Reading project, week ending 1 Mar 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week?

Draykon (Book One of the Draykon Series) by Charlotte E. English

This is a fantasy novel about a young woman named Llandry who is a jeweller and finds an unusual type of stone that she uses in her jewelry. This sets off a whole series of events. I quite liked this, but not enough to read more in the series, as I found Llandry an annoying character.

Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse

This is a detective novel about a young Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes investigating a series of murders. It is the third book in the series. I enjoyed this: it’s an interesting story and well-told. I would definitely read more in this series.

Born in Fire (Demon Days, Vampire Nights World Book 1) by K.F. Breene

This is a fantasy novel about a woman named Reagan Somerset who is a magical bounty hunter in New Orleans. I quite enjoyed this; she’s a pretty interesting protagonist and the story was quite fun. I would probably read more in this series.

The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy by David Graeber

This is a nonfiction book about bureaucracy from a leftist standpoint. It took me a while to get into it, but in the end I found it really interesting. I’d definitely read more by this author.

Favourite quote:

Perhaps the leftist sensibility was expressed in its purest form in the words of Marxist philosopher John Holloway, who once wanted to title a book, “Stop Making Capitalism.” Capitalism, he noted, is not something imposed on us by some outside force. It only exists because every day we wake up and continue to produce it. If we woke up one morning and all collectively decided to produce something else, then we wouldn’t have capitalism anymore. This is the ultimate revolutionary question: what are the conditions that would have to exist to enable us to do this – to just wake up and imagine and produce something else?

© bardofupton 2020

Reading project, week ending 23 Feb 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week?

The Book of Deacon by Joseph R. Lallo

This is a fantasy novel about a young woman named Myranda, who lives in a country that has been at war for longer than she’s been alive. I liked the world and the magic system, but I found Myranda a little annoying as a character. I might read more in this series.

Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr

This is a fantasy novel about a young woman named Jill and an elderly man named Nevyn, whose fates are entwined due to events that happened in Jill’s previous incarnation. I quite enjoyed this; the characters are interesting and so is the plot. I will probably read more in this series.

© bardofupton 2020

Reading project, week ending 16 Feb 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week?

The Killing Fog (The Grave Kingdom Book 1) by Jeff Wheeler

This is a fantasy novel about a young woman named Bingmei whose family is murdered by bandits. I liked this; the characters and the world are interesting and I liked the plot. I would probably read more in this series.

Clovenhoof by Heide Goody and Iain Grant

This is a fantasy novel about the Devil being fired from Hell and sent to live on Earth. I didn’t really like this: it’s clearly meant to be funny and I didn’t find it so. It was interesting enough to make me read the whole thing; I won’t be reading any more in this series, though.

Fall, or Dodge in Hell by Neal Stephenson

This is a science fiction novel about a man named Dodge whose brain is scanned and uploaded to a computer after his death. I couldn’t really get into this, and didn’t finish it.

Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

This is a science fiction short story about a far future human returning from a colony to obtain some resources from Earth. I really liked it; the story develops in a really interesting way. I’d definitely read more by this author.

Carpet Diem by Justin Lee Anderson

This is a fantasy novel about a man named Simon who is asked to choose between giving a magical artefact to either an angel or a demon. It was okay, but I didn’t really like it, and won’t read any more in this series. I did like some of the world-building, though.

© bardofupton 2020

Reading project, week ending 9 February 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week?

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, Book 1) by S. A. Chakraborty

This is a fantasy novel about a young girl named Nahri, who accidentally summons a daeva (djinn). I liked this a lot; the characters are interesting, the world is fascinating and the plot is exciting. I definitely want to read more in this series.

The 13th Witch (The First Book of The King’s Watch) by Mark Hayden

This is a fantasy novel about a man named Conrad, who is recruited by Odin for a dangerous mission. I enjoyed this; the story is interesting, and I liked the characters. I would probably read more in this series.

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver

This is a novel about a girl named Maud, who lives by a fen with her family. I quite liked this; Maud is an interesting character, and the story is suitably macabre. I would probably read more by this author.

© bardofupton 2020

Writing project, January 2020

~ bardofupton

This month’s word is alien, meaning “any being or thing foreign to the environment in which it now exists”. It’s a bit late, sorry!

————–

There were no great fleets of ships, no invading armies with futuristic weapons, not even a statement broadcast simultaneously on every screen in the world. They were suddenly just… there.

Little groups of them, everywhere. Two or three or four or five, never more than that, and never alone. They didn’t look that different to us, if you overlooked the rainbow hues of their skin, rippling as they moved. At least, we all assumed it was skin. Could’ve been some kind of skintight all-over bodysuit, I guess.

It was startling at first, but people got used to it quickly. Not that we had any choice. A few people tried to attack them and were… I suppose disintegrated is the proper word: just turned to dust. After a couple videos of that were streamed, there was no more trouble. We just gave them a wide berth.

And they themselves didn’t cause any trouble. They were curious, yes, but they never went inside any homes, and they never interacted with anyone. They just watched.

Opinions varied as to whether they were tourists or scientists. I thought tourists, personally, but then who can understand aliens? Especially ones who make no effort to communicate.

So we got used to them. For two years they were everywhere, and then they just disappeared. One morning we woke up and they were all gone. Most people shrugged and carried on with their lives, while a few speculated on why they’d come, and why they left.

The series of massive solar flares which occurred hours later, destroying all our satellites and communications, and the prolonged bombardment of huge asteroids which followed, settled the question for the few who remained.

© bardofupton 2020

Reading project, week ending 2 Feb 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week? Late again, sorry!

Shockwave (Star Kingdom Book 1) by Lindsay Buroker

This is a science fiction novel about a scientist named Casmir and a spaceship captain/smuggler named Bonita. It is set in the far future when ships from Earth have settled multiple star systems. I enjoyed this: I liked the characters and the plot was interesting. I would read more in this series.

© bardofupton 2020

Reading project, week ending 19 Jan 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week? Late again, sorry!

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham

This is a nonfiction book about the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. I found it both fascinating and horrifying. The book is very readable.

The Penmaker’s Wife by Steve Robinson

This is a historical novel about a woman named Angelicafantasy novel who fakes the death of herself and her son to get out of an intolerable situation, and the consequences that arise from that as she makes a new life for herself. I didn’t finish this, as I didn’t really like any of the characters and didn’t care what happened to them.

I Choose You by Gayle Curtis

This is a psychological thriller about a couple targeted by a killer. I didn’t finish it, or even get very far in, because I found the characters annoying and the killer ridiculous.

When I Was You by Minka Kent

This is a pyschological suspense novel about a woman named Brienne whose identity has been stolen. I quite enjoyed this, and it definitely surprised me. I’d probably read more by this author.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

This is a fantasy novel about Lazslo and Sarai, two young people who are trying to fix the problems caused by their parents. It is the sequel to Strange the Dreamer. I really enjoyed this; I like the characters, the world and the story. I would definitely read more in this series.

© bardofupton 2020

Reading project, week ending 5 Jan 2020

~ bardofupton

What have I read this week? Failed already to keep these on time, sorry!

The Birth of the West by Paul Collins

This is a nonfiction book looking at the history of western Europe in the 10th century CE, which the author considers a pivotal time in the creation of the modern “West”. I didn’t finish this; I didn’t like the writing style and eventually got bored with it.

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is a novel about post-Arthurian Britain in which a mist is causing people to lose their memories and an elderly couple is looking for their son. I enjoyed this. It was an interesting world, and I liked the characters.

© bardofupton 2020