Jeremy B

I was not disappointed with the third in the series. It definitely takes a slightly more adventurous route than the previous two but the characters, conversations, and challenges they face are worth it. The author weaves a great story while tackling the difficulties we all feel in life. 

Overall I enjoyed the book. I think it opened a bit stronger than it closed. But a fun romp.

Unlike many reviews I saw I liked this as much or more than the first book. I felt I had a grip on the dual first person narratives and could more easily identify who was speaking in each chapter. I appreciated the growing relationship between Mossa and Pleiti. Definitely recommend if you enjoyed the first book.

A worthy addition to the Imperial Radich series. Follows a new set of characters but expands upon the complexities of the society and adds significant depth to the world that the author has created. Highly recommended.

This is the second in the series and the fifth book by Gareth Powell I have read and I can't wait for more. I enjoyed the story and the universe that he has created in this series. I liked the time difference and the inclusion of the events of the first book here in the second. Not a challenging read like some space opera series can be but still enough galaxy spanning story to make it interesting. Definitely recommend!

A fun read, I liked it better than Artemis, maybe not as much as The Martian. A bit slow in the middle. But a great easy read.

The subject matter is extremely important and I learned new insights and could find nothing to disagree with topic wise. But the writing style did not agree with me. It felt very repetitive to me.

It started strong but then just dragged on as an account of who ate what with whom.

I absolutely see why this is up for awards. It is innovative and well written. It just wasn't for me. That said, you should read it!

I wanted to like this but I just couldn't get through it. Each book in the series was just barely enough to make me want to read the next one, but this one just lost it for me.

Just not my thing. I see where it is described as an ode to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but it felt even more chaotic to me. Hopefully it is more to others liking.

As with all Cory Doctorow‘s books, they seem to start with a philosophy or message which he then builds a story around. In this case, both very enjoyable.

Note: I received King of Ashes as an ARC

To any who have read Raymond Feist's other series this new one will feel familiar even in its new world. Many common elements will jump out at you; orphans, secret societies, blacksmiths, generous and odious leaders. Overall I enjoyed the story and it felt a bit more “adult” than previous series (occasionally bordering on crude). He does a good job of setting up this world and the conflicts that will bring a reader through the rest of the books. It was an overall fun story with few rough edges.

My hesitation with giving it a higher rating was the imbalance in gender within the story. The main male characters Hatu and Declan are well developed and given significant depth in action and thought. The female characters have very stereotypical gender roles and just felt shallow. The main female character, Hava, had ample opportunity to avoid the tropes of females in a sinister organization and been given a much deeper story that I think would have benefited all the characters and the plot.

Full disclose, I received this as an ARC from my workplace.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. Some of the author's stories went a bit long and wandered and would have benefited from tighter editing but overall it was engaging and interesting. It definitely grabbed my interest in branching out and tasting lesser known wines from lesser known regions. I will be going back through the wine lists at the end of each chapter and making a list to talk with my local wine store.

If you are feeling bored with the standard Chardonnay and Cabernet this book will broaden your horizons.

I think if I'd read it when I was 16 I would have loved it but now it is just a bit simplistic.

This is one of the best books I have read in a really long time. I finished it in 2 days, couldn't put it down.

When I started Pushing Ice I thought I saw the story arc clearly but I was continually amazed by the turns the story took. Highly recommended.

This was a somewhat strange book in the Vlad Taltos series. It was more of a set of short stories centered around a single thread than a single story. It wasn't bad but not as good as others in the series.

As with other Peter Hamilton books, this one is dense. Many plot lines; feels like the first half is just setting them all up. But once you are in you want to see how they will all fit in and resolve. This is the first in a series of two books so I don't know the conclusion yet. But good stuff.

Be warned, this is a thick book, both in sheer size and in content. But, if you enjoy reading books about the Supreme Court and have moved beyond lighter books like The Brethren, this could be your book.

The authors offer a very detailed look at Justice Brennan's life and how it effected his place in the Court. While it does talk of his personal life, the driving narrative is through his work on the Court. It is not strictly chronological and I found that to be confusing at times. Each chapter covers a theme in his life or work and follows that for a short chronology, whih may overlap the chronology of other chapters.

I had lots of fun with this book and was frustrated by the hiatus I had to take when I left it on a plane and had to wait until United sent it back to me.

This is definitely more of a character based book than a plot based book.

Really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.

I honestly can't say if this book was just confused or totally brilliant in it's storytelling. Expect to be scratching your head wondering what the hell is going on but unable to not keep reading.

I was seriously impressed by this book. My boss asked all of the management team to read it and I was dreading this as some dry, boring, bullshit “business” book, but it in fact was an engrossing story that showed how science can be applied to business and show that common “wisdom” is often false.

Definitely a lot more intense than Julie and Julia, but in the same, easy to read, raw emotion style. Be prepared to be uncomfortable by the brutal honesty and details that she shares about her life.

Definitely enjoyed the book; I finished it in 3 days I think.

If you are offended by raw emotions or raw meet, I would suggest you skip this one.

This book holds a special place for me both because I found it an interesting read, but also due to the fact it was written by my high school Chemistry teacher. He was quite a character and the fact that he wrote a book was just cool.