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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 …

A long windy preaching road that is still kind of fun

3 stars

Not nearly as good as book one, however, still enjoyable, and a decent adventure. You gotta get through part one though it goes on for a long while. it’s all about rich people behaving poorly and the set up absolutely pays off. But it is a substantial set up.

I learned a bunch about financial crime, I learned a bunch about the prison system, I learned a bunch about rich people. I’m still excited for book three, but I hope it learns its lessons from book two.

Malka Older: The Mimicking of Known Successes (2023, Tordotcom) 4 stars

The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set …

Sherlock Holmes has nothing on M

4 stars

This is a fun sci-fi detective story placed far enough ahead that we’ve reverted to the sensibilities of 1800s England. That wasn’t my cup of tea (which they love) but the environment and story were amazing. I wish the detective was the narrator throughout (like the first chapter) but not doing so helps keep us in the dark much like her assistant ex girlfriend.

Well written and quite enjoyable. However the journey might be more enjoyable than the destination but I would absolutely read the sequel.

Gabrielle Zevin: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (Hardcover, 2022, Knopf) 5 stars

In this exhilarating novel, two friends--often in love, but never lovers--come together as creative partners …

Beautiful and heartbreaking and tragic

5 stars

A wonderfully written story about the adult years of growing up, on a backdrop of the intense creative processes of video game design. I want these games to be real. I want to feel the characters expression through their art.

There are books where it’s a novel situation played out through understandable and straightforward characters. And then there are books where you have no idea how someone can keep so many deep actors in their head, you wonder if they were real people. Each character with their own motivations, and perspective. Sometimes I cheered for them. Sometimes I hated them. Always I loved them.

In any case, it’s a beautiful story. Heartbreaking and tragic.