Rob

Executive Summary: A little slow at times, but by the end I was hooked and eagerly awaiting the next book to come out.Audiobook: Steven Pacey does his usual excellent job. I think he's narrated most of the First Law books, and he really make them a must listen for me. He does a variety of voices and has good pacing and inflection.Full ReviewI've enjoyed most of the First Law books, but since reading [b:Red Country 13521459 Red Country (First Law World, #6) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333663008l/13521459.SY75.jpg 19082135] 4 years ago, I have mostly rolled off of darker fantasy. I didn't find this one quite as dark as some of the previous entries, but it's not exactly sunshine and rainbows either.My favorite book of the series to this point was [b:The Heroes 9300768 The Heroes (First Law World, #5) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375671200l/9300768.SY75.jpg 12879765], and that hasn't changed. However I probably like this about as much as the original trilogy, and more than [b:Best Served Cold 2315892 Best Served Cold Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347732723l/2315892.SY75.jpg 2322406]. I'm not sure but I probably like [b:Red Country 13521459 Red Country (First Law World, #6) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333663008l/13521459.SY75.jpg 19082135] better as well. So what that boils down to is this book is somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. I never liked the original trilogy quite as much as some of my friends seemed to.My biggest issue with this book was just how long it's been since I've read most of those books, especially the original trilogy. This book could really have done with some recap. I guess it doesn't have one since you could probably read this book without having read any of the previous books, but I'm not sure why you'd really want to.I'm still not quite sure why but Glotka remains one of my favorite characters. He's a terrible person, but he's almost always the smartest one in the room, so I enjoy him outsmarting others I guess. It was good to see him again, even if he's only a minor character and the focus is on his daughter Savine and others of her generation. She's not the only new character from the original books that is the offspring on a notable character. However most of them come as a bit of a surprise, so I'll just leave them for you to discover if you decide to read this. I thought most of the new characters were interesting in their own rights, and not remarkable for simply being someone's child. In addition to aging up most of the characters you know to have adult children, technology has advanced too. This setting has a very much industrial revolution feel, with all the benefits and issues that came along with it.Once I got back into the swing of things I found myself swept up in the story and all the new characters. I still don't have much of an interest in reading darker fantasy, but I do have an interest in seeing how the rest of this series turns out. I'll definitely be picking up the next one when it comes out.

Executive Summary: I've been trying to be cautious about the books I give 5 stars. I really enjoyed the 8 books before this one. Most are very high 4's, but this one was a 5.

From an author who seems to take pleasure in tormenting her characters, this was a surprisingly satisfying ending.

Full Review: As the year draws to a close, I look back on 9 books I read in the last 4 months by Robin Hobb. Books I might never have read if not for good reads.

This book caps off 3 stand alone trilogy that's by themselves are excellent. You can't really read Tawny Man without reading Farseer, but I suppose you could read Liveship without reading Farseer and many people have said their is no need to read Liveship before Tawny man.

To that I say why? Why would you deprive yourself of great books for one. For another this book once again strengthens my belief that you do yourself a disservice by skipping Liveship. While I can imagine you won't be confused without reading it, you certainly miss out on a lot of the back story and significance of certain things.

I had not expected to finish all 9 books this year, but once I finished my December book club pick with most of the month left, I resolved to read the whole Tawny Man trilogy before what stands to be a very busy reading year in 2013.

I'm glad I did. It was a great way to cap off the year in between all the holiday busyness finding time here and there to read.

Ms. Hobb found a way to resolve things in satisfying manner while still leaving me with a few questions that I'm OK with not having answers to. Sometimes speculating is the best part of a good book. That way the book never truly ends.

Before coming to this trilogy I've read people who have clamored for more Fitz and the Fool books by Ms. Hobb. Her most recent entries in the Eldering series (Rain Wild Chronicles) which takes place at the same time as this series apparently contain neither. I expect I will read that series, but plan to take a break before doing so.

I would happily read another book with those characters if done right. But I'm perfectly content at leaving well enough alone for fear of ruining a good thing.

Executive Summary: I found this one a bit slow in places, but it finished strong. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the last one. 3.5 Stars.

