Alex

A short, beautifully written book, definitely in Steinbeck's style. The audiobook narration is quite amazing. Totally recommend.

Lots of interesting information in a not so easy to go through form. The book jumps between combinations of times, places and people a lot and at sometimes it's hard to even guess which period is discussed.
Anyway, I don't think that there are better and more interesting books on the subject so I totally recommend this one.
As a bonus there is a whole section about America's war on smoking.

This book is insane. The story of Victor Herman is a story of the unluckiness of cosmic proportions. It's hard to believe that a human being can endure so much without dying or going crazy. I'm very happy that he was able to return to America and tell his story, he certainly deserved that and much more for everything the USSR did to him.

One scene in the book I could really relate to: the joy of receiving a US passport. My life in Russia wasn't as horrible as Victor Herman's but I felt the same elation when I could officially say “I am an American”.

Note about the audiobook: the narrator is great but a lot of Russian words pronounced wrong, using english phonetics. It's free for Audible subscribers though, so totally worth it.

The book talks about uncomfortable topics such as aging and dying. I liked insights into assisted living and palliative care. It's unpleasant to think about this but that's what almost all of us will have to face.

Good and emotional book.
But I don't really believe that America can abolish poverty any time soon, I don't see any desire for this in my American friends and co-workers. Some of the smartest people I know protest new housing or homeless shelters in their neighborhoods. A lot of people in America just don't see poverty, it doesn't exist for them - nothing to abolish.
In the end the author has lines about how America could look without poverty - safe, prosperous and with equal opportunity for everyone. I moved to Switzerland, a country which has no poverty and already achieved that picture - I never was able to explain to my American friends why those things are important and I doubt that this book will change anything.
I will be happy to be wrong, though. I wish all the best to America.

Ну такое. Чернуха с шутками, двачерский сленг, бытовуха. Сути книги я не уловил но хотя бы поржал не раз и не два.

Ерунда полная.

О первом рассказе даже нечего сказать, скучнейшая история про мужика который думал что отдохнёт зимой на море и не отдохнул. Чтец аудиокниги мегаплох - переигрывает и не подходит под персонажа (звучит на 20 лет, когда мужику 47).

Собственно Русская Зима получше, но я понял что мне абсолютно не интересна жизнь и чаяния российской богемы. Ещё эти игорьпетровичи, васильиванычи и хер знает кто ещё по имени-отчеству совсем меня выбили из колеи.
Две интересных мне вещи в книге - города России и бытовой алкоголизм занимают от силы 0.5% повествования.
Хэппи энд и сам Сенчин в книге более-менее заставили меня дослушать.

Not bad but insanely long for such a book. The setting of a small Manchurian town was somewhat appealing for me. Not everything is perfect but with an audiobook on x1.8 speed it's pretty easy to overlook the flaws and just enjoy the journey.

This series is one of the best things that happened to me. It's absolutely amazing and not the least because of the audiobooks narrator.
I was kinda disappointed in the ending but one might argue that you're not supposed to like the ending of dark fantasy.
I wholeheartedly recommend all 10 books and preferably in audio format.

Pretty good horror book.
Has a similar premise to Under the Dome and Girls - a small town/village isolated from the outside world. It has less focus on human relationships and is more “mystic” oriented.
It starts as separate stories but turns into a solid single storyline 50% in.
The ending is great. I was cautious, especially because both Under the Dome and Girls have weak endings but the author managed to write a perfect one for such a story.

Идея и мир мне понравились, а история нет. В жизни Лидки происходит куча событий без каких-либо последствий и возникают и исчезают персонажи не оставляя никакого следа. Мне бы больше понравилась история этого мира через несколько циклов апокалипсиса с большим вниманием к обществу в целом и вообще без Лидки, ну её в пень.
А концовка нормальная, люблю такое.

Again, Abercrombie continues to write better and better books. This one in my opinion is the best. It has everything and the characters' reasoning and emotions are well written and relatable. It has major plot twists and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Легко читается, интересно, местами смешно. Главный герой уж слишком супермен, но на этом не строится вся книга. Чувствуются некоторые “устарелости” в книге, но в целом это только добавляет к атмосфере регионов России.
Много интересного про хирургию, понятия не имел насколько тяжёлые травмы человек может пережить и насколько сложные операции возможны в операционной районных больниц, где практически нет современного оборудования.
В аудиокниге присутствует совершенно безумная музыка между главами, которая зачастую абсолютно не в тему, но чтец очень неплох.

Absolutely amazing book as usual from Abercrombie. It's already the eighth book from the cycle I've listened to and it's even better than previous ones, how is it even possible.
And usual advice to listen to audioversion because it's a work of art and you will cry hearing some voices from the first trilogy.

One of the best books I've ever read. The ideas (all-mighty being, humanity interaction with it) are way more actual now than it was when this book was written.
One of the rare moments I'm glad that I know Russian. It's a shame that there are no translations to other languages.

In my opinion one of the best books in the series. We meet old characters and a bunch of the new ones. I especially liked the final story about Logen, it provides another side of a story of Bethod-Logen relationship and it's just chef's kiss. A short interview with Steven Pacey and Joe Abercrombie is also pretty good.

I liked it just as the first book but the ending was very abrupt and felt crumpled. The premise is fun and unusual, the rises and falls of Sasha are a little bit repetitive but entertaining. The role of the institute and its alumni is revealed almost in full. Definitely worth a read if you liked the first part.

Return of the lightheartedness of the first books is certainly welcome. Another amazing book from the series, some cameos and straight up comebacks are present. The audioversion is great as usual with Steven Pacey.

Exceptional book, I couldn't put it down. Hard to describe why without spoilers and I think it's better to read it knowing as little as possible.

I liked all the Korean food talk. Other than that the book is weirdly generic. I understand that “generic” is not an appropriate word to describe someone's story of loss and grief but that's how I felt.
Bonus for being set mostly in Oregon.

I hated it. It's cringy and annoying. Hard to believe but in such a long book I didn't care about a single character, none. The world building is also pretty shitty.
I strongly do not recommend it. The audiobook narrator is alright but it doesn't matter with the contents

Meh. The world-building is incredible but the stories themselves for the most part are really boring. Some interesting ideas but so many words for nothing.
Also, Amazon audiobook adaption is not great.

The book is very long but very beautifully written. The audiobook narrator is amazing, and I loved the descriptions of the nature and steamships on the Volga and Kama rivers. I also had no idea how advanced engineering was at the time of the Russian Civil War.

My only complaint is that there are a lot of characters and plotlines that don't really add anything to the story. There is hardly a single character (there is exactly one in fact) that I got attached to.

Obviously, the war is awful and you will feel awful at times reading this book as it definitely doesn't try to romanticize or present it in any positive way. But it's worth it for sure.

It lacks brutal surrealism of earlier Sorokin's books and definitely lacks a coherent story and an engaging setting of some of the recent ones. After all it's just a fantasy novel with disturbing scenes here and there and some hilariously bad ideas (like ass-headed world leaders).
I liked the Barnaul part the best because there is a clear conflict between ongoing war and peaceful city just like in modern Russia. But that was relatively short and other than that I didn't find the story that interesting (or beautiful like prequel “Blizzard”).

It's quite a handsomely written book. It's a pleasure to listen to and I didn't have any trouble with being engaged.
There is no overarching plot or anything like that, just butler remembering various events, mostly related to his work.
It's good but in some very English way not very exciting.