Brian

A fun read

Revisado: 06-07-19

This is an easy book to listen to. Its light and not very challenging. It's exactly what you'd expect from reading the book description. Tyler and his army buddy go on a mission full of adventures, fast cars and women. If you nod off while listening there is little need for you to rewind, the book holds no surprises. I will say if your a fan of stories that have strong women characters then you wont find it here. Im a bit irritated with this series of books in regards to the female characters. The women are little more that window dressing. They seem to be there just to give Tyler something to lust over. The narrator is excellent but be warned, the third book in the series uses a different narrator so its a bit jarring if you like to binge listen.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

That was distasteful.

Revisado: 04-16-18

There was a lot of buildup in the previous books and with this book (the last book) I was expecting for there to be a lot at steak. The big bad guys that seemed interesting and impossible to defeat were oddly flat and defeated very easily. A lot of the supporting cast that added flavor to the books were maybe mentioned once then quickly ushered out. I grew weary of the constant sadness and guilt by Atticus. Granule became narcissistic and hypocritical. The only time I really felt good about the story was when Owens travels were being highlighted. He acquired an awesome pet and Id like to hear more about them.

This book felt rushed and was, for me, the weakest of the series. Im sad this is the last time Ill read a story about Atticus and am left with the taste of this book in my mouth.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 13 personas

Science Fiction? Bring it on!!

Revisado: 01-22-17

I like science fiction. I like science fiction, I like science fiction. I grew up liking science fiction. I mean, I read "The Hobbit". Oh wait.. That’s fantasy. Well I like the Discovery Channel and they have that show "Hunt for Extraterrestrial Life" with that guy and his funny hair, that’s science right?.. Right!? So I like science, I must like science fiction. After reading this book I'm not so sure anymore. I really do like science (and the Discovery Channel) but am honest enough with myself to know Ill never be a physicist. My talents don’t lie in that direction. When I'm listening to a book I typically listen to it for entertainment (shallow.. I know..). I don’t want to feel like I need a prep course on planetary physics before I read it. You know that dream you have where you go to a final exam for a class which you have never attended? I kind of felt like that.

To me the book was a bit schizophrenic. One half was technical information and other was the drama and they didn’t really know about each other. It seemed like you were slammed from drama to technical to back again.

On the technical end it tries so hard to get the science right that it’s a curious choice to include what I think is a magical solution to their problems. Did the author write themselves into a corner? Did they get tired of technical details and was just like, "Eh, what ever, I have a deadline and I just need to get this done!"? It's irritating really. We listen to hours of problems and detailed planetary systems, biology discussions and nuances of living in captive systems to not work out the solution on their own!

On the drama end, It sets up some nice ideas then forgets about them. For example, there's a nice mystery that kept me engaged. But once the mystery is revealed it's forgotten about and not mentioned again, there's no follow up and no consequences, the story doesn't change whatsoever based on the reveal. It could have been removed completely and you would never have known it.

Its difficult not comparing this to "The Martian". The science in that book is not overwhelming and when the technical details are given he (often humorously) dumbs it down to an understandable explanation. You don’t get that sort of handholding here. To be fair this book isn't written for me. It's written for science people. Those who "get" it. For them the science doesn't need to be dumbed down. And to them I tip my hat, their much better readers than I.

On a very positive note, I tend to give books a hard time that don’t have good female characters (see my review of Bill the Vampire). This book has no shortage of good strong female characters in leadership roles.

There's plenty of room for books like this that worship science but If your more like me and want some joy and a bit of science content that's easier to relate too then check out the Jumper series (especially from "Reflex" up) or try "The Martian". Those are science fiction.. right? right!?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Painful, well produced trainwreck

Revisado: 05-01-16

There are things the description does NOT tell you about the story that could influence your decision on if you want to spend the time with it. BTW.. no spoilers here (the story is so shallow you don't need them).
A) Ripley is a character
B) It takes place after the first movie on LV-426 and before she's rescued (before events on the second movie).
Just take a second and imagine what that means. How does the events of this story fit in with the continuity of overall storyline? Now imagine how this story might end in the most unsatisfying easy way possible. Don't put much thought into it.... You got it! You already how how they end this and how they tie in this story with the over all Alien plot lines. The only thing you don't know are the details which pretty much follow same plot line from "Aliens" just on a different world and different cardboard people.

