Review: C is for Cthulhu: The Lovecraft Alphabet Book

C is for Cthulhu: The Lovecraft Alphabet Book by Jason Ciaramella
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just when I thought my son is too old for an alphabet book, we found a perfect one! This one is definitely the very best! It has monsters! It has meaning for parents to quietly laugh about! It doesn't have awkward letters, where authors couldn't think of a single word and put the letter in the middle! Lovecraft's characters are good like that - plenty to choose from starting with any letter :D And the little Ctulhu is the cutest! My guess is the little one will be a Ctulhu this Halloween.

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Review: Witchmark

Witchmark by C.L. Polk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was a very good read, a real page-turner I finished in two days. I liked the setting, the world-building (without data-damps for once). I really enjoyed the author's attention to details (even though some of the details annoyed re-surfacing 40 pages later, when I forgot all about them).

As much as I enjoyed the book, minus one star for a way too blatant and straight-forward analogies, the identity of Tristan revealed too soon and boring (why couldn't he be a spy, why.... ok, no spoilers), and the mystery that was obvious to the reader to the smallest detail at 80% of the book, while the characters were still quite mystified.

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Review: Spinning Silver

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book delivers and exceeds all expectations, as always. I guess, it must put a lot of pressure on Naomi Novik, when everyone expects the next book to be even more amazing, but so far she proves herself true. I couldn't stop reading. The writing is sharp and precise, it left me in awe. Some sentences are so good, I re-read them several times out loud, just because they sound fantastic.

For those who read to the end of the short story and didn't want to continue, because 'what else could there be and on so many pages besides', the story in this book is only beginning at this point. It is also not a re-telling of Rumpelstiltskin, but rather a look at this tale from the other side. I keep wondering why people call it a re-telling of 'not only Rumpelstiltskin, but also other Slavic stories.' Surprise, Rumpelstiltskin is not a Slavic story (does this word sound Slavic?); and neither are most of the rest tales incorporated into the book.

I didn't like the ending all that much, but the offered exploration of history and family is awesome. I probably won't re-read it as often as Uprooted, but it's still one of my favorites now.

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Review: The Whale that Fell in Love with a Submarine

The Whale that Fell in Love with a Submarine by Akiyuki Nosaka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So beautifully written. And incredibly sad.

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Review: The Freeze-Frame Revolution

The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was waiting for this book, but perhaps without the proper enthusiasm. So I didn't read any reviews, blurbs, opinions.... and was completely unaware of any secret messages in the book. And then I opened the book and found a red letter on the very first page. And then another, on the second page. So over the next few minutes, perplexed librarians watched me going through the book with a pen and a piece of paper; then googling "mitochondrial introns just downstream from COX-five" (and coming up empty-handed :( ). At least I have the link for Hitchhiker, right?

I was really expecting a full novel, for some reason, and 186 tiny pages feel more like a novella. I was also expecting that staging "a mutiny when you are only awake one day in a million" would be more complicated. It turned out disappointingly easy (maybe that's why they failed :) ). Nevertheless, I like the book, I like the science in it, I like the questions in it. It's not as dark as some of the other books by Peter Watts, but it's still dark enough for me and a very hard science fiction.

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Review: Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 96

Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 96 by Neil Clarke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The only thing I read in this collection is Giants by Peter Watts; and it's the only thing I'm rating. I have no idea about the rest of the stories in the magazine, but this particular one is brilliant.

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Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love the book! And generally, I like Salvador Dali's paintings. But I must say I'm not too fond of his illustrations for this book :D They are very... Dali. And therefore very hard to explain to a kid you try to read the book to.

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