Travis

Not being too familiar with England, I didn't get a lot of the English-specific references, but I liked it. Neat premise with a theatrical touch I didn't expect going in.

I really wanted to like this; the premise and story itself were great. But the endless quips, non-sequitur side anecdotes, and rambling analogies that go on and on and on really got old after a bit. It's like the author has a case of Ryan Reynolds syndrome combined with a huge helping of Peter Jackson “throw everything I can possibly think of into this” lack of restraint. It's funny stuff, but about half of it could've been cut out and the book would be more streamlined and better paced. We get it, Catherynne, you're witty. Just dial it back a notch.

If this doesn't sound like something that would bother you, then by all means you could absolutely love this book. And in that case I'd like to recommend the audio version. The narrator is fantastic. Heath is a perfect fit for this kind of silly story, and handles the many alien voices, accents, and dialects very well. Enough so that it made the more rambling bits a little less annoying.

This was pretty disappointing after the wonderful Ready Player One. It felt much more pandery and unoriginal, with nerd references thrown in willy-nilly without any real reason for them to be there. It's basically a sadly predictable cross between The Last Starfighter and a young gamer's fanfiction fantasy that validates all the endless hours of playing games he does. It would probably be better if the main character were more likable, but his short temper makes him really hard to care about and none of the other characters manage to avoid being stereotypes and don't make themselves stand out as people I should give a damn about. It gets better in the last few chapters as the invaders' intentions are revealed, and even ends on an intriguing premise for another story, but it's far too little too late. My recommendation? Just skip this and read Ready Player One instead. It feels more fresh and interesting, and is less lazy about it's nerdy references.

Gets really weird, but it's fascinating from a philosophical standpoint. Has some similarities to Seveneves by Neal Stephenson re: genetics and evolution.

This book starts out with a bang and gets really interesting really quickly. Unfortunately, it gets pretty boring about halfway through.