Tobislav
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13w
The Lathe of Heaven
Ursula K. Le Guin
A classic science fiction novel by one of the greatest writers of the genre, set in a future world where one man's dreams control the fate of humanity.
In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George's dreams for his own purposes.
The Lathe of Heaven is an eerily prescient novel from award-winning author Ursula K. Le Guin that masterfully addresses the dangers of power and humanity's self-destructiveness, questioning the nature of reality itself. It is a classic of the science fiction genre.
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Tobislav is interested in reading...
13w
The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran, #1)
Nancy Farmer
MATTEO ALACRáN WAS NOT BORN; HE WAS HARVESTED. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium—a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster—except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.
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Tobislav is interested in reading...
13w
The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1)
Mary Doria Russell
In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question what it means to be "human".
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Tobislav is interested in reading...
13w
The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1)
Gene Wolfe
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first volume in the four-volume series, The Book of the New Sun. It is the tale of young Severian, an apprentice in the Guild of Torturers on the world called Urth, exiled for committing the ultimate sin of his profession - showing mercy toward his victim - and follows his subsequent journey out of his home city of Nessus.
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Tobislav is interested in reading...
13w
Babel-17
Samuel R. Delany
Babel-17 is all about the power of language. Humanity, which has spread throughout the universe, is involved in a war with the Invaders, who have been covertly assassinating officials and sabotaging spaceships. The only clues humanity has to go on are strange alien messages that have been intercepted in space. Poet and linguist Rydra Wong is determined to understand the language and stop the alien threat. (Paul Goat Allen)
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Tobislav finished a book
18w
Deep End
Ali Hazelwood
A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...
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Tobislav completed their yearly reading goal of 12 books!
18w
Tobislav's 2026 Reading Challenge
12 of 12 read
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Tobislav started reading...
19w
Deep End
Ali Hazelwood
A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.
Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.
Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.
So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...
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Tobislav wrote a review...
20w
While I believe it is not strictly necessary to read these novellas to understand the situation that is going on in Cytonic and Defiant, it was great to have three big parts dedicated to other characters and showing us what is going on during Cytonic in the DDF. Cytonic would have worked better for me, if I would have read it after these novellas instead of before. It does not contextualize the setting shift in Cytonic, but builds up to it in a way.
Some parts of the plot felt a little bit weak, some decisions too impulsive and the level of trust too high or the speed at which it is establishing to fast.
World building wise these novels fleshed out many parts that were lacking before and gave me a deeper understanding which was much appreciated .
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Tobislav wrote a review...
20w
Although I found this book lacking in several places (especially for the last installment of this era), I really did enjoy reading it. The pacing was intense and I loved it, but I would habe given up some of it for more gradual development of characters, their conflicts, plot points, world building. It was nice to finally get multiple POV chapters toward the end of the book. But why was Gran-Gran suddenly so involved and important? I liked it, but felt like I missed something.
The way relationships are developed and how they handled their issues was great to watch. I loved how Sanderson manages to write character conflicts that are simple and relatable without relying (too much) on overused tropes.
My biggest gripe would be Spensas character arc. I know she went through a lot in the series and had great development, but it felt rather forced. Like she had to have these problems so it can be nicely juxtaposed with other developmets. It was a great stylistic device that would have required more setup or more subtlety.
The second biggest issue is that it left some points in the world building underexplored. Or at least for me some major questions on how the world works were unanswered. Mostly M-Bot and his situation and interactions. Chet as well.
Oberall this was a great series and I binged through it, only stopping for live support.
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Tobislav TBR'd a book
20w
Blightfall
Brandon Sanderson
After decades of war against alien oppressors, the humans of the Defiant Defense Force are finally free. Yet for Arturo Mendez, leader of Skyward Flight, freedom isn't what he thought it would be.His first postwar assignment seems The DDF has found evidence of other settlements of humans who were isolated during their long war against the aliens, and Arturo and his flight of pilots are to escort a team of diplomats as they attempt to make contact. It's an easy mission-get in, guard the diplomats, and get out.But no element of this mission turns out to be simple. Blightfall is inhospitable, surrounded by mysterious debris and covered in giant, invasive forests that have swallowed most of the planet. Upon arrival, Arturo's team is attacked, and it quickly becomes clear that this human settlement isn't what it appears to be.Now trapped in an unfamiliar world and unsure who to trust, Arturo and his team must find allies and uncover long-buried secrets if they hope to escape and return home.
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Tobislav finished a book
20w
Defiant
Brandon Sanderson
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes the final book in an epic series about a girl who will travel beyond the stars to save the world she loves from destruction.
Spensa has made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.
The Superiority didn’t stop in its fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity–and the rest of the galaxy–falls.
Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: How far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself–and her friends–in the process.
The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.
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Tobislav started reading...
20w
Defiant
Brandon Sanderson
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes the final book in an epic series about a girl who will travel beyond the stars to save the world she loves from destruction.
Spensa has made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.
The Superiority didn’t stop in its fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity–and the rest of the galaxy–falls.
Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: How far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself–and her friends–in the process.
The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.
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Tobislav finished a book
20w
Skyward Flight: The Collection: Sunreach / ReDawn / Evershore
Brandon Sanderson
In Sunreach, after a planet-destroying Delver suddenly appears in the sky of Detritus and vanishes just as suddenly, FM knows that the last free human society got lucky. Her Skyward Flight companion Spensa figured out how to draw this Delver away, but it won't be so easy next time. Humanity has to be prepared . . . and when FM's flight leader Jorgen finds a large group of Taynix - the space slugs then enable hyperdrives - they may have found their chance, if FM, Jorgen, the engineer Rig and the mysterious alien Alanik, can unlock the secrets in time . . . .
In ReDawn, Alanik has recovered from the shock of answering a distress call and finding a planet of humans making a stand against the Superiority, only to be dismayed to discover they're considering a peace overture from their enemy. Worse, when she returns to her home planet of ReDawn, she find her own people falling into exactly the same trap. With her mentor captured, she turns to her new friends to help: can Alanik, FM, Jorgen and Rig coax an ancient technology into life in time to save both their planets from disaster?
And in Evershore, the government of Detritus is still in disarray following Superiority treachery, and no word has come from Spensa, on her mission deep in the Nowhere, leaving Alanik, Jorgen, FM and Rig to pick up the pieces. So when the Kitsen send word from the planet Evershore, saying they have some humans and wish to return them, they have to decie if the strange message can be trusted . . . all while Jorgen struggles to master his new cytonic powers which threaten to spin out of control . . .
A gripping collection of novellas, told from the perspectives of three different characters, these superb adventures are essential Skyward reading!
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Tobislav finished a book
20w
Evershore (Skyward, #3.1)
Brandon Sanderson
From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the final of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Listen to Jorgen’s story along with Cytonic.
With the government of Detritus in disarray because of Superiority treachery, and with Spensa still away on her mission in the Nowhere, Jorgen must work together with the alien Alanik to pick up the pieces. They intercept a strange transmission from the planet Evershore and its Kitsen inhabitants, who say they have some of Jorgen’s people and want to return them—but can the Kitsen be trusted? And can Jorgen learn to master his increasingly erratic cytonic powers before they spiral out of control and destroy all hope of forming an alliance against the Superiority?
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Tobislav started reading...
21w
Evershore (Skyward, #3.1)
Brandon Sanderson
From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the final of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Listen to Jorgen’s story along with Cytonic.
With the government of Detritus in disarray because of Superiority treachery, and with Spensa still away on her mission in the Nowhere, Jorgen must work together with the alien Alanik to pick up the pieces. They intercept a strange transmission from the planet Evershore and its Kitsen inhabitants, who say they have some of Jorgen’s people and want to return them—but can the Kitsen be trusted? And can Jorgen learn to master his increasingly erratic cytonic powers before they spiral out of control and destroy all hope of forming an alliance against the Superiority?
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Tobislav made progress on...
21w
Skyward Flight: The Collection: Sunreach / ReDawn / Evershore
Brandon Sanderson
100%
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Tobislav finished a book
21w
ReDawn (Skyward, #2.2)
Brandon Sanderson
From #1 bestselling author Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson comes the second of three Skyward series novellas, each told from the perspective of a different member of the team back on Detritus. Read Alanik’s story between Starsight and Cytonic.
“Don’t trust their lies. Don’t trust their false peace.” That is the warning that Alanik of the planet ReDawn gave the human pilot Spensa after Alanik’s ship crash-landed on Detritus. While accepting an invitation to meet with her people’s enemy, the Galactic Superiority, Alanik heard Spensa’s cry for help across the vastness of space, and she used her cytonic powers to hyperjump her ship to the source of that cry. What she found there was a shock—a whole planet of free humans fighting against the Superiority. Were they the allies her people desperately needed?
When she recovered from her injuries and met the friendly humans Jorgen and FM of Skyward Flight, she found that her warning to Spensa had gone unheeded by the government of Detritus, and they were considering a peace overture from the Superiority. Now having returned to ReDawn, Alanik is dismayed to learn that her own people are falling into the exact same trap.
The faction in ReDawn’s government that wants to appease the Superiority has gained the upper hand. With Alanik’s mentor, Renakin captured, she has no one to turn to but Jorgen, FM, and their friend Rig. An ancient technology may have the power to save both of their planets from disaster, but can they discover its secrets before it’s too late?
Praise for Skyward
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
• ”Startling revelations and stakes-raising implications . . . Sanderson plainly had a ball with this nonstop, highflying opener, and readers will too.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
• ”With this action-packed trilogy opener, Sanderson offers up a resourceful, fearless heroine and a memorable cast.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
• ”It is impossible to turn the pages fast enough.” —Booklist
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