Aaron
This novel definitely has shades of other books: the feudal politics of Dune, the unearthly narrative of Book of the New Sun, and the combat stylings of something like Red Rising. Not much happens until the last 10% of the book, and even then, this is clearly a precursor to a much larger story in the rest of the series. I’m interested enough to continue (and hoping that this book 1, while not my favorite, was a worthwhile investment).
Thank goodness this is over.
I tried. I really did. I hung in there because so many have called this series a masterpiece. After finally making my way through this monster of a book, I doubt I’ll continue on. Anderson is an incredible world-builder, but all the descriptive words can’t make up for the fact that almost nothing happens in this book. At the end, I cared very little for the characters and their plights. I was able to skip whole pages without missing any important detail. I never thought I’d encounter a juxtaposition of interesting concepts and general *blandness,* but here we are.
It’s too bad. I must be missing something that many others are seeing, but I just don’t care enough to find out.
I really enjoyed this book until I didn't.
The first 70-80% is a fascinating look at the development of nuclear energy, told through the lens of countless mathematicians, physicists, and brilliant thinkers. The last 20% feels like a hastily slapped together op-ed in which the author laments that nuclear energy has gotten a raw deal (an example: nothing that the 55 confirmed deaths at Chernobyl pale in comparison to the number of deaths prompted by other man-made disasters).
Don't get me wrong: I generally agree that nuclear energy has gotten a raw deal and will be vital in our fight against climate change. But if this is meant to be the perfect bridge from retrospective history to a guidebook for the future, it falls flat – it is too brief to give proper historical context to the many events of nuclear energy and it is too rushed to be a guidebook.
This book is labeled as one of science fiction's greatest masterpieces - it is a label well deserved. Frank Herbert's tale of revenge, politics, culture, ecology and religion is of a caliber that hasn't been seen in a long time.
The most notable evidence for this book's classic nature is how it reads - though it was published many decades ago, the language and settings read as though they were invented just last week. The characters are powerful and moving while still maintaining a healthy sense of reality; the locales are presented in a manner that easily depicts them in the mind's eye; and though the story can be a tad confusing at times, the overall theme of love, revenge, and fulfilled prophecy is staggeringly good.
A MUST read for science fiction lovers.
There are two ways to look at the quality of this book: standing on its own and as part of a larger whole. Far beyond whether you enjoy the books that the publishers liken it to – World War Z, the Martian, etc. – I think that the perspective you choose will ultimately decide whether you enjoy Sleeping Giants or not.
On its own, Sleeping Giants is a 3 or 3.5 star book. It's premise is fascinating, but the surface is barely scratched. Its interview-style format is engaging, but doesn't quite carry the backward-facing, “what was it all for?” gravitas and confusion that World War Z employed so beautifully (while using the same style). It's dialogue and characters are interesting and feel real (for the most part), but they don't carry the blend of intelligence, wit, and sarcasm that made The Martian's Mark Watney so appealing. Viewed in this light, Sleeping Giants is creative enough to be noticed and fresh enough to avoid feeling derivative, but ultimately comes across like a “half effort” that never quite finds its footing.
However, when viewed as part of a larger whole (read: when understood that it is intended to be part of a series), Sleeping Giants is easier to swallow. The idea that this book serves as a premise to a larger story is intriguing enough to continue on.
So disappointing. Gone is the interwoven magic of The Da Vinci Code, replaced by an unbelievable miasma of current-event headlines (Uber! Self-driving cars! AI!), fall-flat “shockers” that aren't shocking at all, and an utterly formulaic approach to suspense and mystery.
When you learn the plot device 90% in and it doesn't invite critical thought at all, you know you have a problem.
Farewell, Mr. Langdon; I'm moving on to greener pastures.
No, it's not Harry Potter, Book 8. No, it's not J.K. Rowling's familiar, wonderful writing. It's a tad derivative, somewhat difficult to connect to, and only gives a taste of that world that we grew up loving. But you know what? I could see it. I could feel it. Despite all of the weight this play has to carry, this was that same world: time-worn and viewed through the smallest of looking glasses, but it was “home” nonetheless. I'm thankful I got to experience it one more time.
Now bring the play Stateside!
What. The. Blippity. Blank.
Billed as a Dan Brown-esque mystery with a supernatural flair, this book is a complete mess. Characters come and go without any reason for the reader to care. Seemingly interesting set pieces are mysteriously introduced (in a certainly Brown-esque style), only to never be mentioned again. The relationships are improbable, the action is stilted, the villains are either bland cutouts or mustache-twirling buffoons, and huge sections of “side-material” read like blog posts on topics that interested the author (e.g., computer viruses, the crew size and configuration of a Boeing 757, etc.).
Really, it worked like this:
10% in: “Wow, this DOES feel like Dan Brown.”
30% in: Very mysterious!
50% in: Still pretty mysterious...
70% in: There's no way that any payoff can match this build up.
80% in: ...Really?
90% in: I want to give up, but I'm so close.
Completed: I'm glad I only paid $0.99 for this.
3.5 stars if I could. It contains all the requisite weirdness that a proper story set in Night Vale should; that said, after reading it, I'm realizing that the podcast is so successful because it is able to spread its narrative over many episodes. A book has a much shorter timeframe to accomplish a satisfying arc. Ultimately, I'd recommend this for fans of the series, but for outsiders, I wouldn't.
For the majority of this book, I had three dominant thoughts:
1. “It's nice to see a science fiction writer who doesn't shy away from hard science.”
2. “This book is how I imagine it'd be if someone took an anime and wrote it in book form.”
3. “WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?”
I felt this way for 90% of the book (or so my Kindle revealed to me). Then, the last 10% happened and it all made sense. I finally understood, and it was amazing.
Enticing enough? Check it out for yourself; this is a treasure not to be missed.
I didn't want to read this at first; some part of me believed that I'd be betraying my love of Scott Pilgrim by reading anything else of Bryan Lee O'Malley. What a mistake that would have been. This has a slightly darker tone than SP, but man, is it good. O'Malley easily expresses complex emotion with deft and wit. Go read this right now.
A perfectly fine end to a one-of-a-kind series...but...
I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking this – read it yourself and let me know – but for a series of that based itself on the premise of life in a dark, difficult world (where not even magic can buy happiness), this series ended a little too neatly. Several times near the end, I began to realize that everyone was going to get what they wanted. It felt Twilight-y: ignore all the difficulties and open threads, kids, because it will all work out in the end!
There's nothing wrong with that kind of sweetness, of course – not in principle, anyway. But in this other-Earth, where the real world ends up being more difficult than childhood dreams, it gets in the way.
Interestingly, however, the “homage-to-real-life” themes of this book create their own problem. Chief of these: if we assume that Quentin and his friends are the good guys, who is the villain? In the first book, it was clear that Martin Chatwin played the role. After that? Not sure. Was it Ember and Umber? Reynard the Fox? The mysterious couple who possessed Rupert Chatwin's relics? Other miscellaneous old gods? None of them are set up to be the true enemy. Mayble life just isn't that simple.
Still, satisfying to see this story to its conclusion.
If I'm honest, Flatirons was the first place where I began to sense God tapping on my shoulder. He did that in large part through Jim; as such, this book feels like home.
The wonder of this book is that with his usual candor, charm, humility, and poise, Jim shares Jesus' truth. And through Jim, Jesus speaks louder than ever: “I don't hate you; I love you and I want to be with you always.”
The process of being freed from a dragon hurts, both in the moment and in life to come. But as this book drives home again and again, we never have to endure that process alone. Christ — who understood the pain — chooses to be with us. He never leaves us alone.
Thank you, Jim, for allowing God to speak through you. It hasn't always been easy — sometimes, it's been downright infuriating — but through it all, it's been worth it.
I picked up this book because I saw the slew of four-star and five-star reviews. If so many of my fellow readers thought so highly of this book, how could I not feel the same?
On my first attempt, I gave up about two chapters in. The next day, thinking that I had ejected the book in haste, I picked it up again and started over. This time, I made it 26 chapters in before I gave up again. I can safely say that despite my best efforts, I won't be attempting a third try.
The problem is simple: I just don't care about these characters. I have no clue why they're in the situation they're in, nor why I should care about any improvement in or destruction of their journey or lives. In the hodgepodge of post-apocalyptic distress, teenage girl issues, and characters that are as milquetoast as they come, there is no discernible “higher purpose.” Again, why should I care? The plight of these characters is so flimsy and half-baked that I'm not even given a chance to care.
Of particular distress is the oh-so-obvious, disguised-under-layers-of-seething-sarcasm romance that leaks out between the two main characters. Why bother with this over-the-top charade when it's clear that that's what's building? Where I a girl and in Penryn's shoes, you can bet I would do a little more due diligence before clumsily drooling over the amazing attractiveness of my mortal enemy.
I realize now that I've been hunting around YA books in search of the next Hunger Games. I think it's time I give that notion a rest – this is yet another disappointment in a long string of disappointments within the genre.
With all due respect to Miss Ridgway (who, I'm sure, has talent and should continue to produce thought-provoking fiction), this just didn't click with me.
What should have been an interesting exposé of time travel – and the manners in which time itself will defend against such actions – left me utterly disappointed.
15% of the way in, I was hooked.
30% of the way in, I had more questions than answers, but felt okay about it.
65% of the way in, I was starting to grow leery of the fact that (a) we had no real villain thus far, (b) we had yet to explain several key plot points begun earlier, and (c) I was decidedly uncaring toward the main characters and their plights.
80% of the way in, I said, out loud, “This sucks. Nothing's happening.”
90% of the way in, I let out several loud “pssshhh” sounds as random characters showed up and began to explain the plot to me. The magical object is actual the dog that belongs to the granddaughter of the man you thought was a villain, but actually is the guy who's lover you came to know about 3 pages ago! Neat! snore
100%, I said sayonara and went to bed.
~
I've heard that this is supposed to be part 1 of a trilogy, but you know what? If part 1 doesn't hook me, why in the world would I care about subsequent parts?? (case in point: [b:Divergent|13335037|Divergent (Divergent, #1)|Veronica Roth|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328559506s/13335037.jpg|13155899])
What started as a 3-star “eh, not too bad” experienced morphed into 4 stars when I learned that there would be a follow up to this book. That's a good thing; there are so many neat ideas to explore in this pseudo-Earth that I would have been supremely disappointed had there not been any follow up. As it stands now, I eagerly anticipate #2.
That's it. I'm done. I tried. I really tried. [b:Divergent 13335037 Divergent (Divergent, #1) Veronica Roth https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328559506s/13335037.jpg 13155899] held my attention long enough to make me think there was hope for this series. Then this sucker came along and I discovered that I didn't really care about anyone or anything Ms. Roth was feeding me. Zero caring.I wanted this series to fill the gap that had been left since [b:Mockingjay 7260188 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) Suzanne Collins https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1358275419s/7260188.jpg 8812783] ended. No such luck. :(
For the majority of this book, I hovered around a 3 or 3.5 star rating. It was an entertaining thriller, full of twists, transformations, and “didn't-see-that-coming” moments. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with it; indeed, the overall tone was dark, exciting, and encouraged me to continue.What leaves me at 3 stars is the sad realization that after such a monumental effort, this is not a book that belongs in the Robert Langdon mythos.The book's premise - wherein Professor Langdon is called upon to save the world from the machinations of a madman (in this case, one fueled by a deep understanding of and dedication to Dante's [b:Inferno 15645 Inferno (The Divine Comedy, #1) Dante Alighieri http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333579470s/15645.jpg 2377563]) - fits. This is what we expect from a Langdon story and early on, it delivers. There is a sense that the world of Dante will permeate the story in profoundly macabre ways.Unfortunately, that premise slowly disappears. Chase scenes ensue ad nauseam, stopping only to overwhelm the reader with every historical fact about the European environment in which Landon is running (a mechanism that, although it served Brown well in [b:Angels & Demons 960 Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1) Dan Brown http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303390735s/960.jpg 3338963] and [b:The Da Vinci Code 968 The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2) Dan Brown http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303252999s/968.jpg 2982101], is overplayed here). Chapters stream by and, in my case, left me with a sense of, “Well, okay - but when are we getting to the good stuff?”What is the “good stuff”, you ask? One needs only to look at the previous three Landon novels for inspiration. In all three, Dan Brown took his time to weave in the types of historical mystery that hover between ludicrous and profoundly possible. These elements made the expected thriller/chase scenes more interesting: the race fulfilled the desire to find clues, solve puzzles, and put together astounding theories. There was a sense of adventure, conspiracy, and higher meaning.Inferno only has an inkling of that. As someone who has read and enjoyed [b:The Divine Comedy 6656 The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320552051s/6656.jpg 809248], I was thrilled by the idea of Robert Landon descending into Dante's world and watching the visions of Inferno permeate that adventure. It just didn't happen. Elements of Dante, his life, his poetry, and the higher meaning exposed by his philosophies were only briefly touched on. At times, it seemed as though Dan Brown, desiring to have an archetypal “historical great work” to fit into a Langdon adventure, somewhat haphazardly settled on Inferno. It's as if Brown took his trademark thriller ingredients, tossed them into a blender, and in the middle of the process, jammed in a few pages of Inferno. The concoction just isn't satisfying.As the book hurtles towards its conclusion, the aforementioned plot twists add some spice and excitement; unfortunately, by this point, it's too late: there simply isn't enough time left to recreate the magic that came so easily in the previous three Langdon books.And so, I give this 3 stars - I wanted an Angels & Demons-esque mystery, but instead, I got [b:Deception Point 976 Deception Point Dan Brown http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266447971s/976.jpg 3135896] with some neat art and architecture thrown in.
This is a story that has stood the test of time. For many, it is the basis of an all encompassing way of life. As one of those who is humbled by the words and teachings of Jesus, how special it is to see these same familiar stories told in such a fresh, new manner.
From the beginning of the world, to a story of God's chosen people, to tales of woe and suffering, and finally, to a story of redemption and peace for everyone, this gospel is timeless.
Like many, I picked up this book because of the Goodreads-inspired notoriety that Colleen Hoover had been receiving. Somewhere around 7pm last night, I began to think I'd made a big mistake. 3 chapters in, this book was clearly not intended for 20-something males. My only Goodreads comment to that point? “Starting to feel like Twilight without sparkly vampires.” I seriously thought that I was going to have to bail out.
Around 1am, I finally, groggily, turned off my light and went to bed. In the 6 hours that had preceded, I had somehow, mysteriously, finished the book. I literally had not been able to sleep until I was done.
So what happened?
To be fair, Slammed is not the greatest work of fiction ever. There is a high degree of unbelievability (some might say Twilight-esque) in how quickly Lake, the main character, and Will, her “omgsohotz” neighbor fall in love. The story proceeds rather bouncily from junction to junction, dragging the reader along in the expectation that he will simply accept the characters and their current predicaments. All the common elements of the teenage love story - a love that society will not allow, a family dynamic that is all at once frustrating yet uber-advanced (including the proverbial wise sage of a younger brother), a rebellious, yet equally sagacious best friend, etc. - are present within the first few chapters of this book. Early on, I felt as though I could see every plot point and difficulty.
What transpired over the course of that 6 hours changed my mind. The biggest driver of that change: I got to see characters who were not all that different from me. No one had superpowers or mystical abilities; there was no omnipresent villain that everyone was running from (heck: apart from one exception, there weren't even overly ugly humanistic natures chasing after our heros). There was merely life, along with all of its joys and heartbreaks.
This book forces your soul to bare itself. Any author who can do that - even just a little bit - deserves recognition.
On to book #2.