#Goodreads - Michael Gouker - Poet/Philosopher/Novelist

My impression of NK Jemisin’s World Building in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.

#Goodreads, #NKJemisin, #Reaction, #SFF, #WorldBuilding / mgouker

N.K. Jemisin brings many tools to her world-building, especially a focus on how power is distributed and contested by the clans of her peoples. The manifestation of power is evident throughout The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but one illustration in particular is the division of nobles in the Consortium. Yeine comments on the inequity of their distribution, […]

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#Goodreads, #MagicalRealism, #Review, #SlaveNarrative / mgouker

The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson SextonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A heartfelt intergenerational journey across two centuries of American history told from the perspective of two women, Ava & Josephine, whose families are victims of racism. The author uses the term “recycled racism” to describe their suffering, and it’s precise. There are three narratives.

“By the Strength of Their Illusion”: Reflections on the Scottish Play

#Goodreads, #Literature, #Play, #Review / mgouker

Macbeth by William ShakespeareMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Although the signifier “mirror” is absent from Macbeth, and “glass” only appears twice, once as a prop instruction and once in dialogue, The Scottish Play fairly bristles with reflections, though like the mirrors of its time, they are somewhat deceptive. First, of course, is the mirror

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A Book About John Bolton’s Dereliction of Duty.

#Current, #Goodreads, #Politics, #Review, Books / mgouker

The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John R. BoltonMy rating: 2 of 5 stars It is truly appalling that someone who purports to be a public servant would maintain silence in the face of so much corruption going on in the same room, however this review is not about John Bolton,

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Finding Redemption in the Deep

#Goodreads, #Review, #SFF / mgouker

The Deep by Rivers SolomonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars Trying to do this without spoiling it for you, so bear with me. I’m not going to reveal too much more than the synopsis. First, I really liked the root concept of the story, the origins of the Wajinru, the merpeople. Solomon creates a compelling

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Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.

#Goodreads, #Horror, #Review / mgouker

The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. LovecraftMy rating: 5 of 5 stars “That is not dead which can eternal lie,And with strange aeons even death may die.” The Call of Cthulhu is a feast of creepiness told in colorful language, which is only flawed by Lovecraft’s primitive obsession with physiognomy and base racism. I view

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Pornland is Informative But Also As Boring As Porn

#Goodreads, #Modern, #Review, #Sex, #sociology, Books / mgouker

Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality by Gail DinesMy rating: 2 of 5 stars Dines’s book is an excursion into the destructive nature of pornography on our society. It hits some of the problem on the head, especially the violence of the gonzo olympics. However, the book is flawed in that Dines enters the

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Leviathan Wakes (First story of The Expanse)

#Goodreads, #Review, #ScienceFiction, #SFF / mgouker

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. CoreyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A good story set against a brilliant vision of the future solar system. I love the setting so much, especially all the political interplay. The characters were a bit of a reach for me at first, especially Miller’s obsession with the dead girl. I

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My Favorite Story of 2019 (so far)

#Fantasy, #Goodreads, #Review, #WorldBuilding / mgouker

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-GarciaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Moreno-Garcia dipped into the inkwell of mortality to write a modern fairy tale about love, both romantic and fraternal, featuring Gods and a plucky character shaped by the world to be a reluctant hero. The world-building is brilliant, drawing from the lush

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An Endearing and Instructive Immigration Story Told With Wit and Aplomb

#Goodreads, #Memoir, #NonFiction, #Review / mgouker

Funny In Farsi: A Memoir Of Growing Up Iranian In America by Firoozeh DumasMy rating: 3 of 5 stars A refreshing memoir by a talented, entertaining author who speaks in clear direct language and tells great stories, especially about her extended family. This valuable book illuminates the life of an immigrant and narrates the American

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Questions of Consent

#Goodreads, #Review, #ScienceFiction, #WorldBuilding / mgouker

Autonomous by Annalee NewitzMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I really liked Autonomous. I thought Newitz’s vision of a future world with drug patent hoarding corporations and pirates willing to defy them scarily realistic. I also thoroughly enjoyed the embedded discussion of capitalism’s overreach of claiming human biological data, and the implicit criticism of how

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“Prime Meridian” and Its Many Marses

#Goodreads, #Review, #SFF, #SpeculativeFiction / mgouker

Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia My rating: 5 of 5 starsSilvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Prime Meridian” is about Mars, though not the red planet nor the Roman god of war. Instead, this story features a black-and-white Mars decorated with cheap studio effects, another Mars that exists only as a bond between a young couple that cannot survive

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My review of The Handmaid’s Tale

#Goodreads, #Review, #ScienceFiction / mgouker

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret AtwoodMy rating: 5 of 5 stars Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is brilliant literary science fiction. I will discuss the literary aspects of it in a moment, but first it’s important to place it squarely in the domain of science fiction. First, under Darko Suvin’s definition of sci fi, the

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Devoured this scrumptious morsel in but a few hours and still left a little hungry.

#Goodreads, #Modern, #Review / mgouker

Sharp Objects by Gillian FlynnMy rating: 3 of 5 stars Sharp Objects is a solid first novel, to which I would have given a higher rating, were it not for the summary technique in the conclusion that robs the reader of the experience of that year of discovery. Flynn does everything else right. Her characters

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When They Have Taken the Magic

#Fantasy, #Goodreads, #Review, #SpeculativeFiction, #WorldBuilding / mgouker

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi AdeyemiMy rating: 5 of 5 stars An important story written from a vantage point above a landscape of suffering and tears. Adeyemi does an excellent job with setting, painting a colorful mosaic rich in magical realism but grounded in pain and tragedy. I especially found compelling her use

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If You Think Science Fiction Should Make You Ask Yourself Tough Questions…

#Fantasy, #Goodreads, #Review, #ScienceFiction / mgouker

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane AndersMy rating: 5 of 5 stars It’s tough to review this one without spoilers and still convey the essentials, because the worldbuilding is so unique, so let me give a one-liner first and you can choose to move on if you wish: I give

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The Forgotten Beasts of Eld – A sad story of love and revenge redeemed by beasts who shall never be forgotten.

#Fantasy, #Goodreads, #Review / mgouker

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillipMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved the voice of the narrator, the straightforward unapologetic fairy tale weave. I enjoyed the transformation of Sybel, how she loses her naïveté to the Eld version of the Great Game, and I mourn her loss of the magical world

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A Modern Fairytale Explores the Union of Magic and Science.

#Fantasy, #Goodreads, #Review, #ScienceFiction / mgouker

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane AndersMy rating: 5 of 5 stars All the birds… is such an enchanting story, a true modern fairy tale that still finds time to dig deep into doomsday ethics and build venn diagrams of science and magic. The characters spoke to me. I love how well

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Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years. History and culture written in thread.

#Goodreads, #History, #Review, #WorldBuilding / mgouker

Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland BarberMy rating: 4 of 5 stars This really helped consolidate my knowledge of the development of human civilization. Its use of language along with archeological evidence reinforces the research I’ve pursued on language origins. As a world builder of

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Beauty and Glamour

#Fantasy, #Goodreads, #Review / mgouker

Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette KowalMy rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed this story. My favorite character was Mr. Vincent’s muse. Kowal constructs a fantasy world atop Austen’s propriety-infused England, one where beauty and magic (glamours) are coupled. The story is a romance, but there is drama and numerous plot

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