Book Review: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (Murderbot Diaries #3)

Publisher: Tor.com
Published: August 7, 2018
Received: purchased
Read from November 14 to December 27, 2022
Synopsis from Goodreads:

SciFi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Review:

Rogue Protocol is the third novella in the Murderbot Diaries series. In this one, Murderbot is investigating GrayCris and winds up helping a group of humans (and a bot) who are also investigating a terraforming facility that was run by GrayCris.

Like the last book, this one was filled with completely new characters except for Murderbot itself. I do enjoy getting a diverse look of the sorts of people that live in this universe, but I have a hard time getting invested in many of the characters because I know they'll be gone come the next book. Though part of why I don't feel closer to them might also be the way in which the story is told. Murderbot is keeping its distance from the humans in this book too. Murderbot is always doing that, but in this one, it felt like Murderbot interacted with the human characters even less than in the last book. That's just my perception though and isn't necessarily true.

Similar to how Murderbot formed a close-ish relationship with ART in the last book, it becomes closer to Miki (a bot) than any of the humans in this book, and I also found myself being drawn to Miki more than any of the human characters.

Miki challenges a lot of Murderbot's beliefs about relationships between humans and bots as Miki thinks of the humans it travels with as friends while Murderbot thinks of them as owners. Murderbot is pretty judgmental of Miki at the start and views Miki has naïve for viewing humans as friends, but Murderbot's own views are challenged by the end of the story.

I imagine this is going to continue to shape Murderbot's view of the world, including its own relationships with humans that it has or will encounter. I'm excited for that. Murderbot seeing Miki's relationship with its friends was my favorite part of this book.

Rogue Protocol was a fun book, and I enjoyed going on another adventure with Murderbot. At the same time, I'm really missing the characters from the first book and ART from the second book.

It looks like Mensah will make another appearance in the next book, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Book Review: Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books UK
Published: July 31, 2014
Received: purchased
Read from June 13 to December 20, 2022
Synopsis from Goodreads: 

In case you’re wondering, this is not a love story.

My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.

I really don’t.

This incredible debut novel by outstanding young author Alice Oseman is perfect for fans of John Green, Rainbow Rowell and all unflinchingly honest writers.

Review:

Since Heartstopper was released on Netflix earlier this year, I've watched it too many times to keep count. I've fallen absolutely in love, so of course I wanted to read the comics and Alice Oseman's other books. The comics are available for free online, so I read the whole thing while waiting for the books to arrive in the mail. (When the physical copies arrived, I immediately started reading Solitaire, so I actually haven't gotten a chance to read the physical copies of the comics yet either.)

While the Heartstopper TV show is based on the comics, not Solitaire, Solitaire is set in the same universe. All of Oseman's books are, but from what I know, Solitaire is the book most closely tied to Heartstopper. It follows Tori, the older sister of Charlie in Heartstopper. It also takes place a year after Heartstopper volume/season 1 even though the book itself came out earlier. It was actually the first book that Alice Oseman published.

That fact was evident while reading. The tone of the book does feel like it was written by someone younger. I believe Oseman published the book while they were in university. It does show but not necessarily in a bad way. The teen voice of the book felt very authentic. I could totally believe that Tori would view the world the way she did even when I, as an adult, felt frustrated with her at various points throughout the story.

Despite sometimes feeling annoyed with Tori, I do think she was well written. All of the characters were. I could easily imagine them fitting in with my classmates back in high school. They felt like real teenagers. To the point that some of them were downright infuriating, like Becky. I'm still trying to make myself feel sympathy for Becky purely because I knew what it's like to be a  teenager, but I have to admit that it's hard.

Tori and Becky's friendship was one of many aspects of the book that felt incredibly realistic though, and I appreciated the way it was written.

