Rick Kohut

Late this past summer, soon after I finished listening to all 25 hours of the audiobooks of the first three Area X novels (I'd read them when they first came out) - imagine my surprise that Vandermeer was inspired to write a (final?) book in the Southern Reach series. With the narrative of the three "prequel" novelas in this 3th book, the universe is fuller, the lore (and gore) richer, but I dont know if the complete arc is better. I am glad that a 4th book didn't go foward from where "Acceptance" ended as the uncertainty of that world speaks for itself. If the goal of this 4th book is to explain what/who is behind Area X and/or where it came from, at best incomplete answers are gained. It does give much insight into Command and how it handled The Southern Reach from the earliest days of odd happenings. As one who digs the sheer creepy insanity of Area X, I got some of this - especially in the 3rd novella - but I also got too much, unnecessarily opaque story about the people and tatics of Command. There's surely some cause and effect between these two, but it mostly escapes me - even after so many mostly thrilling hours I've spent in this beautifully bizarre world of Area X.

I listened back to back to back through the three (then) Area X novels this past summer - see my reviews on "Annihilation" and "Authority" for my context. In many ways this is the richest of the initial trilogy as it alternates among three time lines within the same physical geography. Although the events - midway through the expeditions into Area X; before the border transforms the Coast; and after the catastrophe which ends "Authority" - happened years apart, this structure illuminates the interconnected people, themes, landscapes and intrigue. The audio narration is excellent and this helps to differentiate among the plot threads. When I arrived at the end of the 25+ hours of listening across the three books, I felt satisfied, yet longing to know more about the nature and origin of the force creating Area X. Imagine my excitement at learning Vandermeer felt compelled to write a fourth book "Absolution" which was released a month ago. I'm near the conclusion of that novel - gotta wrap this so I can finish that set of three novellas!

I listened to this second entry in the mind blowing Area X (now) quadrilogy last summer when the consequential US election was looming (see my review on "Authority" for more about this.) It's taken me months to write this review and now that the results are known, the theme of an unrecognizable, destructive force moving across the US landscape feels more apt than ever. The narration is excellent as it helps bring to life the more cloak and dagger, intrigue rich plot of the first 2/3's of the story. The story accelerates - getting creepier and wilder in the final third. The relatively dry, mysterious aspects of the start are worth navigating through to get to the ripping conclusion of this 2nd entry in what was initially a triology unlike any I'd ever read (ornlistemed to) Otherworldly, yet so very familiar as well.

This title intrigued me as I spent some meaningful time a few years ago in NM and the Navajo Nation - the settings for this novel. The first chapter is gory & disturbing. Skip to the end of it as it isn't vital to the plot. I liked the first person narrator and her ability to see the spirits who occupy the places she travels. I could have done less with her back story as her history occupied at least half of the book - alternating past and present by chapter. This shifting slowed dowe the plot - which already felt thin to begin with. The plot's "mystery" was cliched and held little suspense. I do like the main character and may consider reading future entries in a series as future titles will likely focus on her present as I presume (hope) her back story has been throughly told in "Shutter."

I listened to this audio book for two reasons. First, I heard the author speak at a book festival and they described how this novel fits well into a genre the author themselves coined - "hopepunk." And second, the plot was (accurately I'd say) described as similar to the show about queer pirates I enjoyed - "Our Flag Means Death." The reader of the audiobook was excellent in bringing the voices alive - especially Avra - the goofy, yet deeply loveable main character. The plot moves slowly at first and it took me a while to enter into the story-world. It's not a page turning thriller by any means, yet it kept me engaged through out. The constant bantering about sex was funny at first and then a bit tedious as the story continued. I did like the relationships at the center of this ultimately heartwarming adjacent story.

I had high hopes for this recent novel by the author of a series - "The Last Policeman" - which I read through twice. See my review in this app for why I decided to re-read that series now. "Last Policeman" was all about the time left until the catastrophic end of the earth. As the title of this novel alludes to, here the idea is that time is a commodity that can be removed from one person and given to another. While I'm a fan of far-fetched main ideas of novels and I'm okay with concepts which aren't fully explained, this story had way too many aspects for my liking that just didn't make sense. Add characters who felt one dimensional, a cartoonish villian, plus a flat, predictable plot and you end with a disappointing outing from an author who has done better and hopefully will again soon - be back at the top of his creative game.

