Finished Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Incredible novel. Extremely ambitious and it delivers on that. I think it is in some way, strangely enough for a 900-page book, very focused. Great characters, world building and ideas.

I skipped the glossary and note in the beginning and that worked out well for me.

I really enjoyed The Robot by @lavietidhar@mastodon.social published in @UncannyMagazine@mastodon.social (March/April 2023, as far as I can tell, released outside Patreon tomorrow)

It is quite clever in telling what happened spanning centuries while still being character-focused and telling a story about all the big things: war, death, space, love, friendship, religion, adventure and hope.

Exactly what I wanted. The favorite short story I read in some time.

Finished Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Somewhat more action-oriented than the first volume of the series, but still an easily readable and enjoyable novel.

Finished Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Finished Slow Horses by Mick Herron

Surprisingly engaging, despite knowing most of the story from the great TV adaptation. Enjoyed the writing and story (which is, as usual, more subtle than the adaptation).

Finished Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Finished Translation State by Ann Leckie

This is very close to a perfect book for me. I enjoyed the characters, prose, story and space-alien politics very much. The three narrative perspectives rotate in a perfect cycle without ever being awkward. Great continuation of the series.

As a German native speaker I struggled a little with sie/hir pronouns ("sie" being the German word for "she" and "they" among other meanings), but after 150 pages my brain stopped to always try to read the next few words as German.

Finished Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

Fun and creative novel with a story that came together amazingly well at the end.

Finished Die drei Sonnen (eng: The Three-Body Problem) by Liu Cixin

Finished Witch King by Martha Wells

Finished Der alte Mann und das Meer (orig: The Old Man and the Sea) by Hemingway

Finished The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by - Shannon Chakraborty

Fun book and it taught me a little about the medieval Middle East. The structure in terms of chapters was very well done, and the characters were interesting and very likable and hateable.

Finished Provenance by Ann Leckie

Enjoyable book. I liked how it kind of switched genres between murder mystery, family drama, and thriller. As is usual for Leckie's books, it is very good at exploring unfamiliar and alien cultures and their interactions.

Finished Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley

Maybe even better than the first part of the series, even though some sections are fairly grueling.

Finished Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman

Extremely cynical, very creative and weird book about conservation, ecology, finance and technology. The first third felt similar to Snow Crash to me, despite this book being much more conventional. Might be very interesting to reread in a decade or two.

Finished Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie

Amazing book and perfect ending of the trilogy. Great writing, characters and I enjoy the absurdity of it all. The aliens are feeling really alien and I am now kind of scared by fish sauce.

Finished Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Fun book. I can't decide if it is very current or very out of time, now that it is 30 years old. Very different from what I expected. Some parts feel quite tame compared to the evening news over the last two decades.

Finished Dune by Frank Herbert

Finished Wachen! Wachen! (orig: Guards! Guards!) by Terry Pratchett

I did not care for the beginning, as it felt more like a parody of a book I haven't read (similar to The Light Fantastic), but the book really found itself after 100 pages. Even though I knew 70% of the story by osmosis from the general culture before, it was great. From the current perspective, to me, it looks like a feel-good book similar to Becky Chambers and Travis Baldree from another, more ironic and less earnest time.

Finished The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard