Book Reviews: By Rating
Below you’ll find short reviews of the books I’ve read, grouped by rating and ranked within each group.
Echopraxia is the second book in ’s Firefall series, unfolding at roughly the same time as Blindsight. It follows parasitologist Daniel Brüks, who gets unwillingly dragged into a conflict between multiple transhuman factions, travels to the Icarus station orbiting the sun, and eventually back to Earth
Blindsight is a hard sci-fi novel about first contact with aliens in the near future. A crew of four transhumans and a vampire are sent on a spaceship to investigate an anomaly in the solar system after a swarm of alien probes scan Earth.
A Fire Upon The Deep is a sci-fi novel by . It tells the story of the Blight—a galactic-scale, transcendent evil—and the humans racing to stop it.
Surface Detail, by , is the ninth Culture book. It follows Lededje Y’breq as she seeks revenge for her own murder, set against the backdrop of a galactic conflict over virtual hells.
Use of Weapons is the third novel in the Culture series by Iain M. Banks. It tells the story of a man called Cheradenine Zakalwe, who works for the Culture’s Special Circumstances division.
Look to Windward, by , is the seventh Culture book. It explores the aftermath of the Idiran–Culture War and Chelgrian civil war.
The Player of Games is the second novel in ’s Culture series. It tells the story of Jernau Morat Gurgeh, a master game player who is recruited to play Azad, an incredibly complex game that serves as the basis for the Empire of Azad’s entire government.
Inversions, by , is the sixth Culture book, but it is very different from typical Culture novels: there are no spaceships and almost no advanced technology. Instead, it follows Culture citizens DeWar and Vosill as they manipulate a medieval society.
I couldn’t put Pandora’s Star down! It is a sci-fi book that reads more like a thriller. There were always new mysteries that just a few more pages promised the answers to.
The sequel to Pandora’s Star, Judas Unchained continues right where the last one left off, but with the action ramped up to 11. The various storylines and loose threads come together one by one until it’s the good guys racing against the bad guys for the fate of the universe.
The Hydrogen Sonata, by , is the tenth and final Culture book. It explores the last days of the Glitz people as they prepare to Sublime.
A Memory Called Empire, by , is the first book in the Teixcalaan series. It follows Mahit Dzmare, an ambassador from the space station Lsel, as she tries to save her home from being annexed by the Teixcalaanli empire.
Night Without Stars is the second book in the The Chronicle of the Fallers. It is action packed, with great pacing, and complex characters. It is my new favorite book.
The Colonel is a short story that serves as a bridge between Blindsight and Echopraxia. It follows Colonel Keaton—the father of Siri Keaton—as he investigates whether the Bicameral hivemind poses a threat to baseline humans.
The Fall of Hyperion is a sequel that outshines its predecessor. It is everything I was expecting from Hyperion and more! A true masterpiece.
A Desolation Called Peace, by , is the second book in the Teixcalaan series. It tells the story of Mahit and Three Seagrass trying to stop the war between the Teixcalaanli Empire and a mysterious alien race.
Childhood’s End is a classic sci-fi novel by . It is about first contact between humans and the mysterious Overlords, and the end of the human race.
Dragon’s Egg is a hard sci-fi novel by . It is the story of first contact between humans and the Cheela: beings who live on a neutron star.
Starquake is the second book in the Cheela series by . It follows the Cheela as they rescue the humans and rebuild after a devastating starquake.
Salamandastron is the fifth book in the Redwall series. It tells the story of two parallel conflicts: the siege of Salamandastron by Ferahgo the Assassin and a devastating plague at Redwall Abbey.
Mattimeo is the third book in the Redwall series. It begins with the kidnapping of the abbey children by Slagar the cruel and follows Mathias as he tries to save them.
The Abyss Beyond Dreams starts off The Chronicle of the Fallers, another series in ’s Commonwealth universe. Though billed as space opera, it often reads more as urban fantasy since most of the story occurs on the planet Bienvenido inside the Void where steam engines are their most advanced technology.
Serpent Valley, the third book in the War Horses series, is another quick, action-packed read—but without the flaws holding back its predecessors. Easily my favorite of the series so far!
The Dreaming Void is set in the same universe as ’s Commonwealth Saga, but saying that isn’t quite strong enough: it is really a sequel. You pretty much must read the Commonwealth Saga first because half of the characters return, and every major plot point from the earlier books is spoiled in this one.
