RaveThe Nerd DailyIn this latest installment of the Murderbot Diaries, Martha Wells continues to give readers action-packed adventures with the most human non-human character in science fiction today ... Fugitive Telemetry feels a bit like a filler episode on a TV series. Now, sometimes filler episodes don’t add much to the overall story, but this is Martha Wells we are talking about and she really nails it when it comes to Murderbot. Reading this was akin to watching a murder mystery procedural TV episode ... peak Murderbot content. There is no lack of snarky internal dialogue from our favourite SecUnit and the murder mystery aspect of the story serves to accentuate Murderbot’s amusing annoyance with the human race ... sure to please long-time readers.
Karen Osborne
PositiveThe Nerd Daily... a stellar debut ... On the surface,Architects of Memory seems like a story we’ve seen before in the science fiction world. Humans have gone to space, corporations take capitalism to the extreme, first contact does not go well, and our hero uncovers a conspiracy. All good stuff, but nothing specifically new. And then you meet the characters…Architects of Memory is a novel that is driven by plot, but made all the better by the characters ... The characters are just themselves and seeing these parts of who they are expressed in such a natural way brings a sense of connection and authenticity to the story that is sometimes lacking in science fiction ... Where Architects of Memory falters is the pacing. We flip flop between action-packed moments and clunky info dumps throughout most of the story. And while everything that is happening is intriguing, it’s hard to stay fully engaged when the action dies down. Stories have to have their slower moments in between the action scenes, but the transition between the two were not smooth here. There were some good plot twists that were dropped at just the right times to keep you wanting to read more ... Her subtle way of building up characters brings them to life in ways that few authors can achieve.
Alix E. Harrow
RaveThe Nerd DailyOne thing that has become clearly evident is that when you read a book by Alix E. Harrow, you are in for lyrical prose and a story that will reach into the core of your being and squeeze. The Once and Future Witches is a tale about sisterhood and the fight for rights, and it is a story that is very relevant in the here and now ... [Harrow\'s] way with words and ability to turn a phrase is nothing short of magical ... Each sister is complex, but Harrow builds them expertly, giving them each different voices while still keeping their sisterhood at the forefront ... The world that Harrow creates is well-built and immersive.
Martha Wells
PositiveThe Nerd DailyIt feels odd to say that a story told entirely through the POV of an artificial intelligence is one of the most human and relatable stories of the last decade, but it’s the truth ... utterly addictive and relatable ... Wells’ capability to craft such a complex and compelling character is nothing short of masterful ... The part that didn’t work so well in this novel is the pacing and the density of the story. With the story being told from Murderbot’s POV, there is a lot of internal thought processing and much of the action is told versus shown. While typically, \'telling, not showing\' would be considered a cardinal sin in a novel, it works in this setting because Murderbot is hardly going to be giving us flowery descriptions while they annihilate their targets. But in the format of a full length novel, this style starts to feel real dense, real fast ... took me a week to finish. As excited as we all are for a full length Murderbot novel, it feels like some of the magic from the quick and quippy novellas was lost ... Murderbot will make you laugh and punch you in the feels a fair few times...Though it suffered from some growing pains, Network Effect is still a stellar story and I will always look forward to more Murderbot adventures.
