A much more coherent story than Ghost, and not as much sex. Especially not as much violent sex. I enjoyed the book more than the previous.
John was theA much more coherent story than Ghost, and not as much sex. Especially not as much violent sex. I enjoyed the book more than the previous.
John was the only character that was fully fleshed out, but there were many supporting characters that had some depth. The situations were once again a cold slap in the face of culture clashes. I know there are some areas that treat people with little regard to their humanity, but I've thankfully always been sheltered from that. So I have no idea how widespread such attitudes are in various areas.
The eBook was formatted well with only a couple of small spelling/grammar errors. Thanks to the Baen Free Library and CDs for the free eBook download....more
It was OK. Perhaps if this weren't the first entry in the series for me it would have come across better. As it was, I felt like I was missing a consiIt was OK. Perhaps if this weren't the first entry in the series for me it would have come across better. As it was, I felt like I was missing a considerable amount of history. This shouldn't have been a big issue, but every time Murderbot started talking and referenced "redacted" it was extremely annoying. I'm also not a huge fan of first person limited voice, which played into my lack of engagement with the story.
The numerous uses of "f--k" throughout the novel also seemed unnecessary. Either it's become so ubiquitous in society it is no longer really an epithet, or the author thinks it is and just keeps throwing it out there for the shock value of 1980s middle schoolers. There is a time and place for such language if you're trying to emphasize a situation, such as the fight near the end. Overuse in other areas lessens its gravitas and makes the story seem juvenile.
The only character half-way decently developed was Murderbot. And that could have been much better. The constant explaining of what he thought, and how it interfaced with his programing was annoying. All the other characters were just place holders for the story. It reminded me of The Wild Robot, but with foul language. Once again, first person limited contributed to lack of engagement with the characters.
The pacing of the story was so-so. The first half is a little slow, then in chapter 9 it becomes rather frenetic. If it weren't for how well the story ended, this would have been a lower rating. Also, apparently it's now obligatory to have homosexual characters in a story, and reference their status and pronouns in stories for no reason at all. The couple of references to it in this story didn't add anything to the storyline anyway. Box. Checked.
In all, my overall impression was of a short story that had a bunch of filler added to make it novel length. Considering that the three previous installments in this series won Hugos, I was expecting better.
The audioBook was formatted well with no sound issues. The narrator didn't give much of a change for the various voices, but it was almost all Murderbot talking to himself so, that wasn't an issue....more
Another exceptionally entertaining outing from Ringo. This book was fast paced and thrilling to read. I am really enjoying this series. Most all of itAnother exceptionally entertaining outing from Ringo. This book was fast paced and thrilling to read. I am really enjoying this series. Most all of it centers around Faith and Sophia. Steve's perspectives are small, and his wife is barely mentioned at all. Most of the character development is about Faith and Sophia. Isham seems to be growing as well. Most of the other characters aren't well developed. The introductions of Walker and Olga show potential at growth, but it's still early in their development and we don't see a whole lot of depth yet.
I would really, really, love to see the video the new recruits watch of Faith boarding the Voyage set to Tubthumping. A zombie story would typically be fantasy, but this one is more science fiction. This book didn't have much for slow parts, the action just keeps on coming. It explains some of the military reasoning behind the division of labor amongst various services and ranks that make clear to civilian readers why things are often done as they are. Nearly all of the story takes place in the Canary Islands (Spain).
I'm very much looking forward to the next entry in the series.
The eBook was formatted well, with only one obvious spelling/punctuation error....more
I also own a physical copy of this novel that I've read twice. This review will be about the audioBook.
I love this story. The desert southwest, an antI also own a physical copy of this novel that I've read twice. This review will be about the audioBook.
I love this story. The desert southwest, an anthropology expedition to find a lost city, mysterious antagonists...what's not to love. The pacing is good, and the plot is interesting. Though I think by the time this book came out the "Aztecs moved north" theory was already considered fringe at best.
The introduction to Nora Kelly is nice, and I look forward to reading more in the Nora Kelly series. She's fairly well developed. Smithback comes across as a much better person than in Relic or Reliquary, at least by the end. He's pretty full of himself at the beginning, but seems more confident of his abilities. I enjoyed Sloanne Goddard's character, even if she was a bit conniving and zealous in her search for fame. Though I do understand the character trait, as there are quite a few big egos in the field of anthropology, and it's difficult to make a name for yourself if you don't have a special find on your resume. Most of the other characters weren't really well developed, but there was enough there to understand their motivations.
The audioBook was well formatted with no skips or garbled sound. The narrator did a good job trying to give each character his own voice. ...more
Overall I think it was a good story, though I had some issues with it. The pacing was fine, and the concept of a Civil War ironclad lost in an out of Overall I think it was a good story, though I had some issues with it. The pacing was fine, and the concept of a Civil War ironclad lost in an out of the way/unexpected place hiding a huge secret is quite workable (even if not totally original - see Sahara as probably the most famous example). Cartwright seems to have taken up the mantel of Clive Cussler and Alistair MacLean with interesting adventure stories. In this case the action was quick though not constant. The geography was somewhat different in that North Dakota doesn't often get mentioned, let alone be the setting for a good portion of a novel (see more below).
Sam Reilly is really the only character that seemed well developed. Tom and Ginny both had interesting concepts and hints at a fuller background, but they just didn't get expressed in this novel. I'm curious to read other entries in this series.
The issues I had with this story are mostly personal issues that most readers probably won't have. The biggest one I had that wasn't personal was about the description of how the ironclad appeared in the stories about Holman versus how it appeared when they actually found it. It didn't match. The next biggest one was there were just too many coincidences. I can buy a few, but this seemed excessive.
The personal issues I had that kept throwing me out of the it were mostly centered around the geography. I grew up in Minot, ND. My maternal grandparents lived in Beulah when I was a kid. I spent much of my childhood camping and fishing in western ND so I'm fairly well acquainted with the areas described in the novel. The reality and the descriptions don't have much overlap. I described in more detail of this in a blogpost https://westfargomusings.wordpress.co... And with the characters hiking out of the wilderness it would be almost impossible to go more than two miles without running into a road and thus other people, especially since the oil-boom that kicked off around 2008. North Dakota might be sparsely populated compared to other places, but it isn't devoid of people.
The AudioBook was formatted well with no obvious problems with playback. The issue with the narrator is my own, not a problem with the formatting.
Another personal issue I had was with the narrator. It wasn't so much the sound of his voice, as it was the cadence he used and the accents he used to differentiate the characters. ...more
Overall, not bad, but could have been better. More like 3.5 stars, not quite 4.
The bad: He starts off with a prelude to the story talking about how prOverall, not bad, but could have been better. More like 3.5 stars, not quite 4.
The bad: He starts off with a prelude to the story talking about how prescient he was about events happening like in the book. It's not hard to predict general natural disasters. The hard part is predicting when/where they occur. The comparison between Fargo and Grand Forks is off. I'm not positive about the total taxes between the two cities, but my impression was that at the time GF had higher taxes. GF does have significantly higher taxes now. GF had some permanent levies in place that gave way. Fargo constructed temporary dikes each year. My opinion is that it had more to do with the organizational skills of Dennis Wallaker in Fargo than anything in '97. The '09 Red River flood was even higher. The story starts off a bit slow. Quite a few characters that I just didn't care about. Including several that were introduced somewhat late, had only a scene or two, and/or then killed off early. The only ones I really cared about were Jason, Nick and Jessica. I'm not sure the motors on the bass boat would have worked without a complete teardown after having been submerged. There was a fairly explicit sex scene at the end of chapter 4 that took the story nowhere. I'm not sure what the point of it was as it was already established that those two characters were sleeping together. Maybe he was trying to show he could write erotica? I don't think there was a single example of a law enforcement or religious figure in the book that wasn't deeply flawed in character. They all seemed crazy, racist or homicidal. Wait, I take that back. The one black Methodist preacher was a decent guy.