Although I've read many novels in the general "mystery" genre, I've only read a handful in the "cozy" sub-genre. If this funny and rather lightweight novel is a typical "cozy," I'm not sure if I'm up for more "cozies." It's a fun premise - an older, recently divorced women buys a pull behind trailer for camping - and discovers that it's haunted by a ghost who is seeking to get out of purgatory and into heaven by doing some sort of good tasks. I liked the dialogue between woman & ghost woman and the constant ghostly change of clothing plus persona based on the moment was clever. Yet, the writing was pedestrian, the plot predictable and the resolution too pat. Additional books in the series, some of which take place in national parks, do sound enticing. Yet, I think I'm going to pass and pick up a novel that is the opposite of cozy (edgy? pointed? rough?) instead.

I returned about 2 months ago to VanderMere's "Southern Reach Trilogy" for the same reason I re-read Ben H. Winter's "The Last Policeman" trilogy. Biden was still running and I felt a collective creeping towards disaster was upon us. Rather than an planet killing asteroid (see my review for Winter's novel) in this first (almost novella length) book, we learn of the mysterious Area X which is growing from a place on the coast of somewhere in the southern U.S. Listening to the audiobook was a good choice as the various readers capture well the multiple perspectives across the trilogy. The unsettling, fantastical, yet oddly plausible unfolding of what is likely an alien lifeform changing a landscape and those who enter it, is the heart of a tale unlike anything I've ever read or listened to. The characters, while never given first names, are fleshed out and believable as they take the reader to a landscape familiar - and deeply disturbing. If you finish this first novel, you'll be hooked and ready to spend many more hours exploring Area X.

I've listened to all 3 of Stuart Turton's novels and the narrator (James Cameron Stewart) is excellent. Yet, I think this novel especially would be better experienced in print. I dig the intricatacy of his mysteries - "The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Harcastle" is amazing. Yet, the details of timelines, character actions and motives in his novels require careful attention for the reader to follow the plot to a satisfying conclusion. Taking this in via even the best narrator - while multitasking - was too much for my aging brain to follow. The universe of the story is an engaging one & the discovery of this would have surely been better for me in a print format - where I can easily go back to earlier in the story - as opposed to the challenge of moving backwards to re-listen to a passage in an audiobook. I admire the boldness of Turton's first forray into a fictional, dystopian, tech-heavy setting, yet I feel he's better at taking a historical place & time in which to create his impressive "puzzle box" mysteries.

I enjoyed the dystopian social commentary in Rob Hart's "The Warehouse," so I went in to this, his follow-up novel, with high hopes. I wasn't disappointed - even though it was a quite different genre. As one who has first-hand experience with Twelve Step recovery, I can attest that the titular program is authentically rendered - with little to no sense of parody or satire. Rather, it's the circle in which the age-old question - can a person really change - plays out. I liked the voice of the first person narrator and although most of the other characters are rather one dimensional, this didn't lessen my overall enjoyment. While not exactly a page turning thriller, it has an engaging plot with enough twists to keep it interesting and engaging. I'm looking forward to seeing what Hart comes up with next!

I chose this, the first book in a lengthy series as I'd hoped that I'd find a thrilling, DaVinci Code like series that I could get into and binge read through it. After slogging through the hackneyed writing, I will not be continuing the series. I did like the setting of New England as I spent a some time up there. And the "Divine Feminine" is cool (if not particularly earth-shatteringly original now.) Yet, the bad writing and overwhelming exposition about this or that site, person, bloodline, secret society became so heavy that forward movement in the plot almost collapsed. I did slog to the end and finish it - hoping that some clever twist of something might coax me to at least start to read the second book. Nope. No danger of this as, yep - unsatisfying conclusion and thus end of story and series for me.

For the reason why I'm re-reading this series, see my review on the first book in the trilogy - "The Last Policeman." For me this was the most fully formed and engaging of the trilogy. The countdown to the arrival of the asteroid is at just two weeks when the novel begins. The narrow window of time and the focus of the mystery (where's the main character's wayward sister?) gives a focus and urgency to the plot not as present in the first two novels. There's more twists plus some authentic suspense in the final third. I particularly appreciated the arc of the encounter with the Amish patriarch and his large family. His answer to the main theme of the stories - how should we live with impending, catastrophic doom - is a thought-provoking and different response than what we witness elsewhere. A highly recommended - and quick to read series - especially as we in the US wait for the "asteroid" of the Nov 5th election day to arrive.

For the reason why I'm re-reading this series, see my review on the first book in the trilogy - "The Last Policeman." This 2nd book, set as the astroid is weeks away from hitting earth, again has a plot that isn't what the trilogy is about for me. It's all about the question, "So, then how should we live?" Living has become tougher from when the first book concluded. The power is off, driving is rare and eventually running water also ceases. The mystery at the center wasn't super compelling for me, yet the journey through it was engaging and thought-provoking. I'd have liked to have spent more time with Henry and his sister Nico (still woefully underdeveloped) as they experienced the youth-led collective at the site of what once was UNH. It appears Nico will be the focus of the third book. I really like Henry and his voice of reason, kindness, commitment, decency and hopefulness. It's this last quality that I most want to gain from Henry. Not hope that a deus ex machina will stop the asteroid or the surely chaotic (and dangerous?) aftermath of the U.S. Election 2024. Rather the hope that good can be found in any moment by acting in goodness - regardless of what is hurtling at us.

I've been on a Ben H. Winters journey lately ("Underground Airlines" and "Golden State") I'm re-reading this trilogy to keep with the journey, but more significantly - to explore a story world where doom is on the horizon and the fundamental question all the characters must ask is "So, then how should we live?" The Nov 5th U.S. election isnt literally an asteroid rushing to hit earth. Yet it is a date when another time will begin - and one I'm not feeling hopeful about its arrival. For me, the plots in this trilogy are secondary to the first-person main character and how he chooses to, even as the police force is crumbling around him, continues to pursue the solution of a suspicious suicide. There's suspense, a few twists, a handful of endearing characters, but for me the book and series are a way to ask myself "How would I live in the story world of coming, existential calamity?" And far more essentially: "How will I choose to live in the just over three months until Nov 5th and its yet unknown aftermath?"

I am glad I listened to the audiobook as the reader felt PERFECT for the first person narration. He had a Nick Offerman vibe - exactly whom I'd have play the main character in a film version of the novel. Golden State is what remains of (at least) S. California at some point in a distant future. It has a utopian surface - achieved through erradicating all lying. How this is done is clever as it involves both high and low tech. The narrator is part of a special police force who use a physical gift (the origin of which is never explained) to detect when someone is deploying a mistruth. The mystery of the story while borderline elaborate, doesn't make full sense in the story-world. And the end has deus ex machina elements which leaves it unsatisfying. The most thoughtful aspect of the story, in light of the "post-truth" world we live in today, is the exploration of whether a society-wide commitment to total truth makes citizens happier and more free. Our nation feels unmoored and unsustainable b/c "true" for one cult-like group is quite different than what is actually, factually, real. Yet, would a world in which everything was recorded and documented and thus true, be better - or would it just be full of different problems?

I'd read this book a while back and decided now was a good time to try the audiobook. The narrator captured the first person perspective of the story in a better than average way. The story-world is thought provoking. The U.S. never had the Civil War b/c four southern states were granted the ability to carry human slavery forward to the present day. The "underground airlines" of the title is a new metaphor for an old, our world reality - an organization to move escaped slaves to freedom. The world of the story was more compelling then the characters - with the exception of the narrator, Victor. He's a complex character and his journey is fascinating and well-earned. The other characters, especially the priest, felt like sketches with unclear motivations. 3/4th of the book felt like a world which could be real. Unfortunately, the ending disappointed me as it took a turn in a direction which hadn't been established as a possibility earlier in the story. So, 3.75 stars, rather than 4 or slightly higher.

I read this, somewhat out of character for me, thriller as it's summer - and it was "free" as part of my K-Unlimited subscription. It was not as good as I'd hoped. The main character - a former Delta soldier now freelancimg and doing the "wet work" of contracted killings - is a layered character with a teen daughter (in peril here) and a wife who perished on 9/11/01. The plot moves quickly with pedestrian writing full of technical details. The terror plot was boilerplate bio-weaponry and the bad guys stereotypical. Plus, there were a few plot holes not settled by the conclusion. An acceptable first book in a trilogy I'm not sure if I'll continue reading.