Rob

It's been a while (3.5 years) since I listened to Heaven's River, so my memory of the characters and where things left off was fuzzy. I did mostly get back into things after a bit without feeling the need to look for recap.

The book was enjoyable enough that it kept my attention, but it also sort of felt like a bit of a transition book. There were like 4 main plot lines, and all of them felt like setup for more books. I'm good with that, I'll read more books.

I thought it ended in a fine place where I'm looking forward to the next book but not going to be impatient for it to come out. There are lots of loose threads but nothing I'd call a cliffhanger.

Audio narration was fantastic as usual. Ray Porter is excellent.

I first heard about this book thanks to an article on Ars Technica. What I found strange was it was the time I heard anything about this. Given the timing (2020-21) of the bulk of the story though, it's not too much of a surprise. I had other things on my mind back then.

I've read a lot of computer history and cybercrime books. I find the topic fascinating. This book is really more about more traditional crime (drugs, guns, money laundering) with a technical aspect (encrypted phones). From a technical perspective I didn't enjoy this as much as other books, but it's still a fascinating story.

It poses a lot of issues as technology and specifically encryption techniques continue to evolve how do you balance our right to privacy against the needs to prevent crimes? I don't have any answers and this book doesn't attempt to answer that question. What it does it instead is to tell a fascinating story that seems like it's right out of a movie.

I think this could turn into a great documentary or possible a movie, but it's probably not flashy enough for the latter. Staring at computer screens reading messages is not exactly big screen cinema. Overall though I found this a great read.

Executive Summary: Dark, yet somehow not bleak. This book is in easily in contention for one of my favorite reads of the year. Not to be missed.

Audio book: This was first time listening to a book narrated by Robin Miles. She does a fine job, and is a good fit for the story. She speaks clearly and was easy to hear.

I put her into the above average category, such that while she didn't really add to the story to make this a must listen she doesn't get in the way of the story either, such that listening to this book is a good option in my opinion, but not a must listen.

Full Review
This is now the third book of Ms. Jemisin I've gotten from a daily deal. I never got around to trying either of her previous two series, but after enjoying this one so much, they have definitely moved up in my queue.

All of my friends were raving about this book earlier this year, but if not for a daily deal, I might have overlooked it. I'm glad I didn't.

It will be hard to put into words exactly why I loved this book so much without massive spoilers to the plot. Suffice to say, this book was excellently written.

The book starts off rather dark and that gave me pause, yet somehow Ms. Jemisin sucked me into the narrative so completely that I was never really bothered by it. It's not all bleakness either. Much like life there are ups and downs, albeit maybe more downs than many people experience in a lifetime.

The stories of Damaya, Syenite, and Essun were all engaging, and intermixed in a perfect way that while you hated to step away from one story, you were always just as happy to return to another.

The world building is really fascinating to me too. I have a lot of questions lingering at the end, that I hope will be addressed in the later volumes. The magic is unique and interesting. That's getting harder and harder these days. Normally I like well explained and structured magic systems the best. In this case however the mystery of the magic system and sense of discovery as the book goes on worked really well for me.

This book is full of social commentary, that may turn some people away who just want a “fun” story. It's their loss. I think Ms. Jemisin does a great job of exploring issues relevant to our own world while telling an incredibly engaging and entertaining story. In fact some of the things were so well done, that I didn't notice them at first, or didn't really give the much thought until after stopping for the day.

This review doesn't do this excellent book justice. I rarely give books five stars though, so that should hopefully give some idea.

This is a refreshing book in an oversaturated fantasy market. I hope the next two can live up to bar set by this one. In the meantime I might have to make some time to check out some of Ms. Jemisin's previous work, especially since I own the first book of each of her last two series.

This ain't your father's comics.

I read this awhile back (sometime before the movie). It's dark and more realistic than typical comics, in that no one really has any super powers. That doesn't stop people from tossing on a mask and trying to be a super hero. The characters are far more flawed than the normal comic heroes that preceded this book.

I think this book changed comics forever.

Executive Summary: I first read this back in high school, and I remember liking it, but not as much as the sequel. The ending of this is really good, but I found parts of it really slow.Audiobook: One of the main reasons I decided to reread this was that I got a good deal on the audiobook. I really like Frank Mueller from the early Dark Tower books, so I was eager to see hear him read this book. He did a good job with this one, and it helped a lot during the slow parts.Full ReviewDark Tower is still one of my favorite series. In high school once I ran out of Dark Tower books I started reading a bunch of the other stuff King wrote that had ties to that series, including this one.When I first read this, my mother didn't have cancer yet, let alone died from it. I had totally forgotten that detail, and it made the start of this book hit a little close to home for me. I love the idea of being able to find a magic cure. It seems like exactly the kind of thing a kid would think of when dealing with a dying parent. But really the premise is mostly just a Macguffin.The real point of this book to me is the journey itself. Of course being a King book, the journey is full of dark and horrible things.It's hard to say how much is Steven King and how much is Peter Straub, but it feels very much like a King novel to me. Then again I've never read Straub outside of this series, so I'm probably not the right person to speak to that.Overall, I found the ending of this book really good, but there were parts of the story that dragged or were very hard to listen to. Some of that is just my own personal history, while others is just the pacing of the book itself. I recall liking [b:Black House 10607 Black House (The Talisman, #2) Stephen King https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388263466s/10607.jpg 1738813] much better, but it seems like most people I've talked to like this one better.