Alan

I thought the first 2/3rds were great, but it was an effort to slog through the next section until the grand finale. Very much enjoyed the magic system and the idea of Hell.

5 stars, but a difficult and confronting book to read. The subject matter is not pleasant, and the impact on the world is not good. Recommended, but prepare yourself.

The other 6 books in the series are 8/5 stars. I just didn't gel with this one.

A must-read for everyone. I agreed with almost every point they made. I've also read every negative review I can find, and in every case it appears that they somehow misunderstood the points the authors were trying to make.

If humans are capable of creating an intelligent AI, and we do it ... it's game over.

I did appreciate the very end of the book where they encourage you to still live the best life you can, regardless of the shadow which may (or not?) be looming.

It was fairly terrible, but I like the concept of the series so I hope the later books will improve on it.

This is an exceptional book to learn what money really is and how the financial system fits together. It's easy to understand without being simplistic; I applaud the author for what they've created here.

My absolute favourite type of fantasy novel - heroic fantasy, and only told from the viewpoint of the main character, not bouncing around between multiple viewpoints.

The premise of the book is fantastic and many of the twists were great, but for some reason the book just didn't grab me. I can understand why it's so highly rated, and I wish I had gotten into the story more.

Maybe I didn't get it, but that was absolute drudgery to get through. I'm not sure why this book is so highly acclaimed. I persisted just to see what happened at the end, and it was far more anti-climatic than I could have expected.

It was an interesting book, but I really wanted more information on how to actually implement it. The only actionable part is an appendix which bills itself solely as a “brief” guide.

An excellent idea and story let down by the writing. I'm looking forward to the next one to see if this improves.

I'm not sure what happened with this one. The other two were 6 stars out of 5, but I'm more than a quarter through this and I just can't read any more. Strange.

Definitely 5 stars with a few caveats: The start of the book did NOT grab me at all, but it definitely picks up after that. And the amount of villain monologuing was a bit OTT. 😂

Other than that the story is great and ends on a pretty excellent cliffhanger. The writing feels a lot like an old text adventure game. You walk into a room and everything is described. There is a door to the north. You see a fountain with strange markings on the side... that sort of thing. It might not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Couldn't finish it. I loved the story idea and I really want to know what happens in the end, but I was just turning pages for the sake of it.

I was looking for something to fill the Jack Reacher void, and this seemed like a good option.

It took me quite a bit to warm to the main character. The story is excellent but it didn't hold my attention the whole time. It's definitely enough to get me to read book #2 which is already starting off great.

I always use the star rating descriptions, so that's why this book is 3 stars - I liked it, but not really liked it.

Even better than the first book, I need 6 stars at least!

Best fantasy book I've read all year!

My biggest takeaways from the book is that you need to A/B test everything. And he was completely right - I doubled conversions in a 2 week period after reading this book :O

Get yourself set up on Google Optimize or Optimizely or whatever, and start A/B testing!

I'm a voracious reader of everything Stoicism, so I was quite intrigued to get into this book. However Philip lost me before the book even got started:

A quick note on gender: this book is written with a narrative directed towards men. Why? Because the ideal of Stoicism itself was masculine.

A book by a writer who obviously loves the craft of writing. The kind of 5 star book that makes you want to bump half of your other 5 star reviews down to 4.5 stars...

A very vibrant and lively translation. I prefer this over Robin Hard's version, although it's a pity a significant portion of the Discourses were not included.

A surprisingly practical look at how to apply philosophy (notably Stoicism) to your life.

I was given the book by a friend, and had never even heard of it before I started reading. I'm a big believer in Stoic philosophy, and this book filled in some very practical blanks for me.

A very deep look into Stoicism, the kind of book you want to keep picking up and going over, again and again.If you're just starting out, I'd recommend [b:Unshakable Freedom 33232265 Unshakable Freedom Ancient Stoic Secrets Applied to Modern Life Chuck Chakrapani https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1480769465s/33232265.jpg 53943104], followed by [b:Stoicism and the Art of Happiness 17841317 Teach Yourself Stoicism and the Art of Happiness Donald J. Robertson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1366763235s/17841317.jpg 24968074], and by then you'll be well set up to get into this book.

How to Be a Stoic cast some light on certain specific areas for me - namely

Worth reading just for the MACJ section. Concise, clear and engaging book.