Review: Trigun Stampede (s01)

If you’re following SFF news at all, you’ve probably heard of bigolas dickolas by now, a Trigun fan account whose enthusiastic tweets made This Is How You Lose the Time War skyrocket in popularity again. Well, as a long-time Time War fan, the effect worked in reverse for me – why not try Trigun? After I saw another twitter thread explaining the different possible starting points, I decided for the 2023 remake. Pretty artstyle to hook me, and with only twelve episodes, not much of a commitment.

In short? I absolutely loved it straight from the start. Beautifully animated, with one hell of a lovable protagonist, and surprisingly heartwrenching and bittersweet, I would recommend it to any SFF fan.

Review: Lone Women by Victor LaValle

– goodreads –

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I put Lone Women on my immediate TBR as soon as I heard what it’s about. I really like the idea of westerns, specifically the setting, but it’s hard to find anything that’d hit the spot. Reading books based on the concept alone can be pretty hit or miss, but this time, it worked out perfectly. I could not put it down.

Mini Reviews: Lavender House, What Moves the Dead, Across a Field of Starlight, The Mimicking of Known Successes

Due to my big reviewing slump, I’m quite a bit behind, both when it comes to books that’d get a normal review (like Lavender House here – I really wanted to write a full one, but alas) and those that’d get a short one anyway. With this batch, I’m mostly caught up, and they were all great reads, too.

Review: And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky

– goodreads –

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Tchaikovsky’s books have, so far, been extremely hit and miss for me. This one is sadly once again almost entirely a miss, despite the interesting concept – I tend to like books putting a fresh spin on portal fantasy tropes (see: The Light Between Worlds), but And Put Away Childish things was an overall miserable experience I only forced myself to finish because it was short. Not to mention it (and my recent difficulty reviewing) put me in a reading slump for a whole month.

Review: Song of the Beast by Carol Berg

– goodreads –

So far, 2023 has been the year of the backlog, finally getting around to many of the books that have been on my radar for years. I suspected I’d like it purely due to Berg’s reputation for writing broken protagonists (I quite enjoyed Transformation) and the first half was great. Unfortunately though, what could have been a fairly enjoyable standard dragon story started to drag on in the second half instead. And the romance subplot being unpleasant and annoying to read certainly didn’t help.

Mini Reviews: Even Though I Knew the End, Geometries of Belonging, Into the Riverlands, No Man’s Land

I’m very glad when I have a batch of mini reviews ready and it’s just enjoyable novellas or other kinds of books I simply don’t do full reviews for. No DNFs, no disappointments, just some good short reads.

Review: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

– goodreads –

This seemed like the perfect seasonal read. Some horror elements, some coziness, some fairytale elements, some righteous feminist anger. But unfortunately, I didn’t end up enjoying it quite as much as I wished, demon chicken notwithstanding, mostly because the beginning didn’t set my expectations correctly – I was led to expect something much darker than what the story eventually turned into.

Review: The Two Doctors Górski by Isaac Fellman

– goodreads –

Thanks to the publisher (Tordotcom) for the ARC of this book.

Of course I would have read this novella one way or another. Fellman is perhaps one of my favourite authors. The Breath of the Sun and Dead Collections are both some of my all-time favourites. I’d read anything he writes. The Two Doctors Górski was not quite as enjoyable – it’s a high bar! – but it was still a great, if heavy read in Fellman’s usual understated style.

Review: The Unbalancing by R.B. Lemberg (Birdverse)

– goodreads –

Thanks to the publisher (Tachyon Publications) for the ARC of this book.

Sometimes, you have to stop for a while and think a book over before you can review it and this was exactly the case here. I liked it, I was pretty sure – I read it in one sitting (or lying, as it were) after all – but it’s one of those books that give you a lot to think about. In either case, it made a great conclusion to the 2022 r/Fantasy Bingo.

Review: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

– goodreads –

Everyone is probably familiar with the good old ebook backlog. I tend to start planning my Bingo with those to try to knock at least a couple off the list, but between being a mood reader, ARCs and more kindle sales…well. At least I managed it with this one. Even though I wasn’t really in the mood and probably wouldn’t ever be, it was perfect for the Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey square. In the end, I am left with mixed feelings. While the premise was interesting enough to keep me from DNFing, the characters and parts of the plot were underwhelming to say the least.