Salvation Day by Kali Wallace (4/5). Interesting future built on & above a worn out Earth. Zarah and Jas are excellent viewpoint characters, each with wounds and flaws that they’re living down. House of Wisdom proves a deadly creepy battleground.
This is how you lose the time war by Amal El-Mohtar (4/5). A fascinating “spy versus spy” conflict, with the added complexity of time travel, and overbearing and intrusive superiors. Subtle… sometimes to us, always in the world. Weird friendships, well handled.
Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein. (4/5) Well written and systematic; the evolution of the parties following the conversion of the Dixiecrats explains a lot. At the end, I considered writing up a per chapter response, but… 2020.
Network Effect by Martha Wells (4/5). An interesting Murderbot book, filled with substantial challenges and nice callbacks to the novellas. The last quarter spun a little far for my sensibilities, but the direction Murderbot decides makes a great bridge.
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (4/5). This was a much better book to get into Cordelia’s story and the universe. Interesting worlds at both ends (Beta and Barrayar), with the complicated drawbacks of societies.
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold (3/5). Well written but a tough starting place for the series; it was very dependent on people’s roles from a previous book (and how their current activity breaks from expectation). Probably a universe I’ll like more as I read more.