in lieu of proper reviews

[cahn]

Doc put a new splint on so let's experiment with posting (and maybe even commenting?) a bit. Will still not be posting/commenting as usual for at least the next month, but Hugo deadline is tomorrow, so... here are my novel/novella picks in order.

Novel:
-Some Desperate Glory (but you all knew that)
-Saint of Bright Doors (I had issues with it but it was doing interesting things, which I value for Hugo voting)
-Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
-Translation State
-Witch King (did not manage to finish)
-Starter Villain (did not manage to start, but I'm sure it's fine)

Novella:
-Mammoths at the Gates (which I loved, and which moved me the most, after not particularly gelling with the other Singing Hills novellas after the first)
-Seeds of Mercury (I'm inclined to rate the Chinese nominees higher, and I thought this one was interesting)
-Rose/House (intriguing)
-Mimicking of Known Successes (*)
-Thornhedge (enjoyed)
-Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet (I kind of feel like I could have summed this up in 3 sentences and saved myself the trouble of reading it)

(*) I thought it was fine in general, but I discovered while reading it that while I really like having spectrum-coded characters as the POV character, I intensely dislike having that character as the love interest (or at least did in this case) because I can see how annoying one can be and I do not like feeling seen like that! :)

Comments

[cenozoicsynapsid]

Some Desperate Glory: loved it, obviously. I think we've been over this :)
Saint of Bright Doors: haven't read
Amina al-Sirafi: Fun, fluffy pirate adventure! Liked the characters, didn't quite stick the landing. Would recommend for anyone's next beach trip. (Good character writing and a plot with momentum will take you far.)
Translation State: I forget if I posted on your thread for that one. I enjoyed it, with some reservations.
Witch King: I'll read the next one, I guess?
Starter Villain: didn't read

Of the novellas, Known Successes is the only one I read, but I've enjoyed all the other Singing Hills stuff to date and will read Mammoths too.

[cahn]

you did post for translation state! was also curious if you'd read rose/house (overall liked, had some reservations) but looks like you haven't. i wouldn't necessarily recommend it to you, though.