Audiobook: Roger Wayne does another quality job. His normal reading voice is clear and he reads with good tempo. Plus he does a few voices that gives the audio version that little extra something I've come to expect. I can tell just from the voices which character is talking and that makes for a more enjoyable listen.

Full Review
This series continues to be a lot of fun. The last book was probably my favorite of the series so far because it focused so much on Rogues, which has always been my favorite type of character to roleplay.

This one focuses more on Paladins, which I generally dislike. Paladins have a tendency to do what is right no matter what the consequences are and that kind of thinking has just never sat well with me. I guess I'm just a lot more Chaotic Good than Lawful Good.

The mystery tying the two main stories of the series continues to be interesting, but we learned very little new in this volume. I would have liked more with that regard. Things did get set up nicely for the next book, so maybe we'll finally get some more answers then.

Overall this continues to be a fun series, but I hope he's going somewhere with it and not simply meandering around on a neverending role playing campaign. For now I'm still on board with picking up the next book just as soon as it's available.

This ain't your father's comics.

I read this awhile back (sometime before the movie). It's dark and more realistic than typical comics, in that no one really has any super powers. That doesn't stop people from tossing on a mask and trying to be a super hero. The characters are far more flawed than the normal comic heroes that preceded this book.

I think this book changed comics forever.

Executive Summary: A slow start, but a strong finish made this a pretty enjoyable read. 3.5 Stars.

Audiobook: This is the first book I've listened to narrated by Jeff Harding. I thought he did a really good job. He does a few voices and reads with a good cadence and volume. This is definitely one of those books that works well in audio.

Full Review
Their on a mission from god! When Jake Blues finds out his childhood home is going to be closed unless he can raise $5000 in short order he convinces his brother Elwood to help him get the band back together and crazy hijinks ensue.

OK, so I might have gotten some of those details slightly wrong, but every time they said “We're getting the band back together” (and this happened a fair bit) I just kept thinking of the Blues Brothers movie.

Instead of Jake and Elwood we have Golden Gabe and Slowhand Clay Cooper who set out on adventure to reunite their once great band of adventurers, the legendary Saga, in order to save Gabe's daughter from an angry horde.

I thought most of the characters were a bit cookie cutter, but still fun. Clay was a sympathetic protagonist, and Gabe made for a fine catalyst, but neither are especially memorable in the pantheon of fantasy characters. The rest of the band is about the same. They all fill their role, but nothing we haven't really seen before. The long exception is probably Moog the Wizard. The crazy wizard isn't exactly new, but I still found him a lot of fun.

My favorite character however probably has to be the bandit leader Jane. She's a pretty minor character, but is very memorable. I hope she plays a larger role in sequel.

The world building felt like it was based on D&D manual, which works well for me. There was a variety of classes and monsters straight out of the manual.

That said, the book was still a lot of fun. Nothing like some old and out of shape heroes stumbling their way through a dangerous world full of monsters.

Despite very familiar themes, I was hooked in by the end eager to find out what would happen next. This book was far from groundbreaking, but I enjoyed it enough to continue on with the series.

Executive Summary: This series seems to alternate between great books and just good ones. This was a good one. I felt like too much time was spent setting things up and just as it was set, it ended. 3.5 stars.Audiobook: Tim Gerard Reynolds does his usual fantastic job. I've enjoyed every book he's narrated, and none more than those written by Mr. Sullivan. The narration helped me through some of the slower parts at the start of this book.Full ReviewSo far I've rated both [b:Age of Myth 26863057 Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507307691l/26863057.SY75.jpg 24657657] and [b:Age of War 18052169 Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire, #3) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516720471l/18052169.SX50.jpg 25336191] as 5 stars but [b:Age of Swords 32337902 Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire, #2) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481987017l/32337902.SY75.jpg 25336186] was a 4 and this one 3.5. I found both started slow but ended strong.It's almost as though he needs a book in between to set things up. With the way this one ended he's certainly set up for the next book to be another fantastic one. I just wish it didn't spend so much time meandering at the start.Things certainly took an unexpected turn for me, but I wanted to see what was going to happen next immediately. Because the book took so long to get there if left me a bit disappointed. That said this was still a good book, just not at the level of some of the others.Given how it ended I'm eagerly awaiting the next one, especially because I know it's already been written. I'm hoping the release will be either later this year or earlier next year when hopefully all the setup of this book is finally paid off.

Executive Summary: An unexpected but welcome addition to the Bobiverse. I felt it started a bit slow but really picked up as the book went along. I'm looking forward to the next one.Audiobook: Ray Porter once again does a great job. I'm glad they were able to get him to continue on with this series. He does a variety of voices that really add that extra something such that I'll always do it in audio. Which is good since it's an audible exclusive.Full ReviewWhen [b:All These Worlds 35506021 All These Worlds (Bobiverse, #3) Dennis E. Taylor https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498271736l/35506021.SY75.jpg 54144690] came out three years ago I thought it was a satisfying but rushed conclusion. I didn't need there to be a fourth book, but I was happy to pick one up.This book has one main plot and one major subplot. Initially I found the subplot far more interesting and the main plot was rather slow. As the book went out things evened out though and my interest in the main plot grew.I feel like some of the plot points weren't really wrapped up to my satisfaction, but that probably just sets things up for the next book.Overall like the previous books I found this a lot of geeky fun. I'll be curious to see where he's going to take things from here.

Executive Summary: This was a well-written book that was totally not for me. 2.5 Stars

Audiobook: Perdita Weeks did a really good job with the narration, and I'd probably never have finished this book if I did the text instead of the audio.

Full Review
This book wasn't on my radar, but it was chosen for Sword & Laser in June. I had an inkling it wouldn't be for me, and thankfully I was able to get the audio from the library.

I liked Circe as a character. For the most part. I certainly liked Circe at the end of the book far more than the start. There was some good character development as a result.

I've never been a big fan of Mythology of any kind. I've enjoyed some fantasy series that have leverage Mythology, but apart from studying it back in school, I don't know a lot about it. I suspect for people who do like Greek/Roman mythology there is a lot to enjoy/geek out about here.

Apparently if I had, I'd recalled just how awful all the gods were. To each other. To humans. To pretty much everyone. I don't really want to read a book about a bunch of assholes. I get enough of that in the daily news.

I found parts of this very hard to read. It was just very depressing. I needed a palette cleanser afterwards. I did find the ending a lot more enjoyable (the last 10-15% maybe?). It was also very well written. For those reasons I rounded up to a 3 from a 2.5.

I can understand why some people really enjoyed the book, it just wasn't for me.

Executive Summary: Another fun book by Mr. Scalzi, although I wish it had been a bit longer.

Audiobook: Once again, John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton make a perfect fit. John Scalzi books are always full of snark, and Wil Wheaton is great at delivering it. He also does a few voices along the way that makes this a definite audio choice for me.

Full Review
I found the start of this book a little slow. I'm bad at names, so maybe I missed the significance later in the book, but I don't really get the point of the prologue. Once the story got back to the main characters of the first book however, I found it really enjoyable.

This series is the kind of character-driven space opera that I enjoy the most. There is just enough science there to make things interesting, but really it's all about the people and politics from a scientific crisis than about the science behind it.

Kiva continues to be my favorite character that Mr. Scalzi has written to date. Her chapters were again the ones I enjoyed the most in this book. She's still not a person that I'd probably get along with, but one I certainly find entertaining to read about.

I think Cardenia is now a close second. She's really coming into her own in this book. I really look forward to seeing where things go next. I don't want to get into specifics but people will continue to underestimate her at their own peril.

I liked Marce a lot more in this book than the previous one. His storyline was not at all what I was expecting and led to some very interesting developments that I wish were explored more in this book.

I always enjoy John Scalzi books, and this series so far has been one of my favorites. I am a bit concerned at how short this book was and how much their seems to be to wrap this series up in only one more book. He really expanded the plot a lot in this book. While this set things up nicely for the next book, I have concerns there will be a lot of loose ends to tie up.

Overall, another fun book in this series, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one.

Executive Summary: This book seemed to have less high stakes, but I think in many ways I liked it better. Definitely another great entry in this series.

Audiobook: Kevin R. Free once again does a good job at portraying Murderbot. He nails the sarcasm very well. This book definitely works well in audio.

