Rob
Executive Summary: Despite how long it took me to read this one, I rather enjoyed it, and thought the ending was particularly strong. Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before my next Discworld book.Full ReviewThe last year+ has been a struggle for me reading. It'd be easy to say it was all due to covid, but this was happening before that started too. I started this book 4 months ago. It's not a very large book. Even with how slow I read that's an incredibly long amount of time for it to take. The issue was less to do with how much I liked the book and more to do with how little I'm interested in reading lately.I thought Discworld's humor would maybe get me back into reading. I've heard several people list this as one their favorites of the series too. However it didn't really seem to do the trick.I felt like this one started slow but picked up steam as it went along. I read the last 2/3 of the book in the last two weeks. I've been a bit hit or miss with various sub-series. As a stand-alone I didn't really know what to expect. The only other I've read was [b:Pyramids 64217 Pyramids (Discworld, #7) Terry Pratchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439098306l/64217.SY75.jpg 968512] and I didn't like that one nearly as much.I thought the commentary on organized religion both humorous and poignant. I'm not sure everyone would feel the same. Religion can be a touchy subject. I didn't feel like anything in this book was aimed at any particular religion, but rather those that use it for their own selfish purposes.Overall I'm glad I read this, but I wish it had gotten me back into reading more than it did. A large reason I finally finished it was another book I'm looking forward to comes out next week and I finally wanted to be done with it.I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the ending. I may need to reread this book at some point down the road when I'm in a better headspace for reading in general.
Executive Summary: It was fine, but nothing special. I like the world building, but the characters and plot leave a bit to be desired.Audiobook: I thought Lauren Fortgang did a good job. When I read Six of Crows, apparently she was one of the narrators, but I couldn't tell which is which. I did comment I liked the narrator who did Inej. My guess is that is her, but I can't be certain. She didn't really do anything special to make this a must listen, but I like the way she reads and is a good fit for this book.Full ReviewI read [b:Six of Crows 23437156 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) Leigh Bardugo https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459349344l/23437156.SY75.jpg 42077459] back in 2017 and really enjoyed it. I picked this one up in 2018 with the intention of reading it not long after and then just never did. So now with the show coming out (and the fact that I own the entire trilogy), I figured it was past due for me to read this.I will say that Ms. Bardugo has certainly improved as a writer since this book. I enjoyed the Six of Crows books far more than this one. The world building and the setting are the best part of this book. The characters and the plot are not nearly as good. I do tend to prefer a heist story of what feels like a fairly standard YA Romance/post-apocalyptic story. I also remember Kaz and Inej a lot more fondly than I think about Alina and Mal. I also found the ending a bit predictable. That said, it's not a bad book and I want to see what happens next, so I've already started the next book. I don't really remember too many details of the sequel series, but apparently the show is using some of those characters in addition to those in this book. I'll be interested to see how that works out and I'm glad I finally got around to read this before watching the show.
ReviewI pretty much picked this up for the title story alone. For that reason I ended up borrowing it from the library rather than picking up a copy. I generally don't like short fiction much, but Stephen King has long shown himself to be a master of it (think [b:Different Seasons 39662 Different Seasons Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329662611l/39662.SY75.jpg 2248680]) despite being known best for his monster works best .I really love Holly Gibney. She's right up there with Roland Deschain and his ka-tet as among my favorite characters King has written. While not quite as good as [b:The Outsider 36124936 The Outsider Stephen King https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1524596540l/36124936.SY75.jpg 57566471], I still really enjoyed that one best. I'd love to read more Holly Gibney stories in the future.I had mixed feelings about the other stories. I ended up really enjoying Mr. Harrington's phone as well, almost as much as the title story. I thought the idea was interesting, and it was kind of cool to go back to a time when smart phones hadn't taken over our lives completely.The start of Life of Chuck was really hard to read. This was written pre-covid, but the world ending and things falling apart was not something I really wanted to read. Thankfully that part was kind of brief and the rest of the story was better/more interesting.Rat on the other hand was not a great read for me at all. I didn't particularly like the main character so it was hard to enjoy the story. I did think the ending was decent, but it didn't save the story for me.Overall I'm glad I borrowed this book rather than buying it. I don't tend to re-read, but if I did I'd probably only re-read the title story.Audiobook:There were 3 narrators for this book. Will Patton, narrated Mr. Harrington's Phone and If it Bleeds. Danny Burstein narrated The Life of Chuck and Steven Weber narrated Rat. I've listened to Will Patton before, in particular for King's other books with Holly Gibney. I was glad to have him back for that story. He also seemed like a good for Mr. Harrington as well. It probably helped that those two were my favorite stories, but in general I liked his narration the best.I thought both of the other two narrators were fine. Neither jumped out at me as fantastic, but I was probably more focused on the stories, which can be a good thing as well.For me since I listened to the Bill Hodges books and the Outsider, I was glad to listen to this book as well, but otherwise it's probably not a must-listen for me.RatingsMr. Harrington's Phone - 4 starsThe Life of Chuck - 3 starsIf it Bleeds - 4 starsRat -2 stars
