Rob

Executive Summary: If you've been enjoying yourself to this point in the series, you should really love this book as much as I do. It's definitely the best book of the series so far.

Audio book: James Marsters seems to approach each book like a 1 man show now. He has distinct voices for all the major parts, and even most of the minor ones. It seems like he enjoys reading them as much as I do, and that comes through.

Full Review
I had originally reviewed this book on Living Social's Virtual Bookshelf for Facebook when it first came out. That review got imported here, but it didn't really do it justice in my opinion, so I scrapped it and started over again.

I could go on rambling for paragraphs about how much I love this series, and how great this book, but I'll try to keep things concise.

While I was in the process of re-reading this book, I was really surprised to see there are negative reviews for it. Not only that, but the top review Good Read shows is a 2 star rating. I had to read it, and find out why.

The criticism is fair. But it could easily be applied to the previous ELEVEN books in the series. I get that this series won't be for everyone, but why have you read 12 books if you just don't think it's that good? Oh well people are entitled to their opinions.

I have a guilty pleasure for bad movies, especially martial arts movies. The quality of these books are much better than that in my view, but at it's core it's the equivalent of a popcorn flick.

They are a great interlude for some of the heavier stuff I stuff I've been reading, especially among the rise of all the grimdark fantasy lately. The books are fun.

This one is especially so. It starts and ends on some pretty big bombshells. And there are several huge revelations and developments inbetween.

The ending pissed me off so much when I read it the first time. HOW COULD HE LEAVE THINGS THERE? WHEN IS THE NEXT BOOK COMING OUT!? DAMN YOU JIM BUTCHER!! KAAAAAAAHN!!!

Sorry, where was I? This book lives up to it's name more than any other in and the series and probably most of the books I've read in general.

Things change for Harry, who like me is a creature of habit, and prefers everything just so. Things have been building to this point for quite some time, and the last several chapters are more action packed than most of the previous books combined.

I really love this book.

There that was mostly concise, wasn't it? At least for me..

Executive Summary: A fast-paced thriller from the master of cyberpunk.Full ReviewI've had this book and [b:Mona Lisa Overdrive 154091 Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl, #3) William Gibson http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320558292s/154091.jpg 1263322] sitting unread on my shelves for far too long. I kept finding other books to grab my attention.I finally got around to reading this, and I wish I had sooner. I wanted something short and fun and this fit the bill nicely.The book opens with Turner, a mercenary for hire, who specializes in aggressive corporate recruiting, of a sort. His job involves extracting high value employees from one corporation to another.We then meet Marly, the disgraced former operator of a small art gallery in Paris. She is hired by Herr Josef Virek, an enormously wealthy collector to track down the creator of some rare boxes.Finally we meet Bobby, a young cyber cowboy trying to make a name for himself.How do these three stories relate to one another? I asked myself the same question. The answer was in a fun and easy cyberpunk thriller. I'm looking forward to fitting in [b:Mona Lisa Overdrive 154091 Mona Lisa Overdrive (Sprawl, #3) William Gibson http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320558292s/154091.jpg 1263322] at some point soon.

Executive Summary: While not among my favorite books by Brandon Sanderson, I still really enjoyed it, which may say more about my love for Brandon Sanderson's books than it does about the book itself.Full ReviewCool Magic system? check.Interesting world building? check.Easy to read? check.So at first blush this is a typical [a:Brandon Sanderson 38550 Brandon Sanderson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1394044556p2/38550.jpg] novel. However this one isn't nearly as polished as his Stormlight Archive books, nor as fun as his Mistborn books. That said, I still really enjoyed it. Mr. Sanderson writes the kind of books I like to read, and this one is no different. Your mileage may vary however.I moved this one up on my reading list due to Cosmere tie-ins to [b:Words of Radiance 17332218 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2) Brandon Sanderson https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391535251s/17332218.jpg 16482835]. That probably added to my overall enjoyment. Many people were recommending having read this before Words of Radiance, but I found it fun to go the other way and look for things that related back to the book. I think it would probably work out pretty well whichever way you choose to go.Lightsong was easily my favorite character. I found him very quotable if not always funny. The mercenaries were less so, but still lightened up the mood with Vivenna, who was by far my least favorite POV in the book. She did grow on me by the end, but early on I just found her annoying. Siri was somewhere in the middle. She starts off naive and a bit annoying. However she's not dumb and as she starts to get her bearings I found myself enjoying her chapters more.The magic system is another cool idea, though it seems underutilized here. We only learn a few things about it early on and seem to be hit over the head a bit with those details, while never really expanding our knowledge until much later in the book.The world seems pretty well built out for such a stand alone book, and from the notes available about the book it's apparent that Mr. Sanderson knows a lot more about the world than he's including in the story. He's supposed to be planning an eventual sequel, and I will definitely be excited to read it when it comes out. Then again that's pretty much the case for EVERY new Brandon Sanderson novel for me these days.

Executive Summary: This one might be a tie with [b:The Color of Magic 34497 The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind #1) Terry Pratchett https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1407111017s/34497.jpg 194190] as my least favorite of Discworld thus far.Full ReviewAfter how much I enjoyed [b:The Light Fantastic 34506 The Light Fantastic (Discworld, #2; Rincewind #2) Terry Pratchett https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1389554927s/34506.jpg 592532] I was looking forward to another Rincewind book. I just never got into this one as much. There are once again some great jokes, but many of them felt in one or two parts of the book and then longer stretches where I didn't even chuckle.The plot wasn't terribly engaging. It had potential. The Eighth son of the Eighth son is destined to be a Sorcerer, far more powerful than any Wizard of Discword. But I guess the execution was just a bit lackluster.Maybe I don't like the Rincewind books as much. Or maybe I'm getting burned out on Discworld after reading so many in a short period. I think it's most likely that in a series this large, they can't all be winners.The highlight of the book was Conina. The badass barbarian warrior women with aspirations of being a hairdresser. Most of the funniest quotes of the book seemed to involve her in some way. I hope we'll be seeing more of her in future books.

Executive Summary: Started off pretty good, but I lost momentum as the book went on. Still, there is enough here for me to continue on with the next book.

Audiobook: I initially really loved the audio, but by the end I was starting to get tired of it a bit. The book itself is narrated by the author (I believe) and he does a great job of it.

The dialogue is done by a rather large cast of readers/voice actors. It's more like an audio drama than an an audio book.

Unfortunately, I found Lyra's voice was starting to grate a little after awhile. I'll still continue on with the series in audio though, as my enjoyment was probably more put off by the story than the audio.

Full Review
This one has been on my list for awhile, and I got the book on sale earlier this year. A few friends decided to do a reread along with me on my first go of it.

I started our really into the story. I loved learning about the world, and in particular how people and their demons interact. I think the demon aspect is what interested me most.

In some ways this is a fantastical alternative history story. It feels like early 1900's in England as far as locations and technology go, but where everyone has a demon and their are talking bears and air ships.

I'm certainly not the target audience here, but that's never stopped me with other well written books aimed at younger audiences. I like Lyra right away from the start, but as the book went on, I liked her less. She's a kid, and she acts like one, but that wasn't my issue I don't think. In particular it's that's she seems to lie almost constantly in order to get ahead, and it always works. Or so it felt like to me.

I wasn't particularly excited by the bears either. I should have been, and maybe as a kid I'd be enamored, but I just kind of found them uninteresting for some reason.

Then there is the magic compass itself. It's a cool idea, and I'd love to have one. However, I felt like it was overused by the author as a convenient plot device to move the story alone and make everything a lot easier on Lyra. She didn't have to be clever or figure anything out on her own, she just needed to consult the compass for what to do and then lie and lie BIG.

That all may make it sound like I didn't like the book. It was fine, just not as good as I was expecting, especially after the start.

What really has me interested in the next book is the mysterious city in the sky. What does it mean? How does it relate to dust? Hopefully the next book will build nicely on that stuff.

I went into this book under the false impression this was the final shadow book, but I was wrong. I guess another one will be come out that's supposed to finalize things and tie the 2 series together.

Overall this book was descent. I found myself interested to find out what would happen next, but by the time I got to the end I was disappointed with how many questions were left.

Worth reading if you like the Shadow series.

Executive Summary: Another enjoyable Historical Fiction book that I probably would have liked a bit better if I hadn't already known what was coming from watching the TV show. I'm really looking forward to book three now.

Full Review
In retrospect I wish I had read this book before watching The Last Kingdom. I had no idea that a 10 episode season would cover two books. That's partly because they glossed over half of the first book, and partly because they cut a lot of detail out.

I had been hoping that much like the first book, I'd get a lot of extra plot and detail the show left out. While that is true, it was not nearly as much as the first book had. Much of the first season seemed to heavily focus on the major events of this book rather than the one it's named for.

The writing is excellent. The battles are interesting without being dragged out too long. The politics seem believable. Unfortunately for me though, none of the plot developments were a surprise. I knew what was going to happen. It kind of felt like a reread.

I read this while traveling to/from Las Vegas last week, so instead of reading it over a long stretch of time, I did it in two long sittings. As such, I'm not really sure what else to write. It all sort of blurred together a bit.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but mostly I'm looking forward to getting past the show and reading about what comes next.

