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cmckinnon

cmckinnon

Joined August 2016

Software developer. Father of 3. I will follow you back.
review
cmckinnon
The Stars Now Unclaimed | Drew Williams
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Pickpick

This book was a lot of fun. It has nonstop action and really good characterization. It made me laugh a bunch and kept my interest throughout. I‘m very excited for the sequel, which is due in May.

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cmckinnon
Legion: Lies of the Beholder | Brandon Sanderson
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I really like these short books from one of my favorite authors. They‘re quite different from his normal epic fantasy books but I think that‘s what makes them work. It‘s a chance for him to do something new and refresh his brain. This one concludes the Legion stories, which is a little sad, but I think it‘s a good ending.

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cmckinnon
The Stand | Stephen King
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One of my favorite books. I can‘t even remember how many times I‘ve read this one. So. Good.

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cmckinnon
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This book was really fun and interesting. I learned a lot about how the series came about and what the creators had in mind while they were making it. Very good if you enjoy either version of the show.

3 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Static Ruin | Corey J. White
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A very satisfying end to the series. I really love these books and can‘t recommend them enough. They‘re smart, well written and feature interesting characters. Read them!

imyril Just picked up book 2 - looking forward to it! 6y
7 likes1 comment
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cmckinnon
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Pickpick

Very interesting book. I love the world building and the characters.

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cmckinnon
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Mehso-so

I have mixed feelings on this one. A coworker recommended it to me, and I really wanted to like it. However, it just felt a bit too derivative for my liking. It wants to be Firefly with magic and I just didn‘t feel it worked, at least for me.

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cmckinnon
Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History | Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer
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I really enjoyed this book. The history of D&D was fascinating to read and the countless gorgeous art reproductions just made it that much better. Recommended if you have any interest at all in RPG‘s or gaming at all.

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cmckinnon
Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History | Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer
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Just picked this up today. I‘ve barely had a chance to flip through it but everything I‘ve seen is beautiful. Can‘t wait to dig in further to this!

GrilledCheeseSamurai It's a gorgeous book! 👌 6y
8 likes1 comment
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cmckinnon
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book. The concept of the cost of magic and where it comes from was fascinating and I really love all the different characters. My one complaint would be that there are a lot of characters that get POVs and sometimes it was hard to keep track of who was who, especially early on when I was still learning their names. Still, very much recommended.

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cmckinnon
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If you‘ve read the first three books in this series, you don‘t need me to tell you how awesome they are. If you haven‘t read them, go do so and then read this one. Then one complaint I have about this book is that it‘s the end 😢

AiBBot I may have heard a rumour on twitter that she was writing a full length novel of Murderbot next. One can hope! 6y
cmckinnon @AiBBot That would be amazing! 6y
6 likes1 stack add2 comments
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cmckinnon
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Very interesting book from a software developer who was present during the development of the iPhone and was instrumental in making the keyboard work the way it does.

2 likes2 stack adds
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cmckinnon
Vengeful | V. E. Schwab
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So. Good. I love this book so much. The structure (repeated from Vicious) takes some getting used to, but I think it really works to keep the story moving while at the same time giving much needed background details on the various characters. I really hope Schwab returns to this setting in the future.

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cmckinnon
Salvation: A Novel | Peter F. Hamilton
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Interesting start to a new series by one of my favorite writers. I enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like a set up for the rest of the books. Still had lots of cool tech and ideas though.

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cmckinnon
Trail of Lightning | Rebecca Roanhorse
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Someone called this book “an indigenous Mad Max: Fury Road” and that is an apt description. It‘s such an amazing book with incredible world building and interesting characters. I‘m so excited for future works from Roanhorse and agree with others calling for this to be made into a TV series. Highly recommended!

AiBBot Thank you for the review. I have debated about reading it! 6y
7 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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cmckinnon
War Cry | Brian McClellan
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This was a very different book from the rest of McClellan‘s books. Set in an unknown world where magic works alongside technology and two factions war with each other, it deals with a young man who can change shapes and the troubles he faces. It‘s very brutal and full of action, and I enjoyed it a lot.

