Ben Saufley - Reading

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The Vacation Rental

by Katie Sise

Finished 2024-11-02
ExodusThe Archimedes Engine

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

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
Piranesi

by Susanna Clarke

Finished 2024-07-09
The Traitor Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson

Finished 2024-07-06
The Midnight Feast

by Lucy Foley

Finished 2024-06-28
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

by Suzanne Collins

Finished 2024-06-22

I didn’t hate this. I really loved the way Collins ended the trilogy; it was so interesting and real, in a universe that wasn’t very. So I was curious to see how she’d do Snow. I think the biggest issue I have is the pacing. The heel turn feels sudden and late, even if there are some smart breadcrumbs left along the whole journey. I also expected the heel turn to be in response to something but I think it was sly that it was basically always in him. He was never going to be anything else because of his basic flawed belief system. A lot of “banality of evil” stuff here. So I liked it overall but yeah I think it could’ve been better paced and while I thing Collin’s is smarter than some of her “dystopian YA” peers about the things she writes about, I don’t know that this one will stick with me too long, like the epilogue of the trilogy did.

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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%); } Piranesi

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

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The Vacation Rental

ExodusThe Archimedes Engine

She's Not Sorry

The House of Always

Children of Memory

King's Cage

Before They Are Hanged

Iron Gold

The Blade Itself

The Measure

Age of War

Piranesi

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

The Midnight Feast

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes