Unauthoritative Pronouncements

As I have written about previously, I have been trying to read more often to avoid filling my time entirely with social media, or entirely with the deluge of awful news that makes my anxiety spike. I suppose if those weren’t things that concerned you then you could just read for “fun” or something.

Scott McNulty does an excellent monthly round-up of books he’s read, and I like to refer to it for some guidance on books I might like to pick up. This is sort of like that.

• On Vicious Worlds (The Kindom Trilogy #2) by Bethany Jacobs ★★★★★ (Read on Jan 02, 2025) — This is an exceptionally weird space opera. Not weird because of sci-fi stuff, but weird because of the interpersonal relationships. I read These Burning Stars last November, and the third book comes out this December. I’m definitely onboard for it but I’m not sure it’s everyone’s cup of tea.
• The Mercy of Gods (The Captive’s War #1) by James S.A. Corey ★★★★☆ (Read on Feb 05, 2025) — I was on the fence about this one because everyone in The Incomparable book club said it was kind of a downer, but it’s an interesting downer. I don’t care about any of the characters except The Swarm. The alienness of everything makes it interesting. Obviously the title “(Captive’s War #1)” gives away that there won’t be a satisfying end to the book, and I can confirm that after having read it.
• Architects of Memory (The Memory War #1) by Karen Osborne ★★★★☆ (Read on March 1, 2025) — The Company situation borders on parody -if not for the reality we already live in that also borders on parody. The Vai are interesting, but implausible. Fortunately, most of the story is about these greedy, needy humans. It’s worth mentioned that I tried to pick up the second book in the series, but I did not like point of view character and stopped.
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★★ (Read on Feb 22, 2025) — I got around to reading a classic, and what can I say? It’s a classic. We get a real sense of an alien world that is distinctly human. Sure, the way gender is used in language is not really how we use gender in language today, but you can map it to what we would say these days and it is very modern.
• Moonbound by Robin Sloan ★★★★★ (Read on March 5, 2025) — I couldn’t put this book down. I’m glad I also got to go on a podcast to talk about how much I like it, because it’s my favorite book that I’ve read so far this year, just as Service Model was my favorite book I read last year. They are very different books. Moonbound is much more of a fairy tale with a far-future framework and Service Model is satire. I don’t love how Moonbound concludes, but the journey is certainly worth taking. It’s like Thundarr the Barbarian meets Ursula K. Le Guin.
• The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin ★★★★☆ (Read on April 16, 2025) — This is a very provocative book, but several sections were difficult for me to read because I dislike the protagonist (notably the party when the stuff happened that I won’t get into). I do appreciate that “utopia” is “ambiguous” but that also means the end of the book just kind sputters out after many dramatic situations have occurred. There is nothing to say about the outcome of the decisions, just that they have occurred.
• Not Till We Are Lost (Bobiverse #5) by Dennis Taylor ★★★☆☆ (Read on Jul 09, 2025) — These are very light, easy-to-read books where Dennis Taylor just spins out some weird idea and puts a lot of cringeworthy nerd humor around it. This was not a particularly strong entry.
• The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton ★★★★☆ (Read on Jul 19, 2025) — This is a solid book with a lot of interesting things going on. Our main character doesn’t seem very… bright, but he does have his moments. I like the politics and world/universe building that we witness here.
• Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky ★★★☆☆ (Read on Aug 18, 2025) — Unfortunately, this isn’t my favorite. The alien planet is innovative and intriguing, but the protagonist’s internal monologue is dull. So much of the book is taken up with it. The “Darkness” sections and the “Interludes” deflate some of the tension, because they turn it into a comedy of errors. Misunderstood communications in a farce, but farce isn’t the tone. This doesn’t possess the satirical humor of Service Model, despite how cartoonish The Concern is. It would make it more alien to not have access to Darkness and Interlude sections. Though, that would sadly leave us with more of the main character. This just isn’t my favorite Tchaikovsky novel.
• Human Resources by Adrian Tchaikovsky ★★★★★ (Read Jul 20, 2025) — This is thin, and light. Nothing will shock or surprise, but it was a good palette cleanser when it became available on Libby right after finishing Shroud.
• In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune ★★★★☆ (Read on Jul 27, 2025) — There are some things you just have to go with because they are poetic - not because they really make sense. If you’re going to get hung up on wooden, mechanical hearts, or the function of blood and memory, you’re not going to enjoy the witty banter between the robots, or the touching and tender moments between Vic and those around him. The overall plot does fall apart about 80% of the way into the book when a plan is revealed during a dramatic moment and that reveal really comes out of nowhere. It all came from “off screen” events we should have been witness to.
• Recursion by Blake Crouch ★★★★★ (Read on Aug 6, 2025) — Brilliantly plotted with rich, sorrowful, hopeful characters. The less you know about the book before you read it the better. It’s a twisty thriller with great characters, and that’s all you need to know.
• Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman #1) by Olivia Waite ★★★★★ (Read on Aug 11, 2025) — This was a fun, little detective story on a spaceship.
• Finder (Finder Chronicles #1) by Suzanne Palmer ★★★★★ (Read on Aug 24, 2025) — I loved this fun sort of detective/heist story with the implausibly named Fergus Ferguson. The world/universe building is rich, and also funny. Having just recently read all of them in the series, I would say that the first book remains my favorite.
• Driving the Deep (Finder Chronicles #2) by Suzanne Palmer ★★★★★ (Read on Aug 20, 2025) — If you need all the characters to carry forward from the previous book to the next, this is not the book series for you. Fergus Ferguson is back for another detective/heist story in a very isolated setting.
• The Scavenger Door (Finder Chronicles #3) by Suzanne Palmer ★★★★☆ (Read on Sep 6, 2025) — The previous book was a very isolated, narrow environment for Fergus to operate in, and this book is expansive with a series of ingenious mini-heists. Once all the heists are over the story is less interesting, despite the scale of the problem facing Fergus.
• Ghostdrift (Finder Chronicles #4) by Suzanne Palmer ★★★★☆ (Read on Sep 9, 2025) — More trouble for the trouble magnet. This book has a slow start, and space pirates that talk like the stereotypical seafaring variety are not the most interesting to me, but there’s a shift in locale that makes everything pretty interesting. Particularly the last third of this book. The final resolution doesn’t feel particularly final. I hope there’s more.

I’m currently catching up on some of Dan Moren’s Galactic Cold War short stories that I had bought and downloaded, but somehow never read. Shame on me. Then I got sidetracked when 1984 by George Orwell became available in Libby and now I get to wind down from the stress of the day by reading about that wacky Winston.