Tag Archives: Tor.com

All Systems Red

Book Review of All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1), by Martha Wells

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I borrowed Martha Wells‘ All Systems Red from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Review:
Really quite marvelous. I love that you could feel how uncomfortable SecUnit was with people, how it was completely badass but also fragile. The book was fairly spare on the world building, but there was just enough to position the story. And I 100% approve of SecUnit’s decision at the end. I can’t wait to read more of this series. Tor continues to wow me with each new book I read and Martha Wells is on my radar.

River of Teeth

Book Review of River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey

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I borrowed a copy of Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.

Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.

This was a terrible plan.

Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.

Review:
Awesome cover and really interesting plot, with the hippos and all. I liked the alternative history and the characters. I liked the wildly diverse cast and the speech patterns. I thought the writing was clean and easy to read. But I also thought it was all just a little too vague. There were aspects of the plot skimmed over that left me uncertain how or why some things happened. The book is only 170 pages long. There was plenty of room to fill it out more. I’ll be happy to read the sequel though. Because for all its faults,it was just plain fun.

Book Review of The Guns Above (Signal Airship #1), by Robyn Bennis

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I received a copy of The Guns Above, by Robyn Bennis, through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
The nation of Garnia has been at war for as long as Auxiliary Lieutenant Josette Dupris can remember – this time against neighboring Vinzhalia. Garnia’s Air Signal Corp stands out as the favored martial child of the King. But though it’s co-ed, women on-board are only allowed “auxiliary” crew positions and are banned from combat. In extenuating circumstances, Josette saves her airship in the heat of battle. She is rewarded with the Mistral, becoming Garnia’s first female captain.

She wants the job – just not the political flak attached. On top of patrolling the front lines, she must also contend with a crew who doubts her expertise, a new airship that is an untested deathtrap, and the foppish aristocrat Lord Bernat – a gambler and shameless flirt with the military know-how of a thimble. He’s also been assigned to her ship to catalog her every moment of weakness and indecision. When the Vins make an unprecedented military move that could turn the tide of the war, can Josette deal with Bernat, rally her crew, and survive long enough to prove herself to the top brass?

Review:
This was a really quite enjoyable read. I liked the idea of the first female airship captain. I loved the banter and wry witticisms in the face of danger. The writing was wonderful and I liked all the characters (or rather, liked the ones I was meant to like and disliked the ones meant to be toad-like).

I would have liked to understand the characters as well as the battles. The book is heavy on detailed descriptions of air battles and light on the internal workings of the characters themselves. I liked them, but I wouldn’t say we get to know them well, Josette especially.

I would liked to compliment Bennis on having a man be attracted to ‘older’ (than him) women and not making it a joke. Allowing that women in their 50s (and beyond) can be sexy and sexual was a breath of fresh air.

Lastly, as an introduction to a series this works well. But it is just a slice of a larger pie. We meet the captain, crew and tag-along dandy. They bicker and fight a couple battles in a larger war. Then it ends, with the understand that there is more of the same to come. It felt a bit anchor-less.