cjhi
Boston Public Library
cjhi's Completed Shelf
The Lost Future of PepperharrowThe Lost Future of Pepperharrow, eBook
by Pulley, NatashaeBook - 2020
Available
cjhi's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Jan 12, 2021
The Faithless HawkThe Faithless Hawk, eBookThe Merciful Crow Series, Book 2
by Owen, MargareteBook - 2020
Available
cjhi's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 19, 2020
Comment:
A lot of emo along the way and a lot of how-we-fell-to-this-pass discussion may satisfy many readers, but the ending is rather more pat than plausible -- there will be a LOT of people ready to make trouble over the new order. But that's another story; this one wraps up conclusively.A lot of emo along the way and a lot of how-we-fell-to-this-pass discussion may satisfy many readers, but the ending is rather more pat than plausible -- there will be a LOT of people ready to make trouble over the new order. But that's another…
cjhi's rating:
0.5 out of 5 stars
Added Nov 16, 2020
Comment:
Another media writer who has skimmed a couple of science books and thinks he has an astounding original idea -- because he's too young to have seen _Outer Limits_ and _Twilight Zone_ and apparently doesn't read SF. Slam-bang action, piled-up improbabilities ("why does X happen?" "Because otherwise the story would collapse."), violence for violence's sake (what does the Evial Corporation think it will actually accomplish?) and no explanation for a college physics teacher not realizing a lot earlier what has happened to him. Unbelievable hairsbreadth escapes, unbelievable ending (not survivable), emotions mostly pulled out of a Hollywood file without being made real.Another media writer who has skimmed a couple of science books and thinks he has an astounding original idea -- because he's too young to have seen _Outer Limits_ and _Twilight Zone_ and apparently doesn't read SF. Slam-bang action, piled-up…
Listening for AmericaListening for America, BookInside the Great American Songbook From Gershwin to Sondheim
by Kapilow, RobertBook - 2019
cjhi's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Nov 7, 2020
Comment:
Intense discussion of 16 songs from Broadway and movie musicals, with context (often wider than the original – Kern at least hated songwriting book musicals because he had to fit in context rather than doing whatever he wanted) and examples -- which are both printed in the book and hearable online (with markers tracking the piano-vocal scores as they're performed) -- a huge benefit for anyone (i.e., most of us) who can't immediately hear in their mind what they see in sheet music. All but the last one (“Finishing the Hat”) also show what an ordinary composer might have done to contrast with what the expert did. Some of his conclusions about context are arguable (by other writers, both of our times and closer to the originals) but this is overall a fascinating and worthwhile work for anyone with any interest in popular song (of which show music was a huge part in the period mostly covered).Intense discussion of 16 songs from Broadway and movie musicals, with context (often wider than the original – Kern at least hated songwriting book musicals because he had to fit in context rather than doing whatever he wanted) and examples -- which…
The House in the Cerulean SeaThe House in the Cerulean Sea, eBook
by Klune, TJeBook - 2020
All copies in use
Holds: 37 on 5 copies
Holds: 37 on 5 copies
cjhi's rating:
1 out of 5 stars
Added Sep 29, 2020
Comment:
Too saccharine to be heartwarming even before the author waves his wand and makes everything come out right; current events make clear that hatred doesn't just go poof! and disappear.
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them AllThirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All, Book
by Ruby, LauraBook - 2019
cjhi's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Aug 18, 2020
cjhi's rating:
2.5 out of 5 stars
Added Jul 4, 2020
Comment:
OK if you want a thrill ride that is massively implausible; Kane turns out to have skills, dedication, luck, and motivation that belong in a Marvel or DC movie. rather than a supposedly realistic book. Won a British prize (Theakston/Harrogate) for best mystery of 2019.OK if you want a thrill ride that is massively implausible; Kane turns out to have skills, dedication, luck, and motivation that belong in a Marvel or DC movie. rather than a supposedly realistic book. Won a British prize (Theakston/Harrogate) for…
cjhi's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Jun 21, 2020
Comment:
The PW review calls Roxane Weary "plucky". That's an uncalled-for slight; there's a few bits of girl talk scattered around the book, but she is hardworking and tenacious, and not above grumbling when life goes sideways on her. The professional reviews above are reasonably accurate but underestimate the number of lives the author juggles; at the end, several of them are changed believably and irrevocably, which will make the next book also interesting. Nobody is preternaturally skilled or powerful, and there's no romanticizing of small-time hoods or their masters; I know very little of the setting (Columbus OH), but the author makes the many bits she uses in the story very real.The PW review calls Roxane Weary "plucky". That's an uncalled-for slight; there's a few bits of girl talk scattered around the book, but she is hardworking and tenacious, and not above grumbling when life goes sideways on her. The professional…
cjhi's rating:
1 out of 5 stars
Added May 24, 2020
Comment:
Tech is utterly implausible; author lists many people consulted but doesn't seem to have talked to any biologists about the implausibility of a weapon as generic as in Heinlein's _Sixth Column_. OTOH, that an AI created by a couple of socially-isolated teenagers would decide that hell is other people is all too plausible. Way too much how-they-did-it talk drags down much of this novel; author should have read _When HARLIE Was One_ and left out half of it.Tech is utterly implausible; author lists many people consulted but doesn't seem to have talked to any biologists about the implausibility of a weapon as generic as in Heinlein's _Sixth Column_. OTOH, that an AI created by a couple of…