Excession, by , is the fourth novel and fifth book in the Culture series. It follows the reaction of the Culture and other civilizations to an “excession”: an “Outside Context Problem”—something mysterious, unpredictable, and enormously powerful.
Redwall is the first book in ’s Redwall series. It tells the story of Mathias, a mouse who follows his destiny to become the warrior of Redwall Abbey and defeat the evil rat Cluny the Scourge.
Hyperion was not at all the book I expected. To give you an idea of how much I misjudged it, about a third of the way through I would have rated it two stars and almost put it down, about two-thirds of the way through I was solidly at three stars, and by the end I was up to four. It was not the all-time great I was promised, but it was very good.
The Tainted Cup is a fantasy detective novel set in a world where humanity is on the brink of destruction from giant Kaiju. It follows investigators Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra as they try to solve the murder of an engineer and uncover a conspiracy that runs far deeper.
Patternmaster, by , is the fourth and final book in the Patternist series. It follows the Patternist brothers, Teray and Coransee, as they fight each other to become the new Patternmaster.
Wild Seed, by , is the first book in the Patternist series, though it was the fourth to be published. It tells the origin story of Doro—a malevolent spirit—and Anyanwu—an immortal woman.
Eater is a hard sci-fi novel by . It follows a group of astrophysicists who discover a sentient black hole that is headed straight towards Earth.
Grand Melee, by , is the fifth book in the War Horses series. In it, the Chevaliers take a break from wartime contracts to participate in a massive mech tournament.
Metropolitan, by , is the first book in the Metropolitan series. It is the story of Aiah, a young woman who discovers an illegal source of magical plasm, and how it draws her into conflict with the world.
The second book in ’s The Void Trilogy, The Temporal Void, continues to advance the story, but like many middle books in a trilogy, it does so slowly. Much of this slowness is due to multiple, massive, 200-page chapters following Edeard in the Void.
The final book in ’s The Void Trilogy, The Evolutionary Void, wraps up the series well, but a little too quickly. All the characters and storylines arrive where they’re needed and then the story is over.
The Sword of the Lictor is the third book in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It follows Severian after he reaches Thrax and is exiled for a second time.
Valuable Humans in Transit and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by .
Dog Soldier, by , is the fourth book in the War Horses series. It concludes the Cinto DaSelva campaign and further develops the setting’s backstory.
Mariel of Redwall is the fourth book in the Redwall series. It follows Mariel as she plots her revenge against the searat pirate Gabool, who attempted to kill her and her father, Joseph the Bellmaker.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) is a pop sci-fi book, the first in the Bobiverse series. It follows Bob Johansson, who dies, gets his brain frozen, and awakens to find himself press-ganged into piloting a von Neumann probe.
A Drop of Corruption, by , is the second Shadow of the Leviathan book. This time, Din and Ana track down a murderer in the northern Kingdom of Yarrow whose brilliance is almost a match for Ana’s own.
Mossflower is the second book in the Redwall series. It chronicles the arrival of Martin the Warrior in Mossflower Woods and how he saves the woodlanders from the evil wildcat queen, Tsarmina.
Matter, by , is the eighth Culture book. It begins with a tale of betrayal in an early-industrial kingdom housed within a shellworld, and ends with the unleashing of a cosmic horror.
For We Are Many is the second book in the Bobiverse series. It focuses on the Others storyline while also continuing many of the side stories begun in We Are Legion (We Are Bob).
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first installment in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It follows the life of Severian, a torturer and executioner on a dying Earth. The pacing is slow, but Wolfe’s worldbuilding is fantastic, crafting a setting that pulls the reader in.
The Last Policeman by is an apocalyptic detective novel set in Concord, New Hampshire. It follows Detective Palace as he tries to solve a murder six months before an asteroid is set to wipe out civilization.
All These Worlds is the third book in the Bobiverse series. It continues the story of the war with the genocidal Others started in For We Are Many.
Mission of Gravity is a sci-fi adventure story set on the planet Mesklin—a massive, rapidly rotating world with gravity much higher than Earth’s. It follows Barlennan, a Mesklinite, as he sails the Bree across the planet in search of a lost human rocket ship.
