Reviews and Comments

KevSaund

KevSaund@bookrastinating.com

Joined 3 years, 4 months ago

I mostly read Scifi, Comics, and playscripts. I also consume vast quantities of other media but I probably won't be posting about that here.

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reviewed The fifth witness by Michael Connelly (A Lincoln lawyer novel)

Michael Connelly: The fifth witness (2011, Little, Brown and Company)

Mickey Haller has fallen on tough times. He expands his business into foreclosure defense, only …

Mickey in a different place

No rating

Content warning Spoilers for The Fifth Witness

qntm: There Is No Antimemetics Division (Paperback, 2021, Independently Published)

An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties ; an idea which, by its intrinsic …

I read the original online, and the self published version. But I'm coming back for a third go round on the newly published final(?) edition.

reviewed Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)

Matt Dinniman: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Hardcover, 2024, Penguin Publishing Group)

The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and …

Quick and fun, if you like this sort of thing

No rating

I was a litRPG skeptic, but this was a lot of fun. It’s not overly complex but the characters are well drawn so it’s fun to spend time with them. There isn’t much of a story arc in this fist one, it’s more picaresque in structure (befitting the concept)

Neal Stephenson: Anathem (2008)

Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The …

A satire of and love letter to academia

No rating

I first read Anathem in college. I started it again in grad school but it was too close to home. Now, 15 years in again I can say I enjoyed it as much as the first time. A fun world to spend time in.

Mary Robinette Kowal: The Martian Contingency (Paperback, 2025, Tor Books)

Years after a meteorite strike obliterated Washington, D.C.—triggering an extinction-level global warming event—Earth’s survivors have …

Another solid entry in the Lady Astronaut series

No rating

I hadn’t realized this was out until my library app recommended it.

The author’s note at the end mentions she structured the novel around a calendar, which wasn’t obvious while reading, but I get it afterwards. It outside of that, there’s a lot less plot structure. This is almost a slice of life novel, but on mars. There’s sort of a central mystery in here, but that almost feels like back of the book bait more than what the novel is really about.