Category: Books

The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

A revolt is brewing. The occupation of Kisua has turned into something closer to enslavement, and the cultural rift between Gujaareh and Kisua makes the coexistence expensive. The soldiers from Kusia abuse their powers a bit too much and the locals use every opportunity to disobey.

In the middle of it all is our new hero Hanani, an apprentice healer, and Wanahomen, the heir fighting to reclaim what was unfairly taken (according to him). As they find allies and fragile trust, a quiet front opens. A dream-plague slips through the dark and kills innocent people’s souls in their dreams. Hanani is good but this plague kills far more talented healers. Can she stop it while also organizing a war?

If this were a Joe Abercrombie tale, there would be a bloody final battle where the disinterested and the clever slip through the cracks while the idealists and the fools die. But here the clash is inward. The battlefield is the hearts, minds, and dreams.

5/5. A long book, somewhat unusual, and also a bit romantic. I liked it very much but can’t really say why. Had some unpleasant scenes of cruel violence and abuse, but was otherwise good.

Book Clutter

~ Veselin ~ 10 Comments

I’m starting to think the ideal number of books to own is almost zero. I feel like one should only keep books that are either signed, gifts, not yet read, or for some reason frequently re-read. Everything else serves very little to no purpose and only forms clutter. The individual books are pretty big units of kipple that reduces the living space of book worms like me.

I keep an overflow shelf where books are prepared for donation but I seem to have been slow with getting rid of old books and very quick with buying new ones.

Charity 1 by Wolfgang Hohlbein

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

There’s a wonderful feature by the local reading site Chitanka that offers you random books. I would click 10-15-20 times and find something new I’ve never seen before. A few days ago, it offered me the apocalyptic sci-fi Charity.

Charity is an astronaut and a military captain during an active invasion. An alien ecosystem enters Earth through some kind of portals, brought here by a spaceship, and obliterates everything. The invading army is so powerful that humans do not stand a chance. However, there would be no book if there was no hope, right?

It’s not yet clear what Charity’s superpower is or how she’s going to push back to the invading force. She seems to be good at surviving and also very lucky.

I’d say, almost 5*/5, not a wow book, but definitely one that makes you want to read the continuation. It is also short, which is an advantage.

The Nebula Collection by Artline

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

Publishing books with covers that are all part of the same image is still a relatively uncommon practice in Bulgaria. There have been some nicely designed series over the years, but not many that build a consistent visual identity across multiple titles.

This is the Nebula sci-fi series, featuring titles like Murderbot, Silo, and others. I’m curious to see how long this publisher plans to keep the style going. Something with the perspective feels limiting, as if it should end within 2-3 books.

And here is my success with the books, green are those I already read, red are those I did not start or did not finish. Overall, very solid books so far, mostly 5/5 with a rare 4/5 here and there.

For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

In the second part of the Bobiverse series, the self-replicating Bob probes have now reached dozens of star systems, and their mission has grown far beyond exploration. With Earth in a nuclear winter, the Bobs take on the monumental task of coordinating humanity’s evacuation. In book 2, Earth isn’t the only place in trouble. In the nearby stars, two other civilizations face extinction, and the Bobs can’t help but get involved.

Meanwhile, a new threat threatens to end humans – the aliens called “Others.” Although their presence remains mostly peripheral, it’s clear that they will have to be dealt with.

The challenge that this book faces is that we now have lots of bobs and neither gets enough spotlight to make a difference between them, except maybe Bob 1. But Bob 1 doesn’t do anything interesting.

5*/5, I liked the book very much and recommend the series. My copy is part of the Nebula series, which has matching. Bob sits next to the Murderbot and Silo.