The good: The story moves along fairly well once the earthquake hits. It just takes awhile for it get to that point. He did a good job of trying to make the racist sheriff, Omar, look sympathetic for the first half of the book. It was almost like he was using the KKK like just another fraternal organization like the Masons, Elks, Moose, or Knights of Columbus. But once things went to hell, his true colors showed through. Omar had a definite story arc. Jason grew from a bratty kid to a pretty solid teen/young adult. I liked his character arc. For awhile it looked like his part might just be a modern Huck Finn floating down the Mississippi. He matured well while still remaining a modern teenager. Nick grew on me. At first he seemed a little too depressed and dejected. Once his interactions with his friend, Biondi/Viondi?, started with them fishing he became a more likeable character. By the end of the book he was a real take-charge kind of guy and showed off some of his work skills along with what his Dad had taught him. His actions at the camp were possible a little over the top, but I still enjoyed it. Jessica started out like she was going to be just another diversity hire that skated through the story because she was the-girl-in-charge (which unfortunately is something that quite a few stories over the last couple of decades have given us). But she did have to work through some problems thrown in her way and handled them with aplomb. Her story arc, while not as expansive as some others, was at the core of the book and tied all of the rest of the story together. Larry was a little "meh", but wasn't a bad character. He just didn't have any real arc or emotional appeal to me.
The AudioBook was narrated beautifully. He gave each character it's own voice and used inflection, cadence, and accent to make it easy to identify the various people. One of the best examples of narration I've seen so far in my AudioBook journey. The AudioBook was formatted well with no obvious errors, skips or garbling....more
Kinda forgot I didn't write a review of this when I was in the hospital after my surgery. The pacing was good, and a couple of the characters were gooKinda forgot I didn't write a review of this when I was in the hospital after my surgery. The pacing was good, and a couple of the characters were good. But the motivations of the "bad guys" seemed a little strained, as did the need for such strict secrecy by the protagonist. Perhaps it was just that it was a different era and it clashed with what I can see today.
I previously read this book in junior high, so it was a nice dip into the past. I just wasn't as awed by it this time around having a larger knowledge base. It's also somewhat different than the movie of the same name.
Overall, it was a fun story and entertaining. That's the most important part, entertaining. And MacLean rarely disappoints.
The eBook was well formatted with no obvious spelling/grammatical errors....more
Awesome story. I like history. I like alternate history. I like adventure and exploration stories. This story has all of that, plus fantasy. Not only Awesome story. I like history. I like alternate history. I like adventure and exploration stories. This story has all of that, plus fantasy. Not only that, but being from ND and having had the Lewis and Clark Expedition pass through here twice makes it extra special.
The story was very well paced, quite fast. There wasn't much character depth outside of Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea. But there didn't need to be either as those were characters that most every event centered around.
The convergence of European and American Indian myths was nicely done. The clash of cultures between the expedition and the Indians was only barely touched on, but there was enough mentioned that you could see some of the characters had moral issues with the way others did things at times. Little of the actual expedition's accomplishments were covered here, but that's not unexpected in an alternate history tale, especially since it wouldn't necessarily drive the storyline. I would highly recommend that anyone remotely interested seek out one of the numerous books on the real expedition and its remarkable journey. In some ways the real thing was as fantastical as this story.
I'm curious to see the next installment in the series. It appears to be a completely different take on the Sundering in another part of the continent rather than a continuation of this story with these characters.
The eBook was formatted well with no obvious spelling or grammatical mistakes....more
Still among my favorite SF stories. In fact, I would still consider this the best SF story of the 1990s, even though there are a few issues with it.
TStill among my favorite SF stories. In fact, I would still consider this the best SF story of the 1990s, even though there are a few issues with it.
The main character development is pretty good, with Grant, Sattler, Malcolm, Gennaro and the kids. The secondary character development is a little lacking. The pacing is excellent. There is much more urgency in the book than in the movie, along with much better explanation of some of the various events.
