List: aurealis-award-nominee

Cover of The Rook.

The Rook

by Daniel O'Malley · published 2012 · read 2017-05-24

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Wow! This book has bits of Charles Stross in it (as in: secret modern British agency dealing with the supernatural), but at the same time it's totally different. More action oriented, fast-paced, witty, and it never felt like a Laundry knockoff. I'm really interested in where the sequel is going.

Cover of Sabriel.

Sabriel

by Garth Nix · published 1995 · read 2017-01-01

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I really really liked this book. It's very solid fantasy, it has its own plot, its characters are wonderful and not cliche and I very much want to read more of this. Sabriel as the new Abhorsen was a joy. One point less than perfect because … well, it does not feel quite perfect. Minor inconsistencies in language, some lazy plot points … but still. It's a really, really good fantasy book.

Cover of Lirael.

Lirael

by Garth Nix · published 2001 · read 2017-12-25

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

After the first book was so self-contained and the second is so very separate, I did not expect the cliffhanger in the end. I, again, love the female protagnoist a lot, although her companion is overpowered. Looking forward to the next part.

Cover of Distress.

Distress

by Greg Egan · published 1995 · read 2018-07-20

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Distress is another really enjoyable book by Greg Egan, part of his very loosely connected Subjective Cosmology trilogy. It's less "weird" than the other two parts, and might make a better starting point for interested readers. We accompany our protagonist, a scientific journalist, to a phyics conference on an anarchist island – less happens than in th other books, but that just finally leaves room for better characters and characterisations. The whole book, especially its increasingly twisty story arch, is very recommendable scifi.

Cover of Abhorsen.

Abhorsen

by Garth Nix · published 2003 · read 2018-02-18

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Very YA. Good YA! But … too YA for me atm for a five star rating. Much better YA than many things I know, though. Doesn't feel like it can keep up with the previous parts of the series.

Cover of Nevernight.

Nevernight

by Jay Kristoff · published 2016 · read 2019-01-06

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Nevernight is nice fantasy – setting-wise, it's confusingly similar to Red Sister, all about a young girl assassin going to a slightly religious assassin school, but it's different in style. I think I liked Red Sister more (seeing as it has less Chosen One and more realism), and the witty banter-y narrator of Nevernight was predictable sometimes. But the style was very Bartimaeus-esque, so this should be a book that fits many people's interests and likes.

Cover of Godsgrave.

Godsgrave

by Jay Kristoff · published 2017 · read 2019-05-26

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff is the second part of The Nevernight Chronicle, and it felt underwhelming. I'll try to tell you why: In Godsgrave, we continue to follow Mia, who is now a trained assassin and still hell-bent on revenge. To make this generic plot less generic, we get snarky footnotes with background info dumps (hi, Bartimeus), and a same-sex relationship (of course fraught with deceit and passion), where more traditional fantasy would've had a hetero relationship. Aaaand, that's it.

Cover of Der Ruf des Reihers.

Der Ruf des Reihers

by Lian Hearn · published 2006 · read 2006-03-01

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Concluding the series, we get the "15 years later" book we never wanted. Things fall apart. Then they fall apart some more. There's a lot of death to go around, much of it by backstabbing.

Cover of City of Lies.

City of Lies

by Sam Hawke · published 2018 · read 2021-06-13

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

White-hat assassin siblings have to defend the realm. It's a bit generic. Good parts: the role of the protagonist as defensive poison expert (unusual and refreshing), and a well-handled siege story. The truly stand-out part of the story was starting with the narrator highlighting the wonderful high-culture city they live in, and then pivoting over time to show the rotting foundations the realm is built on. Well-done, though having only the perspective of the whiny aristocracy took some getting used to.

Cover of Diaspora.

Diaspora

by Greg Egan · published 1997 · read 2018-08-25

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

While I liked Greg Egan's other novels, Diaspora didn't grip me at all and was very hard to get through. The fact that it revolves around an advanced species that can change itself to any degree it wants to made it hard to feel sypathy with any of the characters. The beginning was really strong, describing how their civilizations and personalities are formed. But after that, to my feeling the book consisted only of excalating physicsbabble and arbitrary personality changes, and this escalation continued right upon the not quite satisfying end.

Cover of Lexicon.

Lexicon

by Max Barry · published 2013 · read 2020-08-21

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Neat enough premise: NLP is magic, special words can persuade and coerce humans into any action. With a few well-chosen questions you can figure out any person's category (out of <1000), and then apply magic words that bypass consciousness and allow for deep manipulation and commands. These words are taught in a school that is – surprise – not exactly lawful-good.