Ben Saufley - Reading

Books I've Rated 3 / 5

Ratings Breakdown

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

143

3.5

4

183

4.5

5

The Colour of Magic

by Terry Pratchett

Finished 2025-05-15
Upgrade

by Blake Crouch

Finished 2024-12-30
The Blue Hour

by Paula Hawkins

Finished 2024-11-18
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.
The House of Always

by Jenn Lyons

Finished 2024-09-21
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.
One Perfect Couple

by Ruth Ware

Finished 2024-05-26
The Dragon Reborn

by Robert Jordan

Finished 2023-07-23

I honestly couldn’t tell you what the overall plot arc of this book was. I know how it started and ended and I know several things that happened it it but the focus of many characters for the whole book had little to do with what could be called the climax.
When I Was You

by Amber Garza

Finished 2022-10-22

It’s fine. Nothing special. And the very end of the book drives home how it’s full of things that take you out of it and feel like author interference.
The EmployeesA Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century

by Olga Ravn

Finished 2022-04-16

I don’t think I understood this book. I found it interesting, written in a way where the topic was kind of danced around rather than directly explained, but then it ended and I don’t know that I understood what was being danced around, for the most part.
Ruin and Rising

by Leigh Bardugo

Finished 2022-02-13
The Winds of Khalakovo

by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Finished 2022-02-05
The Bright AgesA New History of Medieval Europe

by Matthew Gabriele, David M. Perry

Finished 2021-12-31
A Desolation Called Peace

by Arkady Martine

Finished 2021-12-30
How to Write Best-Selling Fiction

by James Scott Bell

Finished 2021-12-28

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Books I've Rated 3 / 5

Ratings Breakdown

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

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

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

#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%); } ExodusThe Archimedes Engine

#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

#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%); } One Perfect Couple

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

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

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The EmployeesA Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century

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

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

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } The Bright AgesA New History of Medieval Europe

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

#frontCover { fill: currentColor; } #spine { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 45%, #000 55%); } #backCover { fill: color-mix(in srgb, currentColor 78%, #000 22%); } How to Write Best-Selling Fiction

The Colour of Magic

Upgrade

The Blue Hour

ExodusThe Archimedes Engine

The House of Always

The Measure

One Perfect Couple

The Dragon Reborn

When I Was You

The EmployeesA Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century

Ruin and Rising

The Winds of Khalakovo

The Bright AgesA New History of Medieval Europe

A Desolation Called Peace

How to Write Best-Selling Fiction