Category: Science Fiction

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

Hurray, only one more book to read and I’ll finally be done with the 2020 Hugos, glargh! So this was an interesting novel. Good, but I can see why I never hear of it outside of this nomination, even as plugged in as I generally am to publishing and particularly genre circles. The Vanished Birds …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/17/the-vanished-birds-by-simon-jimenez/

F.A.R.T.: Top Secret! No Kids Allowed! by Peter Bakalian

Oh gosh, I didn’t expect this to end on such a cliffhanger! I also didn’t expect this kind of visual design from a book aimed squarely at middle school kids. It’s seriously delightful, a clever mix of mid-century modern with the more expected kids’ doodles on graph paper. The illustrations throughout are entirely suited to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/12/f-a-r-t-top-secret-no-kids-allowed-by-peter-bakalian/

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

By reading the Murderbot series all out of order (2-5-6-1-3, with 4 lined up to read soon) I’ve not experienced its coming to terms with its freedom or its engagement with other non-humans as a story of continuous progress. On the other hand, knowing a bit more about where Murderbot is headed — including its …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/05/03/rogue-protocol-by-martha-wells/

Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Hey, I finally got around to reading the oldest book on my NetGalley list! This is how rich and miserable my reading backlog has been: I verily feel like King Midas on the days I don’t feel like Ado Annie. But enough with my random allusions: how is the book, Doreen? (Forgive me, I’m a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/04/05/exhalation-by-ted-chiang/

A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor

A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor

A Trail Through Time is the fourth book about Madeleine Maxwell and St Mary’s Institute for Historical Research where the historians investigate major historical events in contemporary time — “It’s time travel, OK” — and follows closely on the events of A Second Chance. The title of this book refers to the ability of its major antagonists, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/21/a-trail-through-time-by-jodi-taylor/

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold

For reasons not detailed within the novel, the planet Athos is settled exclusively by men. It’s a backwater, isolated by choice and religious conviction. Converts are few, visitors prohibited, and travel off-planet essentially nil. The rest of spacefaring humanity seems to regard them as quaint but harmless oddballs. The men of Athos have mastered the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/10/ethan-of-athos-by-lois-mcmaster-bujold/

Stars And Bones by Gareth L Powell

Take a bit of The Expanse, add a dash of Battlestar Galactica and a soupcon of Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series, and you have the latest thrilling space opera from multi-British Science Fiction Association Award-winning author Gareth L Powell! Eryn is a Navigator, one of the few people who are capable of linking with the shipminds …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/03/03/stars-and-bones-by-gareth-l-powell/

The Long Sunset by Jack McDevitt

The Long Sunset by Jack McDevitt

The Long Sunset is the eighth book in Jack McDevitt’s series named after the Academy of Science and Technology, whose central character is Priscilla Hutchins, a pilot of interstellar craft generally known by her nickname “Hutch.” Six years ago, when I read Cauldron, I wrote: The universe that McDevitt has shown through Hutch’s … eyes …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/01/17/the-long-sunset-by-jack-mcdevitt/

Agency by William Gibson

Agency by William Gibson

Readers who made it through the first few unforgiving chapters of The Peripheral and went on to enjoy the rest of the book will find the beginning of Agency easier going, with the essential setup unchanged and many of the characters returning. In the main timeline sometime late in the twenty-second century, humanity has mostly …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/26/agency-by-william-gibson/

Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher 3: Reptoids from Space by David Fremont

While I’m sure I would have understood more of the passing references here had I started with volume one, this was still a more than alright place to begin with the Carlton Crumple Creature Catcher series, as my 10 year-old will happily attest. As of this volume, Carlton Crumple is bored at home, on the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/12/20/carlton-crumple-creature-catcher-3-reptoids-from-space-by-david-fremont/