David Bremner commented on The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary …
On sale for CAD3.00 DRM Free various places (including ebooks.com and amazon)
Reviews and Comments
computer scientist, mathematician, photographer, human. Debian Developer, Notmuch Maintainer, scuba diver
Much of my "reading" these days is actually audiobooks while walking.
FediMain: bremner@mathstodon.xyz
bremner@bookwyrm.social is also me. Trying a smaller instance to see if the delays are less maddening.
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David Bremner commented on What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
From T. Kingfisher, the award-winning author of The Twisted Ones, comes What Moves the Dead, …
On sale for CAD3.00 DRM Free various places (including ebooks.com and amazon)
David Bremner reviewed Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham
From New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed author Daniel Abraham, co-author of The Expanse …
Almost magical realism with some interesting twists
4 stars
This book shares with many fantasy novels a roughly early modern European setting and main characters who are poor, somewhat principled criminals living on the margins of that setting (the latter also reminds me a bit of the author's portrayal of the economically marginalized in the Expanse as well) . There is an aspect of systematic racism in the world, where the poor people just happen to be be one ethnic minority and live on one side of the river. By magical realism I mean that while magical elements are important, the plot is mainly about more mundane things that might get nudged one way or the other by magic (or by luck). All of this is well and good (if not especially unusual in contemporary fantasy), but what made the book a bit more interesting for me was the way it played with the ideas of hero/antihero/main-character/supporting-character in interesting …
This book shares with many fantasy novels a roughly early modern European setting and main characters who are poor, somewhat principled criminals living on the margins of that setting (the latter also reminds me a bit of the author's portrayal of the economically marginalized in the Expanse as well) . There is an aspect of systematic racism in the world, where the poor people just happen to be be one ethnic minority and live on one side of the river. By magical realism I mean that while magical elements are important, the plot is mainly about more mundane things that might get nudged one way or the other by magic (or by luck). All of this is well and good (if not especially unusual in contemporary fantasy), but what made the book a bit more interesting for me was the way it played with the ideas of hero/antihero/main-character/supporting-character in interesting ways.
David Bremner reviewed Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the …
Like a fairy tale that characters in a T. Kingfisher novel might tell each other.
4 stars
That's it, that's the whole review.
If you like T. Kingfisher, you will like this book. It starts off a bit grim, but by the end it felt like a cozy tale of cold blooded vengeance.
David Bremner wants to read The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. …
David Bremner wants to read Bearing Word by Jeremy Tiang
Bearing Word (Balestier Press)
The world is full of ghosts, but only donkeys can see them. Meanwhile, in the …
David Bremner started reading Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the …
Audiobook narrated by Amara Jasper
David Bremner started reading Middlegame by Seanan McGuire
Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the …
I've started this a few times, but got distracted while still in the introduction. One more try...
David Bremner wants to read Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
Dinosaurs and portals, and a girl who can find both in the latest book in …
New wayward children book? Yes.
David Bremner reviewed Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
Born into post-apocalyptic Africa to a mother who was raped after the slaughter of her …
powerful and important
5 stars
I finished this some time ago, but I still can't really do it justice in a review. Some of the themes and world-building (and even one of the characters!) is shared with the later novel Noor, but this novel is somehow more elemental. For me the two most powerful themes were the codification of hatred as religion and how sex and reproductive biology inform politics (in the small).
Content warnings: pervasive misogyny, sexual violence, and racism play important roles in the plot.
David Bremner reviewed The Babylon Eye by Masha du Toit
Elke Veraart is in prison. She used to be an eco-terrorist, hunting down poachers to …
cyberpunk detective with a modern sensibility, plus dogs
4 stars
Somehow this reminds me of the "Recovery Man" books by Kristine Katherine Rusch. A lone detective fights for the underdog (literal dog in this case), fighting against corporate interests in a high tech setting with aliens. The aliens here are quite relatable, rather than implacable, but they still hold most of the cards. By modern sensibility I mean little things like the protagonist is lesbian, but nobody makes a big deal out of it, including her.
David Bremner commented on The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang
In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.
Lin Chong is …
David Bremner wants to read Rose/House by Arkady Martine
Basit Deniau’s houses were haunted to begin with.
A house embedded with an artificial intelligence …
David Bremner wants to read The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
An eccentric detective and her long-suffering assistant untangle a web of magic, deceit, and murder …
I have enjoyed previous books by RJB, particularly the City of $foo books
David Bremner wants to read The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic …