Aaron
The stories didn't hold my interest and the characters were too one-dimensional. It may depict real interactions and relationships, but not ones I want to read about.
The story wasn't particularly bad, but it wasn't very intelligently written. The narration also wasn't horrible, but he read everything like it was a movie trailer.
First, I have to give allowance for the fact that this book was translated by the author.
The Good:
The world is unique and interesting.
I like that the game elements aren't all virtual reality.
The Bad:
Really chauvinist. Like, a lot. I hope some of it was just the translation.
The worst problem, though, is that it's very uneven. The first fifth is really a prologue. Things don't even start making sense until half way through. The last fifth, I don't even know what happened. Literally. Everything changes and nothing is explained.
I won't be reading the rest of this series, but still might give the fantasy series a try.
I'm sure I would have liked the Black Ocean series if I had read it like I normally do, but listening to it performed by Mikael Naramore made me fall in love with it. It doesn't really feel like Firefly to me, but that's OK because I think I actually like it better. It's definitely worth picking up if it sounds even vaguely interesting to you and I absolutely recommend the audiobook.
Another one that it's been awhile since I've read it. The story kind of lags after the second half of the last book and the ending wasn't very satisfying, but overall worth reading.
I like the book overall, but the preachy tone really killed it for me.
A deaf, native American, girl struggles to cram in all the judgmental diatribes she can.
Edit Jan. 24, 2016:
On re-reading with an idea of what to expect, I like it better. You just have to accept that 2,100 year old druids have god-like powers and will be able to take care of anything that comes at them. Easily.
Several of my friends really love this series, but I just couldn't get into it. I've blocked most of the details from my mind in order to maintain my sanity, but I remember thinking the plot was rather ridiculous and just got worse.
Humans kicking alien butt in powered armor. Yeah!
A quick, light read. Great if you're looking for a quick hit of military sci-fi.
Three and a half stars. I'd prefer less sappy/creepy romance between adopted brother and sister.
The broad strokes of the story from the movie are the same, but the details are different. Mostly the same events happen, but some are seen from a different perspective or happen for a different reason.
On the title page it says “Deeply inspired by The Princess and the Goblin.” I didn't realize that slightly re-worded, probably by AI, counted as “inspired by.”
Listened to the audiobook as part of the Unfettered anthology. I like the idea of music as magic. The writing was good, I'll probably check out the series.
Bubba Shackleford's Professional Monster Killers by Larry Correa, Trouble in an Hourglass by Jody Lynn Nye, Chance Corrigan and the Lord of the Underworld by Michael A. Stockpole, A Fistful of Warlocks by Jim Butcher.
I saw an advertisement for this book in the back of an early edition of Anne of Green Gables and was intrigued. I can't really recommend it very highly, I think some of the humor is lost without the context of the time, but it was an interesting peak into the past.
Brandon Sanderson is becoming one of my favorite authors, this is one of his early works.
A little rough and slow in places, but overall interesting.
If you're a Star Wars historian, give this a read. Otherwise, skip it.
The first Star Wars book, written before the Empire Strikes Back hit theaters. Not canon.
All the action from the first book, but weighed down by Libertarian dogma. Even if this was something I agreed wholeheartedly with, it was just too preachy and got in the way of the story.
This should probably only get three stars from me, but a little grandma secret agent is pretty entertaining.
I can't remember exactly why I didn't like this quite as much as the others. I think it was because it didn't have enough Halley.