Scardown

In this case, I think it really worked to go through Hammered and then Scardown in short order. In my first review, I said I thought that the pacing was slightly odd in the first book, in that there isn't really a major denouement. (Or maybe it didn't feel like a major denouement because I already k......more

This was Elizabeth Bear's debut series? Really? As one of the reviewers said of the first book, "A glorious hybrid: hard science, dystopian geopolitics, and a wide-eyed sense of wonder seamlessly blended into a single book. I hate this woman. She makes the rest of us look like amateurs." (Peter Watt......more

this may be the worst case of middle-book-itis ever. the twisty loose ends of plot from the first book collapse into a hot mess that's occasionally confusing to follow, and the unusual sex triangle gets a little silly. still, by the end, the plot snaps back to tightrope tautness, and someone's gotta......more

This is the sequel to _Hammered_, Elizabeth Bear's debut, which I read too many years ago. Unfortunately, it's more a sequel the way _The Two Towers_ is a sequel to _The Fellowship of the Ring_, rather than the way _Twenty Years After_ is a sequel to _The Three Musketeers_, so it took me a little wh......more

Bear really hits her stride in this second book of the series. Characters develop in complex and unexpected ways, the action is exciting, the stakes are high, the emotions are intense without being melodramatic. Even the use of French is better in this one, as she generally translates the things tha......more