Welcome to Litsy!

I loved this fast-paced, genre-bending novel that seamlessly switched between POVs and perfectly balanced the science-fiction with the mystery. I enjoyed watching each character‘s story come together and overlap until the aha moment of why we‘re getting each of their POVs.

The only thing that put me off a little bit was Andy. (Slight spoiler in comments.)

#arc

A human and and alien, each representing a rival multi-species consortium, court the ruler of a new alien species they are competing to bring in, and things get interesting.

I picked this up on a whim, and I'm glad I did. Unique, humorous, and full of heart, this book delivered more than I expected, from thoughtful questions about building relationships across cultures to AI translation software with a sarcastic streak. Definitely worth a read!

Checked out once and discarded. Someone loved it enough to share it. After 25 years, it's cared for again.

What … what … does this mean there‘s going to be another book or series… I need to know … the way this is written is addictive and I need to know if there‘s another book coming out or is out now … I‘m so glad I have more books by this author

4.5/5

Ceelander and Ste Etienne are forced to land on Shroud, a planet where the atmosphere is so think that no light makes it to the planets surface and life evolved to “see“ through ever louder radio waves. Escape is all but impossible, and they've attracted the attention of Shroud's many forms of life.

I couldn't put this book down. I loved everything about the journey across Shroud as well as the alien life that lives on Shroud.

#netgalley

Here is my #BookSpin list for August. It's almost entirely ebooks and audiobooks since I'll be moving in September and will have the majority of my books packed up before the end of August. The two physical books on the list (1 and 6) are small mass market paperbacks, so I don't mind not packing them if their numbers are picked.

This is the first Banks book I‘ve read, and I am really glad I started with it. I didn‘t have to commit to the entire Culture series, but The Algebraist did give me a (prolonged, 500+ page) taste of his writing style, character arcs, world building etc.

This one was amazing.

65/100 Its been awhile since I've read any Frederik Pohl, I'd forgotten what a talented writer he was. This is a story of parallel worlds, of characters meeting various versions of themselves as the wall between the dimensions begins to falter. It is a little confusing at times, multiple POVs with the same name and all told in first person, but it's worth sticking with for the solid conclusion. 4 ⭐ #Read2025