With Ripley involved theres very little at steak and and not much tension. The characters are the same disposable characters you've seen in any of the other Alien stories you've read. I would have had more respect and more enjoyment if she had never been included at all.

Ok some positive things (there aren't many). They do try and expand the "the company" storyline and bit with a tiny bit of history, well "history" might be a bit much, they give you some more insight into "the company". Theres a single character that might be interesting to hear more about but I doubt it will go anywhere.

This is the most unbalanced audio book Ive listened to. They put a ton of time, and effort into the production. The voice talent is excellent and they spent a lot of time on the sound effects and music, but for this story, why?! And while Im on the subject of production why have sound effects at all? Im a bit on the fence about adding music to audio books. I really just want to hear the voice actors. In general adding music to make situations feel more dire just feels .. I donno. cheap.

This is by far the harshest review Ive given an audio book yet. I didn't despise the book. Im not asking for a refund or anything its just a disappointment how safe and terribly predictable the storyline is. Its a disservice to the overall story. It should be scary, you could care about the characters and have some surprises and learn more about the universe the story takes place in. Theres non of that in this book. Its like eating iceburg lettuce. Theres NOTHING in it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 92 personas

Heroes Become Gods Become Unrelatable

Revisado: 04-25-16

I love books in a series. The Iron Druid series are especially enjoyable to listen to. This one is no exception. Luke Daniels is awesome!. If you've liked any of the other books you'll like this one too.

Let me pull out a soap box for just a second because this series and Harry Dresden series have a lot in common and both suffer I think from the evolution of the hero. In the first book Atticus has a somewhat normal job. Things get in the way; he has to go into work, pay his employees, deal with patrons of his store. He uses his experience to brew teas to help people with medical day to day needs. He has a friend "The Widow" who he helps care for and is important to him. She doesn't have any powers she's just someone like your neighbors mom who you see occasionally and help her take out the trash. Remember the officer that was a pain in Atticus side? Constantly badgering him for no good reason (that he could report on anyway)? Or how about that nosey neighbor who was collecting guns and always calling the cops on Atticus? Remember that guy, he was fun! How many of us have had that neighbor? I have (well.. without the guns anyway... i think) :) ! Its really throu these characters that we get a good view into Atticus's world. We can share in their wonder and joy they feel as they are slowly exposed and sometimes tormented by his hidden world. Slowly those characters have been replaced with Gods, monsters and creatures who are so far out of our collective experiences and acquaintances that were no longer able to participate in the same way. Were simply told about the world without feeling any attachment to it. In short, I guess we don't have to work for it.. were spoon fed and its not quite the same.

Atticus no longer has normal problems like you and me. Were left without any characters that we can identify with. Even Granule who was excellent for a while being that window has grown so powerful she's basically a God too. Its strange that with the world in danger that it feel like theres less in peril than in the first book. Im not even suggesting to drop the story line just let us be more involved. Imagine this.. What if some of the monsters from the Ragnarok storyline (maybe Loki) started harassing Rebecca Dane? What would those horrors be like to her and how would Atticus handle that? Would the store and its patrons survive? With Atticus back in town to help would the cops start harassing him again? We would get the opportunity to participate again and feel something for the people who could be our neighbors. I guess I would just like to see the real word be a participant again.

This is still a fun series, it was just so much better a few books ago.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Universe of Misfits

Revisado: 03-07-16

I don't think of myself as a military procedural book reader. I love space epics, fantasy and scifi. This book is pretty good. It has characters that are interesting and are experienced (older). The ship is crewed by misfits and have some amount of growth through the story. I liked how it felt, I dunno.. "real", is that possible in a space ship/alien drama, does it sound stupid? You see, they didn't have many plot "conveniences", theres no teleporters or anything to get them from point A to B quickly to move from one action sequence to another (with the exception of an FTL). Even in their communications theres signifiant delays. I've heard it said that war is "interminable boredom punctuated by moments of terror" and this book is very much like that (but not boring :) ). Because distance between objects in space are really far apart strategy becomes more important, they will fire a missile and wait for hours before they know if its actually successful. So they need to be clever in more deliberate ways. The action sequences are really short and tense with long planning sessions, plenty of time for character development.