Full Review
I really enjoyed the first book of this series, but I struggle with the rise in popularity of novellas. I've become so spoiled by 20+ hour audiobooks that a 4 hour book feels like a bad deal.

I managed to get this book as part of a buy one get one sale, and realized that despite it's short length it's one of the best series of the last few years. I feel like the stakes of this story wasn't quite as high as the last book, but I really enjoyed the relationship between Murderbot and the Research Transport ship.

It was this kind of slice of life aspect to the story that endeared Murderbot to me even more than the first book.

That isn't to say there isn't any action. Murderbot takes a job protecting humans who just can't help but get themselves in trouble. Luckily our sarcastic TV loving robot is here to save the day!

I enjoyed this so much I decided to just bite the bullet and buy the rest of the series. I'm eagerly looking forward to the final two novellas and to see where things go from here.

Executive Summary: I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I expected to. It wasn't as fun as his NPCs series but given that I'm not a big fairy tale fan, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun he made it.Audiobook: I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the 3 narrator approach, but it seemed to work well. I'm not sure which of the male narrators was the primary, whoever voiced Jack, but they did a good job with the overall narration beyond just reading Jack's parts. Both other of the others did a good job as well. If Mr. Hayes writes a sequel, I hope they hire the same three again. It definitely worked well in audio.Full ReviewI really enjoy Drew Hayes [b:NPCs 22088245 NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth, #1) Drew Hayes https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400095217s/22088245.jpg 41426688] series, but I haven't read any of his other stuff before. There has been a bit of a trend to write modern fairy tales, or to repurpose traditional fairy tales. I've read a few and I enjoyed the show Grimm, but it's not something I was really itching for reading more of.I mostly picked this book up because it was on sale and a bit on the strength of his other books I've read. The majority of this book is episodic. Each chapter uses a classic fairy tale and puts a (often humorous) twist on it. I recognized most, but not all of the stories, but as I said fairy tales aren't really my thing.I tend to prefer a bigger story than something episodic like this, but it really seemed to work well, and he did still manage to build a pretty compelling glue story connecting them all together.My favorite part was learning the backstories of the three main characters. I had kind of guessed two of them, but one of them took me by surprise. It's possible if I knew fairy tales better, I'd have been less surprised but it's hard to say.Overall this was a pretty fun/light read and I'd definitely pick up another if he wrote it, but if not it ended in a pretty decent place.

Rat Queens is awesome, so I bought this Deluxe Edition.I originally reviewed these issues with each trade paper. Those reviews are linked below if you're so inclined.[b:Rat Queens, Vol. 3: Demons 28762820 Demons (Rat Queens, #3) Kurtis J. Wiebe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489503059l/28762820.SY75.jpg 48893668] - (My Review)[b:Rat Queens, Vol. 4: High Fantasies 35631919 High Fantasies (Rat Queens, #4) Kurtis J. Wiebe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499647551l/35631919.SX50.jpg 57083568] - (My Review)

Executive Summary: I thought this book started a bit slow but got pretty good by the end. It didn't hurt that it's heavily connected to the [b:The Bill Hodges Trilogy 27406812 The Bill Hodges Trilogy Boxed Set Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1-3) Stephen King https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463042065s/27406812.jpg 47454319]Audiobook: Will Patton does a good job again. He does a few voices, but mostly I just think his general reading voice is a good fit for these sort of horror/mystery books King seems to be writing recently. With it's heavy connection to the Bill Hodges books, it was cool that they got the same narrator as that series.Full ReviewStephen King loves to tie his books together. Sometimes there are large connections, sometimes small. Most of them relate back to the Dark Tower, but not all. This book had been on my radar before, but I wasn't planning to read it so soon until I learned of it's connection to [b:The Bill Hodges Trilogy 27406812 The Bill Hodges Trilogy Boxed Set Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1-3) Stephen King https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463042065s/27406812.jpg 47454319]. I'm not sure how much of a spoiler it is to say what the connections are since it comes about halfway into the book, but I will say I'm not sure you'll enjoy this book as much if you haven't already read/enjoyed that series. It certainly includes what I'd consider major spoilers for that series even though I wouldn't go so far as to call this book a sequel to those. Needless to say I enjoyed the second half more than the first.If you plan to read those books eventually, you should probably read them first. If you don't care about this series you shouldn't feel like you have to (although I personally thought that series is some of the best stuff he's written in awhile). I found many of the main characters in this hard to like, especially the lead detective Ralph Anderson and the District Attorney. I should say that both had decent character growth in as the book went on however. For the most part the most sympathetic characters were the victims.This book starts off really dark, even for King and I found the description of the original crime very hard to listen to. In general I don't consider myself a fan of horror, but I'm a huge fan of Stephen King. I don't think all of his books are horror though. This one is probably almost as much thriller/mystery as it is horror, especially later on.Overall, I found this a very enjoyable read and anytime King ties a new book to one I've already read and enjoyed I tend to like it that much more.

