Four-Day Planet★★★☆☆
H. Beam Piper A fun frontier/sailing adventure, but nothing special. Sort of Moby Dick in space with everyone based out of a corrupt frontier town.
Fuzzy Nation★★★★★
John Scalzi Not sure it’s better, but it is more enjoyable than the original, with better characterization and less deus-ex-machina. Same overall story of colonization, corporate greed, enviromnental exploitation and who counts as people, but different enough to enjoy both.
Fuzzy Sapiens★★★★☆
H. Beam Piper Continuing the Mad Men approach to ecological space colonization, this sequel explores the growing pains of a company town becoming a democracy, a corporation losing its monopoly, and two species of people figuring out how to live together.
Little Fuzzy★★★★☆
H. Beam Piper An enjoyable tale of first contact, colonialism, environmental stewardship, corporate greed vs. ethics, and most importantly, who counts as “people” on an alien world that turns out not to be uninhabited after all.
Murderbot Season 1★★★★★A pitch-perfect adaptation of All Systems Red. Alexander Skarsgård is dead on as the socially-anxious security cyborg who just wants to be left alone to watch its shows, but has to protect its humans from alien creatures, their own naivete, and rival corporations willing to kill.
Ready Player One (Movie)★★★★☆
Steven Spielberg Better than I expected, having soured on the book by the time it came out. Not a straight adaptation so much as a rewrite of the same premise that’s more character-driven and yes, more cinematic. With Spielberg.
Starter Villain★★★★☆
John Scalzi A fun, fast read, parodying the James Bond Villain archetype. With talking dolphins and typing cats.
The Trouble With OracleI’ve disliked Oracle since they were trying to push thin clients and what we now call Software as a Service back in the 1990s. And they keep buying things I like or use, and messing them up.