The standout character was absolutely Michael Holden. I'd heard about him before reading the book from other Heartstopper fans, and there are little glimpses of him in later installments of Heartstopper. I figured I would like him, and I was right. In some ways, he felt like a manic pixie dream girl except he was a guy, and I feel like this might have been done on purpose, especially since there's a reference to manic pixie dream girls in the book.

I just loved the way he was portrayed. I would absolutely read an entire book about Michael. Even though we learn he's not always as bright and cheerful as he seems, he did feel like a bit of lightheartedness that was otherwise lacking throughout the beginning and middle of the book.

One thing I heard about Solitaire before I read it was that it was darker than Heartstopper, after reading the book and also all of Heartstopper that's been released, I get that view but also didn't entirely feel the same way. There are a lot of mental health issues dealt with in Solitaire. It absolutely does get dark in places, but later volumes of Heartstopper (beyond what's been adapted on the TV show) also deal with similar issues. While I do think that Solitaire leaned into that darkness a bit more, the book honestly wasn't as dark as I suspected after hearing others talk about it. While Heartstopper does have a light tone overall, it also deals with some dark stuff in a serious way, and I was expecting Solitaire to be darker than it is from the discourse I'd heard about it.

While I do think Heartstopper is a story that I'll revisit more because it is more light-hearted at the end of the day, I still enjoyed Solitaire, and I'm looking forward to reading Alice Oseman's other books. Though they take place in the same general universe, they're not as closely tied to Heartstopper and Solitaire from what I've heard. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing more of that world, and I also look forward to how Oseman's writing style has grown over the years since Solitaire was published.

Book Review: Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson

Published: January 17, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Received: purchased
Read from September 14 to November 20, 2022

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Short, emotional, literary, powerful―Tears We Cannot Stop is the book that all Americans who care about the current and long-burning crisis in race relations will want to read.

As the country grapples with racist division at a level not seen since the 1960s, one man's voice soars above the rest with conviction and compassion. In his 2016 New York Times op-ed piece "Death in Black and White," Michael Eric Dyson moved a nation. Now he continues to speak out in Tears We Cannot Stop―a provocative and deeply personal call for change. Dyson argues that if we are to make real racial progress we must face difficult truths, including being honest about how black grievance has been ignored, dismissed, or discounted.

The time is at hand for reckoning with the past, recognizing the truth of the present, and moving together to redeem the nation for our future. If we don't act now, if you don't address race immediately, there very well may be no future.

Review:

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America is essentially what the subtitle says. Dyson has written a sermon directed at white Americans about racism in the US that calls for a shift in how white Americans view race and their role in ending racism.

The sermon format was perfect for the material in the book. Dyson is an ordained minister who I'm sure has written countless formats, and he's very skilled at it. The language of sermons worked perfectly for the topics discussed in the book. This is definitely a work that appeals to your emotions rather than giving hard facts, but that doesn't make it any less successful at what it's trying to do. Dyson shares many of his own experiences in the book, which gives it a very personal feeling that makes it even more powerful.

The whole book is gripping in a way that's less common in nonfiction than it is in fiction (in my experience). I would highly recommend the book, particularly to other white people.

Andor 1x12 "Rix Road" Review

The season finale of Andor has to be my favorite episode of the series so far. A lot happens, and the individual stories happening wound back to each other in a way that felt satisfying but also left a lot open to explore in the future.

Cassian goes back to Ferrix for Maarva's funeral. It felt good to see him reconnect with some of his fiends even though it was under terrible circumstances. I'm incredibly relieved that he was able to be there for Maarva's funeral at all. It actually makes me even sadder that he didn't get to see her before she died because it's clear that she meant a lot to him. Seeing Cassian on Ferrix again really did help the season feel like it had come full circle.

Most of the episode focuses on Ferrix, as many of the characters from throughout the season return there. Mon Mothma's story line is really the only one that continues without going back to Ferrix. This whole season, she's felt a little distant from everything else. I know she's connected to Luthen and especially Vel, so she's not entirely separate, but comparatively speaking, she feels distant. She's the only one who doesn't know anything about Cassian for one.

