Funny enough, the winning Alien formula: female motherly protagonist fighting for her virtual family's survival, was not present in the original film and the mostly unsuccessful attempts introduced stupid concepts like the black goo. Alien: Inferno's Fall combines both and it's decently done. I think it needs more rating.

  It's not like it's perfect, the title alone is remarkably dumb for example, but it's a typical Alien story, with all the tropes we've learned to love: the motherly figure fighting with all her maternal instincts to protect her family, the indentured service economy run by sociopathic management, the synths that are more than synths, the Colonial Marines, alien ruins, arrogant Engineers, the black goo and, of course, a lot of terrified running from monstruous xenomorphs which usually doesn't really help.

  Phillipa Ballantine's writing is decent, too. It didn't spark joy or anything, but it kept me on the edge of the proverbial seat. So if you're into the Alien universe and lore, this is something you should read. If you have no idea what a xenomorph is or what the black goo is, then you should not read this and instead see the movies.

  This seems to be her first book in the Alien universe and she has written another (Alien: Seventh Circle), so even if this story didn't add much, it could be said that it's the setup for the next book(s). I don't know. And I don't know if I will ever read another Alien book. I am interested in the world building and stories, but it's mostly curiosity, not excitement.

  One of my pet peeves with the Alien franchise is (other than that it's a franchise) is the black goo mutagen lazily introduced in Prometheus. It was a subpar Alien movie, it was mostly stupid and it introduced so many breaking changes in the universe. If you think about it, there is little difference between that substance and the mutagen in TMNT. Maybe Disney and Paramount should pull a Spider Man and join the two franchises together. Who needs Predators when you have teenage ninja turtles? It makes that little sense!

  Bottom line: a decently written but formulaic book in the Alien universe. It plays around with existing concepts, without committing to anything truly unique or novel. Good for a long airplane flight.

  Service Model has an amusing premise: what would robots do in a world that has slowly lost all humans? And in the beginning it's interesting, with a service robot accidentally killing its master during shaving and all the mechanisms of society trying to find out who did it and punish them, going through all of the rituals and all of the rules, regardless of the culprit admitting he did it and a recording of the fact being available.

  Adrian Tchaikovsky has a subtle subversiveness in his writing, usually describing something, but hinting at something else. In this story, the rigid standards of society are examined and found wanting. One can easily imagine the same story, but less extreme, happening in any environment bureaucratic enough.

  Alas, this is about robots, and after about 40 pages (10% of the book), the same amusing premise is still being presented and run with the robots going around in circles of pointless ritual. I am sure the story evolves into something better, but I didn't have the energy to grind to the very bland and boring beginning. I could have skipped ahead, but instead I've decided I would read something else.

  Ogres is another standalone novella by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It can be simply summarized as "capitalist Spartacus". In a world of genetic masters and meek servants, a hero emerges. The point of this is not another YA story about rebellion, but a pretext to dissect the social and economic mechanisms that power our civilization. Spoiler alert: it's not good.

  The biggest problem with this novella is that it's written in second person, which felt rather annoying. You that, you this... maybe it was a writing experiment, but I did not enjoy it. But other than that it was a short "what if" story that hit a lot closer to home than one might think. In a very science fiction way, it may have predicted a near future that is coming our way. Shudder!

  The classic rebellion plot is simple: describe a world with demonstrable injustice, raise the hero among the people, have them win at the end. The trick is to make the world building just close enough to reality to be relatable, but far enough so you don't start thinking too much about the similarities. The point would be an emotional catharsis, not a philosophical awakening. Well, by those terms, Ogres is an extremely transgressive story.

  But enough of that, because I don't want to spoil it. I liked the story, I liked the reason for writing it, the plot was masterfully crafterd, I did not enjoy the second person writing style, but still totally worth reading.

  And Put Away Childish Things has been published in both standalone and part of an anthology of three novellas published as one book. In the story, Adrian Tchaikovsky plays around with Narnia tropes, but sneakily focuses on the internal struggles of the protagonist, thus dissecting our own psychology when getting held captive by stories.

  What if the children books your grandmother wrote were actually about a real place? And what if that place was not as childish and wonderful as described? And what if it would give meaning to your empty life anyway? These are the questions in the story.