Executive Summary: While it didn't completely suck me in from the beginning, it was pretty close. This one is hard to put down and whole lot of fun.

Full Review
This book has a whole lot of influences mixed together in a way that is impressive: Part Ocean's Eleven, Part Godfather and Part Fantasy.

The back cover totes Part Robin Hood, but since I didn't see the Gentleman Bastards giving any of their stolen loot to the poor, I don't really agree with that one. They DO have a Robin Hood reputation in the book, even if it's untrue.

Mr. Lynch paints a gorgeous world that could be a whole separate series of it's own. They city is full of amazing buildings from some long dead society and the current people are just living in it now.

We meet young Locke Lamora at the age of 5, and already he's trouble. Stealing from guards and breaking all the rules of the “Silent Peace” that has been established between Capa Barvosi (the Godfather) and the Nobility.

I really love the structure of this book. That's not something I usually comment on in my reviews, but it's really worth bringing up here. There is a fairly beefy prologue set in the past where we get a little background on our protagonist. Then in chapter 1 we are in present day with an adult version of Locke and his Gentleman Bastard friends.

It then alternates with Interludes flashing back to the past and filling in details about Locke and his friends lives. The interludes get short and eventually skipped in some places as the present day story really gets going.

It was well executed. I didn't find myself grumbling when an interlude came up interrupting the main story. It always added something important, and I liked how they got shorter as the book went on.

The characters are really great. Locke and Jean are probably the most developed, but the supporting characters are all interesting and feel to have depth. I'd really love to get more details on his master and founder of the Gentleman Bastards, Chains. He seems to have lived an interesting life, and what we did of his past left me wanting more.

It is once again another series where it seems like the Mages are assholes. That's probably more realistic. If you could do magic and were more powerful than most people, would you really be as benevolent as Gandalf? I think most people would end up like Saruman instead, and in this series we have a whole guild full of them.

The rules of the magic seem non-existent. It's hard to know just what a Mage is capable of, but it's pretty damn impressive, and scary. These are not people you want to mess with.

I've marked this as grimdark, but while there are some truly awful things in it, it's not as dark as some of the other stuff I've been reading. It's more of an adventure/caper story than anything else.

I finished the book a day earlier than I had planned, and if I hadn't been so busy last weekend, I might have finished it even sooner. This book grabbed me early on and never let go. I can't wait to see what Locke gets up to in the next book.

I really enjoyed the original Ryria books so I was pretty excited for the First Empire series when it came out. I enjoyed the first few books in that series, but I felt like it lost steam by the end. So when this series was announced, I wasn't as excited.

I did want to read this eventually, but wasn't in a rush. I finally got around to it, and I found it another strong start to a new series. I thought the new characters were interesting, especially the titular character, Nolyn. Some of the supporting characters were reminiscent of characters in Ryria or First Empire, but the main characters felt more flushed out.

Overall I found this a fun listen and will be continuing right on into the second book. As usual, Tim Gerard Reynolds does a fantastic job with the narration. However there was one chapter where there was a lot of repeated text and it made for an agitating listen. If I had been reading the text instead I would have skimmed over that section.

StoryI'm not sure if it's the hype, the amount of time since it's publication, the artwork or something else, but I find myself a bit underwhelmed. I originally gave this 4 stars intending to declare it a 3.5 star rounded up, but as I was thinking about my review I decided to just give it a 3.There was some really interesting parts of the story, but some pages I just found bogged down and confusing. This might be more a product of the layout, I'm not really sure.I'm intrigued by the notion of an old Batman no longer in peak physical condition despite his best efforts. The idea of a female Robin is cool too, although not really explained. She's just a Batman groupie that he decides to take under his wing after proving herself useful.It's certainly a darker story as things are falling apart around Batman and the law is closing in on him. Commissioner Gordan is even older and being forced into retirement and the new Commissioner elect has it out for him.This is a lot to like, but I found it slow in places that overall brought it down for me. ArtworkI didn't like the artwork at all. What worse was the layout. The pages felt cramped. The text was badly placed making it confusing which panel it went with at times. I wondered if the art was a result of having so many tiny panels crammed into a single page, but I found even the larger panels and some of the full page to be lacking.I didn't read comics in the 80s as I was too young. The Marvel stuff I read in the 90s looked better than this based on my recollections at least, and I've grown accustomed to the digital art of the last 10 years or so. I found it distracting in places which didn't help when the story felt confusing or slow.Maybe I'm not a good judge of it having nothing from that time period to really compare it to save [b:Watchmen 472331 Watchmen Alan Moore https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327866860s/472331.jpg 4358649] which to me looks much better despite only a year older.

