Ben Saufley - Reading

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The Shadow Rising

by Robert Jordan

Finished 2024-12-22
Say Nothing

by Patrick Radden Keefe

Finished 2024-12-04
The Blue Hour

by Paula Hawkins

Finished 2024-11-18
The Book That Wouldn't Burn

by Mark Lawrence

Finished 2024-11-09
The Vacation Rental

by Katie Sise

Finished 2024-11-02
Exodus

by Peter F. Hamilton

Finished 2024-10-20

The synopsis had me really interested but I think this book has maybe made me realize I’m not as big on the “space opera” subgenre as I thought I was. The book has some of the trappings of “hard” sci-fi, but is really just a fantasy book with a coat of sci-fi paint. The technology is magic; the near-lightspeed travel – although I’m sure the author had it all worked out – definitely felt squishy as far as what it meant for who was where, when. My order of interest went 1. Terrence, 2. Finn, ….10. whoever was in the palace intrigue subplot.

If I’m going to be reading a book like this, I want to care more about the individuals and I’m less excited by “fate of the universe” stuff. When the stakes get too high and the settings, tools, weapons all become too distant from the “real” world, I zone out. I can’t get invested. Maybe paradoxically, this book felt to me at times too distant from anything I could relate to, and also too close to present-day humankind to be believable as 30,000 years in the future.

I didn’t hate it. I liked some of the concepts that were toyed with, and at times I found myself rooting for characters. But I mostly found myself counting down until I could put it down and pick up something else.
She's Not Sorry

by Mary Kubica

Finished 2024-09-24
The House of Always

by Jenn Lyons

Finished 2024-09-21
Children of Memory

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Finished 2024-09-06
King's Cage

by Victoria Aveyard

Finished 2024-09-01
Before They Are Hanged

by Joe Abercrombie

Finished 2024-08-27
Iron Gold

by Pierce Brown

Finished 2024-08-17
The Blade Itself Library Edition

by Joe Abercrombie

Finished 2024-08-06
The Measure

by Nikki Erlick

Finished 2024-07-26

Eh. It was fine. An attempt to examine prejudice without the baggage of existing prejudices; didn’t really live up to that though. Just a kind of simple “ensemble cast”-style story of characters in this new world, none of whom particularly grabbed me. Didn’t really lead up to much or have a noticeable climax. Just kind of happened. Writing style unremarkable, so it’s not one of those literary “nothing happens but it happens beautifully” kind of books.
Age of War

by Michael J. Sullivan

Finished 2024-07-19

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#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Say Nothing

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Blue Hour

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Book That Wouldn't Burn

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#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The House of Always

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#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } King's Cage

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Before They Are Hanged

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Iron Gold

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Blade Itself Library Edition

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Measure

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } Age of War

The Shadow Rising

Say Nothing

The Blue Hour

The Book That Wouldn't Burn

The Vacation Rental

Exodus

She's Not Sorry

The House of Always

Children of Memory

King's Cage

Before They Are Hanged

Iron Gold

The Blade Itself Library Edition

The Measure

Age of War