Gregg Nicholas
The characters in this series have incomprehensible motivations. Each one seems to make all their decisions based on some negative emotion. The authors usage of repetition, to convey dismay or perhaps to remind the reader of what occurred a couple pages ago, is annoying and time consuming.
This series of books has often annoyed me by the amount of repetition employed by the author. Perhaps inflating the word count is good for the author's pocketbook, but it's tiresome for the reader. This particular book is largely made up of stories that have already been told in other books of the series.
Despite the unbelievably impossible ‘science' in this fiction, this mystery set in a dystopian near future is worth reading.
In my opinion, the first half of this book moved too slowly. The first 200 pages could have been condensed to 50 without losing anything of interest. They have an unbelievable level of control over designer genetics - and I mean that literally - I can't bring myself to believe these manipulations are possible.
The science seems unlikely, particularly with the ending, but it was still a good read.
A space piracy story told from the viewpoint of a horrible person. At times, it's difficult to keep reading when the opinions expressed are so despicable.
The Science Fiction part of this story is completely unbelievable. However, suspend your disbelief because it's a well written story.
An exciting adventure exploring the near term possibilities of space exploration. Up until the last 15% of the book, I was wishing that it was real - and that I was part of the team. This book is an example of one of the most thrilling types of science fiction. It appears to be well researched, and sounds like it would all be possible in the near future - without needing to accept things that violate the laws of nature.
This book is more coherent than the movie. I've rated it somewhat low for a few reasons. The story had basically no ‘science' to make it qualify as science fiction. Long passages of the story are written in an overly descriptive, yawn-inducing style. However, if you have a strong interest in descriptions of New York City life during the last part of the 19th century, this book is for you.
An enthralling tale. The technological and biological advances that are predicted by this novel seem fantastical and unbelievable, but after the story, the author tries to explain how each miraculous device or enhancement isn't that much of a stretch of imagination. Even this section of the book is worth reading.
This book is heavily dependent on remembering the previous books, because it jumps right into the story without reminding the reader about how the characters got into the mess they're in. It has been so long between books that I wish the author had included some type of prologue. I think the concept of the books has been explored and nearly exhausted. This book ends abruptly. It's obvious that the author plans another book. I certainly hope the author doesn't try to drag this out to 20 volumes.
This book barely rated 2 stars with me. The science is entirely unbelievable. Some mysterious force instantly kills every human on the entire planet - except for teenagers who are actively considering suicide? I guess it's easy for the author from that point. He doesn't have to come up with any rational reason since the only survivors are too immature and self involved to do any sort of scientific research. At the end of the book, we're left with 2 young adults raising a child - and their plan is to lie to her about everything??! Frankly, all the teenagers were despicable and made stupid decisions. Was this a statement of what the author thinks about adolescents - or just the suicidal ones?
The second of a two-part thriller with black ops military and super villains - and science fiction inventions. There's a minor problem with the timeline in the transition between the 2 books, but it's not important.
This novel is somewhat different than his short story that I read many years ago. There seem to be a few discrepancies with the science/technology/biology in the prequels, but they're so minor that it might be my faulty memory. The scenes in this story are a horrific depiction of cruelty between children and military cruelty to soldiers when they believe the ends justify the means. Usually when the protagonists are exceptional children, it's easy for the story to devolve into the Disney-esque style where children run circles around the adults who are depicted as stodgy, inept bunglers. This novel avoids that trap.
This book concludes the trilogy. At times, I found it to be tedious with many characters and details. Some of the religious quotations made me uncomfortable - while other passages described sexuality so explicitly that I was uncomfortable in a completely different way. As with many fantasy books, the author starts with rules for magic - but later in the story the rules are broken. This causes inconsistencies in the story that we're supposed to ignore.
In this final book of the trilogy, the rules of time travel are completely confused. Apparently, there are no rules and the story flounders to a stop. There are a few continuity errors that should have been caught by the editor. At times, the humor seemed to be a bit contrived, but it still made me laugh.
Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures
A few sci-fi, short stories with very little entertainment value. The best thing that I can say about them is that they are based in the near future using technology that is mostly believable. The stories are separated by lengthy essays about the stories.
I could quibble about a few details that don't seem logical. I could take issue with the author's technique of writing some chapters as if a different character was writing the story. None of my nitpicking should prevent anyone from reading this enjoyable series.
In this first book of the series, John Scalzi introduces us to an imperfect universe. Mankind hasn't completely destroyed the Earth, but some wars have made some countries unlivable. The science behind the sci-fi elements of the story is glossed over because the human narrator doesn't understand it. Most of the technology is alien (and probably not possible). The protagonist tries to lighten the mood with humor, which I enjoyed even if the other characters didn't. I'm looking forward to seeing how the universe changes in this series. The way that humans interact with the various alien species needs to improve.
