The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1) by Stephen King
I rated this four stars the first time I read it. I think that was because I hadn’t read the rest of the series yet, and now that I have in my head what this series can really do when it’s going, this one just feels a little anemic in comparison. Also, it’s such a weird book that I didn’t know what to make of it at the time, but I can see what he’s doing now that I’ve read the rest of it. In […]
Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold
So I read this book back in CBR7 with the full intention of blasting through the series . . . and then proceeded to not do that. So of course I had to re-read before actually continuing. This is still three and a half stars, but I’m bumping it up this go-round. I’m very glad I re-read this, because I knew I had forgotten most of what happened here, except for the general arc of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan, but I didn’t realize HOW much […]
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase
Re-read, October 2022: I cannot fully explain why I had the need to re-read this novel, the start of a promising but eventually disappointing series of alt-history books that asked the question, what if Napoleonic wars but also dragons? A decent part was this intense desire to re-read the part of the novel where Laurence realizes that a number of dragons that the UK relies upon for its aerial might insist on having female captains, and is forced to reconcile that fact with his posh […]
Babylon's Ashes (The Expanse, #6) by James S.A. Corey
I still think this is one of the best books in the series but in a more stealthy way than book five, which is a WHOPPER. The rest of the series is also more actiony and intense, but this one is more about showing the consequences of what’s already happened, and laying hints for what’s to come than it is about BIG moments. I really appreciate that the Corey duo can do both, and I think the series is better for it. One of the […]
Nemesis Games (The Expanse, #5) by James S.A. Corey
Once again, I find myself rushing to complete this review before I can allow myself to start my re-read of book six. This book was just as good as I remembered, and in fact, I actually think it was better. I noticed so many things this time around that I didn’t before, when I was just focused on, basically, OMG WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. (Something you can only notice on a series re-read: SPOILERS They really hit it hard that Amos would be the “Last […]
Cibola Burn (The Expanse, #4) by James S.A. Corey
Whoops, need to get this review out before I start my re-read of book five. This wasn’t my least favorite of these books the first time through, that for some reason was book two (even though I can objectively say that one is a better book, I just prefer this more inferior one for some reason). This is also most people’s least favorite of the series, and I can see why, I really can. This is actually the only one of these I read in […]
