vatine

Previously unread.

This is a free-standing book by Hurley, and also a finalist in the novel category for the 2020 Hugo Awards. I'd say it falls in the MilSF category (there's maybe half a chapter that doesn't take place in a military context). But, it is also far from the missile-by-missile, shot-by-shot favoured by some.

I'll say outright that the book can be a bit confusing, but after realising what was happening and re-running the bits until then in my head, fairly quickly made the book make sense. I would definitely say that this deserves its finalist status.

Well worth a read, if you haven't already read it.

Previously unread.

This is the fifth volume (and the first novel) in Wells' Murderbot Diaries series. We follow Murderbot, a SecUnit with a hacked moderator, on its adventures through space. In this one, we start with Murderbot and its companions on a survey mission when a sudden hostage situation appears (OK, so the hostage situation appears just before the book starts and we get a very in media res beginning to the novel) and then unfolds from there.

All in all, I have liked every previous Murderbot adventure, and I liked this one as well. On the whole, I think novel-length MAY suit Murderbot better, but there were certainly moments when I thought "ah, but how can this get wrapped up satisfactorily, there's surely not enough book left", being used to the novella-szed volumes that came before.

If you've read (and liked) previous Murderbot stories, this will likely be a good fit. If you've read then, and disliked it, probably not. If you haven;t read any Murderbot, it might be better to read at least the first one before this (but it might just about work as an entrypoint, I can't reliably say, not having read it without prior Murderbot knowledge).

reread.

fourth book in the Vatta's War series. One of the things I find interesting with this series is that although it is, in the most technical sense, MilSF, it's not a "lingering gazes on all hand-weapons and a missile-by-missile, beam-by-beam" book. In fact, none of the four first books are (and I don't recall the fifth one being that either). This is probably going to be a problem for some potential readers and may make it accessible for some who would normally not read MilSF.

Where were we? Ah, yes, fourth book. We're basically alternating between Rafe on one hand, and Ky on the other. With occasional cameos from Grace (Ky's aunt) and Stella (her cousin). If there's a general thrust in this book, it is "the stakes are getting higher".

Previously unread.

Second book in this sequel series. In two ways. This is both a sequel in the Inverted Frontier series, as well as a sequel to Memory (which, when I read it, considered to be in the Nanotech Succession world). It starts pretty much where the first book ends, as far as this can be determined,

We follow three main viewpoint characters, Urban (written in third person), Jubilee (in first) and Lezuri (written in second). This is, I think, the only book I've read that spans all three single person narrative structures. Normally I would not have expected it to work, but Nagata pulls it off.

All in all, a pretty good read.

Reread.

This is the first (of five) volume in Moon's Vatta's War series (with a sequel series called Vatta's Peace).

Our primary POV character is Kylara "Ky" Vatta, daughter of teh CEO of Vatta Enterprises, a concern that primarily does commercial space shipping, but also have a substantial tik plantation ("tik" seems to be some sort of fruit). Vatta Entreprises is headquartered on the planet Slotter Key.

When the book starts, Ky is just about to be expelled from Slotter Key Spaceforce Academy, due to an understandable mistake of hers. What with the Vatta family being quite a prominent family and all, it is decided that Ky will take change of Glennys Jones, a Vatta transport on its last legs. The general plan is "one-way delivery run, deliver Glennys Jones to the scrapper, commercial passenger liner back to Slotter Key".

We can infer from the fact that there's a five-volume series that this is not quite what actually happens.

All in all, pretty readable. Perhaps not the most challenging books out there, but crunchier than mere fluff.

Previously unread.

Third volume in Asher's Stories of the Jain series, set in his Polity universe. It starts not long after #2 in the series and, well, it's the usual multi-viewpoint sorta-simultaneous action taking place.

Not entirely surprising, we learn a bit more about The Client, as well as the Jain. What we learn isn't necessarily comforting.

Some characters change drastically, some only a bit and some may not change at all.

All in all, I think I enjoyed this sub-series. It's probably not my most favourites Polity sub-series, but I did not think the time I spent reading it was wasted, and I may return to the sub-series at a future date.

Previously unread.

This is the first book in Nagata's Inverted Frontier series (currently at two books). It is basically a sequel series to The Nanotech Succession (comprised of The Bohr maker, Deception Well, and Vast), starting some 700 years after Vast ends (if, that is, I got my chronology right, it may be off by a millennium or so).

Imagine a world where pretty much everyone can (if they choose, barring certain accidents) live forever. I mean, worst case, your existing body starts getting to the end of its natural span, print a new one and transfer over.

All is not as well as it could be, though. They're all at war with (or, more correctly, trying desperately not to be at war with) the Chenzeme, an alien sorta-biological-sorta-machine intelligence. Well, again, intelligence isn't the right word. Awareness. Yes, that's the one. Alien awareness that is instinctually primed to remove all non-Chenzeme, and to enforce Chenzeme principles of all Chenzeme. And self-reproducing, as it were. And, also, capable of high-speed interstellar travel (as in a sizeable fraction of the speed of light "high-speed").

Where were we? Ah, yes, the only humans (or post-humans) that these post-humans are aware of live in the star system of Deception Well, which seems to be remnants of another civilization. A trap for the Chenzeme. Unfortunately, that was the system they pretty much had to settle in to, all those years ago. And now it seems as if there's a Chenzeme courser inbound.

Then the second chapter starts.

All in all, quite readable. Nagata has a fairly distinct writing style, that I can't really specify, but it seems as if I mostly get on with it, except when I don't (this is time-dependent, not tome-dependent). And I am definitely happy I read this, and I'll cue the sequel for reading. But not for at least a few weeks.

Previously unread.

I quite enjoyed this, despite one of those "uncanny valley" things where language(s) other than "the language you are currently reading the book in" are present and they're good enough that when there's a small problem it feels just creepy and weird.

That's not going to be a problem for most people, and it honestly didn't slow me down, I blame that on the current changed circumstances. After many decades of "primarily reading while travelling" it is actually quite hard to change to "read at home".

Where were we? Oh, yes, multi-POV book, we're primarily changing between Nels (we're probably more in Nels POV than anyone else), Suvi (Nels' sister) and Ilta (ehh, eeeeh, she's a friend of both Nels and Suvi). Nels and Suvi are twin siblings of King Henrik Ilmari, of the royal house of Eledore.

And from there, things start going complicated.

This is the first book in a series, I believe vol. II is also out.

Re-read.

This is the first of oore's Vampire Love Story books. I don't know if that's the actual name of the sub-series, but it's good enough for me. We're basically switching between Jody (possibly the bloodsucking fiend of the title) and C. Thomas "Tommy" Flood, a young man from the flat lands who wants to be a writer in moody San Francisco.

This is the story of how Jody becomes a vampire, how Jody and Tommy meet, how the Emperor (and his trusty mendogs, Bummer and Lazarus) fight the undead, and many many other things.

Previously unread.

Second book of Moore's Death Merchants sub-series. Taking place about a year after the end of the first book. Decisions made in that book have a really rather large influence on the sequence of events in this book, but I think I shall say nothing more about that.

All in all, a really quite readable volume, with a bit of comedy, a bit of tragedy, some things to possibly keep in mind and all in all, very Moore.