Reviews and Comments

Matthew Royal

masyukun@books.theunseen.city

Joined 3 years ago

Reading, Programming, Cooking, Renaissance Music

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Tim MacWelch: Ultimate Self-Sufficiency Manual : (200+ Tips for Living off the Grid, for the Modern Homesteader, New for 2020, Homesteading, Shelf Stable Foods, Sustainable Energy, Home Remedies) (2021, Weldon Owen, Incorporated)

Review of 'Ultimate Self-Sufficiency Manual : (200+ Tips for Living off the Grid, for the Modern Homesteader, New for 2020, Homesteading, Shelf Stable Foods, Sustainable Energy, Home Remedies)' on 'Goodreads'

I am now self-sufficient.

Elisa Gabbert: Normal Distance (2022, Counterpoint Press)

Review of 'Normal Distance' on 'Goodreads'

Reads more like a notebook of thoughts than a volume of finished poems, sort of like Joan Didion's notes on traveling through the South, but without the Joan Didion.

Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and... no qualms …

Review of 'An elderly lady is up to no good' on 'Goodreads'

"No good" is an understatement! I love that she was detected twice, but like us readers, they were rooting for her.

Charles Stross: The Annihilation Score (2015, Orbit)

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER ... Dr Mo O'Brien is an intelligence agent at the top …

Review of 'The annihilation score' on 'Goodreads'

I love the Laundry Files. The premise mixing Computer Science with demonology is brilliant. The narration from snarky ol' Bob is enjoyable. But honestly, I had to force myself to keep trudging through this installment of the Laundry series, fueled by the memory of how good the previous books were.

The narration is by Bob's wife Mo, but it still sounds like Bob; Mo doesn't consistently have her own voice. Most of the scenes are attending interminable meetings with none of the sharp efficiency of the previous book on vampire executives. They are obligatory, tedious, and joyless. Some books late in a series consist of nothing but monologuing dinner party scenes: this book falls into that trap. The content is ok, but needs a rewrite from telling to showing.

Sadly, this series has been demoted from the top of my "save it so you can savor it" list to my …