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A great perspective from a great time in wrestling

Revisado: 01-23-24

I found ECW at like 1am on MSG in the 90s. It became a ritual. And in a strange connection Sign Guy Dudley used to work a day job with my Dad. In turn I got a LOT of tapes to watch and I ate it up.
Hearing the actual relationships behind the characters that we saw was an absolute kick and I had to pause this book so many times to Google different wrestlers I forgot about.
The book was great. Descriptive fun and above all enlightening for the early days of ECW.
Superb cowrite and read by Sean, love his show with Nash. Nice to have a familiar voice on my audio books!

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A Fun Listen!

Revisado: 08-30-22

A great tale, lots of fun and adventure. Like the flight of the navigator but for adults. The supporting characters were a bit underdeveloped while the main character was kind of a milquetoast. The story was unique, even while it borrows a lot from contemporary sci-fi and pop culture.
Ray Porter was spectacular as usual, and bringing the characters and story to life.

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Fast-paced, action packed, but still not his best

Revisado: 07-18-22

While I enjoyed the protagonist I feel like the story fell short. I've never been able to predict Blake Crouch books as accurately as I did this one, which was a bit of a disappointment. This was far more tech thriller. It was more like Neal Stephenson lite written to be a Hollywood blockbuster. Which could be good or could be bad depending on which Crouch books you enjoy more.
Awesome performance from Henry Levya, I'm going to see what else he narrated!

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Don't take it seriously, have fun

Revisado: 03-28-22

Wil Wheaton is still my favorite Narrator of all time, and always hits the tone for Scalzi. Scalzi is on fire with this one with a little drag in the middle and maybe some unnecessary interactions maybe I'm just not picking.

I wasn't sold until the third act. But honestly it was fun. Don't expect hard science, just go with it.

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Best Hawthorne Yet!

Revisado: 11-05-21

I really liked this one, the cast of characters was diverse, the locale was well used and the twists and turns were executed with a nice bit of "flash". I am super close to giving the story 4 stars because Hawthorne is still a mystery himself. Maybe by book 10 we'll find out more 👍
A great job by Rory Kinnear on the variety of voices and it was great listening again.

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Wil Wheaton rescues a rambling story

Revisado: 12-31-20

While it picks up right after Ready Player One, Ready Player Two jumps ahead a few years then spends the first third of the book flashing back to the time that elapsed. It was messy and did not make for compelling listening as he tried to sink Wade back into an underdog.

Ready Player Two jumped into a worn out trope at the 2nd act. Dodge in Hell, Sword Art Online, Log Horizon, Black Mirror, Phillip K Dick all have done this same thing and it's worn if you read more than one book a year. A sloppy journey back through the Oasis with the extra twist of being able to smell (generalizing). Characters just didn't feel right and Wade just didn't feel like the same Wade.

I have been a huge fan of Ernest Cline. Ready Player Two has not changed that, however I'm hoping next time he leaves the oasis and Armada behind. I just feel like he wrote himself into a place he couldn't get out of well here and maybe should have started over.

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A good introduction to Product Management

Revisado: 01-08-20

Being a product manager for the last 7 years, I didn't think I was going to learn anything new and I didn't. However, what it did do was refresh my ideas of handling different scenarios that I have either been slacking on or admittedly out right complacent in.

I recommend this for anyone aspiring to be, just started, or like me thrown into Product Management. It will help you dig up reasons "why" and help you create a process - especially if nobody is teaching you the process.

Paired with the "Personal MBA" by Josh Kaufman you will feel a lot more enriched, especially if you do not have an MBA.

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Came for more Shadow Moon, loved the rest too

Revisado: 01-08-20

I really wanted to hear Neil read "The Monarch of the Glen" - its been a few years since I first read American Gods and I JUST found out this short story existed. It was nice to see things from Shadow again!

As for the rest of the short stories, some are slow, some don't seem too special. The "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" was nowhere near the star of the book, but I'm sure others disagree!

Standouts for me were "Study in Emerald" "The Problem of Susan" "Feeders and Eaters" and "Goliath".

Anything read by Neil Gaiman is an instant get for me - He is a classic storyteller.

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Great Performances but Fumbles Execution

Revisado: 12-09-19

Everything in me wants to rate this less fair but the biggest thing is - if you are looking for a superstar packed audio experience that has some humor this is for you. It justifies 3 stars from the 2 I was going to give it.

As a 39 year old I feel that this is targeted to a 50 year old and up demographic - The type that just started watching shows like "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" because they are on Netflix and HULU. Aged jokes that left social circles of many younger adults years ago - an example being a "Whip and Nae Nae" joke came across very stale. It COULD have been funny to a lot more people if it was a Fortnite dance....but that would be too new for most older demos to relate to.

There was nothing clever or new about the writing the whole thing plays out like a romantic comedy does except it is a 5 hour romantic comedy. Nothing was unexpected or over entertaining. It starts and ends with the listener (me) wondering if it was worth the 5 hour and 1 credit investment. Don't get me wrong here - I appreciate this format and I hope more productions can be made with the same intent but perhaps the writing is less bland and predictable. A+ to all the actors involved.

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Story Arch Doesn't Compliment a Great World

Revisado: 11-26-19

This book was saved from being 2 star by 2 things -
1. Vikas Adam gives an amazing performance and a different voice for a lot of the characters. His incredible shifts between old/young, male/female made the reading entertaining.
2. The world Kadrey built and detailed will be one that sticks with me for sure. But I will always want more from it.

The story arch was slow and the character development was minimal until the last few chapters. Over all I am disappointed that such a wonderfully built world did not get a good tale inside of it.

Also the audio preview for this book is not a good peek at the incredible job Vikas Adam did to breathe life into somewhat bland characters.

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