s-reviews

[s-reviews]

Gideon The Ninth

NO SPOILERS!!

Looking for fantastically good story telling? Look no further. Tasmyn Muir is just unspeakably good at what she does. Seriously. This is the first book in what may be my favorite series of all time, and I do not say that lightly.

It starts with some hard and fast world building, don’t let that put you off, it is worth it. Gideons narration is unendingly entertaining and you are guaranteed to laugh out loud. The plot is unique and fresh and I am unable to think of anything I could even remotely compare it to. Tired of “its just harry potter but *insert different genre here*”? Here is a wholly novel…novel.

This is an investigative story where the detective isn’t the main character, the sidekick is. Neat! You will be confused by the large cast of characters but they are so well developed you wont be for long. And, also [REDACTED] so, theres that. And theres a handy dramatis personae at the beginning if you forget anyone important.

You will cry, you will laugh, you will groan at dad jokes, you will face moral quandaries. You know, all the things a good book does! Seriously, READ THIS BOOK. I cannot tell you any louder than all caps. READ IT.

Not sold?

Sci-fi necromancer, enemies to… best friends?, murder mystery, uncovering ancient secrets, buff-as-hell lesbian swordswoman, goth face paint.

Do I need to say more? READ IT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. If it doesn’t become insanely popular and get an iffy movie adaptation, it will be a CRIME.

[s-reviews]

Dune, the first book

*LIGHT SPOILERS*

Do you like light Sci-Fi? Do you like political intrigue? Do you like the basics of environmental science and MASSIVE WORMS. Do you like flipping back to the glossary for the first three chapters to read the definitions of made up words that give you a lot of world building very fast? Dune may be the next read for you!

Its got power couples, its got betrayal, its got guerrilla warfare, its got a revenge plot line, its got a villain who is easy to hate, its got a protagonist who has really intense drug trips, its got a dicey philosophical stance on humanitys warlike nature that makes you go “hmmmm”. Its got everything.

It’s well written, but the dialogue can go on a bit long. It is a master class in using transitions to move the story forward while still giving the reader context for what happened in the time skip. It is surprisingly easy to read, definitely no lord of the rings, where you literally lose the plot and have to go back five pages to the last time you knew what the heck was going on.

In all, a very entertaining and dramatic book that follows some great story tropes (looking at you heroes journey), with a healthy dollop of unique Sci-Fi where you never actually get a scene on a space ship in space. And it doesnt fall into the scifi genres tendency to describe in minute detail every bit of tech presented in the story. You’ll do a lot of inferring and relying on you own imagination and enjoy every minute of it.

Get hyped for the movie!