CLYDE WISHAM
There is a good story in this book. If it were sweated down by about 40% it would be much better. However, it is weighed down by endless conversations and meetings (often repetitive) and data dumps. I suppose Weber, who in fact is a great storyteller, is now too big to edit.
It does get going toward the end, but a little too late IMHO.
3+stars.
This is a whodunit set on an interplanetary cruise ship. In addition to the basic mystery involving some very clever bad guys, you get lots of witty banter, a take-no-prisoners lawyer, and a way-too-cute dog.
Unfortunately, none of the characters clicked for me. I didn't enjoy this story as much as I have some of MRK's other books. However, lots of folks do like it. YMMV.
2 stars for the story. 4 stars for the narration.
This is a big book taking on a big subject. Dan Jones took on the task of telling European history between the end of the Roman empire and the dawn of the modern era in a single volume, and he pretty much succeeded. It is a good history – well written and interesting, not dry and academic.
I recommend paper rather than a digital or audio version. The maps, the footnotes, and especially the beautiful photographs are important, and I found myself flipping back and referring to them often.
Not the most tightly written book I have ever read. The story meanders a bit off the main track here and there throughout the book and there are some data dumps. But, that is actually okay with me as I found the glimpses it provides into life in the American West in the early 20th century, and especially during the WW1 period, to be quite interesting.
And, I quite fell in love with young Martha Lessen, a teenage girl on the brink of womanhood who isn't very good with people but has a way with horses.
Would you like this book? Perhaps. I recommend it. The publisher's intro tells pretty much what to expect.
3.5 stars rounded up.
I was in the mood for a good-ol military SF story, and this one pretty much filled that need.
Jackson Wolfe is a down on his luck Captain commanding an old and poorly maintained destroyer, the Blue Jacket, on her last voyage. He has had a long struggle to gain even this command – he is a “filthy Earther” after all. He has some personal problems and crew problems weighing on him too. But, no need to feel too sorry for him. He is one of those “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” types.
His ship is dispatched to deliver a mysterious passenger to a rendezvous and then sent to on to investigate odd occurrences including a missing ship in a rim world system. That is where they run into big trouble. Humanity has finally met up with an alien intelligence – an advanced, hostile, and very odd alien intelligence. They are not inclined to play nice.
From that point on (about halfway through the book) the action is hot and heavy. The Blue Jacket engages in running space battles with all kinds of weapons being used –heavy lasers, magnetic cannons, missiles, and plasma beams. Every engagement is do-or-die. During all this Captain Wolfe has to deal not only with the powerful enemy, but also with the creaky systems in the old ship and his less than optimal crew.
There are some unexpected twists in the story, but it finishes with a satisfactory ending that sets things up for additional stories.
All in all good military SF. To me it is more space opera than hard SF (though there is quite a bit of tech-talk).
Mark Boyett's narration is quite good.
3.5 stars rounded up.
This is the definitive history of the Apollo Program. It was truly mankind's greatest achievement in the 20 century. Perhaps we will go back to the moon again some day – and not stop there. The long-term future of our species depends on us looking and going outward.
Bronson Pinchot's narration of the audio version is very good.
4.5 stars rounded up.
OK, this is a really good pop-science book. The title is quite literal. Katie Mack discusses how the universe will end based on our present knowledge.
The book starts with a summary of what we presently know – from physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. Then she devotes a chapter each to four possible ultimate ends – big crunch, heat death, big rip, and vacuum decay. The final one, vacuum decay, is the one that really scares me. The first three would be way, almost incomprehensibly, far in the future. Vacuum decay, however, could happen at any time and would be oh-so-final. It seems unlikely at present but still ...
Katie Mack freely admits that there is much we still don't understand (dark matter, dark energy, and so on). She devotes a final chapter to the future, discussing what we don't understand and where it seems that science might take us next.
I really like Katie Mack's writing style. She uses the language well. Her writing is both light and deep at the same time. A sense of humor pervades the book – sometimes subtle, often wry, and occasionally bordering on slapstick.
Good book, highly informative. 4.5 stars rounded up.
One of the best in the series. I was quite literally stealing time from other things I needed to do to listen to this story. It appears to be the final adventure in Cornwell's Saxon series.
Uhtred of Bebbanburg is getting old, but he is still a dangerous and wily foe. Like an old warhorse, when the war drums sound and the speartips flash in the sun, he cannot help but go to war.
Like all the stories in this series, this story is firmly anchored by known history – in this case the core is the pivotal Battle of Brunanburh in 937 AD. The main events are known, but the details are lost in time, which makes it fertile ground for a historical novel. (Cornwell's Historical Note after the end of the novel is informative.)
The audio narration is very good indeed. I reckon Matt Bates is the perfect narrator for this series.
4.5 stars rounded up.
In Other Rhodes Sarah Hoyt gives us an adventure melding far future space opera and 1930's style gumshoe mystery.
The story is set in a far future interstellar civilization with spaceships, cyborgs, rapid communications, and very advanced VR. In that setting the MC finds herself in desperate circumstances in which she must solve multiple mysteries involving some nasty criminal organizations, murder, and missing persons.
This story pushed my WSoD right to the limit a few times. However, Ms. Hoyt managed to pull everything together nicely in the end.
Good, quick read. 3.5 stars rounded up.
In her third adventure Jack has once again talked Kate into helping with a difficult case. This time using money (something she is in need of) as a powerful inducement.
It seems that two young men have gone missing from a crab vessel. Kate signs onto that vessel with the intention of sleuthing out what happened to them. It turns out to be a very tough assignment indeed. Crab fishing is dangerous and the crew is even more so.
This is a nice action-whodunit in which Kate is pushed to, and even a bit beyond, her limits. Also, as in the earlier books in the series, Stabenow gives a bit of the history and culture of the local native peoples, in this case the Aleut Culture, deftly tying it into the story.
Good story; I will read on in the series.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Penric's adventures continue. This one picks up pretty much right after [b:Mira's Last Dance 34348998 Mira's Last Dance (Penric and Desdemona, #4) Lois McMaster Bujold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487582553l/34348998.SY75.jpg 55425075].Nikys's mother has been arrested and imprisoned in an impregnable tower on the isle of Limnos. Penric's beloved Nikys has asked him to try to rescue her. It seems an impossible task, but she has faith that Penric and Desdemona can pull it off. Penric can hardly say no, so he and Nikys set off on their risky endeavor. Along the way they are aided by some quirky characters including a palace eunuch and Nikys's relatives.We get quite a bit of action, some romance, and a dash of humor (once again, circumstances force Penric to cross-dress as a woman). As usual, Bujold's skillful writing carries the story smoothly.
This book completes Dana Stabenow's trilogy chronicling the adventures of Marco Polo's granddaughter, Johanna, as she crosses the Eurasian continent. And a good, exciting journey it has been with many trials, tribulations, and yes triumphs along the way.Johanna's journey is now available in a single volume ([b:Silk and Song Trilogy 32609090 Silk and Song Trilogy Dana Stabenow https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476463469l/32609090.SY75.jpg 53191669]). Good for readers new to the series as it is really all one continuous story.Solid 4 stars.
In the latest Frontlines book Andrew Grayson's trials continue. He and the crew of deep space attack carrier Washington are marooned far from home in a very odd planetary system. It is sunless but it isn't lifeless. In fact it is a main Lanky system – perhaps their home system. The Washington is running out of supplies and they must look for sources where they can even though the danger is large and close.
Of course they cannot avoid Lanky detection for long and find themselves facing a whole series of do-or-die situations. The odds are long. Major Grayson takes on perhaps his toughest assignments ever (and that is saying something!), and I don't think it is a spoiler to say not everyone can be expected to survive.
This is really good military sf with a mix of both space and ground encounters. Also, we learn just a little more about the enigmatic and relentless Lanky foe. The MC takes some very hard knocks.
Recommended for those who like Mil-SF. (But, best to start with the first book in the series.)
4.5 stars rounded up.
Another good book in WJW's Dread Empire's Fall series. We get some good space battles, some character and plot development, a bit of romance, and a damn good gunfight – what's not to like?
I reckon this ends the second trilogy in the series. However, Williams has said that he has nine books planned, and this one sets hooks for continuation of the story.
Bricker and Ibbitson make a convincing case that the human birthrate has pretty much dropped below replacement rate and will continue to drop. In other words, the population bomb has fizzled.
This trend is mainly driven by urbanization and education of women. Why? Simply put, in an urban environment children are an economic drag, and enlightened women really don't want to stay barefoot and pregnant. Another factor is a reduction in the coercive power of major religions.
The birthrate fall is documented everywhere but is unevenly distributed. There is considerable hysteresis in the global population trend and the total population will continue to rise for a couple of decades before it starts falling. (For example, the mini bomb from the children of the baby bombers still has to work its way out.) However, the birthrate numbers are convincing and in some areas – Europe, Japan, China, etc. – an ageing population is already beginning to be a problem.
The authors zero in on various countries and regions, providing interesting and informative details. Their argument is heavily documented and quite compelling.
Overall, reduction of the global population can only be considered a good thing. However, there will be some serious problems along the way.
A good and informative read. Solid 4 stars.