Platform Decay by Martha Wells

We all love Murderbot, right? Murderbot is one of the absolute best characters to come out of SF in years. I remember when I read the description of Martha Wells’s All Systems Red and thought to myself “I’ve got to put that on hold at the library!”  And I was right - it was excellent. I have eagerly awaited each new Murderbot book and also have been reading some of Ms. Wells’s other fantasy books. I was thrilled to be able to meet Ms Wells at Worldcon last year and got her to sign my daughter’s copies of the first six Murderbot books. 

So I was overjoyed when NetGalley and tordotcom gave me an eARC of Platform Decay, the new Murderbot book, in exchange for an honest review. 

This was stupendous! Before this, Fugitive Telemetry and System collapse were my favorite Murderbot books, but this one now claims the top spot.  I love getting more Mensah family dynamics and this book did not disappoint. It was a road trip rescue mission in a fascinating space station environment and was a total page turner that I could not put down. 

This book is a must buy!!

River of Bones and Other Stories by Rebecca Roanhorse

 

I first discovered Rebecca Roanhorse when her short story "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™”, was nominated for a Hugo Award.  I loved it and her! Her writing style is crisp and it pulled me in right away.  When Trail of Lightning, her first novel, was nominated for awards the next year, I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I felt like it had some “first novel” roughness but was altogether enjoyable.  The sequel, Storm of Locusts, was even better! I enjoyed Black Sun, and I was excited to be at the Hugo Awards last year when she won best series. 

So I was thrilled when NetGalley and Saga Press gave me an eARC of her new short story collection, River of Bones, in exchange for an honest review. As I’ve said several times before on this blog, I love a single author short story collection very much, and this one was no exception! It was wonderful to revisit "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™” which was just as enjoyable and haunting as it was the first time I read it. “The Boys From Blood River” was great and “Falling Bodies” was heartbreaking. The title story, “River of Bones” was a new entry in the series started in Trail of Lightning and I really enjoyed it too. This is an excellent collection!

The Lost Daughter of Sparta by Felicia Day

Who doesn’t love Felicia Day? From Buffy to Dr Horrible to MST3K, she has been a part of nerdom for a long time. So when I saw that she had an upcoming graphic novel based on Greek mythology, I got very excited. (Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. )

This book tells the story of a sister of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra who seeks to break the curse on her family that she will betray her future husband. The art style is very evocative, with only red being used a an accent color - and also for the protagonist’s facial birthmark. This is a lovely love story that sometimes feels simple but always feels powerful. An enjoyable read.