Ubik. A (well-written?) review by Rob, but only when used as directed.This won't be a long review as the book wasn't that long, so I'm foregoing my usual format. I haven't read a lot by [a:Philip K. Dick 4764 Philip K. Dick http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1264613853p2/4764.jpg]. Mostly a lot of short stories that movies have been adapted from.Ubik came across my radar when Amazon was running an e-book sale on various PKD works. It was recommended as one of his better stories.I came into it knowing nothing about it. I don't think I had even read the blurb. It started slow, but picked up steam as it went along. It was a 3 at the start and pushing into 4 range by the end, but since it was only so-so at the start I stuck with 3.I feel like this is a book where the less you know about it going in, the better it is. I will say there is some usual of his tropes: pre-cognition, telekinesis, and time travel. Sort of. You'll see.It's a quick read at only about 200 pages, and worth checking out if you can borrow it, or pick it up on the cheap like I did.

Executive Summary: Classic King. Despite the supernatural setting, the real horror of the book is perpetrated by characters on one another.Full ReviewI've long since given up on reading every Stephen King book. But I try to read the ones with Dark Tower ties. This one was supposed to have minor connections, but I'd call them easter eggs at best.What really moved this one up my list was the TV show. I enjoy the show, though if was a Fall show rather than a Summer one, it's possible I would have dropped it already. My main reason for reading the book was to find out the mystery behind the dome before the show revealed it. I needn't have worried though.Like just about everything else though, the book is better. Not only is it better, it's almost entirely different. The plot seems to diverge from almost the very beginning. Some of the characters are similar, and they used some of the names. Most of them are drastically different though, or severely toned down.No one will watch the show and think the Rennie's are likable characters by any means, but they have some redeemable characteristics. In the book both of them are downright awful. And they are not the only ones.Mr. King's strength as a writer to me has always been his characters. They jump off the page. This book has some great ones. Though his best characters here are probably the worst. Jim Rennie, used car salesman, town selectman, and fervent Christian is absolutely despicable. His ability to do something downright awful and follow it up with prayers for strength to continue to lead the town just show how self delusional some people can really be. And his son is probably worse. Most of the town is behind the Rennie's, or at least willing to blindly follow their lead in this time of crisis.Thankfully though, there are plenty of likable characters, which will be somewhat similar to anyone familiar with the show. Primarily Dale Barbara, a drifter currently employed as a short order cook at the local diner. And there is Julia Shumway, the owner/editor of the local newspaper. They are rounded out If you pick this book expecting a supernatural horror story, you may be disappointed. Mr. King doesn't spend a lot of time explaining the how or why of the dome. It mostly serves as the setting and a bit of plot vehicle. The characters want to escape, or use the dome as the reason to do something they might not otherwise.Forget the fact that there is giant supernatural dome for a minute. The core of this story is really about all the horrible things people will do to one another when given an opportunity to get away with it, or simply not face real consequences.Mr. King paints a picture of the best and the worst (mostly the worst) of humanity when panic and isolation and puts them under the microscope (or a dome!) for us to see the results.I'm having a hard time trying to figure out other King book I've read this is most like to say “if you like book name, you'll probably like this one.” Maybe [b:The Shining 11588 The Shining (The Shining #1) Stephen King https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353277730s/11588.jpg 849585]? You have that same sort of isolation and human driven horror with a bit of a supernatural flavor.My main disappointment with the book was that the ending felt underwhelming. This goes back to the dome not being very flushed out, but merely a plot device. Despite that once I got into this book it was really hard to put down and I kept reading more and more each night until I finally finished it.

