Never / Hastings, Jessa

Never,

by Jessa (aka Jessica Rachel) Hastings)

copyright 2023

barely started July 2024

fantasy, romance

not rated

I read a few pages and thought, I'm not ready for this. So stopped.

But I did skip towards the end, where I read a scene where, apparently, the heroine has just been forcibly abducted.

So are you? she asks.

The abductor replies, I'm The Collector but my friends call me Jim.

Well hello Jim... 

What! The heroine is already friends with her abductor?

Perhaps I misread it, or misremember it, but that is when I had had enough.

I suspect that this is a book of complex emotions and conflicted loves. All based on a rip-off of a famous book. You may enjoy it... let me know.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

Binti:home / Nnedi Okorafor

Binti:home

(Binti #2)

by Nnedi Okorafor

subadult, fantasy

copyright 2017

read in July 2024

rated 5/10: readable if there's nothing else

This is fantasy set in a seemingly science fiction universe

planets, aliens, space travel but the "science" is fantasy. Nothing wrong with that, it is imaginative and very entertaining. Not to be understood. But what it does is clear enough.

Actually, I really like the spaceship  that is going to Earth in order to... give birth :-)

There are multi generational hatreds, superstitions, narrow minds. Well presented and, unfortunately, believable.

Then we discover (spoiler alert) that the primitive tribe at the foot of the totem pole is... keeper and user of ancient secrets and amazing alien technology.

Then the heroine gets access to the high tech and... end of book.

This is one chapter of a continuing saga. It should never have been published without a, to be continued, warning.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

Frogkisser / Garth Nix

Frogkisser

by Garth Nix

copyright 2017

part read July 2024

subadult, fantasy

 rated 5/ 10: readable but only if there's nothing else

I often enjoy "young adult" novels. Even some children's books. But not this one.

The author uses every fairytale trope, nice idea. Except that his characters are constantly referencing and expecting the standard stuff to occur.

The central character is a princess. She seems destined to learn all about becoming a good ruler... after a lot of heavy moralising to the reader.

So far she at least means well. She is loyal and supportive to her rather boring fellow-questers.

Then the princess meets a stupid princess-eating giant, tricks him, trips him. All according to fairytale rules.

As he trips, the giant breaks his hip. And the learning to be good princess just leaves him... leaves him screaming in agony.

Neither the princess nor the author see anything wrong with this.

I give it a few more rather tedious chapters, still no help for the giant, then I stop reading.

Would children know the referenced tropes? An adult would not care.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

when the Moon Hatched, Sarah A. Parker

when the Moon Hatched, 

(Moonfall #1)

by Sarah A. Parker

copyright 2024

read in June 2024

fantasy, chicklit

rated 7/10: well worth reading

Well worth reading but yes, there are "trigger warnings". The book is violent. Nasty things happen, even to nice people. Yet the writing is not nasty, not restrained, either. Brutal things just happen. Described but not in salacious detail.

So, the story:

There are two points where I almost gave up reading. A few chapters in, I feared that this book would be a series of cruel disasters, wIth the heroine dragged ever further into pain and misery. Then she escaped, to a more normal level of fantasy suffering.

Then, several chapters from the end, I was expecting a grand reveal but... no. No new information, just page after page of very explicit sex.

Speaking of which, the sex is (I think), written for the female reader.

Oh, and the men are all built like mountains with muscles like boulders. They dress in leather and metal -- and the hero can cook. The heroine is well-rounded, with large breasts... but takes a long time to confirm the chicklit genre by dressing in a beautiful but revealing dress. Which is, incidentally, provided by the hero.

Much of the plot is driven by the heroine's dark secret, or fear, which she refuses to reveal to anyone who could (a) help or (b) be killed by it. Idiot woman but, understandable.

The best part of this book is the world. A complex world, well described with some detail and much just mentioned, with enough detail for the reader to complete the image. Fascinating, fantastic, unEarthly but never to be doubted.

