brendamn's reviews
363 reviews

A seemingly spiritual successor of Man in the High Castle that pales just a bit in comparison. Worth reading if you have enjoyed PKD's take on war focused historical fiction, not of comparable quality but will still scratch the itch.

If it were longer written or the writing of longer contemplated on it could have fulfilled the potential excellence that while reading I felt always there under the surface. Maybe I misjudge and the failing to realize is on my side, regardless, it was worthwhile and engaging all the same.

The City and the Stars in certain aspects felt like it could be dystopian, utopian, or even both. It really comes down to a matter of perspective, and whether ignorance really is bliss. This is an observation that isn't nearly quite that central to the book, but it stood out as I don't feel I've read a book so far which held that unique quality. Even if I'm off the mark, I still value the idea whether intended or not.

There isn't much else I can say of merit in this review that wouldn't be without spoilers. I will say it was a stark contrast to Rendevous with Rama, Rama was a linear story The City and the Stars was very multi-layered. The story repetitively turned into something new with every revelation the protagonist came across.

I think I can safely say now Arthur C. Clarke is a science fiction author that I'd enjoy any book of his I would happen to pick up. A quality up until now I only felt with Philip K. Dick.

For those couple of years or so I had become so enamored with Kurt Vonnegut, how this book escaped my notice I do not know. The specific role of Campbell in WWII along with his impersonal attitude toward his circumstance I believe was a driving force for Vonnegut to explore the concepts and purpose of Mother Night. Ones which it is hard for me to think of alternative scenarios that make them accessible in the first place, and with luck it is Vonnegut who discovered how.

Of those concepts, the one most striking to me is the "schizophrenia" described by the book. As a spy he must take on the role of several people at once, naturally. Campbell was simultaneously an American spy, in turn becoming a leading Nazi propagandist, and the person he truly believes himself to be. The consequence of success is the distortion of your true self the more you become enmeshed. The "schizophrenia" becomes inevitable, and real or imagined you'll always have a bit of those different selves within you.

Maybe I could have worded that better or maybe I've misunderstood altogether. There are other things that intrigued, but in the end I now think I kinda misjudged how much I really wanted to delve into this review. Just know it is one of a kind. The perspective it is told from allows the reader to navigate the war in a certain way not easily found elsewhere. Besides, with it being told by Vonnegut why look elsewhere in the first place?

I enjoyed it enough to feel compelled to write something, perhaps I shouldn't have. I'm tired, alright? All I can say I wish this shared the same acclaim prescribed to Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle, just read it alright.

This is the sort of book that reminds me how very restrictive Goodreads' 5 star rating system is. I just want some half star increments, I could give this a 3.5 and move on. That isn't an option though of course, so off into the wide and varied abyss of 3 star books it goes. It feels incredibly silly to be this bent over a rating system, probably because it is, but here I am regardless. Oh well, onto the actual review.

This Thing Between Us approaches the topic of grief through the lens of horror and the supernatural, it is well chartered territory. Though all the same it still feels a bit more fresh and unique than you'd expect. That is worth quite a great deal given this is Moreno's debut novel, this books proves a lot of potential for his future works.

Small spoilers ahead. Nothing big, but heads up anyways.

What I found most refreshing here is that unlike the majority of books on the supernatural, it did not take 4/5ths of the book for someone else to acknowledge what the protagonist is experiencing. The protagonist Thiago isn't frantically trying to provide others with evidence of what is going on for the whole book with you just waiting for someone to finally believe him. Acknowledgement from a side character comes early here. I was very glad to be spared that trope.

The book employs second person narrative in a very inventive way. The book is addressed to his deceased wife Vera, and for the most part it only seems to be a widow writing to their deceased partner as a way to cope with the loss. The narrative choice proves to serve a higher function in the end, and its purpose is integral to understanding this book as a whole. It is an unexpected but welcome surprise.

Moreno shows a good deal of insight with his ability to dip into what I guess I'd call a "global human subconscious" now and then. One paraphrased line for example: "People tell you to call them if you ever need anything, as if it is your responsibility to let them know when to care". He provides insights we can all identify with, but haven't widely noticed or talked about. There are other instances here and there in the novel of this, but that was one of the more memorable ones.

With all these merits and more, This Thing Between Us is a noticeably better than average debut novel, but it still overall has that amateur early writing feel to it. Moreno provides a unique style of writing, but it it doesn't always feel present when reading. It felt like it slips into being a standard and generic read at times, waiting for Moreno to pick up the thread again. Hopefully he is able to refine what he's got and fill the great potential he has proven is there.

Just an aside, but damn I love how giddy he is about Stephen Graham Jones. Moreno is guided by admirable inspiration indeed.

The people who most need to read this book the most are also the same who absolutely never would. Even if they did, they'd find some bullshit reason to dismiss the facts without bothering to verify the footnotes. But whatever, lost causes. For everyone else this definitely is a remarkable exposé on the very real conspiracies of past and present, many of which proving to be one and the same.

She had a very precise prescience when it came to the inevitability of Trump's election and what was to follow. All of which was dismissed outright from everyone she spoke to at the start, because it all sounded ludicrous. And now that we have lived through what she foresaw, yes, these past 7 years or so have proven to be more than ludicrous indeed. Her foresight proved alarmingly correct down to fine detail.

She makes similar predictions in They Knew, and the main question this books leaves me with is how accurate will those predictions be this time around? I am skeptical, but not as quick this time to dismiss it all outright as I might have been if I had been listening to her back in 2016. I am primarily interested in her takes on the grim fate in store for Americans (grimmer than you may think, seriously) as well as how the climate crisis will play out when it truly comes to a head.

Won't get into it here, it is a short book so if this sounds enticing then you are better off hearing it from her than me. All in all we all know we are all screwed and everything sucks, and Kendzior does a remarkable job of showing us that we are even more screwed and everything sucks more than we actually think. You might be confident you already really know this, but for real, it is worse than we think.