The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera

I did not know when reading this story that it was a retelling of the origin story of the Buddha. It would have made a difference in how much I appreciated it. I have read and been around enough Buddhism to have consumed some versions of his origin story, and the fact that he named his child Fetter IRL was never mentioned.

Another reviewer said they admired the story more than liked it. I can second this. I found it amazingly imaginative just as a story, but it went on and on without really gripping me and took me a long time to finish. The idea of a prison so large that it becomes more like a country is one that will stick with me. Fetter the protagonist did kind of grow on me, but not so much that I truly cared about his fate. So much went on in this story that just got by me. I appreciate his perspective and hope Chandrasekera keeps writing.

My Goodreads Review

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, by Wole Talabi

A lot of folks seemed to have expected something a bit different than they got from this novel. I did not read the blurb so was fortunately not misled. This is a fun and interesting fantasy novel based in Nigerian culture. When Talabi writes about Nigerian culture, he blends past and present in a way that's really interesting to me as a white reader. Nigeria is a country of extreme income inequality, but his depictions of wealth in Lagos remind us that destitution is not the only story in Africa. The book is both playful and deep, laying a goofy corporate power structure over pre-colonial tribal religion to create the backdrop for the story.

Shigidi is a constructed being, a minor nightmare god created from clay by Olorun, a powerful Orisha that used to run the spiritual corporation they are both connected to (it has a totally forgettable generic name). He works for prayers of believers--Talabi hints at an economy of prayer money. He is just scraping by when he meets Nneoma, a succubus and more elemental being that lives outside the spiritual economy the spiritual corporations have created. Their growing love is the central driver in the story, as Shigidi is remade into a god as potent as any other with Nneoma's infusions of power. The brass head is a macguffin, a physical object that focuses the efforts of the protagonists.

Talabi's writing has really developed. The narrative has many threads, mainly distinguished by the date and time at the head of each chapter. Pay attention to these. I found the shifts entertaining, they made me work a bit to keep up with the plot but injected backstory at the right time. Good stuff! Not perfect, there may have been too many of those threads and it got confusing sometimes, but overall worth it and a really good read.

My Yelp Review

Translation State, by Ann Leckie

 This entry in the Imperial Radch universe really shows Ann Leckie's writing skills. We have three protagonists, and cannot do without any of them. And we get to learn more about the Presger, that incredibly alien threat.

There's also a lot of interesting and astute political commentary here. Leckie has built a consistent world where gender and race are fluid concepts, with alternative pronouns used naturally. She then reintroduces race and oppression through the Phren and the Hikipi, two human races from LoveHate station now residing on a planet. The Hikipi suffer from terrible oppression at the hands of the Phren, but this does not make them into saints and martyrs. The Hikipi fall for disinformation (the Presger aren't real!) and commit violence just like real humans do. The point of valuing all people, and lifting up those who have suffered oppression, is not to put them on a pedestal. It's to make space for them as people.

Family and human connection are the center of the novel. Protagonists Reet (raised as human) and Qven (a Presger Translator) want to be human, and their family (who adopted Reet, and then embraced Qven when Qven is in a relationship with Reet) fight for their right to be human.

There's so much high quality teaching going on that it starts to become the point of the book. That's the only issue I have, and hard to say it's a real one. The Imperial Radch is an incredibly complex place, Leckie can explore it for her whole career and just get started. Looking forward to the next one.

My Goodreads Review

Witch King, by Martha Wells

I just finished reading this, which took a really long time. Martha Wells is a very versatile writer--the Murderbot series is all quick hits and snappy dialog, a fun read. This one feels more like a masterwork in the making--no doubt Wells has huge files of backstory. Very little of that is in the book, you have to figure out the fantasy world as she describes it, which is fine. Wells is taking her time building characters--Demon and Prince of the 4th House Kaiisterion (Kai to his friends) being the protagonist, with fellow traveler Ziede (I never figured out exactly what she was, a Witch I guess?).

A lot of the book is driven by Kai's memory of events, and his speculations on what and who is driving them. The book opens with Kai waking up from an imprisonment that should have been impossible, and freeing Ziede from a similar imprisonment. From there we have a very slow build, first introducing the powerful factions, then watching Kai and Ziede narrow down who was behind their capture. There's not a lot of action in either of the parallel story lines until the last third of the book.

There's a whole lot of potential here, you can see the scaffolding for the above-mentioned masterwork. This is one where the sequels could be better than the opener. This one feels like it's mostly introduction (through actions, but still an introduction).

The Water Outlaws, by S. L. Huang

According to the introduction this book is intended to evoke "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (thought that title is not explicitly referenced)--feminine superhero-martial arts-wire fu action. And it delivers on that pretty well. I find myself agreeing with others that the focus of the book felt off--I didn't care that much about Lin Chong and Li Junyi as protagonists. The other characters had more potential to be interesting, mostly because they didn't carry that baggage about loyalty to a corrupt empire. That may be what is playing out in real life, but I think most of us are over it. The author's work to build those protagonists actually detracted from enjoyment of the action.

Overall it was OK, but felt like it went on for a long time. I can't quite give it four stars.

My Goodreads Review

The Road to Roswell, by Connie Willis

This is a rom-com, a nice relaxing read. I think Connie Willis could have put more into it than that, but in the end it's pretty much a better grade of Hallmark movie (maybe a low-stakes romantic comedy with some big name actors between projects). The special effects would not be very difficult at all, and there's a lot you could do with an animated, very fast tumbleweed that would be fun to watch. A nice break from post-apocalyptic stories I guess, since reality has a way of catching up to those and that will never happen with alien stories. I think it's better than a 3 but it's not a 4.

My Goodreads Review

The Lords of Uncreation, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I absolutely loved this conclusion to the Final Architecture series, for some of the same reasons that other reviewers didn't like it so much. There's a lot of battle sequences--I think they are really exciting and Tchaikovsky's background shows (he shares in his bio that he's trained in stage fighting, and that experience clearly informs the battles). He manages to make something as ridiculous in scope as saving all sentient life in the universe scale down to something we can get our heads around.

The whole series is worth reading for the relationships between the crew of the Vulture God (a deep-space salvage tug). Through all the insanity they are deeply devoted to each other, and particularly to Idris. Idris is endearing for his over-the-top depiction--he's only got one job, that of saving the universe, and he is conspicuously and self-consciously terrible at anything else. He is the most vulnerable lead character that I remember reading, and the rest of the crew is symmetrically devoted to him. I am sad to come to the end of the story--I will miss these folks. I also think Tchaikovsky has effectively closed off the series so that we can truly miss them.

My Goodreads Review