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cmckinnon
Foundryside: A Novel | Robert Jackson Bennett
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Amazing book. I love the world building and the characters. It‘s a great start to a new series by an author whose work I already loved (The Divine Cities trilogy was also incredible).

7 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Mistborn Trilogy | Brandon Sanderson
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About to start reading this trilogy again. I haven‘t read them since they came out originally and I‘m really looking forward to it!

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cmckinnon
The Causal Angel | Hannu Rajaniemi
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I was not disappointed by the ending of this trilogy. Even though there are still things the author didn‘t fully explain, I‘m happy with the book and the trilogy over all. I‘m excited to read more from this author.

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cmckinnon
Fractal Prince | Hannu Rajaniemi
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I didn‘t like this book as much as the first one, but it still has tons of ideas and brilliant writing. I‘m just starting book 3, and I‘m hopeful that it will wrap up the series in a satisfying way.

7 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Revenant Gun | Yoon Ha Lee
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I‘m sad because this series is done. I loved these books and really want more stories in this universe.

AiBBot I am so excited to read this! 6y
5 likes1 stack add1 comment
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cmckinnon
The Quantum Thief | Hannu Rajaniemi
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This book was amazing. It isn‘t for the faint of heart, since it throws you into the world with little or no explanation of terms, tech, or events, expecting you to figure things out as you go. I‘ve read other books like this, though, and I actually enjoy the challenge. It‘s also a very satisfying story, even if it is setting up the story for books 2 & 3. Loved it! 💙

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cmckinnon
Artificial Condition | Martha Wells
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These books (novella length) are great. I love the murderbot character and I‘m really looking forward to the next book in the series.

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cmckinnon
Medusa Uploaded: A Novel | Emily Devenport
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This book is so good. I love the way the author uses time jumps and the way she incorporates music into the story is just brilliant. This is one of the best books I‘ve read all year and I‘m super excited for more from Devenport.

4 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Space Opera | Catherynne M. Valente
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This book was funny and yet very emotionally complex. I wasn‘t expecting to be touched like I was. Highly recommended.

10 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Scourged | KEVIN. HEARNE
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I‘ve enjoyed this series for a long time now and it‘s sad that it‘s finally come to an end. I‘ll miss the adventures of Atticus, Granuaile, Oberon and Owen. 🍀

7 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Void Black Shadow | Corey J. White
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This was a brutal, hard to read book, but I loved it. It was darker than the first book, but I think it needed to be to tell Mars‘s story. I‘m really looking forward to the next one.

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cmckinnon
Kitchen Confidential | Anthony Bourdain
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Very fun look at Bourdain‘s career and travails as a chef at many restaurants.

9 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
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Wow! I love this series from the first book and this concluding volume was just as awesome! I‘m definitely going to have to read these books again sometime. There‘s so much going on that I‘m sure I missed a bunch of details and Easter eggs.

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cmckinnon
The Lost Plot | Genevieve Cogman
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Oh my gosh I love this series so much! Irene is such a good character and the plots in the books are always so interesting and well done. I can‘t wait for the next one!

10 likes1 stack add
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cmckinnon
Killing Gravity | Corey J. White
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Amazing book. Witches in space! Very excited for the sequel!

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cmckinnon
Luna: Wolf Moon | Ian McDonald
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I loved the first book in this series and this sequel kept delivering the same action mixed with politics. I can hardly wait for the concluding book, which should be out this summer.

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cmckinnon
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This book, a sequel to last year‘s Empire Games, continues the story of the “next generation” of the Merchant Princes that Stross originally wrote about back in the mid-2000‘s. They deal with several alternate timelines of our Earth and the various political and cultural aspects of those worlds. And as a bonus, they mix in some spy craft and hard science fiction. Highly recommended!

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cmckinnon
Winter Tide | Ruthanna Emrys
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This was a beautifully written book. I‘m not a huge fan of the Lovecraft mythos, but I have dabbled in it with other books and some board games, so this one caught my eye. I‘m glad I read it because this author has a unique voice and I really enjoyed the story. I hope she writes more in this vein.

annahenke Just got this from the library! 7y
Lostinagoodbook I have never read any of the Cthulhu stories but I really enjoy this authors style. Very introspective. 6y
6 likes2 comments
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cmckinnon
I Love Kittens | Laine Falk
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We got two new kittens yesterday! It‘s been hard since we lost our 17 year old cat back in November, but we decided it was time to welcome some new cats into our lives. For now we‘re calling them Butterscotch and Shadow, but that could change as their personalities emerge. #catsoflitsy #kittens

Marmie7 Adorable!😻 7y
4 likes1 comment
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cmckinnon
Artemis | Andy Weir
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Mehso-so

This book was just ok for me. It starts slowly and I almost gave up a couple of times. Once it picked up, it was mostly enjoyable, but I didn‘t like it nearly as much as The Martian.

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cmckinnon
Vicious | V. E. Schwab
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I love this book. I‘ve read the Shades of Magic series and loved them, so I wasn‘t surprised that this one was also good. Now I just want the next book in the series to come out!

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cmckinnon
Oathbringer | Brandon Sanderson
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This book was amazing. Easily the best in the series so far, which is saying something, because the first two were also great. Now I‘m just sad I have to wait a couple of years for the next one!

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cmckinnon
Sunrise | Mike Mullin
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Amazing #sunrise this morning in #Utah. Great start to a new week.

ReadingVampire Wow, how pretty! 7y
thebluestocking Hi! Fellow Utahn here. Lovely picture. 7y
9 likes3 comments
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cmckinnon
Oathbringer | Brandon Sanderson
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“If you could explain something perfectly, then you‘d never need art.” I love this quote. The whole paragraph is good, but that line in particular stood out to me. ♥️

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cmckinnon
Oathbringer | Brandon Sanderson
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I went to the late night release party for this book last night (along with about 3,000 other crazy people). I‘m so excited to read this book!

DuckOfDoom Amazon is not able to deliver it on release date for me 🙁 I'm so excited, but I have to wait 7y
9 likes1 comment
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cmckinnon
Mona Lisa Overdrive | William Gibson
Mehso-so

I‘ve loved every other Gibson book I‘ve read but this one fell a little flat for me. I‘m not exactly sure why; maybe I just got wasn‘t in the right frame of mind for it.

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cmckinnon
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This book was amazing. A wonderful end to a brilliant trilogy. Highly recommended.

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cmckinnon
Song of Kali | Dan Simmons
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We lost our sweet cat Kali yesterday. She was almost 17 and in poor health, so it wasn‘t unexpected, but it was still hard. Our kids our taking it especially hard because she was the only pet they‘d ever known. We‘ll miss you, Kali ♥️

Melissa_J I‘m so sorry for your loss. (edited) 7y
Books_Wine_Repeat Sorry for your loss. 💛 7y
6 likes2 comments
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cmckinnon
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So excited to start reading this!

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cmckinnon
Binary System | Eric Brown
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Mehso-so

This book was just ok. It was a fun read but wasn‘t anything special. I enjoyed it though and would probably read more from this author.

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cmckinnon
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Another great book in this series. I‘m really loving everything Jemisin has written. Once I finish this series I plan to go back and read her other books.

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cmckinnon
The Fifth Season | N. K. Jemisin
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This book was so good. I loved the world building and the way the main characters were handled. I liked it so much I immediately bought the second book and started reading it.

TheLondonBookworm I accidentally bought the city of a hundred thousand kingdoms instead of this one but it was still so awesome that I know I'll get around to it eventually :) 7y
13 likes1 comment
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cmckinnon
The Fifth Season | N. K. Jemisin
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I've heard lots of good things about this so I'm really looking forward to reading it!

Adam_Z I keep hearing good stuff about it too. One of these days perhaps I'll get around to it, Lol. Added to my stack. 7y
13 likes1 stack add1 comment
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cmckinnon
Yesterday's Kin | Nancy Kress
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This was a fun, quick read (it's a novella) and I enjoyed it. I know it's been expanded into a full-length novel but I'm not sure I'll continue with that or not. I think this may have been the right length for the story.