Executive Summary: After a bit of a slow start and a strong middle, I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. 3.5 stars rounded down.Audiobook: Ray Porter is great. I enjoy him for the Bobbiverse books and I enjoyed him here. He does a variety of voices that made this a definite listen for me.Full ReviewI always struggle with half-star reads. Usually I round up, but in this case I rounded down because of momentum. Had this ended stronger I probably would have rounded up.This book very much starts out a mystery. Scientists have found a way to achieve instantaneous travel through a fold in space. But they aren't willing to announce their findings to the world yet. Why not?I found Mike to be a likeable character and I enjoyed the way his photographic memory was described in the book. My book club was debating whether this makes him a Marty Stu or not. I guess maybe so, but I didn't really care or spend anytime thinking about that during the book.I was mostly curious to learn more about the door and how it worked. Then it happened, and I kind of got, not quite bored, but definitely less interested. If the big reveal is the glue that ties the series together, I'm probably fine stopping with just this one.I haven't read [b:14 15062217 14 (Threshold, #1) Peter Clines https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338999953l/15062217.SX50.jpg 20716929], so I'm not sure if I would have liked this book more or less if I had. I suspect I'd have a better appreciation for some of the scenes near the end of the book, but otherwise this read pretty well as a stand-alone.
Executive Summary: I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as [b:Edgedancer 34703445 Edgedancer (The Stormlight Archive, #2.5) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499706661l/34703445.SY75.jpg 54097500].Full ReviewPrior to [b:Rhythm of War 49021976 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg 23840265] everything about Stormlight Archive was a 5 star read for me. This novella like that book was still very good, just not as good as previous works.I'm not sure if the change is in Mr. Sanderson's writing or myself as a reader. Likely a bit of both. I used to read and enjoy everything he put out. Then he released his Reckoners series.In general I'm not a huge fan of novellas, but for Mr. Sanderson a novella for him is almost a normal novel anyways. There is a good story here that feels complete while still obviously being part of the larger Stormlight world.This added an interesting aspect to the world building and I'm curious to know more. I also wish I had read this before [b:Rhythm of War 49021976 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg 23840265] because I'm sure there are things in that book I missed that were setup in this story.Overall I found this an enjoyable read, and I hope we learn more about Rysn and Chiri-chiri in later books.
Executive Summary: I struggled with this one at times and enjoyed it at others. I thought it was a fine conclusion to the duology but not as enjoyable for me as [b:The Wolf's Call 41021418 The Wolf's Call (Raven's Blade #1) Anthony Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551413903l/41021418.SY75.jpg 64015574].Audiobook: Steven Brand once again does a fantastic job. He does some voices and just generally does a good job with cadence and volume. His excellent narration made it easier to get through the parts I found slow. I think the audio is an excellent option for this book/series.Full Review[b:Blood Song 13569581 Blood Song (Raven's Shadow, #1) Anthony Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421573407l/13569581.SY75.jpg 19148922] and [b:Tower Lord 18138189 Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow, #2) Anthony Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382486392l/18138189.SX50.jpg 25481154] are among my favorite fantasy books. However I struggled with [b:Queen of Fire 18405221 Queen of Fire (Raven's Shadow, #3) Anthony Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417350958l/18405221.SY75.jpg 26039753].When [b:The Wolf's Call 41021418 The Wolf's Call (Raven's Blade #1) Anthony Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551413903l/41021418.SY75.jpg 64015574] came out I had been a bit dubious. I enjoyed that one more than [b:Queen of Fire 18405221 Queen of Fire (Raven's Shadow, #3) Anthony Ryan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1417350958l/18405221.SY75.jpg 26039753] and was looking forward to see if he'd do a better job with the ending for this series.My opinions are a bit mixed. I probably liked this ending better, but not by much. I found myself just sort of eager to see it all wrapped up, and not terribly interested in any of the battles.As someone who loves the magic school trope, I was pretty excited by the temple at first, but inevitably found that segment mostly unsatisfying.2020 was a tough reading year for me. So far 2021 isn't shaping up to be much better. It's quite possible I just wasn't in the right mood for this book, but I think this is mostly another case of not being able to recapture the magic of those first two books.
Executive Summary: The start of this book really dragged for me and for that reason it's the first book in the series I'm not giving 5 stars too. Once it got going though I remembered why I love this series so much.
Full Review
Done! After nearly 6 weeks. First 5 weeks: 500 pages read. Last week: 700 pages read. The last part of this book was an easy 5 star read for me. But that first part really really dragged. I'm sad that this will be the first book of the series I don't give a 5 star rating too. He was batting 1000% so far.
It's hard for me to seperate this book and 2020. My reading this year is way down. I just can't concentrate. I'd pick this up and read 1 or 2 chapters. I'd set it down to check my phone or would doze off. But that was happening with other books too.
Once I really started getting into though, I remembered why this is one of my favorite series. The same elements that made it slow in the first half remained, but the rest of the story was picking up momentum and carrying me through those parts.
I'm not sure if the payoff of those slower sections was worth it for me. Normally I love Kaladin's parts and really enjoy Shallans. Both of them were a drag early on, especially Shallan's. Kaladin's got better much faster.
I was mostly clinging to Andolin's story in the early going, so of course right at it was getting good, it stops for a few HUNDRED pages. Sigh.
I was kind of indifferent on Navani's parts for much of the book as well, but that too improved as it went on. So really the book just took awhile to get its hooks into me.
Overall this is the weakest of the series so far to me, but still an enjoyable read. Now to wait for the next one. With where this leaves off, I'll be curious to see what he's got in store for the mid-series finale.
Overall, I find this to be the
Top Reads of 2020These are my top reads from 20201) [b:Battle Ground 23106013 Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587778549l/23106013.SY75.jpg 42654036] - 5 Stars - (My Review)2) [b:Peace Talks 49381341 Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579336858l/49381341.SY75.jpg 40515430] - 5 Stars - (My Review)3) [b:The Relentless Moon 52381417 The Relentless Moon (Lady Astronaut #3) Mary Robinette Kowal https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574326388l/52381417.SY75.jpg 65396089] - 4.5 Stars - (My Review)4) [b:Wintersteel 55423083 Wintersteel (Cradle, #8) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600740062l/55423083.SY75.jpg 73600841] - 4.5 Stars - (My Review)5) [b:Rhythm of War 49021976 Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1599911216l/49021976.SY75.jpg 23840265] - 4 Stars - (My Review)6) [b:Network Effect 52381770 Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5) Martha Wells https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568667704l/52381770.SX50_SY75.jpg 63614271] - 4 Stars - (My Review)For the rest of my review here's the report generated by my GoodReads Parser Application and some general comments about the numbers. ^_^***** Yearly Report ****Year: 2020Total Books: 50Total Backlog Books: 12 (24.00%)Rereads: 0 (0.00%)2020 was a bad year of reading for me. While others seemed to use the time stuck at home to work off their backlogs, I just couldn't concentrate. Worse, I've long been trending towards more audiobooks and since I was commuting less and not traveling most of the year, that really reduced my audio too. I went from 46 to 35 (previous years I'd average 50-60) and my total hours listened dropped by 120. I did listen to some monster long audiobooks while stuck in the house in spring though.I had originally dropped my annual goal of 75 to 50 expecting to finish well over, but likely short of the 75 mark. Instead I barely cleared the 50 (with 1 day to spare).For 2021 I'll be setting my goals even lower. I did work of a decent chunk of my owned-and-unread backlog (percentage-wise) but not nearly as much as last year.This is also the first year since I started tracking my reading where I did 0 rereads. I guess with so many fewer books I just didn't have the time.Overall a bad year for me, but still a pretty decent year to the average person.****** Format Breakdown ******Total AUDIO_BOOK Count: 35 (70.00%)Total BOOK Count: 4 (8.00%)Total EBOOK Count: 5 (10.00%)Total GRAPHIC_NOVEL Count: 6 (12.00%)Unsurprisingly since I had so much trouble reading with my eyeballs this year, my percent of audiobook is up about 9% from 2019. I also read far fewer graphic novels (both total and percentage-wise) this year.******* Genre Breakdown ******Total FANTASY Count: 23 (46.00%)Total MYSTERY Count: 4 (8.00%)Total NONFICTION Count: 2 (4.00%)Total SCIFI Count: 21 (42.00%)Hey look I read a lot of fantasy and a fair bit of Sci-Fi. I kept that line from my previous reviews, because it continues to be very true every year. My percent of Fantasy is actually down quite a bit, but that's basically because I read more Sci-Fi than normal. My Mystery reading was up slightly but my non-fiction was down.******** Author Gender Breakdown ********Total MALE Count: 38 (76.00%)Total FEMALE Count: 11 (22.00%)My ratio is about 3% worse than last year, and still pretty unbalanced. I'm still not necessarily looking for a 50% balance, but it'd be nice to get it closer. It seems to keep hovering in the 20-25% range.** Ratings ****Average Rating: 3.74Total 3 Count: 15 (30.00%)Total 4 Count: 33 (66.00%)Total 5 Count: 2 (4.00%)My average rating down slightly from a 3.8 in 2019. 2020 was the year I decided I'm no longer go to keep reading books I'm not interested in. I DNF at least 1 book and skipped several picks that just sounded too depressing to read in 2020.My 3 star read count is a bit higher this year (percentage-wise) and my 4 and 5 star read percents are also down which explains the drop in average. However the average doesn't take into account half stars, since Goodreads only tracks full stars.Years Published:Total 1990 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 1995 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2004 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2005 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2006 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2007 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2011 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2012 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2013 Count: 2 (4.00%)Total 2015 Count: 3 (6.00%)Total 2016 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2017 Count: 2 (4.00%)Total 2018 Count: 1 (2.00%)Total 2019 Count: 13 (26.00%)Total 2020 Count: 20 (40.00%)Decade Published:Total 1990 Count: 2 (4.00%)Total 2000 Count: 4 (8.00%)Total 2010 Count: 24 (48.00%)Total 2020 Count: 20 (40.00%)Most of my reading continues to come from books published since 2015, and a good number (20) of my total were published in 2020. The oldest book I read was from 1990.Additional Stats:Number of Books: 15Total Pages: 4805Total From Backlog: 0Longest Book: Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) by Brandon Sanderson - 1232 pagesShortest Book: The Butcher of Anderson Station (The Expanse, #1.5) by James S.A. Corey - 40 pagesAverage Pages: 320.33Number of Books (Excluding Graphic Novels): 9Total Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 3886Average Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 431.78Number of Audiobooks: 35Total Audio Hours: 531Total From Backlog: 12Longest Book: Super Powereds: Year 4 (Super Powereds, #4) by Drew Hayes - 61 hoursShortest Book: Auberon: An Expanse Novella by James S.A. Corey - 3 hoursAverage Hours: 15.17Overall it was my worst year of reading since I first started tracking on Goodreads in 2012 (which was only a partial year). There were still some good reads in there and I still enjoy it, but I've decided to cut back even further so reading doesn't feel like something I'm obligated to do, but just the fun hobby it's always been thus far.Hopefully my 2021 will be nothing but 4 and 5 star reads.
Executive Summary: Another decent entry to the series, but I didn't like it quite as much as the last one. It felt a bit unrealistic at times but enjoyable enough.
Audiobook: I have a hard time disconnecting George Guidall from The Dark Tower/Roland Deschain, but he is a great fit for this series. He doesn't really do voices, but his normal reading voice works well for Walt.
Full Review
I've been enjoying this series as a break from all the sci-fi and fantasy I typically read, but I'm not exactly blown away by the series. One of my main issues has been for a small town there seems to be a lot of murder.
This book “solves” that by moving the setting to Philadelphia, but introduces the problem that he has no jurisdiction as a police officer. I did enjoy the new setting so as long as I didn't think too hard about the
Overall the book was enjoyable enough, but I had to suspend my disbelief at times. I will probably continue on at some point, but likely only if I can snag a deal or borrow the next audiobook from the library.
Executive Summary: I'm a huge Zelda fan. I had no idea how much this book would parody those games, but I loved it a lot more than I expected to.Audiobook: I thought Suzy Jackson did a good job with the narration. It was an interesting choice to have a second male narrator in Steve West to do Full ReviewI've had some mixed results with Andrew Rowe's other work. I really enjoyed his first two Arcane Ascension books, but didn't enjoy [b:Six Sacred Swords 43902687 Six Sacred Swords (Weapons and Wielders, #1) Andrew Rowe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551600782l/43902687.SY75.jpg 67973755]. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this one or not.I didn't really know much about the book coming in, I pretty must decided to listen to it because I got a free copy of the audiobook and it was short. Turns out it's basically a parody of Zelda which is one of my favorite series.I really ended up enjoying this book greatly. Possibly more than his Arcane Ascension books. It was well written and I loved all the references and in-jokes.If you like Zelda or rpg style video games this book is worth a look. It's also worth checking out if you're in the mood for a light/fun adventure story.
Executive Summary: Another enjoyable entry in the series. He mixes things up a little bit and I enjoyed it more than the last entry, probably because of its connections to tech. Audiobook: One of the things I love best about this series is the narration of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. He does his usual fantastic job here, that really makes this series a must listen for me.Full ReviewI was late to picking up the Rivers of London books because I didn't have a great track record with Urban Fantasy. As such I'd been slowly consuming the series whenever I was in the mood for something light and fun. It took me about 3 years before finally catching up late last year. When this one came out earlier this year I didn't pick it up right away more out of habit than anything else. I ended up saving this for a time when I just wanted something short and fun and this fit the mold.Looking back at my review for [b:Lies Sleeping 36534574 Lies Sleeping (Rivers of London, #7) Ben Aaronovitch https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1517326409l/36534574.SY75.jpg 58260751], I enjoyed it far less than my friends seem to. I don't really remember the details anymore, but I apparently felt it more of a stand alone story. This one fits that mold as well, but enjoyed it slight more.I found the first part of this book a bit confusing at first and then a bit frustrating as he kept shifting the focus when I wanted to know what would happen next. This is something I'm used to in multiple POV stories, but not from this series with its single POV.As someone who works as as Software Engineer, but not for any of the Big Tech companies, I can only assume he does a good job in portraying the kind of environment that they often work in. For me I've never had that “we have all the amenities on sight so you never want to leave thing” going on. I did find some of the supporting characters very familiar however.I loved the inclusion of Ada Lovelace and the Babbage machine. I've actually seen a working Babbage machine at the Computer History in California and I've been fascinated by them ever since. I loved the blend of technology and magic in general of this book.I think that for me is why I ended up enjoying this one more than the last, because it is also pretty stand alone. There was some pretty interesting new world building elements. I'll be curious to see how that plays in future novels.I'm now once again caught up on the series. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next one on release day or once again save it for when I need a fun, light read, but I'll be picking it up either way.
Executive Summary: I really loved [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741], but this one just isn't as good. If I had to sum it up in one or two sentences I'd say: More of the same/More of Ernest Cline's favorite things. Depending on when you talk to me I might give this a 3 or 4. I decided to round down when I first finished, so I kept it there, but we'll call it 3.5 stars.Audiobook: Wil Wheaton once again does a great job. I really like his narration, and he fits well for this series. I'm glad they were able to get him back again for this one. This is definitely a series that works well in audio for me.Full ReviewThere is a trend on the internet for some people to spend time mocking something other people love to what I'd consider excess. [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741] is one of those things. I love the book. I get that other people didn't and I'd agree that some of the criticism of that book is fair.What I don't get is why people spend so much time and energy hating on something. I probably never will. I bring this up because I've seen a lot of hate for this book too. I think it gives those folks something to once again revel in or something.A lot of the same criticism of the first book can easily be applied here. Mr. Cline is not a great writer. There are times when he just seems to be listing stuff he likes. His dialog is often clunky. There are parts of the book that come off as preachy, and parts that come off as ignorant. Personally I think Cline means well, but just falls flat in his execution. He'd probably benefit either from better editing, or consulting people who know more about the subject matter than he does. Probably both.So all of that probably gives the impression that I didn't like this book. Except I did. I liked it for the same reasons I liked [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741]. I like a lot of the same books, movies, TV and video games Mr. Cline does. I also really like the the idea of the Oasis and the ways it shows both some of the best and worst parts of the internet, social media and gaming/gamer culture.The book started a bit slow, but once it got going I found it pretty fun and kept looking for reasons to keep listening. That said, there isn't really any new ground covered here. I'm not sure what kind of story he could tell that wouldn't have involved another pop-culture influenced puzzle quest, but it would have been interesting to see him try.I'll probably continue to listen to [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741] every few years, and I'm sure every now and again I'll listen to this one after, but it's not going on my favorite list like its predecessor.So will you like this one? It depends on how much you liked the first one. If you loved it like I did, you'll probably like this one. If you thought the first one just OK, you may want to give this a pass.And if you're one of those people who spend more time dunking on [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741] than I do talking about how much I like it..well I'm sure there is plenty more here for you to dunk on. Enjoy I guess?
Executive Summary: I thought this was mostly fun, albeit a bit slow at times. 3.5 Stars.
Audiobook: I think Zachary Quinto does a fine job. Nothing particularly special, but he generally reads at a good speed and with good inflection.
Full Review
This series doesn't seem to have the typical Scalzi snark, which I kind of miss. I do find the world building interesting. I kind of groaned when the title of the book was explained, but that's about it.
I'm generally not a fan of novellas and I might not have picked this one up if it wasn't included as part of my Audible membership. Mostly I went with this book because I was looking to fill space between my last book and the release of my next one. This served that well.
I thought despite it's short length the pacing was a little slow early on. Once it got going I thought it was pretty enjoyable.
Overall I liked it, and will consider checking the next one out. Hopefully Audible continues to include them in their free selection since I don't see myself spending a lot of money (or a credit) on something so short.
Executive Summary: I struggled with this one at times, but ultimately found it as enjoyable as I probably could in the year 2020.Audiobook: Steven Pacey does his usual excellent job. Not all of the American Abercrombie books have had him as a narrator, but I was happy to see him used for this series. He does some voices and generally just reads in a way that gives the audio that extra something for me.Full ReviewI've largely been avoiding darker stories this year because there is enough darkness going on. So I didn't jump on this one right away given Mr. Abercrombie's tendency towards dark fantasy.There were parts of the book I found a bit slow. In particular, he used a literary style or technique in this book (not sure of the correct way to describe it) that I first encountered in [b:The Heroes 9300768 The Heroes (First Law World, #5) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375671200l/9300768.SY75.jpg 12879765]. I'm not sure if the novelty of it wore off, or if I generally cared less this time around but I found it kind of dragged a little by comparison.Much like his other books it can be difficult to have anyone to root for, since most of the characters tend to be pretty self-serving. If anything I'm rooting for Rikke, and I found her part of the story pretty enjoyable.Overall this was a solid entry in this series, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one. Hopefully the world is a lot less dark by the time it comes out.
Executive Summary: An unexpected but welcome addition to the Bobiverse. I felt it started a bit slow but really picked up as the book went along. I'm looking forward to the next one.Audiobook: Ray Porter once again does a great job. I'm glad they were able to get him to continue on with this series. He does a variety of voices that really add that extra something such that I'll always do it in audio. Which is good since it's an audible exclusive.Full ReviewWhen [b:All These Worlds 35506021 All These Worlds (Bobiverse, #3) Dennis E. Taylor https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498271736l/35506021.SY75.jpg 54144690] came out three years ago I thought it was a satisfying but rushed conclusion. I didn't need there to be a fourth book, but I was happy to pick one up.This book has one main plot and one major subplot. Initially I found the subplot far more interesting and the main plot was rather slow. As the book went out things evened out though and my interest in the main plot grew.I feel like some of the plot points weren't really wrapped up to my satisfaction, but that probably just sets things up for the next book.Overall like the previous books I found this a lot of geeky fun. I'll be curious to see where he's going to take things from here.
Executive Summary: A decent lawyer/mystery/thriller story that I enjoyed more than the movie. I'll likely continue on in the series at some point.Audiobook: Adam Grupper does a really good job. I'd never heard of him before be he does some voices and reads with good inflections making him the kind of narrator that makes listening better than reading for me. I will say however the audio obviously comes from a CD because there are the tell tale audio cues for the end and beginning of a disc, often in the middle of a chapter. That could make it annoying at times, but at least they made it so the chapters were intact rather than simply ripping the CD to whatever breaks they originally had. Knowing how much time is left in a chapter is something I find very helpful and I hate it when older books aren't properly split.Overall I'd say the audio is a good choice and I'll likely try to get more of this series in audio if I can and (hopefully) with the same narrator.Full ReviewI was a huge fan of [a:John Grisham 721 John Grisham https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1583932591p2/721.jpg] growing up. He tends to write about lawyers fighting for the little guy standing up to big corporations or defending the innocent from injustice. Mickey Haller is a different kind of lawyer. I remember watching the movie awhile back and thinking it was good, but not great.I didn't realize that not only is Mickey Haller written by the same author as Harry Bosch (which I've also been reading lately) but apparently they are set in the same universe. Reading this book you never would know that either. I assume those connections come later on.It'd been so long since I've seen the movie I no longer remember any details beyond Matthew McConaughey played Haller. So for me it was a bit of a surprise as things unfolded. Mickey is likeable despite his clientele. He generally gets along with not one but two ex-wives. He's not going to win lawyer of the year, but he does care about doing the right thing. Just so long as he makes a buck while he's at it. The animosity with him and very cops did get a bit old at times though.Without getting into details, I felt that the ending of this was pretty elaborate. So it wasn't too surprising to me that they largely rewrote it for the movie. As is typical I liked the book better, but I thought both version were pretty enjoyable. I plan to revisit the Bosch series (which seems plagued with inconsistent narration) and will likely return to this series as well. I tend to like legal stories but I kind of got tired of Grisham awhile ago. If nothing else, these kinds of books are nice to break my usual habit of nothing but Sci-Fi and Fantasy books.
Executive Summary: This book really delivers on the promise of [b:Uncrowned 50789354 Uncrowned (Cradle, #7) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567730777l/50789354.SX50_SY75.jpg 72716950]. I found it started a bit slow but finished really strong and I already can't wait for the next book. 4.5 stars.Full ReviewI first read [a:Will Wight 7125278 Will Wight https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1442891069p2/7125278.jpg] early in 2019 when I got a copy of [b:Unsouled 30558257 Unsouled (Cradle, #1) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1465881128l/30558257.SY75.jpg 51106215]. A buddy of mine had been trying to get me to check out another series he'd written for a few months before that but I never got around to.Cradle has quickly become one of my favorite series and each new book is a drop what you're doing and make time to read event. The last entry [b:Uncrowned 50789354 Uncrowned (Cradle, #7) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567730777l/50789354.SX50_SY75.jpg 72716950] had a lot of potential but then it just sort of stopped. I still enjoyed it overall, but I was kind of letdown by the way it ended.It did however build a lot of anticipation for this book. I was spoiled and got to read the first seven books in one year. This is the longest I've had to wait for a new entry. I've always been a fan of fighting animes where the characters get stronger and the fight scenes get more and more insane.I will say that at this point in the series Cradle has reached that level. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are some (to me anyways) some very nice nods to Dragonball in this novel.I've enjoyed both the character development and the fight sequences of this series, but more than anything what sucks me in the most is the various magic systems that power the various characters and factions. I'm not entirely sure where things are going, but I'm excited to find out.
Executive Summary: I thought this was a relatively light and quick read. I enjoyed it well enough, but wasn't blown away by it.Audiobook: Joe Hempel does a fine job as a narrator. Nothing special, but since I'm an audible subscriber I was able to listen to this one for free, so you can't beat that price.Full ReviewThis book wasn't on my radar, but it was chosen by Sword & Laser for their October pick. The premise sounded interesting enough and getting a free copy made it easy to give it a try. I ended up listening to this in two parts because I hadn't quite finished it before [b:Battle Ground 23106013 Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587778549l/23106013.SY75.jpg 42654036] came out, so I put it on hold for a few days. That shows that I wasn't partitarily off put by walking away from it.This year I've been reading a lot less and favoring lighter reads, and this one fits that bill. I thought the main character was OK, but not great. I found some of the supporting characters to be less interesting/enjoyable however.The world building is probably the best/most interesting part to me. Things felt lived in, without getting into a ton of detail or exposition. The plot felt somewhat standard. Fergus is a bit of an anti-hero who takes a job that winds up with him getting involved in larger events than anticipated. Overall this was a decent read, but I wasn't blown away. I likely won't continue with the series, although if future books are included with my audible subscription I might reconsider.
Executive Summary: 3.5 stars. A bit slow in places, but a pretty fascinating and scary read.
Full Review
I've had a subscription to wired.com for the last year or so, and I tend to click on/read most of Mr. Greenberg's articles. He tends to focus on cybersecurity and computer crime.
This book focuses on the increasingly scarier world of state-sponsored hackers and cyber warfare. I've read a few other books on this now and I found it pretty well researched and written. I didn't know much of the events in this book so I feel like I learned a lot from it.
America tends to just focus on itself, so a lot of this was left to minor headlines and largely ignored by the public. However the internet has made the world a much smaller place, and the warning signs this book presents should not be ignored by any country.
If you enjoy computer hacking stories this book is worth a look, otherwise it may be worthwhile to check out an article on the subject instead.
Executive Summary: After a fun but somewhat incomplete return after a 6 year wait with [b:Peace Talks 49381341 Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579336858l/49381341.SY75.jpg 40515430], this book delivers on everything that book set the stage for. Easily my favorite in the series since [b:Changes 6585201 Changes (The Dresden Files, #12) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1304027244l/6585201.SY75.jpg 6778696].Audiobook: I started this series in paperback, moved to hard cover, then I discovered the audiobooks. I promptly reread the whole series in audio. James Marsters is great. So great that Full ReviewI should mention upfront that I'm an unapologetic Dresden Files fanboy. Hell I'm an unapologetic [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg] fanboy. So keep that in mind when I review this book.I really enjoyed [b:Peace Talks 49381341 Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579336858l/49381341.SY75.jpg 40515430] and gave it 5 stars. Would I have given the same book in another series 5? Probably not. For me a deciding factor is always how much I go out of my way to listen/read longer.That book was hard to put down, probably in part because it had been 6 years since [b:Skin Game 19486421 Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387236318l/19486421.SX50.jpg 23811929]. Things just felt somewhat incomplete. I do feel like he got to a good stopping point but it was obvious it was just the first half of a book. [b:Battle Ground 23106013 Battle Ground (The Dresden Files, #17) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587778549l/23106013.SY75.jpg 42654036] is the other half, and boy what a half it is. It's almost non-stop action and battle. Epic fight scenes the likes of which we haven't really seen since [b:Changes 6585201 Changes (The Dresden Files, #12) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1304027244l/6585201.SY75.jpg 6778696].I won't get into much detail, but the stakes continue to ramp up and there are some major developments that come out of this one. It partially made me consider removing a start from my rating for [b:Peace Talks 49381341 Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16) Jim Butcher https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579336858l/49381341.SY75.jpg 40515430] because this one was clearly so much better, but I decided that I still enjoyed that one thoroughly as well.I'm really hoping that now that he's gotten some books out again, we don't have to wait so long for the next one. I can't wait to see what happens next.
