Amy Jesionowski

Excellent!

Revisado: 05-22-17

Kameron Hurley has quickly become one of my favorite contemporary authors. Her books are filled with original storylines, strong female characters, and a much-needed feminist perspective in the genre. Hurley has managed an intriguing story and an immense undertaking at world-building so intrinsically enmeshed withing the story there is no separation of the two. I simply can't wait to devour more stories from this author. Thank you, Ms. Hurley!

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Jerusalem

Revisado: 05-10-17

What can I actually say about this book? My first impressions were that Moore was influenced by Chaucer and Alighieri. But as I continued through his magical landscape of realism, it dawned on me who the main character actually was: the Burroughs. Not the physical place but the living, breathing point in a dimension defined as time if time is considered through eternalism, or the philosophy of time that states past/present/future is one in the same and we, as limited dimensional beings see it as linear and in our need to measure it, alter it. While characters may have seemed at times random, unnecessary, or mentioned and forgotten, they served as perfect vehicles to breathe life into the behemoth that contains all.

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GAH!!! WHAT A PIECE OF GARBAGE!!!!

Revisado: 03-30-17

I tried, I really did. Within the first few pages after the foreword, I knew it was going to be bad. But I (really, very wrongly) thought it was an interesting premise so I kept going. I forgave the reason for the evolution of the sopaths, reminding myself about suspension of disbelief and magical thinking and all that good stuff one keeps in the the back of one's mind when reading certain kinds of fiction. The pacing is an unrealistic mess; everything that happened in the span of the first day should have happened over months, if not years in the course of the story. I almost couldn't, but I put that aside and kept going.

This brings me to the end of chapter one and characterization. I should have stopped at Chapter 2. I truly don't know what I was thinking, because GAH!!! WHAT A PIECE OF GARBAGE!!!! Has the author actually met and spoken with a real woman? Or just a real person... of any age? With actual emotions and a working brain? I don't care if it's fiction. It's beyond insulting and the rationale behind the actions and reactions of the characters that the author interjects is potentially dangerous for developing young minds (this is NOT a kids' book, but I was reading Stephen King at 8, and now I'm 43, so...).

Yeah. I feel like I just read a book published by a men's rights association. (By the way, that was not a compliment.)

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The Fireman

Revisado: 05-25-16

Of all of Hill's books, I found The Fireman to be the most well-written. His characterizations were fantastic; I really became invested in the major, and even some of the minor, characters. The story was tight; Hill did his research. It was the classic trope of how good the good can get and how bad the can bad get when faced with adversity. I really enjoyed this book!

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FANTASTIC!

Revisado: 05-11-16

I have not been so into a series in a decade (the last time was the Night Watch series by Lukyanenko). I would scoop up a #4 as soon as it hit the marketplace.

The world created may be imperfect and hard and bordering on dystopia, but it is full and complete and has been conveyed in a way that you feel like it's a real place.

Many of the characters (including the protagonist) are the very much the same (imperfect and hardened) but they are realistic and *fit* in their world.

In my opinion and for my tastes: just fantastic! Thank you, Kameron Hurley, for the wonderful adventure you've provided me.

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Infidel: Bel Dame Apocrypha, Book 2

Revisado: 04-27-16

If you enjoyed God's War (Bel Dame Apocrypha, Book 1), get Infidel.

Infidel continues Hurley's intriguing world and the people that inhabit it. I really love the blend of science fiction, fantasy, and political intrigue. The concept of a world war lasting two to three centuries blows my mind (the implications of how that affects the development of cultures are well and subtly addressed, but it's still an idea that makes one pause and really think about the end result of a planet-wide lifestyle of violence).

The notion of the book's main protagonist (Nyxnissa so Dasheem) as a broken, imperfect, morally-questionable human being is one that appeals to me greatly. She's not exactly likeable, but you can't help but care about her and become invested in this character. Her personality and outlook have not much changed since the first book in the series (God's War), but, in my opinion, she seems to be starting to have those niggling seeds of personal change taking root in the back of her mind.

I am extremely interested to see where the final book in the trilogy, Rapture, eventually takes us and how the underlying political theme finally plays out.

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Just fantastic - read it!

Revisado: 04-22-16

God's war is a massively successful blend of science fiction and fantasy. I really appreciated the way Hurley built this world and found it infinitely interesting. By the end of book I wanted to know so much more, but still felt satisfied with the story and its conclusion. I will definitely be checking out Book 2 in the Bel Dame Apocrypha.

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This book could have been amazing.

Revisado: 04-15-16

Usually I say that a book could have been shorter, but this one should have been much longer. I think with more character development and exposition as well as more in-depth storylines, it could have been amazing. This was a difficult book to read (the tragedies that happened to the women of the book), but I feel stronger having read it.

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Snow Falls

Revisado: 04-12-16

Snow Falls is a romance. I know - I don't need to be reminded of how many times I've stated I don't like romances. This is, however, a bit different. I identify with the love interests and I knew, from the get, that I was starting a romance novel. I thought the characters were well-developed (decent back stories) and relatable. The writing was good. The story kept my interest. Granted, I may not be reading another romance novel for, oh, probably a good 2 - 3 years, but I was happy with this little fix.

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The Hounding

Revisado: 04-08-16

This was an interesting retelling of The Hound of the Baskervilles with reimagined, uber characters. I think the facts and clues surrounding the case could have used a little work, and with a couple re-reads and re-writes it would have been a great little story (I say this because the original and all subsequently reimagined characters implied to be Sherlock Holmes (that I'm familiar with) are known for their deductive reasoning skills; some of the jumps made in this book would have been much better and not look so much like guesswork and out of the blue had there been a couple things included along the way). I thought the characters were a little flat (I had the feeling that when they were written, many assumptions were made that the audience would just get who they are and less detail was employed than necessary to really make the characters come alive) but they were fun and I did enjoy their lively banter. Solid 3-star story (which really isn't bad!)!

Note on the audio (which has nothing to do with the story, itself): the sound wasn't great. It was really tinny and it made it hard for me to hear many parts.

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