Executive Summary: Less Sci-Fi and more Historical Fiction, but really enjoyable. I'd pitch it as a cross between [b:The Martian 18007564 The Martian Andy Weir https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413706054s/18007564.jpg 21825181] and [b:Hidden Figures 30840370 Hidden Figures The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space Margot Lee Shetterly https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474752658s/30840370.jpg 55627110]Audiobook: Normally I'm not a fan of authors reading their own work, but I've listened to Ms. Kowal as a narrator for other books before and she is good. She does a few voices and accents that add that little extra something to the audio version.Full ReviewI've been wanting to read a book by Ms. Kowal for a few years, but the blurbs for her previous books just never really appealed to me. This one however was right up my alley.I'm not sure how much research she did, but it seems like a lot. The fiction part of this book is mostly setting up a reason to accelerate the US space program by about a decade and then continue to push it forward from that point in a way we never really did. It sort of posits: “What would our space exploration look like if we made it the main focus and not just a Cold War arms race?”.I really like Elma. I can relate a lot to her and her social anxiety. I love the way she counts numbers in her head when she's feeling anxious. Maybe I should give that a try. All of the characters are pretty great though, even those I don't like at all (I'm looking at you Parker).I'm not really a fan of romance stories, which I think is one of the things that has kept me away from Ms. Kowal's previous works. There is definitely a romance subplot here, but it's not the focus. I will say there is A LOT of sexual innuendo/double entrades. I mostly found it funny, but if that kind of thing bothers you, you could get tired of it.Even though this book is set in the 1950s, there is a lot of commentary relevant today. I'm not sure how much of that is clever writing and how much is just the sad fact of how little progress has been made since that time. I thought it was well done without being heavy handed. It was important to the plot, but not the point of the plot if that makes any sense.Overall I really enjoyed this book a lot and immediately jumped right into the second one. I'm glad I was finally able to pick up a book by Ms. Kowal and that I liked it as much as I did.

Executive Summary: This book wasn't really for me. It's more about the journey than anything else, and I found the journey full of lulls. 2.5 Stars.

Audiobook: I'm generally not a fan of authors reading their own work. I think this story might have been better with a different narrator. Mr. Crowley isn't bad per-say, but his voice is kind of soothing and when the story was slow, it was easy to sort of lose my concentration.

Full Review
There have been a few books whose point is the journey that I've liked, but those are few and far between. This one was OK, but I often found myself bored.

I love the portrayal of the crows, in particular the titular character. However I guess I don't find crow life very exciting. My favorite parts were some of the relationships that Dar Oakely had. In particular I liked his first real relationship with a human.

Often though I found I just didn't really care what he was up to. I think this is one of those books where you'll just love the prose and sort of slice of crow life, or you'll find it mostly boring as I did. Despite being well written, it just wasn't a great fit for me.

Executive Summary: This book was very uneven for me. I was reluctant to pick up a book by Sam Sykes and I'm reluctant to continue on with this series.

Full Review
Humor is subjective. Personally, I don't find Sam Sykes twitter antics funny. I follow a lot of his friends and often time they get mixed up with his antics. I mostly just roll my eyes and ignore them.

So when Sword & Laser chose this for their October 2019 pick, I wasn't sure how I felt. I decided if I was going to read it, I'd see about borrowing a copy from the library in case I didn't enjoy it.

My results were a bit mixed. I'm not a fan of anti-heroes anymore. I do like cool magic systems though, and this definitely had that.

The humor (as probably expected) didn't really land for me. I don't feel like there was a lot of it, which surprised me a bit given his Twitter persona and that probably helped this books cause.

Inevitably though, I found this book too long, and slow in places. Whenever I was getting into the story, things seemed to slow down and my attention would drift.

The world building much like the magic system was good though. I am curious to find out what happens next. I'm just not sure I'm THAT curious to pick up the sequel later this year.

Executive Summary: I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as [b:The Hanging Tree 21479290 The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant, #6) Ben Aaronovitch https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1480443659l/21479290.SY75.jpg 40801856]. 3.5 stars.Audiobook: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is once again fantastic. I'm not sure how anyone else could narrate this series. This is definitely a series that is “must listen”Full ReviewIt's kind of strange to be caught up on this series. I came to it very late and very reluctantly. In the early 2000s I read pretty much nothing but Urban Fantasy. I think I burned myself out. But more likely it's because I started to read a lot more fantasy and found that I just didn't like it nearly as much anymore. This series despite having a lot of the same tropes has still been an enjoyable listen. The world building is probably my favorite part. I want to know all about the secret histories of magic. I like how magic interacts with technology. It's been a bit slow at times. I like bigger stories and like a lot of Urban Fantasy you tend to get a mostly one off mystery story.The characters are good too, especially Nightingale and Molly. We add some new and interesting characters that add to the character building of the others.That said I thought this was a bit of a weaker entry compared to the last one. After finally getting some of the world building I was after in the last entry, there was much less of it here and mostly back to a more stand alone story. It was still enjoyable though, and now that I'm caught up I have to wait for the next book to come out.

Executive Summary: I liked this better than [b:Fight and Flight 36372116 Fight and Flight (Magic 2.0 Book 4) Scott Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507432381s/36372116.jpg 54145455], but not nearly as much as the earlier books.Audiobook: Luke Daniels is awesome as always. If you follow my reviews, you know that already. One of the main reasons I started this series in the first place was because he was narrating it. Full ReviewPretty much every character in this series is awful. I knew this before, but for some reason this book really hit the point home for me. There are some I like more than others. Martin grew on me as the series went on, but I feel like in this book he reverted back to his most annoying form.I normally like Gwen, but even she got on my nerves in this book. Gary is the worst. Possibly worse than Jimmy. OK, maybe not that bad, but close. Tyler is probably the only one I'd want to be friends with.I've always been so-so on the time travel aspects of this series, and this book probably does the most with it out of any others. It focuses heavily on Brit, who'd I'd probably like a lot if not for her the major recurring theme of her hating herself. I get it, most people hate themselves to some degree or another. Again it was just a bit much.That isn't to say this book was all bad. It was still pretty fun at times, although I probably found myself laughing less often than normal I will say I am intrigued by some of the developments near the end of the book that has me more interested in reading the next in the series than I'd probably have been otherwise.This series continues to be a (mostly) fun/light summer listen that is all the much better in audio (which is probably why Audible signed it to a 6 month exclusive window on new releases). I'd like to see things get a bit more light-hearted in the next book, although maybe that's just not the direction Scott Meyer wants to take it.

Executive Summary: Another strong entry in this series. It started a bit slow, but got really good by the end and now I'm stuck waiting for the next book to come out.

Full Review
I made the mistake of starting this book right before Battle for Azeroth came out. That was unfair to this book. It sat unread for basically 2 months because my reading time was sacrificed to my WoW addiction.

Once things finally settled down, I jumped back into this book and really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure how I felt about the pocket world of Ghostwater. It felt like a side story. However by the end I came to see that it's likely going to have some very implications on series moving forward.

I continue to enjoy the way Lindon approaches things, and this book didn't disappoint on that front. The supporting cast continues to be great. I didn't like nearly Skysworn as much as Blackflame, but I loved the addition of Mercy. She continues to be fantastic in this book. I'm really hoping that Mr. Wight has some more great stuff for her in store.

And that's adding to an already great cast in Yerin, Eithan and especially Orthos. Plus this book added another new character I have about a million questions about in Ziel. I hope he continues to play a role moving forward as well.

Overall this series continues to be a delight. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Shonen.

