How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It, K.J. Parker

 

How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with it by K.J. Parker

Started: April 17, 2025
Completed: April 21, 2025
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Review:

I have enjoyed this series so far.  I did not enjoy this one as much as Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, but that may come from the move away from engineering to theater (both of which I dabbled with in college).  The protagonist's mother was fantastic, but she was only a small part.  The general approach of the book was the same as its prequel, but it was harder to buy that a playwright pulled off all the engineering.  Maybe it was also the novelty that grabbed me so strongly in the first one, but seemed to be missing from this one.  Still a good read!

84, Charing Cross Road, Helene Hanff

 

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

Started: April 17, 2026
Completed: April 17, 2026
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Review:

This was a joy to hear (from Recorded Books).  Ms. Hanff is quite the character.  While this is a simple exchange of letters, it is also an exchange of humanity and genuine caring for people very separated.  This was a fun, simple, read.

What We Can Know, Ian McEwan

 

What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Started: April 11, 2026
Completed: April 17, 2026
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Review:

I don't know what to say about this book.  It is well written.  It is composed of two very distinct parts told in two different voices.  They are (as one might expect) related.  The audio version surely helped.  I have to say, however, that the first part was not terribly compelling and I found the second part droll.  Yes, I said it.  I dunno why this is a book of the year.  It is complex and layered.  Maybe I just missed a bunch of stuff, so it gets the mild recommendation based on the quality of the writing which pulled it out of not recommended.  I will surely forget this book soon.

Hell's Heart, Alexis Hall

 

Hell's Heart by Alexis Hall is a retelling of Moby Dick as a science fiction novel

Started: April 1, 2026
Completed: April 11, 2026
Recommendation: Not recommended
Recommended By: I think I just saw a brief review of the book in a newly released list
Media:  Audio

Review:

There are things in this book that I liked.  There was a lot of sex and it felt like Hall seemed compelled to put in more sex, but opted not to do so.  The book itself, captured the feel of Moby Dick as it has frequently been retold, but missed the intimate detail of the process of whaling that was so fundamental to the original.  I'm not finding fault for that (and, surely, the original was painful to read in part due to this unending detail), but I'm just saying that I missed a nod to it.  Mostly, I didn't like the story...I didn't like how it felt 'constructed' instead of as a simple effort to retell a series of events.  I dunno.  Hard to nail down what I did not enjoy and capture it as one thing.

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, K.J. Parker

 

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City by K.J. Parker (the author is actually Tom Holt, but he writes fantasy under this pseudonym) is the first book in the Siege series

Started: March 24, 2026
Completed: April 1, 2026
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody
Media: Audio

Review:

I really enjoyed the writing style.  The protagonist is self-deprecating while at the same time being remarkably egotistical.  The situation was simultaneously silly and serious.  Even the ways some things were phrased caught me as funny while still being serious:  "She yawned so much it nearly tore her face."  These are not deeply thought out characters with immersive development, but this is a carefully crafted story.  Yes, several of the characters are shallow plot devices, but those devices are very effectively used.  A very fun read.