  While not perfect, I liked this novella. It's easier to fall in love with a story when it's short and the exploration of this one has not overstayed its welcome, nor did it meander into side quests or redundant characters. Fun! 

  While I enjoyed the Adrian Tchaikovsky novels and series I've read, I think I like this kind of novellas the most. In Elder Race we get a deconstruction of royalty asking help from the powerful wizard against a demonic threat trope. But in fact, this is one of the human diaspora colonies and there is no magic, only science and people who have forgotten it, yet the focus is on the internal perspectives of the characters and how they look at the same event from completely different places.

  I was a little surprised to see that this is part of a series. It felt standalone and, if anything, it should have been considered part of the general universe of the forgotten human colonies (Children of Time) rather than a separate Elder Race series. Anyway, I don't think that it required a continuation. As it is, we see the wizard who is actually an observer from the second wave of human expansion being beseeched by the local princess (of a culture regressed from the first wave) against evil magical forces encroaching on the human settlements. The princess has to prove herself in front of her family and the scientist has his own demons while he is battling clinical depression. Being completely alone on the planet and waking up every couple of centuries certainly doesn't help.

  The things lost in translation between the princess and the scientist is what makes this book shine and to feel different from just another fantasy story told from a modern scientific perspective. It examines the deeper interaction between people, transcending the pure science fiction angle. Now I am reading another novella from the guy and it's similar, but deconstructing Narnia type tropes. While I enjoy following longer narratives, I feel that this kind of short explorations of ideas is where sci-fi really stands out. Good stuff!

  I thought I would try something else. Since I liked Blood Song, the first book in the Raven's Shadow series, I went with another Anthony Ryan book, but from another series (Covenant of Steel). This allows me to understand the writer more and pick and choose which series I want to continue with.

  And the verdict is that I liked the main character in The Pariah more, but I liked the story less. Still a good book which I recommend, but the writing patterns that were merely surprising in Blood Song veered towards annoying when also used in a completely different series. And by that I mean the foreshadowing of things to come - which are slight spoilers most of the time - and the obsession with fate or prophecy, both reducing the agency of the main character tremendously. Add to that the levelling up of the character from uneducated to scribe in a merely four years, while also working in a mine, and it gets old fast.

  The story revolves around this kid who is part of a band of outlaws. He is fiercely loyal to the band leader, infatuated with the leader's girl and, other than happily killing for his guy, a pretty smart and decent human being. Yeah, don't overthink it. Stuff happens and he embarks on a journey of adventures in a medieval world with just the right amount of occult and magic to make it not feel like simple historical fiction.

  I was saying that I liked the character best in this book because he is a little more gray than the absolute moral powerhouse that was the lead in Raven's Shadow. Just slightly so, as most of the book we still get the principled moral choice every damn time, but enough to make him feel more real. Other than that: incredibly beautiful women who don't seem to need any sex, medieval battles and politics, heroes and villains, lots of mud and horses and running and planning and the promise of another epic saga of unbridled heroism.

  Bottom line: Good book, interesting setting, good characters, but a story formula that only feels fresh the first time you consume it. It would have benefited from less fate determinism and more moral gray areas. Even the character admits, in situations of very consequential choices, that he didn't have real options because of who he is. Feels like Ryan should listen more to that complaint from his own character!

  Finally, a great fantasy book! A traditional hero that comes from hardship and overcomes through skill and good reasoning, plus a dash of magic that doesn't overwhelm the overall story. Job well done, Mr. Anthony Ryan!

  The only complaint I have is that Blood Song is long, yet still just a slice of the overall story. People already are accustomed to endless magical worlds extending dozens of books, but sometimes it's just nice to have a standalone once in a while, you know. Yet, at least for this story, I get it. The author was a full time researcher and has a degree in Medieval History. There is much attention to detail in the world building and the way society works, the kingdoms, the characters, so to just waste it all on just one book would have been insane.

  So, on to the story: in a country where "the Faith" is all powerful to the forceful exclusion of any other religion, of which there are many, a young boy whose mother just died is left by his father in the service of "the Order". Well, Ryan is nothing if not a poet... Anyway, it's basically a dad sending his grieving son to military school, only also in the service of the Faith and in an adapt or die kind of situation. What a dick, right? Our protagonist thinks so, too, but he is dutiful, intelligent and hard working, so he eventually gets to shine.

  I love this kind of characters: surviving through action and thought, rather than luck, overcoming hardships and thus evolving as a person, rather than just increasing in power level or whatever. Also, no one tries to deconstruct anything or pander to any kind of audience. Vaelin Al Sorna is a classical male hero, well written and well balanced.

  Now, that's just the beginning, because a combination of adventures, foreshadowing and even prophecies let us know in no uncertain terms that he will have a sad but greatly consequential life. And even if he gets through a lot in this book, there are five novels in total and at least as many novellas set in this world.

  Yet, the characters are compelling, the subjects mature, the story captivating and the writing delightful without being too pompous or complicated. This was a near perfect book for me and I expect I will be reading the rest of the series, too, sooner or later.

  Penric's Demon is the first book in the World of the Five Gods series, which spans four novels and eleven novellas, and it's a novella itself - although the same Wiki page saying this has a list of 19 stories, make of this what you will.

  Short, entertaining and with a main character that I immediately liked, there is no reason to not read this book, I think.

  You see, in this fantasy world, Lois McMaster Bujold describes five gods of which one is "The Bastard", responsible with demons and stuff. In fact, there are four "main" gods that each get a season associated with them and The Bastard is responsible for all things out of wack, or out of season, so to speak.

  So in this world there is the possibility to get possessed by a demon which is like a non physical entity that inhabits you, grows with you and also gives you power. A very interesting idea, in which the demon is actually shaped by the people it "rides". It's not so much parasitism as symbiosis.

  Penric is a nice young man going to his wedding, only to accidentally get a demon. Only the demon is not that bad and Penric has not been trained/brainwashed into the religion of the Bastard so that he would not know how to interact with his new companion. It's more of a setup book, as it doesn't span many events, just a short introduction into a world that will become much larger in time.

  I don't know if I am going to try the entire series any time soon, but I might. I really enjoyed Penric's Demon.

  The Rook starts intriguingly with an amnesiac woman with strange powers who receives information in the form of letters from herself written before she lost her memory. And I've read that part, which was decently written, until I realized that I knew the story. They made a TV show out of it, which I did not enjoy.

  You see, from the great start it veers rapidly into a "secret paranormal government organization" thing, which is one of the most boring fantasy genres ever. But it's worse, since the woman is an agent of this organization and she has to hide that she lost her memory. So we're inside the organization in all of its pompous bureaucratic splendor instead of the more appealing side of the genre where the protagonist is trying to evade them without knowing too much of the group.

  Therefore, I stopped reading. I can't comment on the quality of the book or on Daniel O'Malley's writing after only a chapter, so I will leave it at that.

  Spellslinger is a typical fantasy hero journey story, well written and pretty fun. I liked and disliked in equal measure how Sebastien de Castell was edging the typical YA clueless but full of heart hero, alternating between making him incredibly smart and lucky and really dumb and miserable. But in the end it boiled down to the same formula.

  The plot reminded me of a book I've read recently: Unsouled by Will Wight. There is a country where magical power determines social hierarchy and our hero is one smart and crafty guy who, for some reason, can't magic. The more I think about it, the more I realize how much alike these two books are. I won't compare them beat by beat here, as that would mean spoilers, but they contain really similar ideas.

  And while the hero eventually learns some really soul crushing things, it feels weird to have a hero that pulls through every hardship, protects his friends, sacrifices for the motherland and so on, only to be put down by exposition. It was fun stuff and if you're looking for an entertaining light YA fantasy series, you could do a lot worse than with Spellslinger.

  I won't continue the series, but I liked the book and the world.

  Embers of War is a light little space adventure that feels both strangely anachronistic and written by a woman - even if Gareth L. Powell is very much male. Dog/machine spaceships with their own emotions and personality, human and alien factions bumbling around in the universe like they own the place and the hint of something greater waiting to pounce, but the focus is mostly on the emotions of the various characters, most of them women, and their perspective on life, duty, responsibility and ultimately the fate of the universe. This either makes Powell a great writer that can inhabit the characters he creates or a very weird dude. Even the conflicts seem to be more about personal drama and psychological implications than actual important stakes.

  Anyway, the story revolves around a spaceship that was involved in something horrific and decided to resign her commission and, in order to atone, join an organization that specializes in space rescues. You see, in this future, the ships are run by hybrid organic and machine brains, with the organic part derived from dogs and humans, so they are kind of like persons who can do that. That in itself was a bit hard to swallow, especially in a book written in 2018. It really felt like something that has probably been written a long time ago and just now published.