Executive Summary: Another solid Thrawn book, but not as good [b:Thrawn 31140332 Thrawn (Star Wars Thrawn, #1) Timothy Zahn https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468787895s/31140332.jpg 51766424] in my opinion. There was also far less Darth Vader in this book than the cover seemed to imply.Audiobook: Another fantastic job as always by Marc Thompson. I don't read a lot of Star Wars books, but I'm always more inclined to listen to the ones he narrates. I don't like music/sound effects in audio books typically because I find they make it harder to focus on the story/hear the narration in most.These books however do a great job with it making it at times feel more like a radio drama than an audiobook. I will say that his voice for Padme sounds a lot like his voice for Leia, but given the fact that he's a male and Leia's parentage I was OK with this. All of his other voices sound exactly like the characters from the movies/TV series to me.Full ReviewSo I said in my summary that there is far less Darth Vader than I expected. That's because there is a lot more Anakin Skywalker. It turns out most of this novel is a flashback to the first time Thrawn encountered/interacted with the Republic/Empire. The stories are mostly told in parallel, but much of the story takes place in the past.I didn't care much for Anakin after watching the movies, but the Clone Wars show really changed my opinion on the character. I thought they did a far better job there (and had a far better actor playing him). And while I think Natalie Portman does a good job as Padme in the movies the writing of her character is also much better on the show. Thankfully Mr. Zahn bases his portrayal of Padme on the show.I've never been a huge Darth Vader fan. He's fine as an antagonist, and James Earl Jones has a fantastic voice but I just never found him that interesting. Thrawn on the other hand I think is probably the best antagonist the series has had, and I was glad to see him returned to cannon both on the page and in the Rebels TV show. I'd love to see him make his big screen debut at some point down the road.The pairing of the two was interesting because their talents complement each other pretty well. Anakin tends to act before he thinks, while Thrawn is always planning things several moves in advance.The story told here was entertaining enough but didn't do nearly as much to flush out Thrawn as the previous book did. There were a few little tidbits that have me intrigued, but as much of the book was a flashback we didn't get very much of the storyline from the previous book as I was hoping for. I think he's contracted to write a third book, so I'm hoping that book focuses more on those aspects.Overall, this was an enjoyable book and if you're a casual Star Wars book reader like me this is one worth picking up, especially in audio.

Executive Summary: I liked the first part of this book better than the later parts, but still enjoyed it overall. I'd seen a lot of warnings about some of the brutality later in this book, and while it's there is wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

Full Review
I'm a sucker for the fantasy school trope. No many how many different books I've read that have it, I seem to enjoy just about them all. This was no different. Part 1 focuses on a military academy and it was the part I enjoyed the most.

I found Rin a hard character to like, but she was most likable to me while she was at school. There were also teachers and other students that I liked far more the characters later on in the book.

The book get progressively darker as it goes on, and there has been criticism/warning about the level of brutality in the book and if it was warranted. However given the time period and real life events this book seems to be inspired from I'd say it makes sense.

I had gone back and forth on if I wanted to read this book due to all the warnings, and had settled on skipping it despite already owning it. Sword & Laser made it their August selection so I changed my mind yet again and decided to give it a try.

I used to read a lot of dark fantasy, and I've grown a bit tired of it. I don't need everything to be sunshine and rainbows, but I don't want to spend my free time dwelling in it either. I read to escape, not to feel depressed. Thankfully I felt like it wasn't as dark as I was expecting it to be.

I didn't find that she dwelled on the violence or gloried in it. Instead she simply presented it in a way that is both shocking but not overly detailed. I can understand why some people don't want to read that, but I feel like other fantasy series have been a lot more graphic. It won't be for everyone, but if you've enjoy Song of Ice and Fire, Malazan book of the Fallen or First Law, I don't think you'll be too put off by this.

I do feel like things are kind of left without any sense of reflection of consequence. However it's the first book of a series, so we'll see how she deals with the events of this book in the next one.

There are parts of this book that ran on a bit too long. It could probably have used some more editing. That said when you think that this is both her first novel and about the age at which she wrote it, it's quite an impressive debut.

Overall I enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to picking up the second one at some point, although I won't be rushing out to pick it up right away.

