Book Reviews by Eitan

I received an ARC of this book from Tor in exchange for an honest review. The following contains no spoilers for The Kaiju Preservation Society (or at least, none that the title doesn't immediately provide on its own). I don't like reading about the current pandemic. I don't like side references to it, I don't like plots that depend on people wearing masks or staying inside or getting vaccinated, and I don't like near-future or parallel-present books that have cute references to similar events. The Kaiju Preservation Society starts out with its protagonist looking for a way to make money after COVID-induced layoffs, which meant I was immediately predisposed to dislike the book. Still, give Scalzi credit--he doesn't linger too much on the here and now, and when he does, it's with the snarky dismissiveness that he's honed so well. For this reason alone (and also because Redshirts remains an all-time favorite, and Scalzi books tend to be upbeat and hopef...

I received an ARC of this book from Tor in exchange for an honest review. December was a long month for me this year, and The Starless Crown was a satisfying popcorn book to sit down with over the "dead week" between Christmas and New Years. While the story doesn't feel especially original, Rollins writes good action scenes, and keeps the plot moving briskly enough for the book to feel engaging. The classic author's trick of switching points of view right as the action starts to get good is on full display in the first half, with cliffhanger after cliffhanger followed by a jump-cut to another character, but even though I knew what was coming I was still hooked. As the book goes on, it becomes clear that while the characters might all end up in the same place by the end, the major puzzles Rollins lays out won't be resolved until a sequel (or sequels--I'm not sure, but experience leads me to expect a trilogy), which lowered the stakes significantly and made the...