The book ends with one major thread well and truly wrapped up. There is a discovery which leads into the next book. And a character who is left almost but not quite hanging on a cliff. I would have liked a more conclusive ending but... it is definitely an end. An end which encourages a return for book two.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

premier mill hotel, katanning

premier mill hotel, katanning

rated 5/10

Saturday: we walk into our room and the first thought is, wow!

it's a huge room, with a huge bed and... well, that's about it.

Fancy, over sophisticated and a real pain.

The air con is controlled by a simple electronic switch. We set it to 22 degrees. next morning, ten hours later, it shows room temp as 19. what happened to the set temperature?

we know the air con is on, all night we have a cool breeze blowing directly onto the bed. i sleep with a towel over my head to protect from the cool drying air.

light switches are a set of six electronic buttons. i need my glasses to read which is which. whatever happened to a switch near its light?

there's an ensuite. deb has a shower but can't work out the controls, two showers, two taps? i don't even try. 

the toilet is dual flush. two black buttons on black background. only with my glasses i can see that the buttons are large and small.

the room has no tea making. there's a separate "valet" room -- outside our room, along two corridors. oh, and our room has one of those doors which will close and lock by itself. source for many a crude hotel joke.

parts of the original mill are built into the hotel, there are large metal things here and there. the corridors are very dim, i'd rather see clearly.

this is a personal preference: i prefer a thin pillow. the hotel has several pillows, all very thick, i end up sleeping with no pillow (and a towel over my head).

it's an expensive hotel. and i pay a bit extra for a room with a "city view" There's no "city" in katanning :-) but it is a pleasant view over the town. sort of interesting, too. worth the small extra cost anyway. and better than the roof and wall that we saw on our last visit.

and next morning... the hotel internet does not work.

luckily I'm typing on my ancient tablet, I'm 99%certain that when i press send it will save this message till it finally gets a working connection.

overall: this hotel feels fancy but is unusable. good for a one-night "experience", not worth it for any longer.

time to press send. i hope that the tablet does work...

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood
   

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

Binti, Nnedi Okorafor

(Binti #1 of ?)

science fiction, subadult

copyright 2015

read in June 2024

rated 7/10: well worth reading

I had to read Wikipedia to find what an astrolabe is. And I like the book's development of the concept.

The science is soft: a mix of very very futuristic -- and magical.

The book is quite simple and simplistic -- in that problems are solved by intelligent beings approaching the problems with goodwill and positive intentions. I like it. The two main characters -- human and alien -- are interesting and likeable enough that we wish them well.

The book has a message (one or more) -- well presented. Clear but quiet.

I enjoyed the book (novella). Not enough to buy every book by this author but enough that I am glad I have Binti#2 ready to be read.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

===

Bandaid solutions hurt when they are removed.

...Dying for you to Read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com

priest-kings of Gor, John Norman

priest-kings of Gor

(Gor #3?)

by John Norman (John Lange)

science fiction / fantasy

copyright 1968

read in June 2024

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

I was expecting a John Carter type of world. And it is... but...

There is a lot of depth to this world. With more complex people, too.

The priest kings themselves have depth and are almost more human than the humans.

John Carter of Mars is a gentleman of Virginia. Tarl Cabot of Gor is more like a thug of Manhattan. And yet... he does have responses other than fighting.

In another comparison... Heinlein women are beautiful, with big breasts and their role is to make sandwiches while the men do the serious thinking.

The women of Gor are sex slaves. Chained, naked, to the bed or screwed on the floor. A "free" woman may, at the whim of any man, be made a sex slave. Then if you hit her hard enough the woman will soon love you.

Yes, it's a turn-on for the reader but outdated. Except that the same gender roles are apparently espoused by misogynists on the Web.

The book is enjoyable, quite clever and needs a warning for jerk-off porn content.

NB: Several pages are given to description of -- and justification for -- the male-dom, fem-sub roles. And from Wikipedia: the author supported the roles. Was a well-qualified academic and wrote Imaginative Sex to get you started.... And yes, I think that I would enjoy the book. (Though one review says that it quickly gets boring :-)

.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===


Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood