Rob
Executive Summary: I've been waiting for this for a long time, and thankfully it delivered. More importantly though I'm happy we already have a release date for [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] because so much was left unresolved.Audiobook: I bought both the audiobook and the hardcover because I sadly no longer get free review copies of Mr. Butcher books as I was lucky enough to do in the past.James Marsters is Harry Dresden to me, so there was no way I could skip the audio. I mostly listened to this in audio, primarily while waiting for my hard cover to arrive, but also because it's so much more convenient to listen than read.This series is a must listen for me for sure.Full ReviewI've been slacking off on my reviews lately, but there is no way I can't do at least a little review for this book. I've been a huge fan of Jim Butcher and the Dresden files since the TV show came out. It's one of the series that got me back into recreational reading after largely giving it up in college.I thought I've been waiting for this book for about 5 years. Turns out it was actually 6 years. Mr. Butcher has written some other stuff in that time, including some Dresden short stories, but after the early pace of the series, it's been a bit tough to get used to having to wait a long time. That said without going into spoiler territory, I thought this was worth the wait. If you didn't get the background on this book, in several interviews since it's announcement, Mr. Butcher talked about part of the reason this book took so long and how it resulted in him splitting what he'd done into two books. This one and [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].And to me that really shows here. We're not talking a [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] level cliff-hanger or anything, but this book sets a lot of things in motion and does not resolve them in the kind of way he's done with most of the previous books.That isn't to say this feels like an incomplete book. Given the stakes of things, I think he found a good place to pause the story. But that's really what it is, a pause, not an ending. And of course you get the usual Harry Dresden snark, great supporting cast and kick-ass fight scenes.Overall I tore through this book in 2 days. If my hard cover had shown up earlier in the day I might have finished it in 1. So while not as strong as the last few entries in the series, it's still was an easy 5 star book for me. There are few book series I put aside everything to read, and I suspect this will always remain one until the final book. Now to start counting the days for [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].
Executive Summary: This is yet another book I enjoyed this year whose details have now escaped me since listening to it earlier this year. As its likely to be one of my top reads I wanted to at least say something about it.
Audiobook: Kevin R. Free does his usual excellent job that makes this a must listen. He is the voice of Murderbot, so I'm glad they brought him back for the novel.
Full Review
I'm generally not a fan of novellas. I tend not to find them very satisfying and price per page/duration tends to be much higher than novels. One of the exceptions has been the Murderbot series. I got access to the ebooks for cheaper price, but still opted to spend the money on the audiobooks because I enjoyed them that much.
As with most things I listened to this year, most of the details now allude me and I regret not writing some thoughts at the time I completed it. I particularly enjoy the relationship of Murderbot and Art, so I was glad to see them return in this one.
My real main takeaways from this one was that I thought it transitioned well to full novel and that I'll be picking up the next one right away.
Executive Summary: Unfortunately I didn't review this back when I read it. I think I found it a satisfying conclusion to the series though.Audiobook: I don't think I've listened to anything by John Telfer. I vaguely recall thinking they were fine considering the narrator swap, but wishing Christian Rodska had been up to the task instead. I haven't read any updates on their health, but hopefully Mr. Rodska is able to recover and return to narrating books.Full ReviewI delayed listening to this book because the audio was delayed. Then I delayed even further because: 2020.I've really enjoyed the Powder Mage series and this book was no different. I didn't find this conclusion quite as satisfying as [b:The Autumn Republic 20883847 The Autumn Republic (Powder Mage, #3) Brian McClellan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1393261950l/20883847.SY75.jpg 40224712], but it was enjoyable overall and probably one of my top reads of the year, few and far between as they may be.I wish I had been in the mood to write a proper review at the time, but this will have to do. I'll be curious to see what kind of stuff Mr. Mclellan does next since he appears to be stepping away from his Powder Mage world for the time being. I tried his Urban Fantasy series and while I enjoyed it, it's nowhere near as good.
Executive Summary: So in reviewing the sequel to this book, I realized I never got around to writing a review for this one. I felt like this book started off slow but once it hooked me in I really enjoyed it. I think the mystery aspect and Gideon's snark are what makes this book so enjoyable.
Audiobook: I initially borrowed this book 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 does a great job with voices and really brought Gideon's snark to life. I loved listening to the way she read Gideon and Harrow talking to each other.
This became a must listen series moving forward.
Full Review
When I first heard about this book, the tagline I heard over and over was “Lesbian Neuromancers in space”. And while that was true, I feel like it does the book a disservice by making it sound like a romanctic fantasy book.
There are necromancers. Check.
It's in space. Check. Although for most of the plot purposes of this book that seemed to be unimportant to me. Maybe it will matter more later in the series.
There are Lesbians. Check. While it's somewhat important to the plot, I don't think it's the focus (or point) of the story. It's just another aspect of some of the characters.
As a CIS White guy I'm the last person to try to be an authority on representation in fiction. I've always been represented. For me this isn't about that though. Personally I just don't want to read a lot about romance of any kind. So for me the level of romance in this book was good (it's there and part of the story, but not the point of it).
For those looking to see themselves represented more in their fiction, that aspect probably means a lot more. Again, it's hard for me to really weigh in on that, so I will leave it to others.
I just know I wasn't really interested in reading the book as marketed. However I really enjoyed this book once I read it and I'm glad that Sword & Laser decided to make it a pick or I'd probably never have picked it up.
For me what I loved about this book was the sort of escape room/haunted house mystery vibe it gave off. I wanted to know what was going and had a bunch of theories throughout. Some proved to be true while others were way off base. This was a lot of the fun for me.
Then there is the snark of Gideon herself. Initially I found her a bit annoying, but as the book went on I liked her more and more.
I liked this book enough that I pre-ordered the sequel and listened to it not too long after release. If you're turned off by the tagline you may want to give it a try anyways. At least if you enjoy mysteries and snark.
Executive Summary: I think this is probably my favorite book of the series so far. After a bit of a slow start I really enjoyed the rest of it.Audiobook: Grover Gardner does another great job. He's made some of the less interesting books easier to get through. He doesn't do many voices but he seems like a great fit for Miles.Full ReviewI've always been someone who prefers to read long-running series in publication order rather than chronological or “recommended” order. For this series that has meant a bit of up and down. This is the sixth book I've read and most of the other five were in the 3-3.5 range. This was a solid 4. I definitely enjoy Miles as a character. I'm a little uncertain where this book slots in compared to some of the others I've read. It seems like it's set before [b:Brothers in Arms 296182 Brothers in Arms (Vorkosigan Saga, #5) Lois McMaster Bujold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353351698l/296182.SY75.jpg 1808918]. I guess that would be the benefit of reading these chronologically rather than publication order. All I know is I seem to enjoy him more and more as the series goes on.From the description I had thought we were going to spend time with him during the academy. I love a good school trope. However it turns out this essentially starts with his graduation. I found the beginning a little slow but once it got going, I was hooked.I thought there was a lot of good character development. I also enjoyed the stuff with Gregor. I'm a little fuzzy on the details about Miles history with the Dendari fleet, but I feel like I haven't yet read about his first encounter with them yet.Overall this was a solid book, and since I already own [b:Barrayar 61905 Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga, #7) Lois McMaster Bujold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397151220l/61905.SY75.jpg 3036422], I'll probably jump into that soon. I'm a bit reluctant since that's set after [b:Shards of Honour 61903 Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1) Lois McMaster Bujold https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1392767899l/61903.SY75.jpg 9673658] which I didn't particularly enjoy, but the consensus seems to be that it's a much better book.
Executive Summary: I thought this was kind of slow, but decent. Not sure if I'll continue on with the next one though.
Audiobook: I mostly only know George Guidall from the Dark Tower series. As such I kept comparing Walt Longmire to Roland Deschain and found Walt a bit wanting. That aside I feel like he was a good fit for the tone of the series.
Full Review
I was only vaguely aware of the TV show before picking this up on a daily deal. As I've been trying to branch out from Sci-Fi and Fantasy it seemed like a good mystery to pick up.
I thought the characters were interesting enough, but the action was very slow moving. Normally I like character driven stories, but in a mystery I expect a bit of a faster pace to things that we got here.
I didn't figure out the mystery until nearly the end, so that was a point in this book's favor. Then again I'm not sure the author gave too many clues either, so I'm not sure if there were more subtle or if the author simply wanted to make it very hard to figure out before the end.
I don't know much about Wyoming or the Native American tribes of the area, so I'm not sure of the accuracy. However it appears the author is from around there, so I'd imagine it should be somewhat interesting. I don't think I'm going to plan a trip to visit, but the way he describes it, I'd be more inclined to visit, at least during the warmer months.
At this point I'm not sure if I'll continue. It looks to be a long and continuing series. I'd probably be interested in at least reading the next book if I can get the audio cheap or from the library.
Story
This wraps things up pretty well, although I have a minor complaint about “missed connections” that would get into spoiler territory.
I didn't like this one quite as much as the first volume. I'd have liked to see things come a bit more full circle than they did. However it was still a fairly satisfying conclusion to how Kanan was able to escape Order 66.
Artwork
The art was good, but just a bit “off”. I think it's simply because it's a different medium and it would probably actually look strange if they tried to match the animation.
Most of this is in the past (although not as much as the previous volume) so that helps.
Story
My favorite Star Wars is actually the animated stuff Dave Fiolini has done. Ahsoka Tano is my favorite Star Wars character. However Clone Wars is a bit uneven and has a bunch of bad episodes.
Rebels on the other hand was a much tighter scripted series. I kind of had to roll my eyes a bit at the start that there were a bunch of other Jedi around. However the universe is pretty big, so I got over it quick.
I thought this does a decent job in filling in how Kanan came to avoid Order 66 and show eventually show up in the Rebellion. It probably would have been better had this been part of the show, but that might have taken away from the pretty tight plotting.
Overall pretty good. 3.5 stars
Artwork
I thought the artwork was fine. It's a bit tough since I think the animation of the show is fantastic and the characters didn't look quite right to me. However since most of this book takes place in the past I didn't spend too much time thinking about it.
Executive Summary: There were parts I enjoyed more than others. I think I like the way they used the core of this as the basis for parts of the 4th season of the show more than the story itself. 3.5 starsAudiobook: I was never a huge fan of Jefferson Mays until he was unavailable for [b:Cibola Burn 18656030 Cibola Burn (The Expanse, #4) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405023040l/18656030.SY75.jpg 26109318] and they replaced him with Erik Davies. They have since had him re-record that book, but not this novella. Mr. Davies is fine, but I'd rather they had Mr. Mays redo it. Maybe when the collection comes out they'll have him redo this one.Overall it's fine in audio, but nothing special.Full ReviewBobbie and Avasarala are my favorite Expanse characters. So it's kind of shocking I hadn't read this already. Any excuse to get extra Bobbie Draper, even if it was mostly in a cameo fashion should have been up on my list.Sadly though it mostly focuses on her teenage nephew, who kind of got on my nerves for most of the story. That was probably intentional, but it didn't help me love this book.I think they did a much better job with the seed for this story in the TV adaptation. That version was much more enjoyable to me. That said, I thought it was worth reading. You get some more glimpses of Mars than you have in most of the novels because the action has largely been happening elsewhere.
Executive Summary: This one started slow but finished pretty strong. One of the more enjoyable novellas of the series so far.Audiobook: Jefferson Mays does his usual good, but not great job. I like him, but he's never been a narrator that I seek out either. Full ReviewMuch like some of the others I thought this started a bit slow, but it picked up a lot faster than [b:The Vital Abyss 26170028 The Vital Abyss (The Expanse, #5.5) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1440610192l/26170028.SX50.jpg 45335194] which I read earlier in the week.This ties into the later books, in particular [b:Tiamat's Wrath 28335698 Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse, #8) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522779721l/28335698.SY75.jpg 48382890], so I was able to better remember some of the characters and events that tie back to this better than I did with some of the others.That may be why I enjoyed it a bit more. It's not as good as the Churn, but given some of the events in [b:Tiamat's Wrath 28335698 Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse, #8) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522779721l/28335698.SY75.jpg 48382890] I thought it added enough to make it worth picking up.
Executive Summary: Good, but not great. I found it a bit slow. I think I might have enjoyed this more if I had read some of the other books more recently.
Full Review
I read this in one sitting on a plane. That probably helped a bit. But I didn't love it. I found the start very slow. Then I spent a bunch of time trying to remember details from the novels I haven't read in a few years.
I think the intention was to either make us sympathize with a character who doesn't really deserve it. Or more likely to at least offer a more objective view of how people can end up doing bad things. It does a decent job of that, but I felt like it took too long to get there. The ending was pretty good.
I don't think this one is necessary to read, but if you're a fan of the series and a completionist it's not bad.
Executive Summary: I enjoyed this, but not as much as the first one, and not nearly as much as his Shadow Campaigns series.
Audiobook: YA books seem to love to do multiple narrators. I've found it a bit of a mixed bag. As both protagonists are female, I didn't really find it necessary to have distinct narrators for each POV. However both narrators were fine.
Catherine Ho returns as Isoka, while Nancy Wu was added to read Torrie's chapters. Both read at a good pace and we recorded at a good volume. While the narration doesn't make this a must listen for me, it's definitely a solid option.
Full Review
I'm not generally a fan of YA books, but I'm a big fan of Django Wexler after thoroughly enjoying his Shadow Campaign series.
I thought the first book of this series started a bit slow, but picked up by the end. This book was a bit similar because we're introduced to a new POV, Torrie and for me her early chapters were kind of slow.
Isoka's chapter picked right up where we left off in the last book so I was a lot more engaged in those from the start. I did find Torrie's chapters to get a lot more interesting by the middle of hte book and by the end I was enjoying each of them about equally. If anything I maybe enjoyed the end of Torrie's chapters the most.
I will say the YA romance was a bit sappy at times, but I guess that's because I'm not the target demographic. For me I'm most interested in the world building. The ancient technology and the really cool magic system.
We got some additional details about the Ghost ship in this book, but not a great deal. It was enough to keep me interested in story though.
Overall I thought this book was enjoyable enough, but not quite as good as the last one or his previous adult series.
Executive Summary: A truly fascinating listen that proves the life can be more unbelievable than fiction.
Audiobook: For non-fiction I prefer my narrators to basically be unmemorable. I want them to just give me the story without distracting me. Cassandra Campbell not only does a good job, but I really like how this audiobook was produced.
There are diagrams in the print version of this book and instead of trying to “read” or describe them to you, there is a pdf you can look at to see what they are talking about and Ms. Campbell simply says “see the insert” in the appropriate place.
Full Review
Elizebeth Smith-Friedman was a name I knew was associated with cryptography, but almost none of the details of her remarkable life.
Not only did she help break codes in World War 1, she also helped bust Rum Runners during prohibition and created a formidable team of code breakers for the Coast Guard in the process leading to some major success stories during World War 2 that were kept classified until very recently.
Part love story, part examination of sexism in the early/mid 1900s and part spy novel this book really has a lot incredible stories that kept me fascinated for the entire time.
Jason Fargone did an excellent job collecting all the details and laying out what has mostly been a hidden history of early cryptography.
Top Reads of 2019These are all the (new) reads from 2019 that got 4.5 stars or higher from me.1) [b:Tiamat's Wrath 28335698 Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse, #8) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522779721l/28335698.SY75.jpg 48382890] - 5 Stars - (My Review)2) [b:Underlord 40502274 Underlord (Cradle, #6) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549953283l/40502274.SY75.jpg 62830100] - 5 Stars - (My Review)3) [b:The Burning White 30169100 The Burning White (Lightbringer, #5) Brent Weeks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533264732l/30169100.SY75.jpg 50608625] - 5 Stars - (My Review)4) [b:The WoW Diary: A Journal of Computer Game Development 42594746 The WoW Diary A Journal of Computer Game Development John Staats https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562512607l/42594746.SX50.jpg 66288030] - 5 Stars - (My Review)5) [b:The Liar's Key 22852698 The Liar's Key (The Red Queen's War, #2) Mark Lawrence https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1415906270l/22852698.SY75.jpg 42416602] - 4.5 Stars - (My Review)6) [b:Ship of Smoke and Steel 34618380 Ship of Smoke and Steel (The Wells of Sorcery, #1) Django Wexler https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1526961717l/34618380.SY75.jpg 55772540] - 4.5 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: 2019Total Books: 75Total Backlog Books: 32 (42.67%)Rereads: 4 (5.33%)My reading dropped off quite a bit in 2019. This is for a few reason. I've gotten back into gaming a lot more than I have in past years. I've also cut back my bike riding a bit (I was overdoing it). In general too I was just less interested in reading and found myself listening to music or reading a news article where normally I'd be listening to an audio book or reading a book.I've decided my years of pushing myself to read constantly are over. It was fun for awhile, but now it feels like work. I've fallen behind on my reviews several times and just don't feel motivated to catch back up most of the time.On the plus side I really worked down my backlog this year. Nearly half of my reads were stuff I already owned.I suspect my reading in 2020 will drop a bit further, but I'm ok with it. I'm sure the books I do read will be that much better since I'm not in such a rush to do as many as I can anymore.