Jan 04 2023
I literally have no idea who “Murr” is but apparently he’s super famous on the Internet, and I got to read this cool book by him and Carsen Smith! This middle grade novel features Viv Harlow, who’s about to graduate middle school and is super anxious about having one last perfect summer with her best …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/04/area-51-interns-1-alien-summer-by-james-s-murray-carsen-smith/
Jan 02 2023
Every Christmas, while the kids are exclaiming over toys and playing in relative harmony, I adopt benevolent mama pose and sit and read a Bad Machinery book while they giggle and coo (clearly romanticized, but if not now, when.) This year, I was so discombobulated by the book series’ change of format that I accidentally …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/01/02/the-case-of-the-forked-road-bad-machinery-7-by-john-allison/
Dec 30 2022
Time for some short takes to clear the desk for the coming year. Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. Nobel winner Tokarczuk uses very short chapters, each titled “The Time of …”, to depict life in an archetpyal Polish village from just before the outbreak of the First World War through the last years …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/12/30/wrapping-up-3/
Dec 12 2022
Minor disclaimer: Jadzia and I are friends via the Space Gnome Discord server. I was actually a little hesitant to read and review this because of our connection (which is dumb of me: I should always try to boost my friends!) but I’m super glad I finally found the time to. To all appearances, Taylor …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/12/12/galaxy-the-prettiest-star-by-jadzia-axelrod-jess-taylor/
Dec 10 2022
The Best of Connie Willis brings together her shorter works of fiction — short story, novelette and novella — that have won either the Hugo or Nebula award. That she could fill a full-sized collection exclusively with award-winners is a testament to her skill as a storyteller and to the regard science fiction fans and writers …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/12/10/the-best-of-connie-willis-by-connie-willis/
Nov 22 2022
Oh gosh, what an affecting middle grade graphic novel! Honestly, some of the most entertaining and moving writing out there today is in middle grade literature, and this title is absolutely part of those ranks. Everyday Hero Machine Boy starts out with an older couple, Mei and Goh, who are mostly in retirement from running …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/11/22/everyday-hero-machine-boy-by-irma-kniivila-tri-vuong/
Sep 24 2022
At the end of Rogue Protocol, the SecUnit otherwise known as Murderbot had incontrovertible evidence that its corporate nemesis GrayCris had been engaging in illegal activities involving alien technology. It had little faith that exposure of the activities had caused the corporation serious harm, but GrayCris’ reactions suggested that the company might take a different …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/09/24/exit-strategy-by-martha-wells/
Sep 16 2022
Ugggggh, I love Nona so much. Not Nona the book — and we’ll come to that later — but Nona the character, who is about the sweetest gorram teenager you’ve ever met in your life. Well, technically a teenager: her body is about nineteen years old but she’s only really been alive? resurrected? reborn? for …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/09/16/nona-the-ninth-the-locked-tomb-3-by-tamsyn-muir/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/09/08/hugo-2022-chat/
Aug 27 2022
A Desolation Called Peace was always going to be a tough sell for me, and there’s little chance I would have started reading it if it hadn’t been a Hugo finalist. I could see the virtues of its predecessor, A Memory Called Empire, but from the way that book ended I had the sense — …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2022/08/27/a-desolation-called-peace-by-arkady-martine/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire