Patrick

First non-fiction war book I've ever listened to. It was slow in some spots, exciting in others. I have a huge respect for Nick's service to the country; I'm trying to not let it affect my rating of the book. Curious to read/listen to more non-fiction war books.

Damn this one was much better than I was expecting it to be. Since Carl wasn't the deckmaster and didn't have to rack his brain on all the possibilities of the cards, strats, etc, it gave Carl room to breathe. I think that was desperately needed since there's now, at minimum, 3+ moving parts in every plot point. This book feels like the start of the actual plot that's going to take place in the final installations of the series. The pacing was great on this one imo. That part when you find out Bea hid Carl's half-brother away from him is crazy. Actually made me feel ire which is p rare in a book with a talking sex-doll head. Speaking of which, Samantha's mother cursing bit went from overplayed back to funny again. My only fruitless gripe is that the author still never puts Carl in a situation where he has to be the bad guy. I thought it would happen with Sister Ines and Paz but nope! You find out Sister is actually a psychopath so Carl's decision to betray them wasn't actually all that bad... a similar moment: 1 door left on the floor, Carl and Ren's team are the only left. Carl's going to have to kill another crawler to progress to the next level... Nope! Ren kills herself! See what I mean? Wonder when the plot armor is suddenly going to strip and I'll actually fear what'll happen next. Anyways, Raul's beach scene was the funniest shit I've read in this series so far.

Sheesh. Did NOT expect Katia tiara thing at the end there. Welp I'm no prophet but I'm guessing Donut is the one to survive floor 9. The Prince Rupert's drop level was a cool idea. This book was good for the most part but it was pretty damn dull in parts I expected it to go crazy in. Pony is a cool character. Carl keeps sending ppl to their death lol. This book had so much long term foreshadowing and hid a lot from the reader to the point of confusion. Like there was soooo many things happening at the end it was impossible to follow completely. The signet story line is over (thank god - I wasn't too big a fan). The river raged thing is interesting but idk what it means other than a mental snap. Mongo moonwalked AND got a gf in this book tho so it def deserves flowers. I think the straightforward "Carl crazy plan working" is fading and I think that's the dopamine hit I itch for, not the multibook plotline intergalactic politics but.. that's not going anywhere.

Welp here's the part where I say "I knew it". Bea is alive.. it doesn't take a genius to call that out book 1 though. Anyways, the book was good. Author is now pulling on multiple story lines he's littered throughout books 1-3. I'm still pretty confused on all the political drama with Valtay, Borant, sponsors, etc so I feel like I'm missing out on a huge part of the plot. Carl is getting much more mischievous and ballsy so I'm a fan of that. I was suuuuper surprised when he killed Loita. Katia is cooler but I'm not super upset she's leaving the team. I liked her but I can tell she's gonna be a cooler character later on in the story. New prediction: a bunch of crawlers Carl has helped over the past couple books are going to save his ass in various scenarios later on.

Best installment in the series thus far. Although the environment was very confusing, I still think the main moments were very fleshed out had lots of imagery. Was super surprised when Katia killed Helka. The cookbook is sickkk. I'm a huge fan of that concept; Tribal knowledge from ex-crawlers. The author is definitely setting him self up for many story lines later in the series.

The novelty wore off a bit and for some reason I didn’t really care much about any of the quests (70% of the book). Still dumb fun and amusing. Hoping the plot picks up soon.

The parts that made this book intriguing we're blocks of existential questions that unfortunately were never further explored. It felt like the author was more focused on how inconceivably big the number would be rather than the bits of humanity that were created from this crazy setting. Ending was a bit limp but the book was still enjoyable. Fun quick read.

The JJK of books. No real plot, just dumb fun action with enough mystery to keep you going. First time a book has made me laugh in this way. I don't think this book provided any real substance to me other than pure amusement. Solid book to fill the gaps.

I was surprised to learn I'm in the minority of readers who thought that book 2 more enjoyable than book 1. I had a great time reading this book. First time reading this type of book structure, the constant context switching kept me wanting more. Islington was good about leaving some type of cliff hanger on any of the POVs and made me want to keep reading to see what would happen.

I enjoyed all three worlds similarly, but if I had to pick a favorite I'd go with Luceum. I love that we got to see Vis in a world where he finds a family and live out his dream of running away from the hierarchy. My favorite moment in maybe the whole book was when he confided in his troupe about the shame he feels running away from suus after watching his family get executed. "You were not a warrior then." ;-;. Dad campfire scene reminds me of when Kakashi talked to his dad in Naruto and I LOVE that trope. So much of the trauma of Vis' past gets leveraged in this book and it really makes me feel like he was growing emotionally. My one gripe is that he Vis seemed a little too disinterested in the workings of will while in Luceum.

Obiteum was cool and felt high stakes at times but felt slow in others. Rip Ahmose. Why didn't Vis just control him to stop him from killing himself? The part where Vis is questioning the monarch and runs away from Neq made me laugh soooo hard for some reason "SIAMUUUUUUNN!!!!". Caeror carried here, sad he "disappeared" so early. How tf did Vis know to go back to Qabr to enter that room? Let me just completely ignore the golden glowing sarcophagus in the middle of the room that's described to be SUPER important and grab these new cool weapons! ???. Weird section but I'll look over it.

Res. Lot of good, and a lot of wtf moments here. I think my biggest issue I can't get over is Vis' morals. Book 1 had them so clearly defined and I feel like he stepped on a lot of his past self. I understand his top motivation was finding out what who was responsible for Iudicium (which is snuffed out later in Res so... what's his motivation now?), but for all his previous anti-will standards to be forgotten to avenge Callidus felt like a bit of an overreaction. Like dude, when he saw Relucia in the sapper? He makes a point to show how much he HATES sappers and how inhumane they are, then suddenly he's threatening torture/slavery to get answers? Then she's all "it's for the greater good" and he's like "despicable.". Then when ka's like "it's for the greater good" he's like "ok I'm down". I understand its much more nuanced than that but still... Speaking of confusing moments: Eidhin is all "I know my line and will never cross it". Then at the end of the book when Vis chooses against Eidhin's line he's all "I'm still going to support and follow you." ??? Anways, I loved Ostius' character, reminds me of Jack Sparrow's demeanor for some reason lol. Vis is now officially a Disney princess with Diago. Eidhin's dad said "I would do ANYTHING to save my son" and Vis is surprised when he found out he lied to him to save his son? lol i just think that's funny. Oh yea. Aequa. That moment had me SHOOK. I understand why people are upset by the way it happened but I think I'm in the minority who thought the shock value that scene created outweighs the killing of a fleshed out character. I'm more upset at the AFTER. Oh woopdeedoo I'm just gonna snap both my legs back into place and continue the mission like nothing happened! Let me still accomplish all my goals!

I know I've been complaining a ton but overall this book was a great read and improved upon many the aspects I loved about the first book. Lots of questions at the end of this book, its going to super suck waiting another couple years. I love how Vis manifests differently in the different worlds but stays (sorta) the same. I could yap a bunch more about my theories but I'll just leave at: that neckalce Ostius gave Vis and Rurarc gave Vis feel too similar and suspicious. Wonder where all this will go!

Bubble Nuke, Space worms, Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Ex-FBI agent catches white supremacists. What more do ya want. Liked his voice in the audiobook. Enjoyed the bits of humanity in there when he was talking about actually establishing personal connections with some of his marks. Cool to learn about the psychology of an undercover.

In my humble opinion:

S

Hell is the Absence of God

Story of Your Life

A

Tower of Babylon

Understand

B

Division by Zero

The Evolution of Human Science

C

Liking What You See: A Documentary

F

Seventy-Two Letters

Heard there's two interpretations of the ending and... they def died at the end... right? No clue how they did a movie on this but ignorance is bliss.