Martin the Warrior is the sixth book in the Redwall series. It’s Martin’s origin story, following him as he’s enslaved by—and eventually leads an uprising against—the tyrant Badrang.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by , is her Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel about the planet of Winter. It follows Genly Ai, an envoy from the Ekumen, as he attempts to bring this androgynous world into galactic civilization.
Gun, with Occasional Music is a sci-fi, hardboiled detective novel set in near-future Oakland, California. It follows Conrad Metcalf, a private inquisitor, as he tries to solve the murder of Maynard Stanhunt.
Countdown City, by , is the second novel in the The Last Policeman series. In it, Detective Palace searches for a missing person as the world continues to deteriorate.
Heaven’s River is the fourth book in the Bobiverse series. It starts a new storyline and changes the way the stories are told.
The Dragon’s Banker is a standalone novel by . It tells the story of Sailor Kelstern, a banker in a fantasy world who, as the title suggests, is hired by a dragon.
The State of the Art is a collection of short stories by . It contains some stories related to the Culture universe and some general science fiction tales. Although it has been considered utopian fiction, it comes across as rather bleak.
Clay’s Ark, by , is the third book in the Patternist series. It follows Eli Doyle, an astronaut, after he has returned to earth with an alien infection and attempts to contain it.
The Nameless City is a short story by set in the Cthulhu Mythos. It follows an unnamed narrator who discovers a mysterious ancient city and ventures deep beneath its surface.
World of Trouble, by , is the third and final novel in the The Last Policeman series. It follows Detective Palace as he uncovers his sister’s involvement in a mysterious plot just days before the world’s end.
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satirical short novel by , critiquing the rigid class hierarchy of Victorian England through the lens of geometry.
The Fractal Prince is the second book in the Jean le Flambeur series. While the first book, The Quantum Thief, left me underwhelmed, the second book more than lived up to the hype.
Flowers for Algernon is a Hugo and Nebula award-winning novel about Charlie Gordon, a man with intellectual disabilities who undergoes surgery to enhance his cognitive abilities. While it is a beautifully crafted narrative, it failed to hold my attention.
Chevalier is a modern reimagining of 1980’s mech sci-fi like Battletech, Gundam, and Macross. It’s a quick, action-packed read—not very deep but highly entertaining—that focuses on making mechs feel like realistic battlefield tech, not magic.
The Claw of the Conciliator is the second book in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It picks up right where The Shadow of the Torturer leaves off, following Severian as he makes his way towards Thrax.
The Causal Angel is the last book in the Jean le Flambeur trilogy. We finally learn le Flambeur was hired to steal the Kaminari Jewel, a Zoku gem with the power to alter reality.
There Is No Antimemetics Division is a book based in the SCP universe. It explores the idea of anti-memes—ideas that either can’t be thought, quickly drop out of your memory when you stop focusing on them, or are dangerous to think—and how you might contain a force you literally can’t remember.
Close to Critical is the second book in the Mesklin series. It tells the story of a spaceship carrying the children of two ambassadors that crashes on an inhospitable planet, forcing humans to collaborate with the primitive native aliens to rescue them.
Star Light is the sequel to Mission of Gravity, and continues the theme of Human–Mesklinite exploration, this time focusing on a large star-like planet.
Stand on Zanzibar, by , is a Hugo-winning, New Wave science fiction novel that explores overpopulation, corporate power, and societal collapse.
Mind of My Mind, by , is the second book in the Patternist series. It tells the origin story of the Patternists.
The Quantum Thief is a sci-fi novel following the adventures of the gentleman thief Jean le Flambeur as he navigates a futuristic solar system to reclaim his lost memories and pull off an impossible heist.
The Urth of the New Sun is the fifth and final book in ’s The Book of the New Sun tetralogy. It follows Severian as he leaves Urth to save mankind and returns to witness its destruction and rebirth.
I’ve been meaning to read ’s Culture series for more than two decades, so I was excited to finally get started. Unfortunately, Consider Phlebas was not a great introduction.
House of Suns is a standalone hard sci-fi book by . It tells the story of the Gentian Line, a family of clones who are betrayed, nearly wiped out, and must unravel what happened.
The Three-Body Problem was recommended as a exciting, hard-scifi book full of new ideas. I was eager to read it, having just gotten back into fiction. I bought it for my flight from Melbourne to San Francisco and I threw it in the airport trash as I got off the plane.