benji_dw's reviews
36 reviews

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Solid really cute sci-fi. A quick and easy to read series that I feel people who loved a long way to a small angry planet, or the fall of Hyperion, would appreciate. 
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The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei

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emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is like A Long Way From A Small Angry Planet had a child with Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Novel blend of whodunnit with serious novel and hard science fiction. Especially love that there are no men on this 80 person story. Really helps the plot shine — and I’d never before considered that bc people assigned male at birth can’t carry children, they debatably need not have a place on deep space missions. I will be following this author closely!
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The Monster Enters: COVID-19, Avian Flu and the Plagues of Capitalism by Mike Davis

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dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Good summary. More historical than forward looking and prescriptive. I’d recommend Superbugs by Matt McCarthy or Immune by Paul Dettmer for folks interested in the immune system or our pandemic riddled future 
Aliens: The World's Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life by Jim Al-Khalili

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hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

It’s a good overview of exobiology. But Alien Oceans or Imagined Life are much better overviews. 
Moon Rush: The New Space Race by Leonard David

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informative reflective relaxing medium-paced

3.0

There’s better books on space. A City on Mar is much better researched and written.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It’s alright. I expected something more gripping from a series I’d heard so much about. I can see why this book was progressive and groundbreaking a decade ago. But in 2024 it needs a better reason to read it. I don’t love the “I’m going to keep you confused about the world instead of creating narrative suspense in the plot” which is why my rating docs points. The Tixcalaan doulogy simply feels like a better version of what this book is.
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The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The character M Gladstone is why I finished this book. A badass space empire KWEEEN who MOTHERED from start to finish. The rest was a sci fi obviously written in the 1980s and everything that comes with that. But has a stronger plot carrying the book through than the first book.
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

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challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Fascinating modern fantasy that I found very gripping. Lovable characters. A cool world with rules unlike any I’ve seen before. Unique and original. What I want in fiction.

I’d recommend it to people who like fantasy and books like Gideon the Ninth, or Ancillary Justice, or Ursula Le Guin.

I did find it hard to follow at times and wish the author would use “the audience not knowing the world as a way to create intrigue” less. But I was captivated.
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Hyperion by Dan Simmons

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adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Hyperion is a classic my friends and family evoke. So I read it. It hasn’t aged gracefully and frankly modern sci-fi’s sensibilities lead to better fiction. 

The book is broken up to tell the stories of seven people on a journey to the ‘time tombs’. Of the seven there is only one woman, and that attitude to gender pervades the entire narrative.

It is interesting and different. I thought of totally new things. Full points for novelty. 

I am docking points because when it was good it was good (albeit problematic), but when it was bad, it was actually unforgivable. I didn’t find the manic pixie dream girl list quest or self insert sad-boi poet whining compelling at all. The racist language around Indigenous people is extremely gross. 

Maybe this book was good for its time. But modern sci fi is better.
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The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté

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emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Maté is a great author and thinker. He has revolutionized the discourse around care and trauma. 

He has also written better books. This felt very much aligned with his other work. It’s fine. It’s good even. It’s not a bad starting place in his cannon. 

I wish the thesis was said at the beginning and not buried after the middle. It’s a great thesis that would have been better explicitly woven throughout the book.