Book Review: Blackout by Mira Grant

Book #123 of 2018:

Blackout by Mira Grant (Newsflesh #3)

I’ve enjoyed Mira Grant’s bloggers-fighting-zombies trilogy far more than I ever expected to, but the plot in this final volume is pretty slow and coincidence-heavy compared to what’s come before. One character spends the entire first half of the book quarantined in a CDC hospital, only to reconnect with the rest of the team when they happen to break into the same facility. That quarantine story actually turns out to be the highlight, offering real stakes and rising dramatic tension; there’s no overall goal or plotline driving everyone’s else’s actions, just a steady series of redirections from one location to another.

When this novel works, it’s thanks to the great characters that Grant has created, not the zombie action, meandering plot, or inevitable government conspiracies. The news crew feels real, their anguish is heartbreaking, and their coping mechanisms are given the ample space in the narrative that they deserve. But that’s all been true in the previous books as well, and generally in service of a better story than we’re given here.

This book: ★★★☆☆

Overall series: ★★★★☆

Book ranking: 2 > 1 > 3

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Book Review: Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

Book #122 of 2018:

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman

A very short book — the unabridged audiobook lasts less than two hours at normal speed — that showcases Neil Gaiman’s great storytelling skills and love for Norse mythology. His original tale of a young disabled boy’s chance encounter with Thor, Loki, and Odin fits well with the established myths, yet requires no background knowledge in that area to enjoy. Perhaps due to its length the story isn’t gripping me the way Gaiman does at his best, but this would be a fine introduction to his style for younger readers.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Book #121 of 2018:

Skullduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (Skullduggery Pleasant #1)

Fantasy novels about a child discovering a hidden world of magic alongside our own are a dime a dozen at this point, and this book is a fine exemplar that doesn’t really distinguish itself in such a crowded field. I especially wish that author Derek Landy had done more with the Irish setting, but other than the audiobook reader’s accent and a line or two of dialogue, this story could basically have been set anywhere.

Still, the narrative is tight enough that it never overstays its welcome, and the concept of a walking skeleton teaming up with a plucky twelve-year-old girl allows for some good kooky fun. The result blends urban fantasy with children’s fantasy, and it’s a solid enough foundation that I’ll probably check out more of this series at some point.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Book #120 of 2018:

Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

This Victorian novel about a poor rape victim is surprisingly modern in the sympathy it extends to its heroine, and author Thomas Hardy does not shy away from depicting the unjust hostility and blame that she faces after the attack — or how it forms a cruel double standard given the societal lenience towards male sexual promiscuity. The characters are sometimes a bit exasperating, but other than a belief in things like noble bloodlines and cousin marriage, the story could almost happen today. It’s a sad state of affairs that we’ve progressed so little since Hardy’s time that this classic still feels so timeless.

★★★★☆

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Book Review: Nazi Terror: The Gestapo, Jews, and Ordinary Germans by Eric A. Johnson

Book #119 of 2018:

Nazi Terror: The Gestapo, Jews, and Ordinary Germans by Eric A. Johnson

First published in the year 2000, this book feels a bit dated today, and the author perhaps over-extrapolates certain statistics from the sample of Gestapo records that he has examined. Nevertheless, it’s a good overview of the role of “ordinary Germans” — those citizens who were neither Jewish nor political enemies or other undesirables — during the Nazi era. In particular, it emphasizes that most Germans a) were not directly involved in the atrocities of the Holocaust, b) were in no real danger of Nazi persecution, even when breaking the law to critique the government or listen to foreign radio broadcasts, and c) were to some degree aware of what was being done to their Jewish compatriots. The narrative could have been tightened up, but in total it’s a chilling look at how complacency in a country’s majority can empower an abusive minority.

★★★☆☆

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Movie Review: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Movie #12 of 2018:

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

By far the best Thor movie, and one of the better Marvel Cinematic Universe movies overall. Lots of humor, neat worldbuilding, and actual character growth for Thor and Loki! It could have done better by its female characters, but all in all it was a fun ride and a reminder of why we all fell in love with Marvel movies in the first place.

★★★★☆

[review first posted 11/18/17]

Book Review: Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

Book #118 of 2018:

Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor (Binti #2)

I continue to love the Afrofuturism implicit in this setting, and Binti herself is a compelling character caught between worlds. But these novellas keep not quite working for me. Everything in the plot feels very abrupt, with many moments either not set up well enough in advance or not given enough space to breathe once they occur (or both). I like the heart of the matter, but I really think the novella format works against the sort of story that author Nnedi Okorafor is trying to tell here.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

Book #117 of 2018:

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #2)

This spinoff sequel to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet shares its predecessor’s compassionate depiction of a sci-fi universe teeming with intelligent and emotional life. Among other qualities, it’s a radically trans-positive future, featuring aliens who regularly change their gender and a narrative suffused with the gentle reassurance that it’s okay to leave behind or update any part of yourself that doesn’t feel right.

The storyline in this book is not particularly plot-heavy, instead comprising twin bildungsroman character arcs. In the present, a spaceship’s onboard artificial intelligence adjusts to her new life in a humanoid body, while flashbacks explore her friend’s childhood as a lonely scavenger on a desert planet. Each woman is gradually coming to a healthier place, and it’s a thrill to see their personal journeys explored with such warmth in a genre that often feels cold and distant.

Readers who want to see more of the crew from the first novel may be disappointed that author Becky Chambers has instead focused on other characters here, but I am happy to keep reading these slices of life from across the Galactic Commons for as long as she keeps writing them.

★★★★★

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Book Review: The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos

Book #116 of 2018:

The Planet Thieves by Dan Krokos (The Planet Thieves #1)

This is a solid middle-grade space opera, capably balancing the terrors of war with the inherently goofy concept of moving an entire planet to a different solar system. I like that the whole book is basically one long adrenaline rush of action, and that its 7-to-13-year-old ensign protagonists are written as both children and heroes. I have quibbles with some of the worldbuilding and plot developments, but this seems like a great book for younger readers, especially fans of Ender’s Game.

★★★☆☆

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Book Review: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Book #115 of 2018:

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

On the one hand: it’s oddly refreshing to see characters written in 1926 acting so much like modern-day hipsters, resorting to alcohol, travel, and ironic mockery to hide their anxieties that life is passing them by. On the other hand: the people in this ‘lost generation’ are as exhausting on paper as they would be in real life, and the plot here is thin, especially when supported by prose that’s sparse verging on oblique. It’s mostly just a group of unlikable people being mean to their supposed friends in between rounds of drinking, bullfighting, drinking, fly-fishing, drinking, and more drinking.

Prospective readers should also be aware that this book contains uses of the n-word for black people, the f-word for gay people, and the k-word for Jewish people. These instances admittedly further the unpleasant characterization of their speakers, but that may be giving too much credit to Hemingway and the prevailing attitudes of his era.

★★☆☆☆

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