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Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City, Part 1 by Hajime IsayamaMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
3.5 rounded down
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The Dagger in Vichy by Alastair ReynoldsMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
dates read: 3/20/25 - 2/24/25
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!
I think that anybody who has any anxieties about the numerous artificial intelligence large language models, and what that could mean for books, the publishing industries, movies, television shows, and all the creative fields, should pick up this book regardless if they like novellas and/or sci-fi, or they don't. The reason is, that this is the first work of fiction that I have personally read that deals with these anxieties in a raw and tangible way. While I am sure this won't be the last of this theme in the years to come, I am willing to say this is one of the firsts. And because of this, when it comes out, I need you to pick up a copy and digest and sit with what this book is trying to communicate.
In this book, we follow a young man named Rufus in an entertainment troupe in a far future, post-industrial and post-technological France which has practically reset to the medieval times, retaining very few technological advancements from the previous ages and civilization. The entertainment troupe leader helped Rufus escape the death penalty, granted that he reformed his criminal ways. Because of this, Rufus feels a debt is owed to the leader. However, when the leader gets ahold of some old technology, Rufus must contend with his morals or the man who saved his life.
Again, I cannot express enough how much I want you guys to read this book if you have even the slightest anxieties about the future to come with websites like DeepSeek, Copilot, and ChatGPT, especially in the creative fields. Once again, while I am 1000000001% this won't be the last book with these themes, this is one of the first books with this theme that I can discern and I think everyone should read it.
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Beautyland by Marie-Helene BertinoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
dates read: 2/21/25-3/5/25
Adina does sit-ups, showers, faxes her superiors, tracks the night sky, watches late-night television, files her notes in orderly folders. She is nineteen Earth years old with the life of a middle-aged divorcée. Is this all there is?
In this novel, a young woman, named Adina, born in Philadelphia, believes she is an alien emissary tasked with observing and reporting on human life. As she navigates her life among humans, she grapples with feelings of isolation and belonging, chronicling the beauty and fragility of existence on Earth.
I really loved this book. As a literary fiction novel, in particular.
For some reason, this book keeps getting categorized as science fiction, and I'd hate for someone to go into this book and think that this is a "traditional" science fiction book. There's no alien wars in this book folks. Don't pick this up expecting that sort of thing. There were points in the back half of this book that made me think that Adina was going to be hospitalized and it was going to be proven to her that she is not an alien, type of not science fiction .
As a literary fiction this book was fucking amazing. Ticked all my boxes, alienated girl, doesn't understand her peers, pretty much sex repulsed, sign me the fuck up!!!!!
Read this book if you like literary fiction. Avoid if you're looking for a traditional scifi book.
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