This review and more here

I'm gonna start this review off by saying that I love "Found Item" stories. Games with a found item element are perhaps my favorite kinds to play. I love mystery / investigative tv shows for the same reason. The idea that the story being told can change greatly depending on how many clues you find is... it's brilliant, and I'm endlessly fascinated by this particular story-telling mechanic.

Which is not to say that Sleeping Giants was the type of book that made me hunt for the story. I mean, how would that even work? It was, however, the type of book written as a collection of interviews kept by an unnamed person, and diary entries kept by the other various characters in this book. 

That's it. No narrative prose. No first person writing. It was just a collection of these logs. Conversations. Monologues. All kept by this one dude whose name we never learn (henceforth known as The Interrogator)

I loved that so much. It wasn't Found Item narration, but it felt like it. It felt like little clues I'd picked up that helped me piece together this tale - it was immersive, taking me right into interrogation rooms, inside Themis, inside these laboratories. It was freaking great, and only one of the things I liked about this book.

Sleeping Giants follows the story of Dr Rose Franklin, Pilot Kara Resnik and, her co-pilot Ryan, all three hired to retrieve the parts of a massive space robot (the aforementioned Themis), which may or may not have been buried on earth by aliens, from various parts of the globe, and then assemble it. No biggie. 

This is pretty much... the entire book. I mean, obviously there's more to it than that, but I can't really say much else without spoiling things. Nor can I explain the premise of this book any better than that little synopsis. Believe me. I've tried. This is just one of those books that you have to read to understand. 

For a sci-fi novel, Sleeping Giants is largely about politics, so it might not be everyone's cup of tea. If I'd known this before, I might not have read this book, so I'm really glad no one told me this, because I loved this thing, politics and all.

It was a compelling sci-fi novel with an unusual yet remarkably effective narration style. Not only was it immersive, but the characters somehow managed to feel real and retain their depth even though we were only meeting them while they were in conversation with the Interrogator. 

I don't think I've read anything like this book to give you comparisons, but if you're looking for a well-told sci-fi book that'll suck you right into it's world, then definitely give this a go. It's so, so good

Well, that was slightly anticlimactic. The buildup (in the previous five issues) was nicely done, I thought, but the ending fell a little flat. I expected more action.

Yo this thing is just peak messed up and I kind of love it??

Please. For the love of God. Tell me there's more.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

I love the Black Widow. Natasha Romanoff is, as the kids say, BOSS. A BAMF, if you will. I adore her to itty bitty pieces.

But here's the thing; I think Edmondson's Natasha and my Natasha are two very different people.

My Nat is complex, dynamic and deeply conflicted character, trying to right the wrongs of her past. Edmondson's Natasha is trying to do the same exact thing, but so far, she isn't very complex or dynamic. The dialogue was rigid and, at times, flat. Her characterization leaves a lot to be desired. Throughout the comic, Natasha comes off more like a cold assassin than a superhero trying to do good. And that BUGGED me.

Natasha Romanoff deserves better than to be treated like some 2cool4u spy with a penchant for shooting rockets at snipers, without even stopping to consider that there might bE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE BUILDING.

I could go on.

The bottom line is that this comic tries too hard to make Nat look cool, and it doesn't work? Why? Because it's not difficult to make Nat look cool. She IS cool. She's a strong, capable, very badass woman and all those on their own are cool. If you tap into her vulnerable side, show us what makes her human, then you've got a great Black Widow story on your hands. This just didn't deliver on that front.

I'm hoping it gets better as we go along.

“Habitual, comfortable activity is the worst kind of prison, because the bars are concealed. You can never learn anything that way.”

I went into this expecting a book about aliens. Don’t ask me why.

Foe was one of the most complex, thought-provoking sci-fi books I’ve read in a long time. It follows the story of Junior and Henrietta, a married couple living out in the middle of nowhere, who’re randomly visited by a strange man claiming to work for the government, who tells Junior that he’s been selected to go to space.

The opportunity, Junior’s told, isn’t one he’s free to pass up on. He has no choice. He’s won a “lottery” and has been selected to go into space for the good of mankind. And for some reason, neither Junior nor Hen really argue too hard. Junior’s only real concern after all this is about Hen, and how she’ll manage once he’s gone.

But as it turns out, Junior doesn’t really have anything to worry about because Terrance, the aforementioned strange man, has thought of everything. Hen won’t be alone when Junior goes up into space for God knows how many years. She’ll have a “replacement” Junior – built to look, think, talk and feel exactly like Real Junior – to keep her company.

Weirdly enough, Hen and Junior agree. To all of it. Which results in Terrance making more and more frequent visits to their home to prepare them for Junior’s big departure – until one day he just straight up moves in. After that, well, things get… weird. er. Junior begins to straight up resent Terrance and the way he is with Hen.

I actually really loved this book. On the surface it’s primarily about relationships – Junior and Hen’s specifically. But underneath that, it’s also about people and their personalities. What makes someone who they are.

There are a couple surprises at the end of the book – the first of which I guessed at early on in the book (a little after I decided that, no, this book was NOT about aliens) and the second of which really sealed the deal for me with this book. The twist ending was just the neat little bow that this book needed.

I really don’t know how to talk about this book any more without having to give away something. Every bit of this narrative – or most of it, at least – works to give us the whole story. Dissecting it too much might take away from the whole some, and I don’t want to do that.

Foe isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. It can get confusing and long winded in bits, and really, until you get to the very end, some of it won’t make a lick of sense. But I, personally, really enjoyed it. It was good science fiction and I look forward to reading more of Reid’s work.

Filled with E.K Johnston's sweeping, poetic, prose, The Garden of Three Hundred Flowers is a sad, beautiful short interlude between A Thousand Nights and Spindle.

It builds on the tale of the unnamed heroine from A Thousand Nights, and her marriage to the now-demon-free Lo-Melkhiin. It's not as character heavy as it's predecessor, focusing more on its themes of healing, forgiveness, and love. I wish the heroine and Lo-Melkhiin could have found some romance or happiness together as a couple, because quite frankly this really bummed me out. They deserved better, I thought. At some point in their lives.

But as sad as I found this, I also wish it had been longer.

What a lovely book. I'm so, so glad I picked this up

Review to come.