Top Reads of 2021These are my top reads from 20211) [b:Leviathan Falls 28335699 Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699.SY75.jpg 48382891] - 5 Stars - (My Review)2) [b:Reaper 57640065 Reaper (Cradle, #10) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630800925l/57640065.SX50.jpg 90283509] - 4 Stars - (My Review)3) [b:Project Hail Mary 54493401 Project Hail Mary Andy Weir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597695864l/54493401.SY75.jpg 79106958] - 4 Stars - (My Review)4) [b:Bloodline 55595995 Bloodline (Cradle, #9) Will Wight https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1616477745l/55595995.SY75.jpg 86702392] -4 Stars - (My Review)5) [b:The House in the Cerulean Sea 45047384 The House in the Cerulean Sea T.J. Klune https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569514209l/45047384.SY75.jpg 62945242] - 4 Stars - (My Review)For the rest of my review here's the report generated by my GoodReads Parser Application and some general comments about the numbers. ^_^**** Yearly Report ****Year: 2021Total Books: 30Total Backlog Books: 7 (23.33%)Rereads: 8 (26.67%)2021 continued my downward trend of reading. I aimed for 25, and exceeded it, but just barely. I did a lot of other things (including listening to music with the windows down when the weather was nice) rather than reading. I mostly I'm ok with this, as reading was starting to feel like a chore, however my backlog continues to grow and there were several 2021 releases I just didn't have time for.Part of that was due to my massive Expanse re-read. That turned out to be worth it as [b:Leviathan Falls 28335699 Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) James S.A. Corey https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600283641l/28335699.SY75.jpg 48382891] was my favorite read of the year.******* Format Breakdown ******Total AUDIO_BOOK Count: 25 (83.33%)Total BOOK Count: 1 (3.33%)Total EBOOK Count: 4 (13.33%)I haven't been motivated to sit down and read at all this year. I only completed 5 books that way. The others were all audio. Now I typically do far more audio than other formats, but this is an especially high ratio.******* Genre Breakdown ******Total FANTASY Count: 11 (36.67%)Total HORROR Count: 1 (3.33%)Total MYSTERY Count: 1 (3.33%)Total NONFICTION Count: 1 (3.33%)Total SCIFI Count: 16 (53.33%)This is probably the first time since I started tracking my reading that I read more Sci-Fi than fantasy. A large part of that (9) was the expanse. However there were a few other Sci-Fi releases from 2021 that padded that out as well. I expect next year things return to normal, especially since there are several fantasy releases of 2021 I haven't gotten to yet that I plan to next year.******** Author Gender Breakdown ********Total MALE Count: 26 (86.67%)Total FEMALE Count: 4 (13.33%)I had been trending more towards at least 3:1 or even 2:1 in years past, but I think since I mostly stuck with authors I already read, I ended up with a pretty bad ratio. I do have a few books by female authors I hope to add next year, but we'll see what I have time for.** Ratings ****Average Rating: 3.9Total 3 Count: 7 (23.33%)Total 4 Count: 19 (63.33%)Total 5 Count: 4 (13.33%)This is slightly higher than normal. It's skewed by the Expanse reread which are all either 4 or 5 star reads. I typically don't read many books I don't enjoy anymore though.Years Published:Total 1992 Count: 2 (6.67%)Total 1994 Count: 1 (3.33%)Total 2011 Count: 1 (3.33%)Total 2012 Count: 2 (6.67%)Total 2013 Count: 2 (6.67%)Total 2014 Count: 2 (6.67%)Total 2015 Count: 2 (6.67%)Total 2016 Count: 1 (3.33%)Total 2017 Count: 1 (3.33%)Total 2019 Count: 2 (6.67%)Total 2020 Count: 6 (20.00%)Total 2021 Count: 8 (26.67%)Decade Published:Total 1990 Count: 3 (10.00%)Total 2010 Count: 13 (43.33%)Total 2020 Count: 14 (46.67%)Heavy on the new stuff since it was mostly stuff from the last 2 years. That trend is likely to continue given how few books I'm doing now.Number of Books: 5Total Pages: 1625Total From Backlog: 1Longest Book: Reaper (Cradle, #10) by Will Wight - 465 pagesShortest Book: Dawnshard (The Stormlight Archive, #3.5) by Brandon Sanderson - 171 pagesAverage Pages: 325Number of Books (Excluding Graphic Novels): 5Total Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 1625Average Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 325Number of Audiobooks: 25Total Audio Hours: 398Total From Backlog: 6Longest Book: Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, #7) by James S.A. Corey - 21 hoursShortest Book: Fugitive Telemetry (The Murderbot Diaries, #6) by Martha Wells - 5 hoursAverage Hours: 15.92Overall this is the lowest quantity of reading I've done since I started tracking on goodreads, and that includes a partial year in 2012. I'm not sure what 2022 will bring. Maybe I'll read more, but likely about the same. I still enjoy reading books, but it's not my main focus anymore.

3.5 stars. A bit cookie-cutter at times, but still pretty enjoyable overall. There were some interesting overarching developments in this one but for the most part I don't feel like this book covered much new ground. I still enjoyed it enough that I'll pick up the next one, but I'm hoping for something different in terms of the book structure and plot, kind of like how Dresden Files stopped being focused around a specific case each book.

Kobna Holdbrook-Smith continues to be the highlight of the series for me. He does another fantastic job with the audiobook.

