User Profile

Wild Woila

wildwoila@wyrms.de

Joined 3 years ago

I have #mecfs so I have a lot of time for reading, mostly #fantasy and #SciFi but I'm happy to dip into nearly anything.

Ratings: 1 star: I didn't like it 2 stars: it was okay 3 stars: I liked it 4 stars: I really liked it 5 stars: it was brilliant

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Wild Woila's books

reviewed Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes, #0)

Travis Baldree: Bookshops & Bonedust (Hardcover, 2023, Pan Macmillan)

Viv’s career with the renowned mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned. Wounded during …

A worthy prequel - moist!

A worthy prequel to Legends & Lattes. New friends come together to reinvigorate a bookshop, with a couple of baddies dealt with along the way. Loved Satchel the animated skeleton. Moist!

Richard Powers: Playground (2024, Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W.)

Four lives are drawn together in a sweeping, panoramic new novel from Richard Powers, showcasing …

Our tangled dependence on both extraction & love of the natural world

The glorious wonder of the ocean, the fraught love of competitive friends, our tangled dependence on both extraction & love of the natural world, the tempting appeal of AI. Felt like there was too much to wrap up in so short a space, but he pulls it off remarkably, leaving an uncertainty as to what was real and what imagined or simulated.

David Spiegelhalter: The Art of Uncertainty (Hardcover, 2024, Pelican)

From the UK’s ‘statistical national treasure’, a clever and data-driven guide to how we can …

A fairly readable overview of probability & uncertainty

A fairly readable overview of probability & uncertainty, from the straightforward games of chance through to the deep uncertainty of future risks such as climate change & AI. Not sure who it's aimed at: some of it is too complex for the layman, but not deep enough for the technically minded. Has some good examples, especially from covid. Would have liked some worked examples of how to apply its principles to real life decision-making.

reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)

Sarah J. Maas: A Court of Thorns and Roses (2015)

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to …

Hopefully this is not the best the genre has to offer ...

My first foray into Romantasy. The plot is so-so (humans vs faeries, love & intrigue) but finishes strongly. The romance is weak - it's never clear why she loves the faerie lord, except for his sexy man-beastiness. Hopefully this is not the best the genre has to offer.

John Birmingham: The Cruel Stars (2019, Del Rey)

Action space opera that doesn't take itself too seriously

Action space opera that doesn't take itself too seriously. Humanity has become a diverse species dangerously dependent on digital & genomic enhancement - a zealous puritan strain plans to change that. A few too many characters to begin with - none of them I connected with, and many of whom die - but they come together nicely.

Kathryn Stockett: The Help (2009, Amy Einhorn Books)

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned …

White women and black maids navigate civil rights

In 1960s Mississippi, white women and the black maids they employ navigate the upheaval of the civil rights movement. The contrast of ingrained racism and the deep emotional integration of black women into white family life is astounding. Potential for deep analysis, but you can also just enjoy the story.

reviewed Skyward Flight by Brandon Sanderson (Skyward, #2.1, 2.2, 2.3)

Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson: Skyward Flight (Paperback, 2023, Ember)

Return to the planet Detritus with FM, Alanik, and Jorgen in this must-have three-novella collection …

YA scifi with lots of dogfights, light humour and a little romance

While the hero of the series is lost in the Nowhere, her fellow pilots get on with being awesome and taking the fight to the oppressors. Decent YA fare with lots of dogfights, light humour and a little romance. The hyperslugs are adorable.

David Mitchell: Slade House (Hardcover, 2015, Sceptre)

Dark arts & illusions, bit creepy

Every nine years, people disappear into a house which otherwise can't be found. The author's usual layering of stories across different time periods gradually reveals the truth, though it's not particularly clever this time around. Dark arts & illusions, bit creepy, not really my thing.

Isobelle Carmody: Comes The Night (Paperback, A&U Children's)

Will slipped on the left glove and twitched a finger to establish a link to …

Very slow and overly explicatory

YA dystopian set in Canberra! In a polluted world, cities have been enclosed in domes and pervasive tech & propaganda keep the population in line. A teenage boy gets entangled in mysterious intrigue, and soon starts to wonder if his dreams are more than they seem. Very slow and overly explicatory, except for the ending which was sudden, unclear and too easy.

Natasha Pulley: The Mars House (2024, Bloomsbury Publishing USA)

From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a queer sci-fi novel about an …

Where refugees from climate-riven Earth are a mortal accidental risk to Martians

A sci-fi romance set on Mars, where recent refugees from climate-riven Earth are so strong in the low gravity that they are a mortal accidental risk to Martians. Excellent premise, and the contradictory reactions of the protagonist feel real & difficult. But some of the underlying science is dubious (MW ≠ MWh!!!), the romance had potential but felt a bit weak and the ending used up its momentum too soon. Mammoths!

Helen Garner: The Season (Paperback, 2024, Text Publishing)

It’s footy season in Melbourne, and Helen Garner is following her grandson’s under-16s team. She …

It's still just footy and Melburnians are weird

The author shadows her grandson's under-16 Aussie Rules team for a season. A glimpse from the boundary line of boys on the cusp on manhood, the solidarity of teammates, the strange spiritual appeal of sport. Wonderfully written & absorbing, but it's still just footy and Melburnians are weird.

Richard Adams: Watership Down (Paperback, 1975, Mass Market Paperback)

A worldwide bestseller for over thirty years, Watership Down is one of the most beloved …

Strange cultures, claw-biting escapades and the terror of war

The trials & adventures of rabbits setting up a new warren: strange cultures, claw-biting escapades and the terror of war. Similar to Wind in the Willows but the anthropomorphism is weaker and the characters less vibrant. It's just as misogynistic: does are thought of as mere 'breeding stock', though worth fighting over. Drags along though it builds to a decent climax.

Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2003)

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a Gothic novella by Scottish author …

Yasunari Kawabata: The Sound of the Mountain (1996, Vintage)

By day Ogata Shingo, an elderly Tokyo businessman, is troubled by small failures of memory. …

Mellow & unfocussed, much like old age

In post-war Japan, an aging man grapples ineffectually with the autumn of his life, the failure of his children's marriages, and his slightly inappropriate relationship with his daughter-in-law. Calmly mellow & unfocussed, much like old age might be.