Executive Summary: Much like [b:Gideon the Ninth 42036538 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) Tamsyn Muir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538.SY75.jpg 60943229] this book started very slow for me and got better as it went along, however I found it a lot slower and less enjoyable overall. I'm not sure if I'll continue on to the third book or not. 2.5 rounded up for a decent ending and great narration.Audiobook: I initially borrowed [b:Gideon the Ninth 42036538 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) Tamsyn Muir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538.SY75.jpg 60943229] from the library and ended up enjoying it enough to pick up the audio mid-read from a daily deal. Moira Quick was so good it was a no brainer that I'd do the audio for this one. She once again delivers a great listen, and was one of the bright spots of the early going when things were so slow. If I do continue on in the series it will definitely be in audio.Full ReviewIt's hard to review this book without first talking a bit about the last one (something I apparently didn't do at the time I read it earlier this year and have since remedied).When I first heard about [b:Gideon the Ninth 42036538 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) Tamsyn Muir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538.SY75.jpg 60943229] the tagline I heard over and over was “Lesbian Neuromancers in space”. And while that was true, I felt it did the book a disservice by making it sound like a romanctic fantasy book.For me what I loved about that book was the sort of escape room/haunted house mystery and the snark of Gideon herself.This book tried to recapture the sort of mystery aspect of the first book, but I didn't feel like the execution was nearly as good. Instead it seemed to just sort of run in place for a really long time.I had some suspicions about what was going on fairly early and kept waiting for them to be confirmed or proven wrong. And waiting. And waiting.Eventually we got to the reveal and the last few chapters of this book were thouroughly enjoyable in the same vein as second half or so the first book. However it took far too long to get there for me.I'm not sure if I simply just don't find Harrow as entertaining as I did Gideon or if this book was badly in need of some editing. Probably a bit of both.At this point I'm not sure if I'll continue on to the final book. I probably will since I think there is just 1 book left, but I hope the pacing for that book is better. I may wait for some others to read and review it so I can pick their brain a bit on it.
Story
The story was fine, but nothing special. I feel like the series has sort of been running in place a bit. I still enjoy spending time with the Janes, but I'm kind of glad they are planning to wrap things up.
Artwork
I've lost track of who the artists have been. I couldn't really tell you if this is the same artist as the previous volume or a new one. I think the artwork is always fine, but has never really blown me away.
Executive Summary: I really love this series, and I hope she continues writing more books in the series. This was really good. Best of the series so far. 4.5 Stars.
Audiobook: I'm generally leary of authors narrating their own work but Mary Robinette Kowal is a great narrator in her own right and does a fantastic job narrating this as usual.
Full Review
So I read this one earlier this year. I was struggling with writing my goodreads reviews before peak covid. I've had a lot of trouble reading books in general this year. By this point in the year I was back to work part time (working 40 hours every other week) which likely means my listening was a bit uneven.
I may or may not go back and write reviews for all the other books I skipped over, but we'll see how motivated I'm feeling. I wanted to write this one because as we're approaching the end of year, it felt wrong that one of my top reads of 2020 only had a 1 sentence review.
I hadn't read the blurb at all before pre-ordering this one. So it was a big surprise when I learned this book wasn't following Elma, but was instead told from the perspective of Nicole Wargin, who had been a fairly minor character in the first two books.
Initially I was a bit skeptical of the PoV change, but by the end this has become my favorite book of the series. Nicole is able to explore new aspects of the world of the last two books that Elma never could. I'd really love to see her do this with other characters in the future.
In particular I found the exploration of eating disorders to be well done. Just like Elma has his issues with anxiety, I love how this series shows characters who are successful at what they do and refuse to be defined by a single aspect of their lives.
In a year that's been a struggle for me to read, this was a nice reprieve. I'm there on day one if she writes a book 4.
