Kartik’s Reviews > The Book of Dragons > Status Update

“Pox” by Ellen Klages - 2/5

I’m sorry but what the fuck was the point of this story? It really did not feel fantastical or magical at all! Just a contemporary story with like 0.001% of a hint of magic thrown in. I think it was trying to be fairy tale esque but I was just completely uninterested. And as a vegetarian, the constant descriptions of meat didn’t help, just made the story more annoying to read imo.

I totally did not forget that I was reading this 😅

Habitat by K. J. Parker - DNF

The lack of quotation marks and constant time jumps made it really confusing for me to understand what was going on and when. I wasn't enjoying what I was reading so I decided to just cut my losses and move on.

Where the River Turns to Concrete by Brooke Bolander - 3/5

I can acknowledge that this story is decently crafted but the main character was too passive for me. And while I can see how other people could fall in love with the romance/relationship, for me personally it didn't do a whole lot. Still, I'd be interested in picking up more by this author for sure 👍

A Whisper of Blue by Ken Liu - 4/5

This was WONDERFUL! It felt so whimsical despite being set in modern day. I loved all of the alternate history bits and the narrative voice of the story being a documentary felt really inspired. This was just really well done.

Yuli by Daniel Abraham - 1/5

What was the point of this one? I didn’t get it at all

Hikayat Sri Bujang by Zen Cho - 3/5

This one was interesting enough and decenctly written, I just didn't get the point of it lol. To love this story you need to be invested in the characters and I just wasn't :(

Matriculation by Elle White - 3/5

The worldbuilding was cool but I don't think there was enough emotional investment for the payoff to have any sort of impact on me.