And the Mighty Will Fall • The Fifth Season • Rook • The Obelisk Gate • Soulless • The Scourge Between Stars* • The Stone Sky • Penric's Demon • Starter Villain • (The Library of the Unwritten) • The Appeal
trying a new picture format this month via Storygraph!
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And the Mighty Will Fall - I had fun! Which is really all I can say, tbh. When I finished the third book back in 2023 I said I didn't know if the author planned to write more books in the NeoG series, but I would be happy if that was where she ended... and that still stands true. I enjoyed this book, but it didn't really feel necessary or like it added to the story. It went really hard on the Die Hard plot, yall XD At least with the big time jump from the previous book it had a good reason to explain a lot of things to me that I'd forgotten.
The Fifth Season - finally read this! A solidly good series that really held my attention and has given me a lot to think about, even if it's not going to be a favorite (which seems to be a common thread with Jemisin for me)
Rook - unofficially Jackaby #5, which I had never read! And wasn't super worth it, tbh. Reading this really cemented the fact that I didn't have a bad time rereading the original series because they were rereads. Not to repeat myself from my comments on Jackaby in December, but if we could have taken some plot points from this (and book 4) and turned them into book 3.5 it would have been great and made a lot more sense. As it is, watching Abigail having to struggle to find her feet yet again was not an interesting read.
Soulless - I was forewarned that these weren't particularly serious books, but I admit I found this a bit sillier than expected! Not fully to my taste but close enough to be amusing, so I will probably pick up the next book at some point (spoiler: I did).
The Scourge Between Stars - It was fine? It was fine. I certainly had a ok enough time reading this, but if you think about it at all there's not a lot of substance, just a little Alien-ish thrill. Not one I'd go out of my way to recommend, there's more interesting generation ship and space thrillers out there.
Penric's Demon - so fun! Honestly, mildly-antagonistic-evil-voice-in-my-head is one of my favorite things and it's hard to do wrong XD And of course I already loved the author's World of the Five Gods novels, I can't wait to continue the series. Would recommend, but ideally after you read the novels.
Starter Villain - there was lots of debate over which Scalzi novel should be my first, and I think this was the correct choice! I was indeed very delighted by the cats and the dolphins and the silliness of the villainy, but there was a... tone? to the writing and character voice that I didn't love and was exacerbated by the audiobook narrator. If more of his books were accessible via audiobook from the library I might still give them a shot, but at this point I don't think acquiring them elsewhere is worth my effort or money.
The Library of the Unwritten - honestly, probably a little to soon to reread this (I originally read it Oct 2024), but we're doing the second book for book club as well and I wanted to try it out on audiobook instead of print. It took me two tries but I did get through it! It was fine, but not interesting as a reread, and I could probably have skipped it so soon.
The Appeal - I had such a good time with The Twyford Code a few years ago, I figured it was time to give another Hallett book a try and boy did I love it! I already love a good mystery and unique story formats, but I also admit I can be a sucker for gossip and the interpersonal drama of random strangers (for example, Ask a Manager is my kryptonite - send help). Reading through all of the texts and emails trying to figure out what, exactly, was making the whole thing smell fishy was a such a delight and gave the whole book a slow subtle tension that I loved, even as the book felt like it would never end. Not to mention who dies!!! Would very much recommend.
Last November we read Behind the Throne as our Sci-Fi Month readalong book, the first book in the Indranan War trilogy. This January we are reading on with the second book!
You can read more about this readalong and where to find each weeks questions here.
Week 2 Responses: Lisa from Dear Geek Place | Ariana from The Book Nook | Mayri from BookForager | Imyril from There is Always Room For One…
May Book Reviews: There Before The Chaos by KB Wagers
Picked this one up as a random library book acquisition. Hail Bristol is secure as the Empress of Indrana after a brutal civil war. Unfortunately, she's about to be launched into intergalactic politics, as she's being maneuvered into intervening into a centuries-long war between two alien groups.
I read book one in the series a while ago (long enough to forget most of the details). This is supposed to be book 1 of a new series following the first trilogy, and it suffers for it. A lot of time is spent recapping old plot points and establishing the status quo. For a relatively long book (nearly five hundred pages), There Before The Chaos doesn't do much with that length besides introduce the new situation and add additional characters. By the end of the book, we don't get any real resolution to any of the plot threads, just a cliffhanger.
Not appealing enough to jump into as a standalone. For hardened series fans only who'd like to learn more about Hail's extended career.
The NeoG, Near-Earth Orbiting Guard, are a space version of the U.S. Coast Guard (or, I guess, now the Space Guard?). This book is specifically about the crew of Zuma’s Ghost, and they are very much looking forward to the next Boarding Games, a competition between all the different branches of the armed services, since they only barely lost the previous year. But, it’s not all fun and games and bonding for the crew. A mission goes sideways, and, suddenly there’s strife, and danger, and whew…
It was such a fun read. It had awesome and unique characters that I found myself caring about, and, the science-y part of the science fiction was very fun to read. It reminded me a lot of The Expanse books too, which I liked, so, not surprising that I liked this one too.
You may like this book If you Liked: The Point by John Dixon, Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon, or Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
A Pale Light in the Black: A Neog Novel by K.B. Wagers
