Richard Moss

I choose this book based purely on a fairly interesting cover graphic in an email. Just goes to show, don't just a book by it's cover. (Not that the book I received had this cover anyway, but at least it gave me a chance to trot out an old metaphor)

I've had the book for nearly two months now and still am only half way through it, and I have finally given up. While it is undeniably well written, I just found I didn't like it at all. I couldn't really emphasise with any of the characters (and disliked most of them), the story wasn't making a huge amount of sense and seemed to be suffering from knowing what the story was actually about. It's quite a long novel too, almost felt like reading the Wheel of Time again. Perhaps it all falls into place by the end of the book, but for now I've given up.

Quite early on it stuck me I didn't really care for the book as I found it easy to put down and ignore - definitely a bad sign!

I generally don't give up on reading a book I've started, but this is one of the ones I will, and gladly.

Rather unfortunate that the very first book I'm approved for on NetGalley is one I ended up disliking.

Interesting characters... check. Interesting story... check.

Annoying habit of ending chapters in the middle of something important, then carrying on the next chapter with everything resolved, often unclearly, and always maddening... check.

In short, although I was really interested in the story and the wider arc, the authors writing made reading this book vexing and killed off any chance that I would investigate further books in the series.

I really enjoyed Ready Player One. The book.

I hated the movie, pure garbage. One day I will see a film of a book that actually follows the book.

I liked Armada.

But this book... well, I finished it but it was a struggle at the start. I wavered between it just liking it and abhorring it.

Wade is an asshole. The plot is drivel. The endearing nostalgia of Ready Player One is overdone and forced.

The ending was both interesting and yet more drivel.

Lightening doesn't strike twice, as the saying goes.

I wonder why he goes to such pains at the start of his books to state that he speaks the truth when it's bollocks. To give him credit in this book he's only talking about technology as opposed to nutjob conspiracy theories in his others. Maybe they are real, who knows. (Not me evidently!)

Entertaining read, if you can ignore the absurdity of aspects of the book.