I didn't read this one quite as quickly as the first one, but I finished it today.

This is an interesting one. It's way more "military sci-fi" than the first one was, to the point that I was starting to wonder if it had been stealth-published by Baen.

It also definitely paints the Chaonians in more of a gray-light. I can't figure out if it was doing that on purpose or not since they still seem better than a lot of the alternatives.

So, not as good as Unconquerable Sun but still quite good and I wish I could keep going. Sadly, the third isn't expected for a couple of years so I guess I'll need to find something else to tide me over.

So happy I get to jump right into the sequel after finishing the first.

It's not high literature, but what a fun ride. Fortunately, the sequel came out recently so I am already ready to start the next one.

It turns out that I really like the light interpersonal drama of royals in a space empire who also get into pew pew pew fights.

I'd have never thought that this specific thing was my jam; but between this and Scalzi's Interdependency series, I guess I need to admit it to myself.

It turns out that the secret to reading more is to pick good books that are engaging and not books that you think you need to force yourself to finish just because you started them.

This is a very engaging book.

After abandoning Revenger, I wanted to replace it with more sci-fi and spaceships.

I am six chapters in and Unconquerable Sun is definitely more my speed. There is so far no attempt to be "gritty" or "realistic" where "realism" is somehow defined entirely as trauma.

I'm glad they're still writing books for me in these grimdark times.

It's been a while since I really sat down to read. When I opened this one back up, I remembered how dark and depressing it had turned and then realized why I probably hadn't sat down to read in a while.

I've moved this to the Did Not Finish pile with no regrets.

After enjoying Eversion so much, I decided to hop right into another Alistair Reynolds book.

I've seen his name on book store shelves ever since I graduated from the children's section, but never picked up one of his books before.

That was clearly a mistake. So far, my second is already off to a very good start.

Well, that was terrific.

I picked this up on a lark -- mostly as a diversion from the endless podcasts that I listen to. I'm 42% in and I don't know what to make of it. It's fascinating and engrossing and I think I'm going to end up having loved it.

I was looking for some light and easy SF reading and Space Team was recommended.

It fit the bill perfectly; I read it in just a few hours. I didn't even have time to add it to this website first.

It's not high art, but it's definitely diverting. And sometimes, we all need a diversion.

To some extent, I was reading this to evaluate if it would be a good book to hand to a new junior dev.

I'm not really sure. There are parts that I think are great and parts where I think that Mark gets off into some paths I don't love (notably TDD) a bit more than seems necessary.

I think I'd probably put this on a list of other recommended titles but not necessarily single it out.

As for myself, I'm not sad that I read it. It's a good refresher in a lot of ways.

Anyone who's looked at the GitHub for this site can see that I need a lot of help...this one comes highly recommended so I have high expectations!

Just saw this recommended by Jerry Holkins.

I was just getting out of high school when this was published and I completely missed it. But it sounds rad so onto the infinite backlog it goes.

So far, chapter 9 (practices for working on a team) seems the most valuable. Chapter 9 on its own might be a good book club topic one day.

I've been watching Mark's talks and reading his blog for a bit so I decided to buy his books. This one is a bit entry-level (sort of like Code Complete) and in some ways I'm reviewing it for if I'd recommend it to junior developers. But even then, it has some valuable insights. It's good to be reminded of the basics now and then.