  Another thing that pulled me out of the story was the first person perspective. I don't have an issue with that, normally, but in this case every chapter was written from the perspective of a different character and all of them in the first person. If I wasn't paying attention which chapter I started, I felt like something was really off, since the inner monologue of most characters - the main ones - all sounded the same, but happened to different people, which was jarring.

Final nail in the coffin, the focus was painfully exclusive on the humans, even if the ship had a little engineering alien that had its own little chapters, the other characters never spared it a thought. And all of the inner thoughts of this guy were "work, fix, sleep in my nest, that's what I do!". A little Dobby, but in space, while the humans were whining about how much they care about the crew and had completely forgotten he existed.

  That being said, it wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't great either. The ideas in it are intriguing, but by this point they feel a bit derivative. I am almost convinced that the following books in the series will find a different, better voice and the story will unfold in a more interesting way, but after reading this one book I am not motivated to continue reading the series.

  The Lemon is another DNF for me, but this time it wasn't because the book was bad. It was just too focused when I wanted to be entertained. It explores the world of famous people and the others who want to leech off of them, only the book starts with the death of the single character that I gave a damn about. Good writing, not what I needed now.

  S.E. Boyd writes (or rather write, since it's a virtual author manufactured by three Irish journalists) really well and it made me want to like the book, but after a while of just trying and failing to connect and care, I've decided to abandon the book.

  A famously iconic person dies, which makes friends, acquaintances and perfects strangers scramble to fight for the void. There are a lot of characters and sometimes it's hard to keep track of them unless you're paying attention. And most of them are really unpleasant or uninteresting. The only interesting guy in the book seems to be - intentionally so - the dead one, and no one of the vultures picking on the corpse of his fame realizes who he was, what he inspired in people and why he was so respected and liked. A book about hungry greedy blind people.

  Bottom line: reading this book probably requires some passing interest in the psychology of fame obsessed assholes, which I didn't have. But the Goodreads rating this has is much lower than what it deserves.

  The Witch and the Tsar started intriguing, with Baba Yaga being the protagonist of the story, but within one chapter it became obvious it was some kind of weird misandrist fantasy instead of a well rounded story. I won't read this.

  The Loop has almost everything that is good about young adult books, but also all of the bad.

  Ben Oliver starts with a somewhat silly idea, derivative from The Matrix, where people can be used as batteries, describes an endless prison of death row inmates that get to delay their sentence every now and then by accepting being guinea pigs for an extension of their life and controlled by a combination of heartless psychopaths and undefeatable technology. So far so good.

  Then he presents cardboard shallow characters that are inconsistent, dimwitted and bland and asks us to care about anything that happens to them. And of course this crap is part of a trilogy! He leaves literal (Chekov's?) weapons lying around and people too dumb to remember they were there to begin with. Ugh!

  As for the author, the only contact for a Ben Oliver I could find was a twitter account that has since been closed.

  When you dump every cliché of YA novels, then refuse to follow up with any of reason, adventure or empathetic characters, all you have is a flashy Apple TV like story, with a lot of form and no substance. I tried and tried to finish it reading it, but I gave up halfway. DNF this thing!

  I have no idea why I put Darius The Great Is Not Okay on my reading list. It's a short introspective book about a young Iranian-American boy going for the first time in Iran to meet his mother's family. It's coming of age, deals with clinical depression and it's pretty sweet. But that's about it.

  The guy is a Trekkie - The Next Generation no less - and peppers the book with references, so that was fun, but I guess if you are not most of them will fall flat. Funny enough, just before that I was reading a book about a Jewish girl, but I swear I chose the books at random.

  Anyway, I did enjoy the Persian culture references, which I think it's the best part. Darius himself is a rather dull character: young boy who believes people think badly of him and that he's not enough and then magically grows into a person because he gets some support and understanding from the Iranian part of his family and finally makes a friend. And no, there is no magic, this is a straight book, mostly autobiographical.

  Adib Khorram's writing is good, but almost like reporting. I didn't really feel as things flowed in a literary sense. I did enjoy it, but I can't recommend it, unless you're into this kind of stuff.