This is probably going to be the longest 3-star review that I’m ever going to write. Don’t get me wrong. This is a very important book, perhaps one of the most important books of our time. Anyone who wants to understand why our world has gone so crazy and where we can expect things to …
Continue reading “The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe”
Rhythm of War is the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive. Congratulations if you’ve made it this far! I won’t go into very much detail about plot, since this is a fourth book, but we do get point-of-view chapters from Navani, Kaladin, Adolin, Shalan, Venli, Dalinar, and some other more minor characters. My brother tells …
Continue reading “Piper Reviews: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson”
Out of the thirteen books that I’ve read so far in 2021, this one is the first (and so far only) one that I’ve given five-stars. I read this book just before the January 6th riots at the Capitol, where the lead-up to that event and the controversy surrounding the 2020 elections had acquired an …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: The Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card”
I really need to get a handle on the rapidly growing backlog of books to review, so I’m going to focus on books that I’ve read this year and catch up with the older ones as I go. This book showed a lot of promise, and to be fair, it held my interest through to …
DNF after 50 pages. Here’s why: 1. The story is just too convoluted. It starts out with the main character leading an evacuation, and preparing to go down with his ship to lead the enemy away from the refugees… except then, he’s attacked by the mysterious Flying Dutchman, which appears out of nowhere… except, he …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: Jerusalem Fire by R.M. Meluch”
This review is going to have spoilers for the first book. If you want to read my take on the series as a whole, read my review for All Systems Red. Of all of the Murderbot books, this one is my least favorite. It’s still pretty good, but not as good as the first. Thankfully, …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells”
Ah, the Murderbot diaries. If you haven’t heard of these books yet, you’re in for a treat, because this is one of the best ongoing series currently in science fiction. This review will mostly just be for the first book, but since my reviews of the other books will probably contain spoilers, much of what …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: All Systems Red by Martha Wells”
My first review! I very much enjoyed this book, which wasn’t too unexpected since I read the first book in the series and very much enjoyed that book as well. Of course, there was always a danger that I wouldn’t enjoy it since we ditch the main character from the previous book — or turn …
Continue reading “Piper Reviews: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie”
Brandon Sanderson is known for his massive, door-stopping tomes, but after reading The Emperor’s Soul, I think might like his short fiction better. Of course, “short” for Brandon is still a decent-sized novella. The world is rich and full of magic and history—but Brandon doesn’t explain all of it, just the parts that are relevant …
Continue reading “Joe Reviews: The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson”
There were things that I really, really loved about this book, and things that I found extremely frustrating. Overall, though, I enjoyed it very much, and found that the story stuck with me long after finishing it. First off, the good parts. The science fiction elements are really amazing, especially the evolutionary world-building of the …
Continue reading “Review: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky”
