The Kinokuniya bookstore above Shinjuku Station in Tokyo has become one of my favorite stores for its excellent selection of English-language books. They have a really good sci-fi/fantasy section, and on a recent visit, they had a whole rack dedicated to recent award winners where I noticed the winner of a new award for African speculative fiction — the Nommo Award — and was intrigued enough to buy a copy. And let me just say that if there’s a better science fiction book this year […]
By the Stars We Hope
Earlier this year narfna posted her review of Record of a Spaceborn Few and in the comments she assured me that even less happens in this third installment of the Wayfarers series. I was delighted. It is generally acknowledged that science fiction takes our current major concerns and conflicts and sets them in the future, usually a more scientifically advanced future. Becky Chambers tweaks that a bit by having her characters preoccupied with the same minutia that preoccupies us all – our relationships, our work, our […]
Not flawless, but Binti and Katniss could totally hang
Usually when I review a book that’s already been covered on CBR multiple times, I try not to read anybody else’s reviews until mine is written. This time, however, I read everything the search function could find for me. I remembered from headlines that some people loved this Hugo/Nebula-winning book, and some people did not. I listened to the audio version on my way to Thanksgiving, and enjoyed it, so was curious what others thought. I think the audio version may have helped, having Binti […]
This series is so great, I can’t recommend it enough.
And the final Murderbot adventure is over. Well, not final, I guess, since there is going to be a Murderbot novel in 2020 (hooray!), but final FOR NOW. The initial arc of Murderbot becoming a person has concluded. We come full circle in Exit Strategy, with Murderbot traveling back to rescue Dr. Mensah, and teaming up with the initial group of humans from All Systems Red. Murderbot’s irrational grudge against Gurathin continues to give me life: “I don’t want to be a pet robot.” “I […]