Executive Summary: This book is a lot of big ideas, and not a lot of depth of character or plot. If you like that sort of thing, you may enjoy this.

Full Review
This book was a tough one for me. It makes it a tough one to review as well.

I had been meaning to check this one out for awhile, but didn't make time for it. It ended up being one of the picks for July in Sword & Laser so I finally fit it in.

I read it over the course of 2 weekends, which with the way I've been lately is a really long time. The book is only 340 pages, and I read nearly half of it in one day. What was I doing the other 4 or 5 days that I was “reading” it?

Well not, much. I'd get an email notification and I'd go off and spend 10-15 minutes on the tablet instead of reading. Or I wouldn't even pick the book up to begin with.

I haven't read a lot of “classic” Sci-Fi, but most of them seem to be big on ideas, and little on much else. I liked the characters for the most part in this book, but there wasn't a ton of depth there. I think Speaker to Animals was by far the most interesting of the bunch.

Somewhere around the halfway point though, some new facts came to light and the story just seemed to click in and I managed to finish it fairly quickly.

I have a bit of a science background. My engineering degree has a lot of foundation in math and science. I haven't really used most of that in over 10 years, but I do find Hard Sci-Fi a bit interesting. I don't pretend to be smart enough to look at what Mr. Niven wrote and prove or disprove the science behind it.

The concepts in this book are really cool. Building planets and instantaneous travel among others. The actual plot wasn't anything spectacular however.

It's one of those books I'm glad I read, but probably won't read again, or go off recommending as something you MUST read.

Executive Summary: A truly fascinating listen that proves the life can be more unbelievable than fiction.

Audiobook: For non-fiction I prefer my narrators to basically be unmemorable. I want them to just give me the story without distracting me. Cassandra Campbell not only does a good job, but I really like how this audiobook was produced.

There are diagrams in the print version of this book and instead of trying to “read” or describe them to you, there is a pdf you can look at to see what they are talking about and Ms. Campbell simply says “see the insert” in the appropriate place.

Full Review
Elizebeth Smith-Friedman was a name I knew was associated with cryptography, but almost none of the details of her remarkable life.

Not only did she help break codes in World War 1, she also helped bust Rum Runners during prohibition and created a formidable team of code breakers for the Coast Guard in the process leading to some major success stories during World War 2 that were kept classified until very recently.

Part love story, part examination of sexism in the early/mid 1900s and part spy novel this book really has a lot incredible stories that kept me fascinated for the entire time.

Jason Fargone did an excellent job collecting all the details and laying out what has mostly been a hidden history of early cryptography.

Executive Summary: A strong start with an alright finish. I liked the book as is, but probably would have enjoyed it more as a Cyber thriller rather than a sci-fi book. 3.5 stars

Full Review
I picked this book up on a daily deal at some point and I had been planning to read it towards the Sword & Laser's Laser group challenge because I was behind on my pledge. Then they went and made it the November pick.

I've long held a fascination on the early days of computers, networks and the phone phreaks and hackers who found ways to manipulate them. I've read numerous nonfiction books on the subject, but very few fiction books. Most fictions books with hackers tend to become cyberpunk (which I also enjoy) but I'd like to see someone do a good take on modern day hacking akin to the first season of Mr. Robot.

Hacking has taken on a much more negative connotation these days, despite the idea of “White Hat”, “Gray Hat” or Hackavists, most people tend to automatically associate the term hacker with criminal. That isn't to say hackers aren't breaking laws, or that there are criminals who use computer savvy to commit crimes. The early hackers were more explorers and prankster than they were hardened criminal however.

One of the things I loved about this book is that Wendig covers pretty much all the common-day hackers. He's got an old guy from the earlier days of hacking, a hackivist, a carder, an internet troll, and a “script kiddie” among others.

They are all well flushed out too. It seems like Wendig knows his stuff when setting up the tech side. But this book isn't a cyber thriller. It's science fiction. That may not be apparent until pretty far into the book but it is.

While I enjoyed the second half of the book, I didn't like it as much as the first half. I think I might have liked it better if he had kept things a little more grounded in the science side of things.

That said, I may still pick up the second book in the series at some point because I'd like to see where he takes things next.