Book Review: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A while back I saw a BlueSky post from Reactor magazine that asked users what modern sci-fi books or series would likely become classics. Children of Time was one of them, and one that I hadn't already read. Coincidentally, I also noticed a friend of mind had recently reviewed it on Goodreads so I decided to give it a shot. Here's the official blurb:

Adrian Tchaikovsky's Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel Children of Time is the epic story of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet. Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life. But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare. Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

Read on for my spoiler-free review (except for the species on the planet, which some blurbs also reveal).

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I picked this up at a book store thinking I would finally read it. I had seen the movie version a long time ago and enjoyed that. Plus I'm a geek and fan of video games, science fiction, fantasy, books, anime, etc and was born in the 80s so I figured I would recognize a lot of the nostalgia hits this book is known for. Here's the Goodreads blurb:

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them. When Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Book Review: The Long Price Quartet series by Daniel Abraham

Unlike my usual reviews, this one focuses on the entire series of The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham, all 4 books, rather than a single one. Basically, I was travelling while I was reading the first one and didn't get a chance to write up something before the second, so decided to just take the whole series as a whole. These include, A Shadow in Summer, A Betrayal in Winter, An Autumn War, and The Price of Spring. Here is a blurb covering the full series:

The unforgettable fantasy epic series that marks Daniel Abraham, one half of the writing team behind The Expanse, as one of the most enthralling fantasy writers to emerge in recent years

In a world of ancient empires and immortal magics, one man stands at the crossroads of history.

The aggressively expansionist Galt empire has already conquered lands across a huge continent. But the cities of the Khaiem resist Galt's power with the andat creatures of magic with godlike powers. But magic and treacherous politics have brought a bitter harvest of violence and sorrow.

Otah Machi, caught between ancient wonders and a modern empire, has survived more than most men endure in two lifetimes. He is the culmination of a complex inheritance, and his own existence is the fulcrum around which the wheels of epic history rotate through achingly poignant cycles of life and death, love and betrayal.

Now, when the world seems utterly lost, all depends on Otah, and the lost loves and found family he has desperately hoped to protect from the tragedy that beckons. If they can summon the courage and power to forgive and resist darkness, all their hopes could be salvaged—along with their world.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Book Review: Defiant by Brandon Sanderson

Defiant is the 4th novel in the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson. This is the epic conclusion to a series of young adult sci-fi novels Sanderson has been leading. There's even a secondary series that includes author Janci Patterson, though I haven't read those yet. Here is the book blurb:

Spensa made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.

The Superiority didn’t stop in it’s fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity–and the rest of the galaxy–falls.

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: how far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself–and her friends–in the process.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Book Review: System Collapse by Martha Wells

System Collapse is the next novel installment in the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Walls coming immediately after Network Effect. Note that Fugitive Telemetry, which was released after Network Effect is more of a flashback novella rather than continuing the story chronologically. Here is the Goodreads blurb:

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Book Review: The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

I've read several of Ann Leckie's science fiction books, like Ancillary Justice and Provenance. The Raven Tower is her newest fantasy novel and I decided to give it a try. Here is the Goodreads blurb:

For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven. He watches over his territory from atop a tower in the powerful port of Vastai. His will is enacted through the Raven's Lease, a human ruler chosen by the god himself. His magic is sustained via the blood sacrifice that every Lease must offer. And under the Raven's watch, the city flourishes.

But the power of the Raven is weakening. A usurper has claimed the throne. The kingdom borders are tested by invaders who long for the prosperity that Vastai boasts. And they have made their own alliances with other gods.

It is into this unrest that the warrior Eolo--aide to Mawat, the true Lease--arrives. And in seeking to help Mawat reclaim his city, Eolo discovers that the Raven's Tower holds a secret. Its foundations conceal a dark history that has been waiting to reveal itself...and to set in motion a chain of events that could destroy Iraden forever.

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Book Review: The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson is the 4th and final novel of the "Year of Sanderson", the crowd-funded project started towards the end of the COVID pandemic. This one in particular is a very interesting book dedicated to the fans of the Cosmere.

Years ago he had comrades in arms and a cause to believe in, but now the man who calls himself Nomad knows only a life on the run. Forced to hop from world to world in the Cosmere whenever the relentless Night Brigade gets too close, Nomad lands on a new planet and is instantly caught up in the struggle between a tyrant and the rebels who want only to escape being turned into mindless slaves—all under the constant threat of a sunrise whose heat will melt the very stones. Unable to understand the language, can he navigate the conflict and gain enough power to leap offworld before his mind or body pay the ultimate price?

Read on for my spoiler-free review.

Book Review: Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan

Lord of Chaos is the 6th book in The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I revisited my re-read after watching a bit of the new season on Amazon. I'll probably get through a full re-read, but taking my time since I already know the story. Here's the Goodreads blurb:

On the slopes of Shayol Ghul, the Myrddraal swords are forged, and the sky is not the sky of this world ...

In Salidar the White Tower in exile prepares an embassy to Caemlyn, where Rand Al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, holds the throne -- and where an unexpected visitor may change the world ...

In Emond's Field, Perrin Goldeneyes, Lord of the Two Rivers, feels the pull of ta'veren to ta'veren and prepares to march ...

Morgase of Caemlyn finds a most unexpected, and quite unwelcome, ally ...

And south lies Illian, where Sammael holds sway ...

Read on for my spoiler-free review, though spoilers for the prior books are fair game.