I grew up with shows like BSG and Star Blazers. Shows with old outdates spaceships and damaged crews having to rise to the occasion. This book touches a bit on those plot lines. It was fun to listen too, Ill listen to the others, when they come out.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Growing up with powers story

Revisado: 11-01-15

I like the jumper series. This is a solid story in that series that slowly broadens the world If I had any big criticism of the book it would be that it didn't go far enough to broaden the world. Right about where you'd expect to start hearing about the secret organization the book ends. Id expect to hear some about the history of the organization, maybe its ethos. But really this book focuses on the main character and his growing up story. And thats fine, it does a good job of that.

Some other reviews talk about the book having a lot of sex and language and cautioning against it. I didn't find that to be true for me. You'd have to be pretty sensitive to find the book offensive.

While I liked the book I didn't find it as enjoyable as the others in the series. It could be that the book isnt as light hearted. There isn't really a sense of wonder of joy or play in the exploration of the power like there is in the other books in the series. It was simply a tool for him to get from one pace to another and that was about it. So the power part (the part you probably want to hear more details of in the story) was really kinda boring to listen about. I find "Cent" and "David" characters to be a more interesting characters in the series.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Buy this book!

Revisado: 10-19-15

Seriously. Stop reading the reviews and buy this book! The movie is great, perfect cast, go see it! And get this.. the book is better! The narrator is perfect, the action, writing and science are smartly written. I can’t think of a single thing to criticize. I was left totally happy with this book.

Now, if your still with me and want a more expanded review. Here you go. Mark Watney is a botanist that gets stranded on Mars. An accident happens and his crew and earth think he has become the first astronaut to die on mars. The book does a great job detailing his experience. The author makes you feel for how lonely and afraid that Mark must be. But its also filled with humor and hope. You really root for Mark. He’s a likable guy in an impossible situation and he uses humor to try cope with the situation and relies on his knowledge of science to save him.

While it is a “science fiction” book, the science is also believable. This book reminds me a little of the book “Impulse”, by Steven Gould, where science actually plays an important part of the story. I love books where the science isn't totally made up to the point of absurdity. Its exciting and encourages a love an interest in science that I think are lacking in most science fiction books.

We need more media like this were science is used for hope and inspiration.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Forgettable

Revisado: 10-18-15

Ive listened to this book twice. The second time I listen to it is because I actually forgot anything about it. Im wasn't sure why. I mean I can look at the 200+ books in my library and tell you, maybe not the details, but certainly a brief overview of just about any of them. This one was blank to me, I think I have an idea why having finished the second read. First, The book is filled with self loathing and complaining, two things that I find annoying. The second is the storyline allows the characters to travel between life/earth, heaven & hell. When you do this you create an environment where theres no consequence to dying. You have to find something else to drive the story to make the characters story have meaning. There are entire chapters where all the characters are gathered together for a going away.. well.. death, with our hero who’s still alive. I keep wondering why? Why all the consternation. Why the angst? He’s going off to maybe die but probably not and even if he did its not like he’s gone for good. During this chapter theres lots of remembering old times and lost loves and… well I think you get the idea. Most of the book is like this. I think I forgot it because nothing that happens in it really changes anything. Its a forgettable book in the series. Id go so far to say if you were to read all the books in the series and miss this one Im not sure you’d really notice. The narration is well performed so its not that. I guess that in general I was just disappointed with the book. My guess is that if you read the previous books you will read this one because its simply the next book. Just be aware you might not find yourself all that engaged… and thats ok, its not you, its the story.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Action! - Insert a stream of consciousness here.

Revisado: 07-18-15

This is a difficult book to like. The people on the team sent to study the environment never call to each other by their names just their role. So you hear them refer to each other as “the psychologist” or “the botanist”. You learn that the government has been throwing people at this problem for a while. So, the government doesn’t care about them, they don’t seem to care about each other, and that makes it difficult for me to care about any of them either. Its not that I disliked them its just that there was nothing there to like or examine. As far as character development goes it was quite shallow.

The action scenes are just some surreal type of writing. This isn’t a quote but imagine a thought like this.. "I was drowning, but the water wasn’t water but like glass which wasn’t hard so much as it was really like light that become orange and that orange would not have tasted unlike a jello shot left in the open air for days on end without any friends feeling left out of the party. There was no taste, no water just the sound of soup.” I have to give Carolyn McCormick credit. She was a trooper reading all that and sounding good doing it. The whole book didn’t read this way but the action sequences were darn near impossible to follow.

I like the concept behind the story just not the actual writing. The people were shallow and bland. Its one of those books I took a chance on and probably won’t continue onto the next one.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas