System Collapse by Martha Wells

March 4, 2024

Murderbot, the rogue SecUnit, is back for another adventure, only this time, something traumatic has happened to it, causing it to experience false memories and flashbacks. Worse, its breakdown happened in front of the crew, ART, and another SecUnit, so everyone knows something is wrong. Both its mechanical and organic parts are affected, and it makes Murderbot question whether it can do its job. For the first time, it is afraid to go into unknown situations, that it will freeze and be unable to protect its humans. And Murderbot has more humans than ever to look after, and is starting to care about many of them.

Love the Murderbot series! It's been a while since the last book, so it takes the reader a few chapters to get back into the story (stick with it, it's worth it). Wells revisits many of our favorites characters, including ART, the Asshole Research Transport and Murderbot's best friend. We get to see Murderbot's human side here, which just makes me love it even more. I'm so sad that I have to wait another year for the next book. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys science fiction and fantasy.

Terraforming a new planet

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

December 4, 2022

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

Lydia Southwell is a translator for the Logi cultural attache, Fitzwilliam (not his real name, but as close as possible in English). Translating from English to Logi is exhausting and leaves the translator feeling drunk. After having a public meltdown, Lydia takes a short vacation home to England, then returns to New York to resume her duties. After a cultural event and banquet, Lydia wakes up the next morning to discover that Fitzwilliam has been murdered and that she is the prime suspect.

Confusing plot as conspiracy books often are. There are a lot of peripheral characters who are red herrings or have no bearing on the plot at all (like Lydia's brother Gil and his friend Rank), who are in the story briefly and then just fade away. It all turns out to be an elaborate set-up, a lot of the characters turn out to be actors, and there is actually just one person behind the murder. The reader is left wondering why. Overall rating: meh.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore

June 10, 2022

Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore

The characters from Christopher Moore's Noir are back for a new adventure. In post World War II San Francisco, Sammy Two-Toes Tiffin, his pals from Cookie's Coffee, and his girlfriend Stilton (aka The Cheese) are following new pursuits. Sammy and Eddie are trying to open a driving school while saving Eddie's uncle's opium den from falling into the hands of a vicious gangster. Stilton and her gal pals from the welding crew are especially up to something mysterious at night, after they get done slinging hash at their daytime gigs. Plus there is a new head of SFPD vice who is cracking down on activities like Mabel and the girls from her brothel going up to the state hospital for the annual Christmas party, like they do every December. There might also be a dragon who is waking up from a long sleep, ready to wreak havoc on the city.

This is a really fun sequel to Noir. There is so much happening that there's no way to describe it and do it justice. How can you not love a book where the highest compliment a man can give a woman is to call her a stand-up dame? Fast, funny, zany.

What Cookie's Coffee must have been like in 1940's San Francisco

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

May 11, 2021

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

The planet Gora is totally unremarkable. It has no air, no water, no plants or wildlife. But its location at the crossroads of several galactic wormholes that connect the galaxy have made Gora the equivalent of a galactic truck stop. It's a place to refuel, pick up some snacks and supplies, get a transit permit, and stretch your legs (if you have legs).

Several vessels are docked at the Five Hop One Stop when a technology glitch forces three travelers from different species to remain on the planet for longer than they had planned. During their wait for the malfunction to be corrected, they are forced to confront questions about who they are, where have they been, and where are they going, as well as their feelings about alien species.

This is the fourth and final book in the Wayfarers series, and I'm really sorry to see it end. The first and fourth books are the best in the series. I look forward to reading the new series that Becky Chambers has planned.

Per Becky Chambers, a galactic wormhole is a shortcut from one part of the galaxy to another

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

September 19, 2019

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Rosemary Harper needs a fresh start, so she scams her way into a job as a clerk on a tunneling ship, the Wayfarer.  The crew turns out to be a collection of oddballs (the aliens are strange, but so are the humans) who depend on each other for – well, everything.  Rosemary learns that real family aren’t necessarily the people that you’re related to.

And one of the crewmembers appears to be in love with the ship’s AI, Lovey.

An absolutely great read!  Terrific world building, complete with an assortment of alien races, characters that you fall in love with and wish they were your friends, minute attention to detail that makes the story come alive.  Yes, there is a little inter-species sex but it’s tasteful and not graphic at all. You may cry a bit after the ship is attacked in Toremi territory (the small angry planet of the title).

Great fanart of the Wayfarer crew by SebasP

From the left:  Ohan, Ashby, Sissix, Rosemary, Dr. Chef, Kizzy, Jenks, Corbin

This is science fiction for people who don’t read or enjoy science fiction, not for the hardcore sci fi reader, and it's the first book in the Wayfarer trilogy.  I would put it in the same category as The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell; All Systems Red by Martha Wells; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline; The Martian by Andy Weir; and Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.  I can't wait to read the next book.