Tak! commented on Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov
A 'clinic for the past' offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer's sufferers: each floor reproduces …
The #SFFBookClub pick for October 2025
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Tak! commented on A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather
The #SFFBookClub pick for September 2025
Tak! reviewed Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi KAWAKAMI
From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions …
Under the Eye of the Big Bird
3 stars
This felt to me like a much more surreal variant of North Continent Ribbon. Each story/chapter was a continuation or a tangent of a previous one, but I don't feel like the whole contributed much to a more coherent understanding of the whole picture. Overall, the vibe was very vague, and I'm not sure how much I took away from the experience.
This felt to me like a much more surreal variant of North Continent Ribbon. Each story/chapter was a continuation or a tangent of a previous one, but I don't feel like the whole contributed much to a more coherent understanding of the whole picture. Overall, the vibe was very vague, and I'm not sure how much I took away from the experience.
Tak! quoted Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi KAWAKAMI
From one of Japan's most brilliant and sensitive contemporary novelists, this speculative fiction masterpiece envisions …
It’s strange to think there are humans who aren’t me.
Tak! commented on Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi KAWAKAMI
The #SFFBookClub selection for August 2025
Tak! reviewed Saints of Storm and Sorrow by Gabriella Buba (Stormbringer Saga, #1)
In this an enthralling Filipino-inspired epic fantasy, a nun concealing a goddess-given gift is unwillingly …
Saints of Storm and Sorrow
4 stars
Content warning spoilers
Despite the overt themes of colonialism and religious imperialism, Saints of Storm and Sorrow feels primarily like a story about toxic relationships - Catalina's abusive partnership with Lunurin, Alon's self-destructive infatuation with Lunurin (and Lunurin's knowing, cynical usage of it), Alon's father's abusive treatment of Alon, even the goddess's relationship with Lunurin.
The hollywood ending feels good, but I have to wonder if any of these characters is undamaged enough to live Happily Ever After.
Tak! quoted Saints of Storm and Sorrow by Gabriella Buba (Stormbringer Saga, #1)
In this an enthralling Filipino-inspired epic fantasy, a nun concealing a goddess-given gift is unwillingly …
The sea breezes keened of death in Lunurin’s ears, a cacophony of voices urging her to act.
— Saints of Storm and Sorrow by Gabriella Buba (Stormbringer Saga, #1)
Tak! commented on In Universes by Emet North
For fans of Emily St. John Mandel and Kelly Link, a profoundly imaginative debut novel …
The #SFFBookClub pick for June 2025
Tak! reviewed The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and …
The Ministry of Time
4 stars
I really enjoyed The Ministry of Time.
I was frustrated with the protagonist for big chunks of the book for not realizing obvious things. The author repeatedly tried to defend this with "I bet you're thinking 'I would have realized this right away', but" and in a world where I know time travel exists, I absolutely would!
However, the writing is very good, and it kept me engaged. The combination of themes around time travel, colonialism, and refugee life really worked, and I feel like it allowed them to be explored from different angles.
I'm kind of let down by the inconclusiveness of the ending, but on the other hand they avoided most of the cliché time travel tropes, so overall I guess it balances out.
I really enjoyed The Ministry of Time.
I was frustrated with the protagonist for big chunks of the book for not realizing obvious things. The author repeatedly tried to defend this with "I bet you're thinking 'I would have realized this right away', but" and in a world where I know time travel exists, I absolutely would!
However, the writing is very good, and it kept me engaged. The combination of themes around time travel, colonialism, and refugee life really worked, and I feel like it allowed them to be explored from different angles.
I'm kind of let down by the inconclusiveness of the ending, but on the other hand they avoided most of the cliché time travel tropes, so overall I guess it balances out.
Tak! quoted Countess by Suzan Palumbo
A queer, Caribbean, anti-colonial sci-fi novella, inspired by the Count of Monte Cristo, in which …
It had been a productive day. Too productive.
— Countess by Suzan Palumbo
mood
Tak! quoted Countess by Suzan Palumbo
A queer, Caribbean, anti-colonial sci-fi novella, inspired by the Count of Monte Cristo, in which …
Space colonization had not been the great equalizer the capitalist billionaires had advertised.
— Countess by Suzan Palumbo
Tak! commented on Countess by Suzan Palumbo
A queer, Caribbean, anti-colonial sci-fi novella, inspired by the Count of Monte Cristo, in which …
The #SFFBookClub pick for April 2025
Security expert Dora left her anarchist commune over safety concerns. But when her ex-girlfriend Kay …
Short and bitter
5 stars
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is a vignette about working through guilt and self-loathing toward self-forgiveness.
There's a lot going on in terms of themes: gender, transhumanism, anarchy and fascism, cloning, all mixed into a more standard crime plot.
Although the main thread is satisfactorily wrapped up, there's definitely room to explore the world further - I want more Dora!
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is a vignette about working through guilt and self-loathing toward self-forgiveness.
There's a lot going on in terms of themes: gender, transhumanism, anarchy and fascism, cloning, all mixed into a more standard crime plot.
Although the main thread is satisfactorily wrapped up, there's definitely room to explore the world further - I want more Dora!
Security expert Dora left her anarchist commune over safety concerns. But when her ex-girlfriend Kay …
I hadn’t seen Juan in years, not since I left the commune.
— These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
enne📚 commented on These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
Security expert Dora left her anarchist commune over safety concerns. But when her ex-girlfriend Kay …
The #SFFBookClub pick for March 2025.