Liked the plot and setting much more than the impossible to relate to Disney-princess MC. "Oh no!!! There's this impossible task I have to surmount and it's the only way forward or I DIE. Good thing I was trained by the worlds best in this niche activity in Suus!". Don't get me started on the way this author used the word 'vague'. It broke my immersion every time I read it (I know that's my fault but still). Lots of cool quote-ables like:

“A man will always wonder what might have been, but a wise one recognises fortune when it comes. For all I left behind, life has not been unkind to me." pg 212

“Nervousness means there's a fear to be faced ahead, Diago. The man who is never nervous, never does anything hard. The man who is never nervous, never grows." pg 219

"... each man has to find his line. Has to find it ahead of time, and be resolved never to cross it." pg 407

“Death is only meaningless if it does not change us, Vis.” pg 608

I still really enjoyed the book. Once you get over the fact that Vis is just the best at everything, the book gets a lot more palatable.

The freaking octopus thinks. What more do I gotta say.

Not that I've read a ton of books up to this point, but I've never seen a book do this to the MC. Scene where Mamoru and Misaki were watching the sunset was my fav part. I'll never let go of the fact that nobody ever knows Mamoru does the whispering blade. Dude. If Takeru can feel/IS the mountain, and literally mentioned that he felt his brother and Mamoru die, THEN HOW TF DOES HE NOT NOTICE THAT MAMORU MADE THE WHISPERING BLADE. or even also 'became' the mountain as well. UGH. I will never let this go. I'm not asking for much, literally just give a modicum of possibility that Mamoru's family know he pulled it off and I'd die happy. This book isn't perfect, in fact its definitely flawed and falls short in some areas, but it's still a masterpiece. This is the bar to beat for me.

Too simple of a story and too witty humor for my liking. Definitely a book better read than listened to imo. Also Mort is gunning for the princess the whole book then suddenly at the end he's with deaths daughter? wtf is that switch up. Voice actor for death carried the audio book.

Dude, we get it. You can't see out of one of your eyes. Maybe the repetition was supposed to underline how she's disabled and continues making the same mistakes over and over again but boy I was fed up after the 6th time. Plot was super drawn out imo. I feel like this book was written for women. Not my cup of tea.

I feel like this is one of those stories/endings that was just too AP Lit for me. My small brain doesn't super get all the hidden meaning/messages but I still enjoyed it face value. Enjoyed the writing style.

Many points where I was entirely enveloped and couldn't put it down. Prison break scene was so cool - how tf do you skip that in the movie... also really enjoyed the fact that he's not a perfect and stooped to embarrassing levels of incel behavior. I feel like it added to his character a lot. Imagining him completely hairless is hilarious. Gamer tailored and I ate it up.

Dark take on Maui from Moana.

I ate this book up. Anything Rocky was super cool. Loved when he was learning the his. Enjoyed the way the author approached the alien civilization, including what's very different between the races and what would be similar. The explanation for why Rocky had so much astrophage was neat. My one gripe is when the MC finds out he didn't willingly go on the ship, I wish he was more upset about it. It took Rocky to cheer him up once to completely absolve the matter. This was such a huge plot point from his past, feels a little quick to just heal it through the 'Power of Friendship!'. Still, the author made a fan out of me. So much so I read The Martian after. Skeptical how they're going to do the movie, I'm sure I'll be disappointed. We'll see!

The absolute biggest grievance about this book is the age of the children. I get it, they're supposed to be the greatest minds the universe has seen... still... bro it broke my immersion so often. Add 10+ years to all the characters and this book reads so much easier. Main plot points were pretty predictable but I wasn't expecting the ending - glad they gave Ender more meaning beyond a genius-general. I'll prob watch the movie!

Maktub.

Should've read this before Project Hail Mary. I can tell this is his first big book. Not a bad thing; I think I would appreciate this book a lot more if I wasn't spoiled with PHM first though. More in-depth explanations which is great but in my opinion to a fault at times. Book is funny though. There's no way NASA wouldn't let this dude die right? They spent a zillion dollars trying to save one dude. It was nice that the MC didn't have any crazy tragic backstory or anything like that. Just a dude on Mars. His solution to problems were clever. Overall, I enjoyed the concept and it was a fun read. Watched the movie right after and damn. I have more appreciation for the book now lol. They skipped so many major plot points.