I tier-rank the 9 science fiction books I read in April - but which is Book of the Month?

84K is a dark tale then with dark events, a dark and deeply flawed and damaged characters, an oppressed and almost hopeless population ground down by the challenges of daily life. There are no easy answers. After all, everything has a cost.

And whilst I enjoyed some of the aspects of the setting, I just got a bit a bit bogged down fact that there wasn't really much point it seemed to me to the story.

On the plus side, it is a brisk read, it's under 200 pages, and I did get through it very quickly, and I enjoyed it up to a point. I give Orbitsville Departure six out of 10.

The Remainder is a compelling read, slightly odd one I must say, but a compelling nonetheless. I thought that McCarthy did a nice job of establishing the narrator's potential unreliability pretty early on, and also his behavior pattern, mildly odd at first, or even understandable given his trauma and probably associated PTSD, slowly building through cycles of nested obsession to a deadly climax of connection.

I enjoyed very much the tone and style of Walter Tevis's writing. And I'm not surprised to find that so much of his work has been adapted for the screen. I think he's a very good teller of stories.

Gibson's writing is sharp, of course, and the plot is clever and comes to a satisfying conclusion. I give The Peripheral eight out of 10. It's another stellar splendor.

So, it's not true to say that I was underwhelmed, , but it was less good, I felt, than I was expecting. I give The Extreme 7 out of 10.

I did enjoy Quinn as a character and some of the scenes with her husband were quite poignant in fact. The general premise was interesting and quite mind-bending to a degree. Although, I did think that it was a little bit repetitive.

I enjoyed that setting and the general thrust of the plot and the politics and the maneuvering, but for me, the chief joy was in the character work. I was very vested in many of the point of view characters and I enjoyed the way that Bethany Jacob's filled in some of the backstory from decades previously. I've really enjoyed this series and I look forward to seeing what Bethany Jacob's does next.

I really love this book. The setting was fantastic and I really enjoyed the concept of wetware and its application in this story. The people that Rebel meets and even falls in love with were nicely drawn, one in particular adjusted to have four personalities living simultaneously in his head, each emphasizing a particular aspect of his personality.