****** Format Breakdown ******Total AUDIO_BOOK Count: 46 (61.33%)Total BOOK Count: 4 (5.33%)Total EBOOK Count: 9 (12.00%)Total GRAPHIC_NOVEL Count: 16 (21.33%)Despite the drop off in my overall reading my percentages remained about the same. I'm doing about 60% in audio and 20% graphic novels so only 20% are books I'm reading with my eyeballs. ******* Genre Breakdown ******Total FANTASY Count: 51 (68.00%)Total MYSTERY Count: 4 (5.33%)Total NONFICTION Count: 4 (5.33%)Total SCIFI Count: 16 (21.33%)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. Despite my attempts to read more other genres I had another big spike in fantasy again. This is partially due to all the graphic novels I read being primarily fantasy based stuff. Unlike past years I didn't read any Thrillers although I did read a few mysteries instead. I have several non-fiction books on my backlog so hoping to keep plugging those in between SFF reads in 2020.******** Author Gender Breakdown ********Total MALE Count: 56 (74.67%)Total FEMALE Count: 19 (25.33%)My ratio is about 1% 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. ** Ratings ****Average Rating: 3.8Total 2 Count: 3 (4.00%)Total 3 Count: 14 (18.67%)Total 4 Count: 53 (70.67%)Total 5 Count: 5 (6.67%)My average rating continues to be about a 3.8 compared to 2018. Percentage wise I'm still at about a 4% on books I didn't enjoy much. Unlike years past 2/3 of my 2 star reads were ones I picked out myself.My percentage of 5 star reads is also down. I only added 4 new books to the mix, the other was from a re-read of [b:Heir of Novron 44777327 Heir of Novron (The Riyria Revelations, #5-6) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554303044l/44777327.SY75.jpg 16022532]. I didn't have that many 4.5 star reads either. Still plenty of 4 star reads which continue to be the typical rating I give my books, so generally happy with my book selection.Years Published:Total 1968 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1972 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1980 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1984 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1986 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1989 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 1991 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1992 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1993 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 2007 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 2008 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 2009 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 2010 Count: 3 (4.00%)Total 2011 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 2012 Count: 3 (4.00%)Total 2013 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 2014 Count: 4 (5.33%)Total 2015 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 2016 Count: 2 (2.67%)Total 2017 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 2018 Count: 14 (18.67%)Total 2019 Count: 27 (36.00%)Decade Published:Total 1960 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1970 Count: 1 (1.33%)Total 1980 Count: 5 (6.67%)Total 1990 Count: 3 (4.00%)Total 2000 Count: 5 (6.67%)Total 2010 Count: 60 (80.00%)Most of my reading continues to come from books published since 2010, and a good number (27) of my total were published in 2019. Only about 4% of the books I read were published before I was born.Additional Stats:Number of Books: 29Total Pages: 7306Total From Backlog: 14Longest Book: [b:Seven Blades in Black 40389431 Seven Blades in Black (The Grave of Empires, #1) Sam Sykes https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1536228116l/40389431.SY75.jpg 62700695] by [a:Sam Sykes 3252210 Sam Sykes https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1320698169p2/3252210.jpg] - 704 pagesShortest Book: [b:The Boys, Volume 3: Good For The Soul 4184715 The Boys, Volume 3 Good For The Soul Garth Ennis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353827662l/4184715.SY75.jpg 4232030] by [a:Garth Ennis 14965 Garth Ennis https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1242438038p2/14965.jpg] - 206 pagesAverage Pages: 251.93Number of Books (Excluding Graphic Novels): 13Total Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 4683Average Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 360.23Number of Audiobooks: 46Total Audio Hours: 750Total From Backlog: 18Longest Book: [b:The Burning White 30169100 The Burning White (Lightbringer, #5) Brent Weeks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533264732l/30169100.SY75.jpg 50608625] by [a:Brent Weeks 1370283 Brent Weeks https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1232012513p2/1370283.jpg] - 39 hoursShortest Book: [b:Artificial Condition 36223860 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2) Martha Wells https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1505590203l/36223860.SY75.jpg 56357518] by [a:Martha Wells 87305 Martha Wells https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1397566224p2/87305.jpg] - 3 hoursAverage Hours: 16.3Overall not my best year of reading, but still an enjoyable one. There are some big reads I'm looking forward to in 2020, so even if my reading continues to decline I'm sure it will be great too.
Rat Queens is awesome, so I bought this Deluxe Edition.I originally reviewed these issues with each trade paper. Those reviews are linked below if you're so inclined.[b:Rat Queens, Vol. 3: Demons 28762820 Demons (Rat Queens, #3) Kurtis J. Wiebe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489503059l/28762820.SY75.jpg 48893668] - (My Review)[b:Rat Queens, Vol. 4: High Fantasies 35631919 High Fantasies (Rat Queens, #4) Kurtis J. Wiebe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499647551l/35631919.SX50.jpg 57083568] - (My Review)
Story
My end of year push to get to 75 books and to finish this series continued with this volume. The details are starting to blur but if I'm remembering correctly there was some major plot developments at the end of this one that made me want to immediately pick up the next volume.
Artwork
Excellent, though explicit artwork as in previous volumes.
Story
I found this one a bit slow after the pretty solid pace of the last 3 volumes. I got a lot of the answers I was looking for after rushing to pick this one up, but this felt like more of a side story. I'm not sure but I think this may have been released that way.
This plus the end of the year really kind of stalled me out on my read of the series but I'm hoping to pick it back up again soon.
Artwork
I continue to enjoy the artwork of this series, it really adds to the story.
Executive Summary: I like the premise, but not the execution. 1.5 stars. Generously rounded up.Audiobook: Jonathan Sleep did a great job with the narration. It's too bad he wasn't given a better book to read. I'd definitely listen to another book he narrates, just not the sequel to this one.Full ReviewI really love [b:NPCs 22088245 NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth, #1) Drew Hayes https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400095217l/22088245.SY75.jpg 41426688] and hoped that this would be another book in the same vein. While it does have a similar premise there was one major difference. That book was great. This one, not so much.I did most of this on my ride home, and it was short so I finished it. There were some cool story telling details but the characters and what I can only assume is the author's general outlook on life and dungeons and dragons based on his facebook page really make this a hard pass for me.Everyone is an asshole. There is no one worth rooting for. I think they all deserve what happens to them. Hopefully I can find another “trapped in a D&D book series” because this one is not for me.
Story
Another enjoyable entry in this series. I liked finally getting the back story on most of the Boys. I still want to know the specifics with Billy Butcher, but I suspect that's being kept secret for awhile longer.
Jumped right into the next one after this.
Artwork
The continues to be excellent, but not safe for kids/work/not wanting to explain to people what you're reading.
Story
Well if I didn't this series was over the top before, I definitely did so after this one. With a title like Herogasm, it makes you wonder what's going to happen and it was far crazier than even I thought.
I'm not sure if I'm just starting to get desensitized to the sex and ultraviolence or simply enjoying the story more.
Artwork
Well with how insane this volume was I sometimes found myself looking around me as I was reading to ensure no one was around. It's very well drawn and I guess Darick Robertson has had a lot of practice for this one.
Story
It was nice to see some (somewhat) decent superheroes for once. They are still pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as most of the others/they could be.
I found the parody of the X-men/X-force/X-factor to be pretty enjoyable.
Artwork
Much like the last one, don't let your kids read this. Good artwork but maybe not the best choice for Christmas reading. lol.
Story
Things finally started to pick up for me in this volume. I still find most of the characters unlikeable, but I like the story of Hughie and Annie. Things seem destined to end badly though.
On to the next!
Artwork
The artwork continues to be good and very explicit sometimes bordering on pornographic. This is not a series for a younger audience that's for sure.
Executive Summary: A pretty good story that combines the magic school trope with fantasy mystery trope in an enjoyable fashion.
Audiobook: Xe Sands did a good job with the narration. This was a few books ago now so I don't really remember it standing out one way or another. It is probably one of those books that is fine in audio, but not a must listen.
Full Review
I picked this one up after reading some best books of the year list and thinking the story and the length was a good fit for my short and light end of year criteria.
I mean the premise is a murder at a magic school, so I guess not THAT light, but it's far from grimdark fantasy too.
I listened to most of it in a single go during my holiday roadtrip and it helped pass the time quite well.
I found the main character likeable enough, but for me the main hook was the magic school trope. The fantasy detective is pretty overdone these days, but having the detective not able to do magic was a nice twist on things to set this apart.
The mystery itself was decent, but not great. I don't go out of my way to try to guess what happened, but I've read enough books that sometimes it just seems apparent to me. This was one of those, but not until a good portion of the book was over.
Overall this was a good listen and is nice because it's stand alone. That's pretty hard to come by these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if a second book gets written at some point.