Book #238 of 2020: American Hippo by Sarah Gailey This volume collects two novellas that were previously published independently — but which I hadn’t read before — along with a pair of new short stories in the same setting. Together they present an alternate history of a nineteenth-century America populated by hippopotami, occupying roughly the …
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Book #237 of 2020: The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (The Masquerade #3) On balance I think this latest Baru Cormorant sequel is probably an improvement over the previous volume, but it’s still nowhere near as electrifying as the original novel. The more fantastical additions like self-aware cancers continue to not quite work for …
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Book #236 of 2020: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries #4) This final Murderbot novella (for now, at least) draws the initial series arc to a close, clearing the way for whatever new plots the sequel novels will deliver. Linking back up with the supporting cast from the first volume helps reinject some …
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Book #235 of 2020: The Shadows by Alex North The backstory to this crime thriller is undeniably creepy — two of the protagonist’s friends killed their high school classmate in a ritualistic murder that has spawned multiple copycat acts in the quarter-century since, with one of the original culprits never brought to justice — but …
Book #234 of 2020: Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious: The Knight, The Fool and The Dead by Steve Cole This is the first novel in Time Lord Victorious, a multimedia Doctor Who event unfolding over books, comics, Big Finish audio dramas, and more. It’s also the first title so far to feel like it’s taking …
Book #233 of 2020: Clay’s Ark by Octavia E. Butler (Patternist #3) The Patternist books were written all out of chronological order (5-2-4-1-3), and I’m finding that reading them as they take place is an odd experience, since the texts don’t really form any coherent narrative arc so far. My working assumption for now is …
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Book #232 of 2020: How Not to Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People by D. L. Hughley and Doug Moe The satire in this book is heavy-handed but warranted, laying out how the smug lectures given to black people like “don’t mouth off to the police” are a) contradictory, b) not followed by …
Book #231 of 2020: The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street by Lauren Oliver This middle-grade adventure story has a nice anti-bigotry message, objecting to prejudice both against marginalized human groups and against the misunderstood creatures in the heroine’s care, but that’s somewhat muddled when the ultimate villain is revealed to be a monster himself. I …
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Book #230 of 2020: The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune (The Extraordinaries #1) I’ve gone back and forth on my rating for this YA superhero title, parts of which are definitely cute and fun and offer some delightful gay and ADHD representation. I have friends who justifiably adore it, but as a whole I just can’t …
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Book #229 of 2020: The Power That Preserves by Stephen R. Donaldson (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever #3) A suitably epic conclusion to this classic postmodern fantasy trilogy, bringing both its setting and its reluctant champion to the verge of apocalypse before pushing forward to a measure of redemption for each. This series …
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