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Death's Detective by Charlotte E. English. A collection for four fantasy novellas set in a dark Victorian-era-like setting. Some parts are what I'd call technically gruesome, but they weren't that unsettling to read. The first story just drops you in, but it's done pretty well, there's no real confusion, just not much depth to start with, but this grows with each story. A few minor inconsistencies show up along the way, but nothing that bothered me too much. There's a touch of humour and a touch of romance, and again these expand with each story. I had fun. 4/5.
Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. Military science fiction. I'm usually fine with being dropped in the deep end of a story, but it really didn't need to be this convoluted. I spent far too long just trying to decipher some of the sentences. I caught the gist, but couldn't work out why it had to be this way. I'm sure the gibberish would come to have meaning eventually, but I'm not going to find out because I give up. I just don't have the patience for this one.
On Basilisk Station by David Weber. Military science fiction. The main reason I finished this was because I didn't want to fail two books in a row ... that will teach me (well, maybe). The cast was full of American Manticorian heroes who spend lots of time forgiving other's weaknesses because they can all see how wonderful they really are - made my teeth itch. The repetition quickly wore thin, as did the number of times the author found it necessary to describe simple plot points, as if he was sure we'd never be able to keep up. The one surprise was the gore. After being so mild as to be boring for most of the book, the descriptions of violence at the end felt gratuitous. I stretch to 2/5 mainly because it's obvious (far too obvious, really) that a lot of work went into designing the universe.
Judging from those last two books I should probably wipe military science fiction off my list.
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