The Affair of the Mysterious LetterThe Affair of the Mysterious Letter, eBook
by Hall, AlexiseBook - 2019
cjhi's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Apr 30, 2020
Comment:
This starts as an obvious Conan Doyle pastiche -- but "Holmes" is a major-league sorceress who makes Cumberbatch look like a mild eccentric, "Watson" is a trans man (and far more Victorian-prudish than John Watson ever had a chance to be), and the author dumps in references to everything from Conan Doyle's stories through _Treasure Island_ to pre-Lovecraft weird author Robert W. Chambers -- all without getting in the way of the pursuit of a dangerous mystery (the description above doesn't list all the things "Watson" has to do to survive) in which "Irene" is the blackmail victim rather than the potential blackmailer. (No spoiler; this is just the initial setup.) The solution turns on people's hearts rather than a mechanism, and is plausible and even right. A great read if you're not fanatic about keeping Holmes as an icon.This starts as an obvious Conan Doyle pastiche -- but "Holmes" is a major-league sorceress who makes Cumberbatch look like a mild eccentric, "Watson" is a trans man (and far more Victorian-prudish than John Watson ever had a chance to be), and the…
Added Apr 29, 2020
Comment:
Uses many of the trappings of _The Three Musketeers_, but interestingly varied (e.g., all 4 of the companions are late teens new to the city, names may be the same or slightly titled or even a cross-language pun); none of them gets in the way of a great story. Starts a bit slowly because all 4 of the principles need introductions, then builds steadily until you don't think the author can wrap it in one book -- but he does. Other authors might have stretched this story over multiple books; instead, ending hints there will be more stories.Uses many of the trappings of _The Three Musketeers_, but interestingly varied (e.g., all 4 of the companions are late teens new to the city, names may be the same or slightly titled or even a cross-language pun); none of them gets in the way of a…
cjhi's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Apr 17, 2020
Comment:
Nice compact little story about a member of Russell's family we haven't previously met (and apparently won't -- he hasn't been seen for a decade), and how he taught her some interesting skills years before she met Holmes.
cjhi's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Apr 8, 2020
Comment:
The official summary is all correct, but it doesn't warn that the narrator starts deep in self pity and his narration is heavily footnoted by an experienced Chant who was trained very differently and is very ... frank ... about what she sees as his deficiencies. The story takes a long time to get going, and gets so meta you could just -- and at times gets rather messagey -- but most of the message is by example, and the meta gives us an effective parallel story about somebody coming to grips with their own problems while dealing with the public effects of his actions. Recommended.The official summary is all correct, but it doesn't warn that the narrator starts deep in self pity and his narration is heavily footnoted by an experienced Chant who was trained very differently and is very ... frank ... about what she sees as his…
cjhi's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Apr 7, 2020
Comment:
In the wrapup of the trilogy, the author keeps on handing the heroine new powers and helpers out of who-knows-where, despite not having the kind of supervised practice apprentice mages are shown needing. (She's adult, but classes were only for males.) But she doesn't get everything she wants, and the wrapup is mostly a plausible rebalancing rather than totally happy-ever-after (although some of the moralizing is a bit blatant). Making all but one Japanese utter villains may irritate, especially given recent reminders of how Americans of Japanese descent were mistreated in WWII; others may find that having the hero be a female PoC with a disability overrides this.In the wrapup of the trilogy, the author keeps on handing the heroine new powers and helpers out of who-knows-where, despite not having the kind of supervised practice apprentice mages are shown needing. (She's adult, but classes were only for…
Added Apr 4, 2020
Comment:
Lots of steampunk flash mixed with mentions of subterranean creatures-that-cause-earthquakes from a wide variety of myths, and a clear-eyed view of racism and sexism in 1900's San Francisco, laid on top of a completely unbelievable alternate history in which the U.S. somehow became the junior partner in Japan's dreams of East Asian empire despite owning the only known lode of the magic stones that power everything from automobiles to airships; Japan somehow also has so many people that they'd rather empty China of Chinese than enslave it. (Not spoiler -- we get this as early backstory.) If you can swallow this, the story proper is thrilling and all too plausible -- not quite grimdark but leaning that way.Lots of steampunk flash mixed with mentions of subterranean creatures-that-cause-earthquakes from a wide variety of myths, and a clear-eyed view of racism and sexism in 1900's San Francisco, laid on top of a completely unbelievable alternate history…
cjhi's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Mar 5, 2019
cjhi's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Feb 24, 2017
Comment:
The author knows the period and provides lots of buttressing detail for a plot in which two people are trying for small-scale, personal victories in the Congress of Vienna. The difficulties are predictable -- these are people, not superheroes; the ending was a bit overwrought but not implausible.The author knows the period and provides lots of buttressing detail for a plot in which two people are trying for small-scale, personal victories in the Congress of Vienna. The difficulties are predictable -- these are people, not superheroes; the…
1 to 17 of 17 items
Comment: