#oceans echo

[beartrice-inn-unnir]

10. What is your favorite genre book to recommend to someone who doesn’t usually like that genre?

Usually when people ask me for a rec for a genre they don’t usually like, they are asking for sci-fi, and I start by trying to figure out different access points based on what they already like. I’m not much of a hard sci-fi person, tending more to the space opera and political thrillers, so here’s a few “if you like x, maybe try y”:

If you like romance, give Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit a try. It’s definitely sci-fi in setting and plot, but it also hits nicely in the formulaic patterns of a arranged-marriage, strangers-to-lovers story that will help you through it even if the sci-fi elements are throwing you off. The author has another similar book that increases the sci-fi elements and is enemies-to-lovers as well, so if you like Winter’s Orbit, Ocean’s Echo is a good next step.

If you like non-fiction, The Martian by Andy Weir is a great pick. I have multiple friends who got into reading again as adults via The Martian. It’s well-written, well-grounded, funny, and very sci-fi. If you’ve already read it, then maybe give To Be Taught if Fortunate by Becky Chambers a try. It can be described with all the same adjectives, plus it’s a short novella, so if you’re hesitant, it’s less intimidating.

If you like mysteries or political thrillers, boy is there a lot of great sci-fi out there for you. The crux of a lot of sci-fi is space or high-tech settings with a plot that asks questions about personhood, and that mixes really well with detectives and spies wandering around trying to solve problems and find truths. Try Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (it’s partway through a series of great books and novellas, but that one’s the most traditional mystery plot) or A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (ambassador solving her predecessor’s mysterious death while trying to do his job)(I’d also recommend this one if you read a lot of classics) EDIT: just realized I mistyped - book 1 by Arkady Martine is A Memory Called Empire.

If YA/ Bildungsromanen/ New Adult figuring the world out through trial and error is often your jam, try Provenance by Ann Leckie (for the kid who really wants to do things right) or The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (for another kid who wants to do things right, but is also a high-energy chaos gremlin).

If you like fantasy, you probably already have read some sci-fi; it’s all under the speculative fiction umbrella and genres are vague anyway. All the same, I know this is the Locked Tomb Website, but give Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir a shot (it’s got magic and mayhem and an epic locked-room whodunnit mystery). The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord is also good - it has a team of people traveling together and thinking about morals and discovering new abilities, plus some romance.

I’m sure there’s lots of genres I’m forgetting right now, but feel free to send me another ask for any specific one!

#readers asks #winters orbit #oceans echo #everina maxwell #the Martian #andy weir #to be taught if fortunate #becky chambers #fugitive telemetry #martha wells #the murderbot diaries #a desolation called peace #arkady martine #a memory called empire #provenance #ann leckie #the warriors apprentice #lois mcmaster bujold #gideon the ninth #tamsyn muir #the best of all possible worlds #karen lord

[oblivionsdream]

Just wanted to share the cover redesigns + edges that I did for Dazzling Bookish Shop! I got my copies and I just love how they turned out 😭

#book cover redesign #winters orbit #oceans echo #teach the torches to burn #in other lands #the alchemy of moonlight

[mickisketch]

The most charming bringer of chaos, Tennalhin Halkana from Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell.

#tennalhin #oceans echo #book art #fanart #my art #mickisketch #mickisketch bookart

[kitvincentbooks]

One thing in life is for certain:

If it’s purple, it is queer 😁💜🌈

#bookblr #lgbtq books #queer books #undeniable truth #offeathersandthorns #oceans echo #delilah green doesn't care #a marvellous light #the darkness outside us #queer fantasy #mlm #lgbtq #queer

[tali-zorahs]

read ocean's echo recently and NOW i have brain worms.

#ocean's echo #oceans echo #tennalhin halkana #surit yeni #my art #everina maxwell #literally just copied the caption from my winter's orbit caption #once again i am asking myself why i keep doing fanart for books #i cannot picture characters accurately to save my life

[brightclearline]

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

#oh the tragedy of finishing a book and realizing there isn’t anything on ao3 for it #oceans echo #I could read a million more words of tennal and surit #ocean’s echo

[aledethanlast]

Ocean's echo works because at its core its about a guy who grew up bring told that his personal boundaries were invalid if not nonexistent, and so his only real defense mechanism is to nuke every relationship he ever had.

And then he gets paired up with the one guy who looks at him and says "Yeah, you're a loose cannon, but it's everyone else who keeps lighting your fuses. And since we can't stop them, I might as well teach you how to aim."

#oceans echo #everina maxwell #this was a GOOD BOOK is what im saying

[ofliterarynature]

AUGUST 2023 WRAP UP

[ loved liked okay no thanks DNF (reread) bookclub*]

Witch Week | A Perilous Undertaking | 2 AM At the Cat's Pajamas | The Last Sun | The Lives of Christopher Chant | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo* | (The Angel of the Crows) | The Enchanted April | The Art of Prophecy | A Curious Beginning | Q's Legacy | The Grimoire of Grave Fates | Charmed Life | Ocean's Echo | (Band Sinister) | (Unfit to Print) | Camp Damascus | Wanted, A Gentleman | Translation State | The Mistress of Bhatia House

I’m late I’m late I’m late! Oops

It’s only a month late, right? ‘Only’ lol, work has been exhausting! Anyways:

At this point I wonder if Ann Leckie can ever do wrong, Translation State was good! I was completely enthralled, which is all I ask, even if I don’t get as passionate about it as the main trilogy.

I continued the KJ Charles reading, with these supposed stand alones that are also kind of related? Honestly it’s no less of a stretch than Society of Gentlemen to Lilywhite Boys, so I don’t know why she can’t officially list them together. Anyways, mostly fine, and Band Sinister is still a delight!

Camp Damascus…I’m thrilled for Chuck, really, and I think he’s a delight to follow, but this one wasn’t for me. Religious trauma is turning out to be a hard no.

Ocean’s Echo was good! In some ways I definitely thought it was better than Winter’s Orbit - miscommunication is the worst I’m sorry, this story was more consistently engaging! I just like the characters from WO a bit more.

Chrestomanci! I’ve been going by the suggested reading order on Goodreads, and while I wasn’t particularly enthused by Charmed Life, once I had a grasp on the world the other books have been fun! Im very sad this might be my last DWJ, as I seem to have exhausted my library’s collection of her audiobooks :(

Grimoire of Grave Fates had a really interesting premise that lured me in, despite my reservations - an anthology where all the stories work together to solve the mystery of a murder at a magic boarding school? I thought it worked fairly well (and could definitely spin itself out into a series of novels), but just ok for me. Maybe one day I’ll finally concede I can’t read YA or boarding school books anymore.

Q’s Legacy was the last (I think) of the 84 Charing Cross Road books, and honestly the worst. It had its interesting moments, but it lacked the cohesion of the other two, speed,-running the before and during of those stories, to then spend the second half on the adaptations. It was not at all what the descriptions led me to expect. Maybe worth a single read but not a revisit.

I will also be honest, I didn’t really like the first Veronica Speedwell! The plot felt a bit contrived, and Veronica was so blunt as to almost read as rude or mean. Also very unexpectedly…clinically horny? Does that make sense? I’m not quite sure what prompted me to continue, but I’m now several books in and enjoying it! To be blunt myself, the historic setting is just set dressing, the plots can feel contrived, the mysteries are mediocre, but the real draw is the Veronica and Stoker show once they get themselves settled in and comfortable with each other. It’s a hoot.

I’d heard good things about The Art of Prophecy, but I still didn’t know quite what to expect going in. It was wonderful. Maybe a little long, but if you’re looking for a fantastic fantasy with lots of fight sequences, no romance, and some fascinating characters, this is a great read. The sequel comes out soon and I can only hope it doesn’t take as long for my library to get the audiobook as it did for this one.

I don’t know where I first found An Enchanted April, but it’s been on my TBR for a little bit, and I thought it would be the perfect fit for my classics challenge I gave myself this year! It wasn’t what I expected at all - it’s entirely character driven and very focused on their flaws, and the entire first half I thought I was going to hate it. But the second half, there’s a twist, almost, born of some very  naïve optimism that nonetheless works out. Very improbably, but I was happy for them, you funky little weirdos. 

What can I say about The Angel of the Crows except that it is still very good! It’s maybe lost a little of the shine it held when I got obsessed with it for a few months last year, but it is definitely now one of my comfort books. I really ought to read more canon Holmes though lol.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was, to be fair, one of my suggestions for book club. It was OK, but there were definitely parts that really did not work for me, the frame narrative in particular. The other members of the club really liked it but I don’t have any plans to read more of the authors work.

