Kelson Reads commented on To Each This World by Julie E. Czerneda
From an Aurora Award-winning author, a new sci-fi novel follows three intrepid humans caught up …
I need to pick this up again and finish it before her next book comes out in June.
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Techie, software developer, hobbyist photographer, sci-fi/fantasy and comics fan in the Los Angeles area. He/him.
Mostly reading science fiction these days, mixing in some fantasy and some non-fiction (mostly tech and science), occasionally other stuff. As far as books go, anyway. (I read more random articles than I probably should.)
Reviews are cross-posted on my website and I have a blog dedicated to Les Misérables.
Fediverse Main: @kelson@notes.kvibber.com (GoToSocial) Websites: KVibber.com and Hyperborea.org
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Kelson Reads <p>started reading</p>
Invasive by Chuck Wendig
On the isolated Kolohe Atoll in the middle of the Pacific ocean, a charismatic billionaire employs a team of scientists …
Kelson Reads <p>finished reading</p>
Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
From international bestseller Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport is an exuberant new sci-fi adventure with heart that reads like …
Kelson Reads reviewed A City on Mars by Zach Weinersmith
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away - …
Accessible and intricately researched
5 stars
Accessible and intricately researched, with scattered humor to keep the reader's interest.
Getting to space is the easy part. Staying there is going to be a lot more complicated than anyone wants to believe. There are plenty of established tropes in science-fiction and among serious space enthusiasts, but a lot of them have major gaps in them when you start pressing for details. What happens to a fetus in microgravity? Can you scrape together enough soil nutrients to supply agriculture for a whole Mars city, or do you need to constantly import fertilizer from Earth? How do you make sure you have enough medical supplies on-hand?
The authors wanted to write about what we know about space settlement. But it turns out it's a really good primer for what we don't know and need to research before we can get serious.
It's also an interesting companion to Under Alien Skies …
Accessible and intricately researched, with scattered humor to keep the reader's interest.
Getting to space is the easy part. Staying there is going to be a lot more complicated than anyone wants to believe. There are plenty of established tropes in science-fiction and among serious space enthusiasts, but a lot of them have major gaps in them when you start pressing for details. What happens to a fetus in microgravity? Can you scrape together enough soil nutrients to supply agriculture for a whole Mars city, or do you need to constantly import fertilizer from Earth? How do you make sure you have enough medical supplies on-hand?
The authors wanted to write about what we know about space settlement. But it turns out it's a really good primer for what we don't know and need to research before we can get serious.
It's also an interesting companion to Under Alien Skies, which takes the approach of "assuming we're able to work out the details, this is what it would be like there." And, well, we have a lot more details to work out.
Kelson Reads finished reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson learns he is a demigod, the son of a mortal woman and …
The kid binge-read the entire series in a week and a half, so clearly I needed to take a look at it!
Kelson Reads quoted Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
From international bestseller Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport is an exuberant new sci-fi adventure …
“The jinn grants wishes. Three per user.”
“Why three?” [redacted] asks.
“It was judged to be an appropriate free trial period,” the jinn says. “ More wishes can be unlocked in Unlimited Mode.”
Kelson Reads <p>wants to read</p>
Kelson Reads <p>started reading</p>
Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
From international bestseller Samit Basu, The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport is an exuberant new sci-fi adventure with heart that reads like …
Kelson Reads <p>finished reading</p>
The Complete[d] Saucer Country (GraphicNovel, 2024, Syzygy Publishing)
The Complete[d] Saucer Country by Ryan Kelly (duplicate), Paul Cornell (duplicate)
From Syzygy Publishing, the entire Hugo Award-nominated science fiction saga is collected here for the very first time! Complete with …
Kelson Reads <p>started reading</p>
The Complete[d] Saucer Country (GraphicNovel, 2024, Syzygy Publishing)
The Complete[d] Saucer Country by Ryan Kelly (duplicate), Paul Cornell (duplicate)
From Syzygy Publishing, the entire Hugo Award-nominated science fiction saga is collected here for the very first time! Complete with …
Kelson Reads rated LES MISERABLES (Omnibus) Vol. 7-8: 5 stars
LES MISERABLES (Omnibus) Vol. 7-8 by Takahiro Arai
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Men whose minds are aflame with idealism gather at the Corinthe, in the center of Paris, …
Kelson Reads <p>finished reading</p>
LES MISERABLES (Omnibus) Vol. 7-8 by Takahiro Arai
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Men whose minds are aflame with idealism gather at the Corinthe, in the center of Paris, …
Kelson Reads <p>finished reading</p>
A City on Mars by Zach Weinersmith, Kelly Weinersmith
Earth is not well. The promise of starting life anew somewhere far, far away - no climate change, no war, …
Kelson Reads <p>finished reading</p>
Kelson Reads reviewed Illuminations by .
Madcap magical damage control in a family of eccentric artist-magicians.
5 stars
Similar to A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, but a tighter story, with better-defined secondary characters and internal story logic.
Again there's a young apprentice with small, oddly specific magical abilities, who gets drawn into a caper, blamed for it, and finds herself as the only person who can resolve it, and has to both stretch her magic and convince the adults around to help her (and let her help them).
This time the magic is art. Paintings and drawings, if done the right way with the right details by by someone with the right ability, can become magical objects. Rosa was born into a family of Illuminators. A very eccentric family. Each with their own eccentricity. And that's before she encounters the magical talking crow (who is very taken with shiny objects) and the malicious creature he was guarding.
The stakes are more personal: the Scarling has it …
Similar to A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, but a tighter story, with better-defined secondary characters and internal story logic.
Again there's a young apprentice with small, oddly specific magical abilities, who gets drawn into a caper, blamed for it, and finds herself as the only person who can resolve it, and has to both stretch her magic and convince the adults around to help her (and let her help them).
This time the magic is art. Paintings and drawings, if done the right way with the right details by by someone with the right ability, can become magical objects. Rosa was born into a family of Illuminators. A very eccentric family. Each with their own eccentricity. And that's before she encounters the magical talking crow (who is very taken with shiny objects) and the malicious creature he was guarding.
The stakes are more personal: the Scarling has it specifically out for the Mandolini family. But there's a clear potential for it to spiral out of control. Like Mona, Rosa makes mistakes, but again they're believable mistakes. And in this book the adults have character reasons for finally believing her, not just plot reasons.
There's a lot of mischief and magic, though only one mandrake as I recall. And because Rosa doesn't need to leave home on her hero's journey like Oliver (Minor Mage) or Mona, everyone in her family takes part in the story instead of just being window dressing for the framing sequence.
It's aimed at kids, yes: kids who appreciate not being talked down to. And it's written so that adults will have fun with it too.