User Profile

Mark Crocker

mcrocker@books.mxhdr.net

Joined 1 year, 10 months ago

Fan of DRM-Free Hard Sci-Fi novels

Also @mcrocker@indieweb.social on Mastodon

This link opens in a pop-up window

Mark Crocker's books

To Read

Currently Reading

Mary Robinette Kowal: The Spare Man (Hardcover, 2022, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in …

"The Spare Man" an unexpectedly fun read

No rating

"The Spare Man" started like a light murder mystery with a science fiction backdrop and somewhat unlikely characters, but slowly builds to a really interesting conundrum that I found surprisingly engaging.

The plot is engaging and the reason for the title is a brilliantly novel twist that I found delightful.

The main characters Tesla Crane and her husband Shal are not especially relatable characters. Typically, the the investigator is an outsider who provides a way for the reader to peek into the extravagant world of the wealthy. So casting one of these privileged, wealthy, celebrities as the protagonist and investigator does make the reading a little less pleasant as we have to deal with annoying elitist opinions and lapdogs... though the former are probably just to show her sheltered life, and the latter becomes a plot point. As the story evolves, this becomes less annoying and Tesla has access that …

reviewed The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow

Cory Doctorow: The Bezzle (EBook, 2024, Tor Books) 3 stars

The year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a …

Bezzle comment

3 stars

I found The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow @pluralistic@mamot.fr somewhat disappointing, especially compared to Red Team Blues. While it was an interesting read, it was enough of a grind, that I put it down part way through and only finished it months later when I finished my other, more entertaining books.

Sure, some of my disappointment is because Cory set the bar so high. Also, since I already knew about the abuses of the private prison system and have been reading other authors who rant on about the abuses of oligarchs. So there was very little in here that was entirely new to me. For people who aren't familiar with these topics, I could see how it would be a big mind opener. For me it was a long litany of horrors.

On the other hand The Bezzle did expand my knowledge of the extent or particulars of the abuses and …