I’m almost tempted to put The Last Sun last just so I can yell more. I’d heard such good things about this series, but turns out my expectations were a bit skewed - it is not historical or secondary fantasy world, oops. So we got off to a bit of a rough start, not to mention all of the Capital Words. Not usually a good sign. And while I still wouldn’t say I love the worldbuilding necessarily, or that these are the next great work of fantasy, the action is really great, and the characters are flipping fantastic. You’ve got a pair of 30 year olds who are bad ass fighters, have a traumatic past, are immature assholes, can be so so kind, and accidentally adopt a posse of troubled teenagers? Sign me up, I love them, this reminds me so much of my days reading tons of Teen Wolf fanfic AUs.

My history with 2 AM At the Cat's Pajamas is that they cannot stop recommending this thing on the Book Riot podcasts. When I found a copy at Goodwill, I thought surely it’s meant to be! Well. It was not bad, but it was not great. I don’t know. It just wasn’t for me and I will not be keeping my copy. I probably should have DNF’d it, but I continued in hope.

Only one actual DNF this month though, The Mistress of Bhatia House - the newest Perveen Mistri book. I was actually fairly excited for it despite my reservations about the earlier books, but I hit a mental roadblock with this one. There was some contrived feeling tension with her sister-in-law, but really, I realized that one of my main problems with this series is that, despite being in a very precarious social position, Perveen is just incredibly reckless - usually in the name of doing good! - but it just hit all the wrong nerves at the moment. I’m hoping there will be a better time to read this, but not right now. 

#bec posts #2023 #book log #wrap up 2023 #translation state #kj Charles #camp Damascus #oceans echo #chrestomanci #diana wynne jones #the grimoire of grave fates #helene hanff #Veronica speedwell #the art of prophecy #the enchanted April #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #tarot sequence #the last sun #2 am at the cats pajamas

[marosii-on-the-side]

the most wholesome military unit🥹

#my art #digital art #fanart #oceans echo #ocean’s echo #surit yeni #tennalhin halkana #istara #basavi #everina maxwell #retrieval unit #doodle

[swordsswordsswords]

Orshan military labs creating readers and architects like

#ocean’s echo #oceans echo

[punkinspice-latte]

Please read Ocean's Echo (and by extension, Winter's Orbit). "Gay boys in space" is quickly becoming one of my favorite genres, never knew I needed this in my life.

#ocean's echo #oceans echo #winter's orbit #winters orbit #everina maxwell #books #reading #I would burn whole worlds to see Surit smile #Pretty sure Tennal feels the same

[emilysidhe]

I still do intend to write a longer review post for Oceans Echo, but I just wanted to drop this here to say that if there’s anyone who’s read the summary and is a bit hesitant to jump in because it indicates that the morally upright, Lawful Good half of the pairing is a military officer and are nervous that this means the text presents the military as a morally upright or even just neutral force, then I want to reassure you that, having read it, that’s not something you need to worry about.

Obviously everyone’s mileage varies and I can’t guarantee that everyone will like how this theme is handled, but the contrast between Surit’s personal integrity and the moral bankruptcy of the institution is a part of is a deliberate theme in the work. Surit’s only 20, and he initially believes that he knows how corrupt the military is but that it’s still possible to do the right thing within it as long as he personally follows the rules. A huge part of his personal arc involves grappling with whether or not that’s true as the military continues to disappoint his already low expectations.

#oceans echo #ocean’s echo #meta

[oblivionsdream]

I am super excited to share my redesigned covers of both Winter’s Orbit and Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell!

These are both going to be available in @//dazzlingbookishshop on Insta! 😉

#winters orbit #oceans echo #everina maxwell #kiem tegnar #jainan nav adessari #tennalhin halkana #surit yeni #book art #cover redesign

[maegalkarven]

Also OH how Tennal's aunt fucked her own plan up.

All it needed to work was any other architect but Surit. ANY OTHER CLASS A ARCHITECT.

But noo, she chose Surit "I'd rather doom myself than do the wrong thing" Yeni to do that and just gave Tennal the N1 supporter and defender.

#surit took ONE look at tennal and decided he'd ruin every chance he has in life to protect his right of free will #get yourself a man like that #oceans echo #everina maxwell #avery.txt #bookblr

[lilyblisslys]

rereading Ocean’s Echo now and I gotta hand it to Everina Maxwell for having the restraint to make the insanely hot kinky premise of “society with common mind control” only have one main character with an implied mind control kink

#oceans echo #their mind……… #ngl i would not have had the restraint or subtlety

[book-quotes-i-found]

“I’m awake, and I’m feeling particularly insufferable today.”

The medic’s eye twitched.

Page 372 of Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

#bookworm #enjoy #book #book quotes #funny #i laughed out loud #just for fun #quote #oceans echo #everina maxwell #good book #bookblr #i recommend #quotes