Deborah Pickett started reading Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen …
Technical nonfiction and spec fiction. She/her. Melbourne, Australia. Generation X. Admin of Outside of a Dog. BDFL of Hometown (Mastodon) instance Old Mermaid Town (@futzle@old.mermaid.town). Avatar image is of a book that my dog tried to put on their inside.
My rating scale: ★ = I didn't care for it and probably didn't finish it; ★★ = It didn't inspire but I might have finished it anyway; ★★★ = It was fine; ★★★★ = I enjoyed it; ★★★★★ = I couldn't put it down.
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It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen …
Content warning Plot spoilers
One of the things I like about recent sf is that it doesn’t feel the need to adhere to the old tropes. The protagonist’s secret comes out, and unlike in old sf where there would have been hand-wringing and ostracism, the allies accept the new information, accept the protagonist, and the story moves on. Old sf would definitely have killed off one of the protagonist’s group for shock value, but that isn’t a given nowadays. Old sf likes to explore the axis of the powerful against the underdog, but now the force driving the story is bureaucracy, opportunism, and selfishness. I like this first Murderbot story because it (the story, but also Murderbot) is relatable.
Having an epiphany: I suspect this book deeply resonates with a lot of people I follow on the Fediverse, because I can see a lot of you in Murderbot in how you react to social situations.
Nope, it is not grabbing me. Stopping at page 120 of 1138 (!). It feels like older, straight-man-written sf of the 1970s, not from its actual 2002. I’d probably have devoured this as a youngster but now my expectations are higher.
Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as …
The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter, by Malka Older, …
Content warning Plot elements
I’ll come right out and say it: blackface is a central part of this story. This novel is from 1934 when white people didn’t blink at blacking up and performing music as “n****r minstrels”. There’s simply no way to edit this story to exclude this fact without greatly changing the story.
I’ve only read Jeeves short stories to now; this is the first novel (and Wodehouse’s first Jeeves novel too). It hangs together, the plot is clever and of course Jeeves saves the day. Satisfying, but hold your nose.