Your private ebook cloud library

A good issue of Clarkesworld, with fascinating stories by Samantha Murray, Eric Schwitzgebel, R. P. Sand and Gu Shi.

Full review at [ https://sohkamyung.github.io/reviews/magazines/Clarkesworld/20230209-Clarkesworld197.html ]

This book got me hooked!

It delivers hard science fiction, pathos, beautifully dark comedy, a dig at every lazy sci-fi trope in existence, plenty of laughs, and is simply a must-read.

You know what you're getting into from the clever book titles. The humour is Jonathan Swift meets Red Dwarf. And the science is terrifyingly accurate...

...unfortunately!

Why do we make the choices we do? Social and family pressures, personal beliefs of our place in society and of how our lives are supposed to be. This is a book that lets you look inside the lives of one family, and gives you the sense of understanding that a bitter or reserved exterior can hide losses that no-one else knows about.

A lower than average issue with stories that didn't really attract my attention apart from stories by Cécile Cristofari and David Maskill. The tale by Maskill is the 2019 James White Award Winning story

An average issue with interesting stories by Gregor Hartmann, Matthew Hughes, R.S. Benedict and with an especially interesting story about a musical faun by Jerome Stueart.

Well I certainly loved this sample!

Moved along at a nice pace. Plenty of events, but not rushed. Language, descriptions and sense of location & time seem spot-on. It's the first in a series too.

I'm intrigued and excited to read more. Just what a sample should do. And it's from Book View Cafe, so I know 90% my money will go to the author.

Off to buy the full book asap!

A better than average issue with some intersting stories by Nalo Hopkinson, Graham Edwards, Eleanor Arnason, K. A. Teryna, Hayley Stone and Jennie Goloboy.

Full review at [ https://bookwyrm.social/user/sohkamyung/review/63261 ]

This isn't your propaganda-and-trope filled flag-waver. B-Mecha is fully aware of its place in Mech vs. Kaiju lore, and up-ends it in glorious West Yorkshire fashion.

We're given a concise yet comprehensive view of the lay-of-the-land, and the personal toll when Michael receives very little thanks for the dangerous work he does.

Love it!

Crime fiction is a genre I rarely venture into, but Ruth Sutton's Cumbria-set series may be my gateway.

The story nips along at a nice pace, providing plenty of information while avoiding info-dumps. The characters are likeable in their own ways and the late 60s setting is nicely done, especially the insight into the Cumbrian coastal region of that period.

I can't wait to start the sequel.

The Yamada Monogatari series, by Richard Parks, is a rich, detailed insight into both the Japanese period I enjoy so much and the mythology of ghosts, demons and spirits that filled the storytelling and superstition of the time.

A thrilling read in the style of Raymond Chandler's Sam Spade stories.

Filled with flawed characters, a corrupt police force, bought and manipulated by a wealthy local family; it's a rich background to the main tale of redemption, coming to terms and moving on.

Slow in parts, it is however, a worthwhile read in itself, serving as an insight into the mining communities of the region and their demise as a local industry and employer.

A better than average issue with a long, strange, tale of travel to another world that may yet be ours by Tim Lees, Eugenia Triantafyllou and ending with a tale of a timely intervention by Val Nolan that may yet make America great again in a different way.