Instead of worrying about Cassian or Ferrix, Mon accuses her husband of gambling in this episode. He insists that someone is lying to her, but it's obvious that she's the one lying because she wants to be overheard and have a cover story for the money that's been plaguing her all season. 

Not only is Mon Mothma's story more disconnected than the others, but it feels like it hasn't moved that much from episode one. She's hit a lot of road bumps, but she also hasn't been accused of anything yet. She's just taking precautions. People are watching her, and it's clear the tension is building. But it all feels like build up and not any direct action yet. I'm hoping that will change in season two.

We also do get a mention of the Empire defeating Kreegyr in this episode, but it's something we never get to see actually happen, which is basically what I expected.

I wasn't expecting this entire episode (almost) to be Maarva's funeral though. Even Luthen comes to Ferrix for it despite him trying to keep a low profile and the Empire being everywhere. The Empire and Luthen are both looking for Cassian. Syril's there too, but that I completely expected. I'm glad that Cassian did get to see a lot of the funeral because I wasn't sure if he'd come back to Ferrix either.

Maarva's speech that's played at the funeral was very fitting from the finale and was probably one of my favorite things about the episode. It causes a riot to erupt where a group attacks Dedra. Syril ends up saving her, so I'm guessing that she's going to be more open to working closely with him come season two. There whole relationship feels very off to me. I think it's mostly Syril's obsessive personality and the fact that he's already seemed like a stalker at several points in this season. Dedra's a villain, but seeing her get closer to Syril puts me on edge.

During the chaos that erupts at the end of the funeral, Cassian manages to get Bix out of the hotel, but she's in a terrible state. I'm worried about her mental state in season two. Cassian leaves her with a group of friends and promises to join them later, but I'm skeptical that it will happen any time soon.

Instead of joining them, Cassian goes to Luthen's ship. He gives Luthen the chance to either kill him or take him in. It ends like a cliffhanger, but having seen Rogue One, I'm pretty confident Cassian's not getting killed. Still, it does leave me excited to see what sort of work he does with the Resistance next season and whether or not he does end up reuniting with his fiends at all.

Honestly, my biggest wish for season two is more B2EMO. If he and Cassian are reunited at some point next season, then I'll be happy.

Andor 1x11 "Daughter of Ferrix" Review

At the start of the episode, Cassian is clinging to a cliff with Melshi. They're caught by two aliens who initially seem like they're going to kill them, but instead, they let them go. Cassian manages to get back to his money and retrieve it. All in all though, we don't actually see much of Cassian in this episode.

Maarva dies. I suspected that she would before seeing Cassian again, but it's still sad to have it happened. B2EMO made it even sadder by refusing to leave the house. I feel like I always get especially attached to the droids.

Vel goes to Luthen's shop and talks to Kleya, who's really angry that she's come. They have such a tense exchange that after this episode and the previous one where they interacted, I get the feeling that Kleya has hated Vel for a long time.

After that, Vel goes to Mon Mothma's house and finds Mon's daughter doing some tradition that involves her and a bunch of other girls chanting things. Apparently, she's gotten into the tradition, which is kind of strange since I would have expected her age and the fact that they don't even live on their home planet to mean that she would be less interested in traditions like that.

Luthen goes to visit Saw, who says that he's willing to help Kreegyr. Luthen tells him not to and admits the plan to sacrifice Kreegyr. While leaving, Luthen is stopped by an imperial ship. He gets away, but I'm curious if that leads the Empire to him somehow.

At the end of the episode, Cassian finds out Maarva is dead, which is a heartbreaking scene, but I'm glad that he found out. He also splits up with Melshi, and I'm curious if we'll see him again in season one or not.

There's a lot happening now. There are so many stories going that they're a little all over the place. I'm hoping that they're going to start intersecting back together again soon. Especially since we're getting close to the end.