The amnesiac setup is good. After that it gets mediocre.
The second half of the book has a lot of attempts at witty cuteness. They weren't very witty and the cuteness juxtaposed awkwardly with the paranormal horror.
The main character is obsessed with how attractive everyone else is. Gave off vibes of a guy-writing-a-girl-character.
Blurbs about an unrelated supernatural being get tiresome when they are on every 5th page. So do …Read More
The amnesiac setup is good. After that it gets mediocre.
The second half of the book has a lot of attempts at witty cuteness. They weren't very witty and the cuteness juxtaposed awkwardly with the paranormal horror.
The main character is obsessed with how attractive everyone else is. Gave off vibes of a guy-writing-a-girl-character.
Blurbs about an unrelated supernatural being get tiresome when they are on every 5th page. So do …Read More
Funny sci-fi story set around the idea of allowed burglars who can steal things as long as do it with class. There are a few chapters are really fun reads because Williams bounces between perspectives as events unfold.
Quite short, left me wanting more of the world and characters.
Funny sci-fi story set around the idea of allowed burglars who can steal things as long as do it with class. There are a few chapters are really fun reads because Williams bounces between perspectives as events unfold.
Quite short, left me wanting more of the world and characters.
Witty satire about a man in love, his phantom child, a man seeking forgiveness, and a man writing the novel. Many self references and allusions to other works. Questions what's wrong with society recently, especially in America. Uses elements the fentanyl problem, pop culture, and sanity.
Witty satire about a man in love, his phantom child, a man seeking forgiveness, and a man writing the novel. Many self references and allusions to other works. Questions what's wrong with society recently, especially in America. Uses elements the fentanyl problem, pop culture, and sanity.
Poorly written generic fantasy. Has parallels to LOTR, without the interesting and detailed world.
All of the obstacles are paper tigers, even the big bad evil guy. It really undercuts tension when things are introduced and dispatched easily or ignored repeatedly. For example, the party is going into an ancient hall and the wizard tells them there are sphinxes that will turn themselves to stone if looked at, so everyone wears …Read More
Poorly written generic fantasy. Has parallels to LOTR, without the interesting and detailed world.
All of the obstacles are paper tigers, even the big bad evil guy. It really undercuts tension when things are introduced and dispatched easily or ignored repeatedly. For example, the party is going into an ancient hall and the wizard tells them there are sphinxes that will turn themselves to stone if looked at, so everyone wears …Read More
Clever, funny, and reflective.
A Vietnam veteran who is a Physics teacher at a university for stupid rich kids across a lake from a prison. He's a philanderer with a crazy wife.
Vonnegut is great at weaving elements of the story around each other.
Themes about the idiocy of Americans feel still relevant. There is a lot about Americans selling out to other countries, particularly Japan. American history of racial problems is …Read More
Clever, funny, and reflective.
A Vietnam veteran who is a Physics teacher at a university for stupid rich kids across a lake from a prison. He's a philanderer with a crazy wife.
Vonnegut is great at weaving elements of the story around each other.
Themes about the idiocy of Americans feel still relevant. There is a lot about Americans selling out to other countries, particularly Japan. American history of racial problems is …Read More
Jazz has lived on the first moon colony since she was a kid, she's a smuggler, and she gets a job that will pay 1 million slugs (moon dollars). The colony's police officer wants her gone, her nerd wants her to test a condom he designed, and her ex-friend wants to be friends again.
I read Project Hail Mary last year and I really liked it. This isn't as meticulous about the science, but there's enough ideas to be interesting. I …Read More
Jazz has lived on the first moon colony since she was a kid, she's a smuggler, and she gets a job that will pay 1 million slugs (moon dollars). The colony's police officer wants her gone, her nerd wants her to test a condom he designed, and her ex-friend wants to be friends again.
I read Project Hail Mary last year and I really liked it. This isn't as meticulous about the science, but there's enough ideas to be interesting. I …Read More
Enjoyable story about fictional survivors of a tsunami on an island in the south Pacific set in the 1800s.
The two main characters make an interesting pair. Mau is a native whose tribe was otherwise wiped out. Daphne is the sole survivor of an British ship that gets wrecked on the island. Mau deals with practical matters while struggling with existential and religious problems. Daphne adapts to the situation as she grows out …Read More
Enjoyable story about fictional survivors of a tsunami on an island in the south Pacific set in the 1800s.
The two main characters make an interesting pair. Mau is a native whose tribe was otherwise wiped out. Daphne is the sole survivor of an British ship that gets wrecked on the island. Mau deals with practical matters while struggling with existential and religious problems. Daphne adapts to the situation as she grows out …Read More
If you liked Pandora's Star's world building, stop. Don't read this book.
If you liked Pandora's Star's world building, stop. Don't read this book.
This review contains spoilers. Show me everything!
This review contains spoilers. Show me everything!
Read this over a week on a vacation with my family, mostly outside actually going for walks. It really sucked me in.
The premise is so simple and sets the stage for the characters. Every kid's death matters.
Read this over a week on a vacation with my family, mostly outside actually going for walks. It really sucked me in.
The premise is so simple and sets the stage for the characters. Every kid's death matters.
Ancient clockwork people living hidden within human civilization is intriguing. I enjoyed the intro of the two main characters. An anthropologist discovers a hidden message in a old clockwork doll. A clockwork man is revived in Russia in the 1700s.
Unfortunately, the clockwork people are mostly just strong humans and it becomes an action story. Implications of what they are isn't well explored or used. How they remain undisc …Read More
Ancient clockwork people living hidden within human civilization is intriguing. I enjoyed the intro of the two main characters. An anthropologist discovers a hidden message in a old clockwork doll. A clockwork man is revived in Russia in the 1700s.
Unfortunately, the clockwork people are mostly just strong humans and it becomes an action story. Implications of what they are isn't well explored or used. How they remain undisc …Read More
Mediocre writing with a throwaway plot.
The main character was left at an orphanage when he was a kid. Now some guys are after him for some reason. He has to keep his daughter safe and calls on an old friend to figure out what's happening.
For a while, the mystery of the main character's past kept me interested, but the explanation has no relation to the prior story. Plot points are picked out of a hat. There's nothing satisfy …Read More
Mediocre writing with a throwaway plot.
The main character was left at an orphanage when he was a kid. Now some guys are after him for some reason. He has to keep his daughter safe and calls on an old friend to figure out what's happening.
For a while, the mystery of the main character's past kept me interested, but the explanation has no relation to the prior story. Plot points are picked out of a hat. There's nothing satisfy …Read More