Executive Summary: The best book in the series so far. There are just a few subplots in this book that slow it down and prevent me from giving it a 5.Full ReviewThis novel is very different from the first 3. The first “book” is not only 25% of the novel, it all focuses on one character. Karsa Orlong is not a very likable character. His story is still an interesting one.His is one of the most straightforward stories of the series so far, and the one with the most character growth so far. The Karsa Orlong at the end of the novel isn't that fundamentally different from the one at the start, yet I find myself liking him now, and I'm still not sure how Mr. Erikson managed that. He's obviously a genius when it comes characters and making the point that people aren't black and white, but many shades of grey.This story isn't just about Karsa Orlong however. This book returns back to Seven Cities and the conflicts that were left looming at the end of [b:Deadhouse Gates 55401 Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) Steven Erikson http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316126263s/55401.jpg 3898716].Some of my favorites are back, like Fiddler and Kalam Mekhar, as well as others I just don't really care for, like Felisin and Heboric. Really I find pretty much everyone associated with Sha'ik's Army of the Apocalypse basically unlikable. At first. Once again everything isn't so black and white, and I found myself changing my mind on some of the characters.Mr. Erikson seems to have a fondness for duos, as there have been many such pairs throughout the series so far. One of the newer ones I've come to enjoy in this book is that of the Claw Pearl and Lostara Yil. We are also once again rewarded with more Iskaral Pust and Mogora, which offer some pretty amusing dialogues.The only thing that detracted from this book for me was the story of Trull Sengar and Onrack. I just found myself indifferent and eager to get through there parts. It wasn't that I didn't like them, every good story needs unlikable characters. I just didn't care. Hopefully that will change with future books.All and all this was a great entry to the series, and I'm looking forward to continuing on with [b:Midnight Tides 345299 Midnight Tides (Malazan Book of the Fallen, #5) Steven Erikson http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1366996057s/345299.jpg 3898719] shortly.

Executive Summary: If you like politics and war in a sci-fi setting where the focus is on the people and not the battles, this book is worth checking out. If you're looking for a lot of space battles however, you may be disappointed.

Full Review
I read this book as the March pick for Sword & Laser. It's still early in the month but so far most of the discussion seems to be in the Is anyone else having a hard time getting started? thread. I must say I don't really understand this.

Sure this book is dense at times. The book also starts with a lot of world building. It gives you several character perspectives as well. But it's well written, and the plot is compelling.

It centers around a neutral space station over the planet Pell caught in the middle of a war between “The Company” and “The Union”.

This book reminds me a lot of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5. To a lesser degree Battlestar Galactica. Mostly because the latter had a lot more space battles.

Cherryh doesn't spend pages detailing epic battles here. Sometimes you see the aftermath, or get the report of a distant battle when news reaches Pell station. There aren't completely missing however. I like a good space battle as much as the next sci-fi geek, but it's not a requirement for me.

What this books does have is political-driven agendas, greed, ambition, and a surprising amount of compassion (at least from some of the characters).

Like some popular fantasy series I've read (Song of Ice & Fire/Malazan Fallen) Cherryh gives you multiple points of view on the situation. Unlike those books however, there aren't as many shades of grey. Or weren't for me. I knew pretty early on mostly whose good and whose bad, and I'm not suddenly surprised at the end.

There are some exceptions however that seem to reside in a shade of grey, but not many.

Overall a very enjoyable book. I'm a little disappointed to find out there is no true sequel to this book as there are a lot things I'm interested in reading more about in the aftermath.

The conclusion is satisfying however, and I hope to check out more books in this universe at some point down the road, but I won't be rushing out to get the next book just yet.

Executive Summary: I really love this series, and I hope she continues writing more books in the series. This was really good. Best of the series so far. 4.5 Stars.

Audiobook: I'm generally leary of authors narrating their own work but Mary Robinette Kowal is a great narrator in her own right and does a fantastic job narrating this as usual.

Full Review
So I read this one earlier this year. I was struggling with writing my goodreads reviews before peak covid. I've had a lot of trouble reading books in general this year. By this point in the year I was back to work part time (working 40 hours every other week) which likely means my listening was a bit uneven.

I may or may not go back and write reviews for all the other books I skipped over, but we'll see how motivated I'm feeling. I wanted to write this one because as we're approaching the end of year, it felt wrong that one of my top reads of 2020 only had a 1 sentence review.

I hadn't read the blurb at all before pre-ordering this one. So it was a big surprise when I learned this book wasn't following Elma, but was instead told from the perspective of Nicole Wargin, who had been a fairly minor character in the first two books.

Initially I was a bit skeptical of the PoV change, but by the end this has become my favorite book of the series. Nicole is able to explore new aspects of the world of the last two books that Elma never could. I'd really love to see her do this with other characters in the future.

In particular I found the exploration of eating disorders to be well done. Just like Elma has his issues with anxiety, I love how this series shows characters who are successful at what they do and refuse to be defined by a single aspect of their lives.

