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Well, I have to wait a few months for more Murderbot, but this was a great story. I'm going to go stand facing the wall for a bit now...

Hey, just cos this one took me an extra day to read doesn't mean I liked it any less. Murderbot, keeps breaking my heart.

I haven't been so compelled to read since a teenager. Murderbot sucked me in completely.

I can't say I wasn't entertained, but somehow I wasn't 100% sold. The characters were relatable, and I liked the general comradery of the main characters.

It was a good change from my usual fare, even though the magic system (which was cool) felt a bit too much like science fiction with it's many rules and identifiable patterns.

My favourite thing about Logan's writing is how she contrasts the soft edges of the fantastical with hard reality. This is not "magical realism", but a heartbreaking and down to earth love story, but there are cracks where the magic leaks out, which makes it all the more powerful.

Finished book 1 and went straight into book 2. Murderbot just keeps on coming, and I ain't gonna get in its way!

I think I see what Stephenson is trying to do here, but I just can't.

Like not even.

It's slow, plodding, and introduces new characters so often that it feels like a G.R.R Martin spin off.

The central idea is somewhat interesting, but, look Neal, if you want to write a fantasy book, write a fucking fantasy book, don't tack on some weird contrivance that just confuses everything!

Anyway, I gave up about the 700 page mark, because I realised that having this monstrosity hanging over me was hurting my desire to read anything at all.

A really engaging read. The "Aliens" were not at all what I imagined they would be going in. The only downside is that it feels like it becomes a bit more conventional sci-fi at the end, and the story gives up many of its secrets. But, luckily it stops short from giving them all up.

Second time through this, and it was an interesting experience. On the one hand, not being 14 anymore, I got many more of the references. But I also found a lot of humour fell very flat. It was not anywhere near as funny as I remember... It switches from outright farce to gritty dark comedy too quickly, which makes it really hard to nail town the tone.

However, as a concept it's great and well worth reading just for the exploration of what it actually be like to be an orc in a dark horde... too bad I just found it tonally all over place, but your mileage may vary.

This was like reading Neverwhere again. Except the main character is a child not 30ish. And I'm 30 odd, not a child.

It pretty much hits all the beats of Gaiman story, but here the structure creaks and groans. He mixes Coraline with Neverwhere, with American Gods, all the elements are there, and none of them feel original, or interesting. The quirky mystery of the Hempstocks was just annoying rather than alluring.

The main character has no agency, he just gets thrown from event to event, and his big heroic moment has him literally sitting still for hours.

No, I didn't like this at all. It's so bad that it may have tainted the earlier, better Gaiman stories, and that makes me kinda sad...

A very unfortunate sequel. I very much enjoyed the first book, but this one took the story in a direction that I was not interested in.

Although there are some interesting secondary characters, and some insights into the applications of the series' main technology, it really feels like the book spends three quarters of it's length treading water, and then tries to wow with an overwrought action finale that I mostly skimmed...

So, yeah, not for me.

Translations haven't really worked for me that well in the past, so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get through the first chapter, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the competency of the writing.

What is ostensibly a collection of short stories, with some connective tissue starts strong, but I found myself growing tired of it near the end. It's a weirdly antiseptic book, all description and a minimum of internal monologue. It's hard to get a grasp on Geralt as he seems to act somewhat randomly and never getting to hear his thoughts means there is not a lot to hang his motivations on.

And the humour gets old fast.

And so does the weird sexism.

It has, however, made me appreciate the computer game a lot more, so I guess that is something...