Tag archives for Hugo nominated 2014
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Book Review: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie My rating: 5 of 5 stars A refreshing take on space opera, and a fascinating main character (a self-aware spaceship AI that inhabits multiple bodies simultaneously). We are introduced to the main character, who is a spaceship AI in multiple bodies, through the events of an annexation of a world. We see things from multiple points of view which all represent the same character. Through this story, told as flashbacks from another sequence, we find out about how the Radch works, and the values that empire has. The scenes are well written and avoid grand expositions, instead there is a gradual burn towards the climax. One of the interesting features, which I liked, was that in the Radch language there is no gender pronoun, everyone is 'her/she'. This is used to indicate when the speech…
Book Review: Equoid by Charles Stross
Equoid by Charles Stross My rating: 5 of 5 stars My daughter has just brought home a sparkly unicorn, and I am very This is a Laundry files short story featuring Bob Howard. In this outing Bob has to deal with a report from a well qualified DEFRA vet who harbours suspicions of a potential outbreak of Equoids. The file Bob is given as briefing contains the letters of one HP Lovecraft that tell of HPL's own experience of contact with an Equoid outbreak. This is a highly entertaining story that provides a twist on unicorns and gives them an interesting life cycle which is truly horrific. It also has some laugh out loud points too. UPDATE: this has been nominated for a 2014 Hugo Award, which is well deserved. One of the best I read in 2013. View all…