I always enjoy thought experiments with alien cultures with different values. This one was … well, very Yudkowsky-ish, which to me isn't only good in a story. It's still very enjoyable. Babyeathers and Super Happy People, y'all.
Dune is a classic scifi novel, which can mean it's anywhere between breathtaking genius and hardly accessible anymore. I found it a bit difficult to get into at first, similar to Ancillary Justice. Once I grew used to the storytelling device of an aggressively all-knowing narrator (frequently giving both/all inner views to all sides of a conversation), the world-building was fascinating, and despite the extensive narrator-explanations the reader is forced to make connections themself. My only misgiving was that large parts of the plot were too laid-out: the Mary-Sue protagonist, the evil antagonists, the good Fremen warriors etc. I hope that further parts in the series alleviate the clear-cut morals and abilities of the characters a bit. I'm looking forward to it – the world-building was exemplary. (Also, I can finally watch the movie now.)
While it was intense to see one of my nightmares written down, somehow it still didn't manage to capture me. Style and time didn't speak to me, even as the setting did.
Very very nearly a five-star book for me due to the ending, and I enjoyed it much more than the first volume. The story of Olamina told by herself, but commented on by her daughter, is really something. The pacing is outstanding and not very conventional (meaning you don't anticipate how the story is going to evolve and end). I was happy and impressed to follow Olamina through her budding community, her imprisonment, pregnancy, and founding a religion.
Throughly enjoyable and witty. It's mostly Ada Palmer's fault I read this, but this is definitely the earliest space-faring fiction I know about.
Influx by Daniel Suarez was disappointing, especially since I enjoyed Daemon f. – Influx bore all the marks of a sub-par action movie, with one Deus ex Machina chasing the next, random high-powered technology spawning all along, a big reveal (oh no! everybody knew!), and characters who are flat, and either Good™ or Evil™. It didn't help that I disagreed fundamentally with the barely-veiled message Suarez tries to bring across (don't ever hide innovation, kids, or you may bring about the end of the world). Even the writing was way over-the-top to make readers see every scene as part of a generic action movie. Very meh.
Brothers in Arms is the fifth part (in order of publishing) of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga and I enjoyed it immensely. After the previous volumes vaguely related tales, we finally return to Miles and his crew. It's been seven years (!!!. Where are the stories about those years? Well, at least one later volume takes place in the space between.), and it's brilliant. Miles is still the protagonist with the most absolute forward momentum, and the story has no clear villain, the characters are ambiguous, the narrator is only nearly reliable, and the plot is just tremendous amounts of fun. It really says something when you see that a series has 16 volumes + minor works and you're relieved because it won't be over quite so soon.
Okay, wow, this book had me discussing and screaming at it a lot. People die. People nearly die. Some of those deaths I was not at all okay with.
Bull and Sam. And nearly Naomi. I swear I'd have stopped reading the book and the series if Naomi had died.
Discovering the background of the protomolecule, the history, the vast other worlds out there, and the threat was awesome. Seeing both personal and political interactions in the crisis in a closed-off environment, too. God this series is brilliant.