In a year that's been a struggle for me to read, this was a nice reprieve. I'm there on day one if she writes a book 4.

Story
What can I say this deep into the story without just spoiling the plot? This continues to be one of my favorite comics. I love the characters. I love the world building. I love the plot. It's dark at times, joyful at others. It's crude at times and beautiful at others. In other words it encapsulates life.

Well if your life involves fleeing from bounty hunters and your own people in an effort to protect your daughter from being killed just for being born.

Another great volume. I can't wait for the next.

Artwork
Fiona Staples kicks ass. I love her work. This series wouldn't be nearly as good as it is without it. She brings Mr. Vaughan's words to life far better than my own imagination would be able to.

Merged review:

Story
What can I say this deep into the story without just spoiling the plot? This continues to be one of my favorite comics. I love the characters. I love the world building. I love the plot. It's dark at times, joyful at others. It's crude at times and beautiful at others. In other words it encapsulates life.

Well if your life involves fleeing from bounty hunters and your own people in an effort to protect your daughter from being killed just for being born.

Another great volume. I can't wait for the next.

Artwork
Fiona Staples kicks ass. I love her work. This series wouldn't be nearly as good as it is without it. She brings Mr. Vaughan's words to life far better than my own imagination would be able to.

Executive Summary: This is not a book for the faint of heart, or the first time fantasy reader. Mr. Erikson makes you think, and READ. No skimming allowed. Every word can be important. It's certainly not for everybody, but if you stick with it, I think most people will find their efforts greatly rewarded.Full ReviewThis is a case of, you were right Good Reads recommendation engine. Why didn't I listen to you?Shortly after joining good reads last year and putting all my books in, I checked out the recommendations page. This book was prominently listed based on several of my shelves. I read the description, and some of the reviews, and wasn't too impressed and moved on.Fast forward about 6 months and a few of my newly made GR friends were making a group to do a series re-read. A few others decided to join in as first timers. I was convinced to give the series a try.I'm glad I did. I can't say how I'll feel after all 10 books, but after the first one, I'm hooked!The group is probably a large part of my enjoyment. I can see this book being very hard to read by yourself. There were a few parts that confused the hell out of me, that were explained to me by people who had been there before.I'm very much a go with the flow and enjoy the ride type of reader. I'm OK if things don't make sense right away, so long as I get there eventually. Everything that confused me at the start was cleared up by the end. I'm not 100% if that was all book, or our great group discussion, but it doesn't matter.The book certainly has left me with a lot of questions to be answered, but that's to be expected as the start of a 10 book series.Mr. Erikson is an excellent writer. His descriptions, characters and language are all top notch. My only (minor) complaint would be that he sometimes seems intent on showing you just how good his vocabulary is.The highlight for me is the character development. This book involves some very powerful people. And just when you think “wow, what a badass”, someone more powerful shows up. I don't know if Dues Ex Machina possible when the gods themselves are part of the cast.He also paints a very grey picture. One or two chapters in, I started to feel I knew who was “good” and who was “bad”. Five chapters in, I had to re-evaluate my initial assessments. I wouldn't be surprised if 2 books in, I re-asses them again.Mr. Erikson introduces an interesting magical system with his use of Warrens. Unlike Brandon Sanderson who gives you a lot of detail and rules about how magic works, at least through 1 book the details are quite murky.All and all, a great start to the series. It's a 4, but it's a very high 4, and the ending almost pushes it to a 5 for me. I'm already looking forward to continuing on with [b:Deadhouse Gates 55401 Deadhouse Gates (The Malazan Book of the Fallen, #2) Steven Erikson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385272744s/55401.jpg 3898716] in two weeks.

Executive Summary: If you liked the Martian, you'll probably like this. It follows a very similar structure. I didn't like this quite as much, but overall enjoyed it.Audiobook: Ray Porter does a fantastic job as usual. I always enjoy his narration style and he's a good fit for tone of this book. It really adds a bit extra that makes me glad I did the audio version.Full ReviewI really loved [b:The Martian 18007564 The Martian Andy Weir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1413706054l/18007564.SY75.jpg 21825181]. I'm generally not a “hard” sci-fi fan. I tend to prefer space fantasy or space opera. However there was something about that book that just really appealed to me.Their wasn't so much of a plot as a series of scientific problems where our overqualified protagonist managed to “science the shit” out of them until the book ended. This book had a very similar structure. The protagonist felt like it could have easily been Mark Watney.I struggled a bit with this at the start. Our protagonist wakes up with amnesia which to me felt like it was simply a plot device to create more mystery and suspense as the slowly remember critical details at just the right time of the book.That said at a certain point of the book (I won't say which, since I don't like to include spoilers in my reviews), things really picked up for me and I was hooked in. It was this aspect more than anything that distinguished this book from the Martian for me.That said I felt like I had to suspend my disbelief a bit. Things just felt a bit over dramatic at times. I was also starting to wear down a bit at the “formula” of problem after problem with science to the rescue.Overall I found this to be a fast and (mostly) fun read, but a bit derivative of his earlier work. I think if you enjoyed the formula of the Martian, you'll likely enjoy it again here.

