 2019 by Trevor Quachri

Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February 2019 (Vol 139, Nos. 1&2)
by Trevor Quachri

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"Ring Wave," Jolly, Tom. Cover story (novelette). Planet-killer asteroid takes out Earth. Plucky would-be survivors surf the impact's "ring wave" into orbit and try to survive. Is there a name for this genre of Space Disaster, like The Martian or Apo ...more

Toby rated a book liked it

Death's Heretic (Pathfinder Tales)
by James L. Sutter (Goodreads Author)

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The Pathfinder Tales series is the fiction line that supports the Pathfinder fantasy role-playing game, a Dungeons & Dragons clone (literally, based on the open-source 3rd-edition rules). Its primary purpose is to drive sales for the game books, ...more

Toby rated a book really liked it

The Paul Chowder Chronicles by Nicholson Baker

The Paul Chowder Chronicles: The Anthologist and Traveling Sprinkler, Two Novels (The Paul Chowder Chronicles #1-2)
by Nicholson Baker

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The Anthologist

There's something about the way Nicholson Baker puts a microscope to the English language that make this plotless poetry textbook masquerading as a novel engaging and necessary.

I've always loved reading Baker. His prose is obsessive, h ...more

Toby rated a book it was ok

Shadowrun #2: Poison Agendas A Shadowrun Novel (Shadowrun)
by Stephen Kenson

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Shadowrun is one of those underdog stories where you're happy to see it succeed but you're more than a little surprised. A tabletop roleplaying game first and foremost, Shadowrun's been around since the late 1980s, a weird blend of fantasy tropes wit Shadowrun is one of those underdog stories where you're happy to see it succeed but you're more than a little surprised. A tabletop roleplaying game first and foremost, Shadowrun's been around since the late 1980s, a weird blend of fantasy tropes with (what was then) edgy dystopian cyberpunk science fiction. So you have Trolls with cybernetic limbs, spell casting urban elves, and dwarf vehicle hackers. It was a hoot; I was always a fan and it's still an ongoing concern though current management is about as incompetent as possible while still putting books on shelves and keeping the lights on.

This book is the second of a trilogy that was supposed to be a reboot of the franchise's fiction line in 2005-ish after laying fallow for a few years. I have my doubts it was successful, as it was followed by only a handful more before the project dried up again. (Shadowrun fiction got underway again from 2010-2017 but almost exclusively as a line of epub/PDF fiction+game accessory titles.)

Maybe the best thing you can say about this book is that it's short. Stephen Kenson picks up with his entirely forgettable ingenue, Kellan Colt, from the first book of the series, Born To Run. Kellan's a 19-year-old young woman, of "medium height" with brown "medium-length" hair. She's slender, has recently discovered an aptitude for magic, and makes her living as a shadowrunner, the titular brand of extralegal mercenary after which the universe/game is named.

She's not particularly good at it, but she fails upward in the way only a good Mary Sue can, so I expect by the end of Kenson's next trilogy-ending novel, she'll be President. For now though, her goal is to assemble a group of shadowrunners to take on a mission for some long-lost military ordinance left in a forest somewhere. Think Ocean's 11 but where you get bored of everyone Danny Ocean talks to and the job ends up being a big fuck-up.

I didn't expect much, since Kenson's previous title in this series wasn't any good either. Besides what seems to be a pretty big plot hole (why couldn't Colt just astrally project to the mission site instead of taking a team there to be ambushed, since the whole point of the operation is ostensibly reconiassance) Kenson treats us to unnecessarily long dialogues ("Hi," he said. "Hey," she said. "What's up?" he asked. "Nothing much," she answered), characters who are one-dimensional tropes that actually complain about one-dimensional tropes ("I hate these dwarf guys who pretend to be fantasy characters," said the elf blade master who just finished training the protagonist in his elf sword-guy dojo), and mysteries we don't give two fucks about ("Who is Kellan Colt's mother," asked no one ever, "and what is the significance of her amulet?") and don't get resolved anyway.

But hey, there's another book to wrap everything up. Can't wait. ...more

Toby is currently reading

Analog Science Fiction and Fact January/February 2019 (Vol 139, Nos. 1&2)
by Trevor Quachri

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Toby rated a book it was amazing

Dragons of a Vanished Moon by Margaret Weis

Dragons of a Vanished Moon (Dragonlance: The War of Souls, #3)
by Margaret Weis (Goodreads Author)

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At a certain age, it's easy to look for allegory where none might exist. Are the Dragonlance elves surrogates for the Jewish people? Is the celestial clockwork of Krynn's metaphysics a lesson in Tracy Hickman's Mormon faith?

Who cares.

Dragons of a Van At a certain age, it's easy to look for allegory where none might exist. Are the Dragonlance elves surrogates for the Jewish people? Is the celestial clockwork of Krynn's metaphysics a lesson in Tracy Hickman's Mormon faith?

Who cares.

Dragons of a Vanished Moon brings Weis & Hickman's last Dragonlance trilogy, the "War of Souls", to an end. I'm almost sad to again leave the world these two have created, knowing that this time, it's really over. Margaret Weis wrote an additional trilogy of Dragonlance books that follow on from these without Tracy Hickman, and there exists a back catalog universe of 170+ shovelware paperbacks with the Dragonlance logo, but this ending is truly the ending of the characters conceived and made Heroes of the Lance some 30-plus years ago.

I have no idea what the distribution of duties is when Weis & Hickman co-author a book. Is one of them in charge of plot and the other writes the prose? Does one write dialogue and the other exposition? Do they trade off chapter-by-chapter? I have read at least two dozen novels by these collaborators between Dragonlance and their other fantasy series, and to me they may as well be a single creative force.

The writing is fast, since the story has all the hallmarks of having been tightly plotted and intricately outlined. They have a tendency to repeat character descriptions and bits of exposition frequently, which comes off not as redundant but as reinforcement. They frequently inject humor (sometimes outright comedy) into their work through one ridiculous character or another, but that is paused to a large extent here and everyone plays it straight.

That the "War of Souls" brings a fantasy world of magic, elves, and noble knights to the brink of apocalypse is almost beside the point. Dragons of a Vanished Moon is fantasy adventure written by masters of that craft, and it is a hell of a fun thing to read.

Compared to other current fantasy, it lacks "grim and gritty" and stays solidly PG (maybe PG-13 for violence); the narrative is tight (the authors don't need to engage in extensive world building though a short appendix describes some fantasy metaphysics) and is epic within its footprint; it happily plays on the tropes with which it was built (elves and gnomes and ogres; dragons, of course, and Gods that Walk Among Man). It is not edgy, or deconstructive, it is what it says on the cover.

For fans of the authors and the Dragonlance world, it's as good as it could be, and I'm glad I read it. ...more