Ascendant by Michael R. Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So, I was craving dragon fantasy and I came across this one being highly recommended, so I told my buddy reader and we got onto it.

So, here's the real deal: it's written well. No complaints. It hits all the tropes you'd expect in a new-modern Eragon YA fantasy, which was, itself, an old genre. No problem there.

However--there is a glut of current books doing almost exactly the same thing at this time. I've read 3 different properties just last year, within the last 4 years of publications, that have an almost carbon-copy feel. Scourges, dragons, young kids with links, and--to put no fine line on it--an almost LitRPG feel to it. Or rather, an actual LitRPG feel to it.

I don't mind that. Truly. Hard magic systems and LitRPGs go hand-in-hand. So when we get into foods giving precise special effects, discussing complicated bonds between dragons and riders and the different effects, I'm in very comfortable territory. And the story itself is also very comfortable territory.

So, if I'm going to be generous here, I'd say this is a proper and fine book for any youngster who wants to fall in love with dragons afresh. Or for any one of us who just want to recapture that feel.


Just don't assume it'll break any new ground, and you'll be just fine. It ain't aged wine. It's grape juice. Sweet, wholesome, and gentle. Yes, gentle even with scourges and grief.




Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 220, January 2025 by Neil Clarke


"When There Are Two of A Documentary" by Zun Yu Tan - (5*) - Very timely. This, at least to me, makes me question our own sentience. Or if that fails, shows there's no difference either way. Hello, ChatGPT. Written evocatively.


"Child of the Mountain" by Gunnar De Winter - (4*) - Uploads, monks, immortality, and vultures. The subtle point about the sky burial is not lost on me. The story is pretty for what it is, but it kinda left a not-so-tasty impression in my mouth.


"Never Eaten Vegetables" by H.H. Pak - (4*) - So sad, aggravating. Half an unborn-philosophical question, half a sentience question, and all of a capitalist-bad story. Definitely and firmly an object lesson on what not to do in the future, oh, humanity. Not bad, but it seems like I keep reading way too many like this.


"The Temporary Murder of Thomas Monroe" by Tia Tashiro - (3*) - A decent story about strings, chemical-commentary mental health, and the inherent dystopia so many live, unseen in our midst.


"Beyond Everything" by Wang Yanzhong - (5*) - Surprisingly great, this scratched a long-desire to read something vast in scope, rich in adventure. Imagination. I really vibed to this.


"Autonomy" by Meg Elison - (2*) - It's fine if you want a thrilling near-rape and escape story. If you are easily triggered or just want to hit pause on the assumption that all men are assholes, then also be forewarned. I admit, after reading three of this author's novels, to getting massively burned-out. This story feels like it's just perpetuating hate--my opinion only. Let me be clear: I have always believed there are assholes everywhere. I do not espouse that they are always men. Unfortunately, this is the feeling I get from this author.


OKAY! Final impression of this January's fiction in Clarkesworld Mag!

Very strong stories for the most part. The writing was really great for the first two. Never Eaten Vegetables was solid, if not very unusual in SF. Beyond Everything gave me a great little taste of awe, which was VERY, VERY welcome.

I had a very distinct impression of incense and candlelight as I read one of these. The welcome one smelled of the ocean. Very pleasing to my Synesthesia.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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Girl Out Of Time by John Matsui
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been a pretty big fan of Matsui for ages now, and while I have many good reasons, there is one that I always focus on most: his homages to classic SF, be it humorous, horrific, or big-concept. He knows his stuff. Indeed, his novels are like love letters. Just see the nods to such great fare as Hitchhiker's Guide and Back to the Future--but it goes much deeper than this.


This new book has that all-out comic energy, bypassing reason (at least at the beginning) for that feel, only barrel us headlong into the future, with its lies, great dystopian scope, crime and punishment, rebellion, and some hopeful glee. In other words, it brings out the great idea-guns that were the classic bread-and-butter of the old SF.