Executive Summary: Mr. Scalzi combines war, politics, humor and of course a good heaping of sci-fi to give you a quick and fun read. This isn't a book of deep meanings, groundbreaking ideas or elaborate plot. But, if you want yourself an entertaining sci-fi read, look no further.Full ReviewAs book reader, I consider myself primarily a fantasy reader these days. I love science-fiction, and have for as long as I can remember, but I tend to consume my sci-fi mostly through TV and the movies rather than books.For this reason I had never heard of John Scalzi before hearing about [b:Redshirts 13055592 Redshirts John Scalzi http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg 18130445] last year sometime. Even then his name didn't really stick with me. It should have, but he didn't. I'm pretty horrible with names.When discussing this book as a possible pick for our book club, one member commented something to the effect that it was a bad pick, because anyone who truly wanted to read this book would have by now. So here I am, very late to the party. And what a party!More than anything I found myself laughing aloud while reading this book. It's my first by Mr. Scalzi. Despite hearing about [b:Redshirts 13055592 Redshirts John Scalzi http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg 18130445] first, I still haven't gotten around to reading it. It defiantly won't be my last.There is a fair bit of swearing in this book, and what I'd call low-brow humor, so if that's not for you, you may not find it as funny as I did.The characters outside of the main one don't have a whole lot of depth to them, but that's OK. This isn't a book you read for it's in deep plot and complex characters. It's popcorn, plain and simple.With my usual “no spoilers” policies for review, I won't talk about the technologies used at all, other than to say there is nothing ground breaking there. Mr. Scalzi makes use of some well used ideas, but combines them in some fun ways. He doesn't go into a lot of depth on how it works, making this about as far from hard sci-fi as you can get. He gives you just enough of an explanation to set things up, then moves on.The aliens in this book are diverse and interesting, though again their isn't a lot of depth there. You don't always get a good feel for who the majority of the alien species are or why they are fighting. Really the variety of species is mostly to offer a variety of combat scenarios the main character has to deal with.I was satisfied by the ending, but their are enough lingering questions that I plan to check out other books in the series when I get some more time.

Executive Summary: A pretty good story that combines the magic school trope with fantasy mystery trope in an enjoyable fashion.

Audiobook: Xe Sands did a good job with the narration. This was a few books ago now so I don't really remember it standing out one way or another. It is probably one of those books that is fine in audio, but not a must listen.

Full Review
I picked this one up after reading some best books of the year list and thinking the story and the length was a good fit for my short and light end of year criteria.

I mean the premise is a murder at a magic school, so I guess not THAT light, but it's far from grimdark fantasy too.

I listened to most of it in a single go during my holiday roadtrip and it helped pass the time quite well.

I found the main character likeable enough, but for me the main hook was the magic school trope. The fantasy detective is pretty overdone these days, but having the detective not able to do magic was a nice twist on things to set this apart.

The mystery itself was decent, but not great. I don't go out of my way to try to guess what happened, but I've read enough books that sometimes it just seems apparent to me. This was one of those, but not until a good portion of the book was over.

Overall this was a good listen and is nice because it's stand alone. That's pretty hard to come by these days, and I wouldn't be surprised if a second book gets written at some point.

Executive Summary: I'm a huge Zelda fan. I had no idea how much this book would parody those games, but I loved it a lot more than I expected to.Audiobook: I thought Suzy Jackson did a good job with the narration. It was an interesting choice to have a second male narrator in Steve West to do Full ReviewI've had some mixed results with Andrew Rowe's other work. I really enjoyed his first two Arcane Ascension books, but didn't enjoy [b:Six Sacred Swords 43902687 Six Sacred Swords (Weapons and Wielders, #1) Andrew Rowe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551600782l/43902687.SY75.jpg 67973755]. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this one or not.I didn't really know much about the book coming in, I pretty must decided to listen to it because I got a free copy of the audiobook and it was short. Turns out it's basically a parody of Zelda which is one of my favorite series.I really ended up enjoying this book greatly. Possibly more than his Arcane Ascension books. It was well written and I loved all the references and in-jokes.If you like Zelda or rpg style video games this book is worth a look. It's also worth checking out if you're in the mood for a light/fun adventure story.