Indeed, I was reminded quite fondly of Asimov's End of Eternity by way of Hitchhikers by way of Terminator by way of Who. Idea-fiction is becoming a lost art. Maybe that's why I get so enthusiastic whenever I read things like this.

So much happens, so quickly, and the adventure is as palpable and pulpy as you please. Bravo!

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The Wandering Inn: Volume 2 by Pirateaba
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm pretty damn happy.

You know those times where you find a groove, a MOOD in a book that puts a little wind in your sails and energizes you? And then, when you don't think it could last, it turns out to be an absolutely enormous honker of a book that promises a dozen more just as huge as it is?

That's where I am right now. I'm in love. The first book, no matter how big it was, was merely a setup for many wonderfully self-aware plot-altered directions, feeling confident enough to not only set up a functioning inn in an isekai, but truly branch out in exploring the world and laying some truly massive foundations for a full epic fantasy.

With 3 times the land-mass of Earth, huge powers and many races, a leveling system, it's super-solid. But best of all, it has a truly magical feel. And let's not forget a godlike necromancer, a dragon, and a certain put-upon skeleton doing the inn's chores, or a chess-playing goblin-runt about to become the queen of all goblins. It's the little things, after all.

Honestly tho, it's the main characters I love the most. The conflicts are natural and actually rather sweet/endearing. Good heartedness is the REAL core of these books, and that's where I feel it.

And just like the massive amount of cooking we vicariously taste the book, the story is savory comfort fare. Reading this is like enjoying a huge, juicy burger without any spoilage or weight gain. And at least to me, the scent remains firmly, wonderfully, in my nose. Synesthesia for the win.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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rekt by Alex Gonzalez
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh wow. I haven't read a horror for years that genuinely creeped me out like this.

I mean, sure real life can creep me out nearly as well, and that's kinda the point. There are a lot of really bad people out there, and this really taps into that rich, ugly vein.

Dark corners of the internet aside, this novel does something rather unique. It made me actually care for the narrator. Sorrow, obsession, and being broken is the major flavor here--and then it gets really dark. When the darker side of the internet comes out, it really rears its worst side. Generated snuff films?

Wow, DARK. The book really snuck up on me. Yikes.


For those of you who want a true low-budget psychological thriller horror feel, don't sleep on this. It'll be worth the shivers.

Now, I need read or watch something super light. I don't think I'll write a synesthesia review of this novel. Nobody needs that level of creepy-pasta.




Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com



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Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

More subtle than thrilling, this horror novella seemed to have a fairly strong start. Frankly, I was invested in these characters and not the rest. For all the fungi goodness, I may be getting a bit burned out on this particular trend. Maybe I'm just no longer a fun guy.

There were some fairly good aspects to this short work, however, and while I didn't really like the end, it's not like I'll avoid the author in the future.

I'm just scrunching up my nose to this particular work. My taste buds are rebelling.




Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, it's a book JUST FOR ME. :)

Strangely, I expected a YA novel with a novel premise, but it really truly didn't feel YA at all. It just felt like great SF, a-la what would happen if a pandemic that makes people AT PEACE, devoid of HATE, became an actual PROBLEM for the rest of humanity.

As I was reading it, I was thrilled with the idea of a humanity becoming EMPATHETIC and CONSIDERATE, and there was NOTHING anyone could do about it.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

*happy dance*

It's like all my worries, concerns, absolute terror about the world around me just washed away.

Except, of course, novels don't work that way. There's conflict. And Shusterman is great about avoiding irony or humor when a truly sobering look at the world could be had. And it is had.

Great novel.

A synesthesia review probably should have come with a slightly sterile smell, or the scent of a mask, since it IS, quite, a very pandemic-feel novel, but to me, I just smelled flowers. I smelled the scent of hope. Let's change human nature.



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews might be interested in reading my own SF, I'm going to be open to DM requests. I think it's about time I get some eyes on them.

Arctunn.com

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