Compared to the movie, this is really a much different story with the same basic premise. Many of the people who survive the movie, don't in the book and vice versa. The pacing is much better in the book and the book also involves much more tension as they race back to notify the boat of what's aboard ship.
The eBook was formatted well with no obvious spelling/grammar mistakes. ...more
Not my favorite of the series, but still a well written story. The pacing was a little slower, with much more political wrangling and logistics. The oNot my favorite of the series, but still a well written story. The pacing was a little slower, with much more political wrangling and logistics. The only battles parts were near the very end.
The character development of Prince Roger continued. New characters (quite a few) were introduced and old characters received a little more background and depth. Unfortunately there were a couple of rather large info dumps, especially early on, in the story. I still wish there was more with Rastar, Fain and Dogzard. We got some, but not enough for my taste.
This eBook was from a Baen Free CD download. I believe it might have been an eArc as it had numerous spelling/grammatical errors, and there were places where it appeared the wrong names were being used. ...more
Another good, if not quite as strong, installment in the series. Prince Roger continues to grow. I like the new character of Pedi, though I wish we haAnother good, if not quite as strong, installment in the series. Prince Roger continues to grow. I like the new character of Pedi, though I wish we had more of Cord. Rastar and Krindi have really grown on me. The continued loss of the original marines is really starting to hit hard. There's so few left that every one that is lost is somewhat personal.
The pacing wasn't bad, but wasn't as fast paced as the first book. The penultimate battle, at the space port, was actually kind of a let down. The other battles were definitely well written though.
I'm looking forward to the final book. I'm hoping for more Patty and Dogzard though. I really miss them.
The eBook was formatted well with only a couple of minor spelling errors (mostly words run together). ...more
A little slower paced than the first book, more political intrigue in the middle part. The battle scenes and such were still spectacular. I really likA little slower paced than the first book, more political intrigue in the middle part. The battle scenes and such were still spectacular. I really like the growth in the character of Prince Roger.
Some of the losses of troops got me somewhat emotionally. I did like the introduction of some of the new characters though, especially Krindi Fain and Erkum Pol.
The eBook was formatted well with only a couple of minor spelling/grammar mistakes....more
Oh, this was awesome. Sarah A. Hoyt kept recommending it, so I decided to try it out as escapist fun. It wasn't a let down in any way, shape, or form.Oh, this was awesome. Sarah A. Hoyt kept recommending it, so I decided to try it out as escapist fun. It wasn't a let down in any way, shape, or form.
It reminded me quite a bit of Captains Courageous in that we get to see a spoiled young man who comes from wealth grow up into being a true man who begins to understand the responsibilities that come with growing up and caring for those around him. Watching Prince Roger mature emotionally and intellectually was fun. His character was pretty well developed, as were a few of the secondary characters like Capt. Pahner, MSgt Kotsutic, Julian, Poertena and Cord. Most of the others we never really get much of.
The story is pretty fast paced, lots of problems to solve and quite a few casualties from the battles. But it seems to be working out, even if attrition is high. I'm very much looking forward to the next book.
The eBook was formatted well with only a couple of minor spelling/grammatical errors....more
A very fast paced novel full of really interesting anthropological and historical bits. The cast of characters was a bit confusing at the beEXCELLENT!
A very fast paced novel full of really interesting anthropological and historical bits. The cast of characters was a bit confusing at the beginning, but sorted itself out well by about 1/3 of the way through. There is a listing of the various characters at the back of the book. There are a lot of military acronyms, most of which are familiar to anyone with experience in the military or having ready anything about the military or mil-sf. There is also a glossary in the back.
The main characters were well developed. But at 10 they kind of blended together at the beginning. As I got farther into the book each was fleshed out better and took on their own personality. Even the characters that I didn't particularly care for were well done and it was easy to understand their perspective. The issues of survival, especially finding food, were well detailed. Construction techniques were explained well enough to understand the problems and solutions. The pacing was excellent. I didn't want to put the book down at night.
The eBook was formatted well with no obvious spelling or grammar errors. ...more
I read this with my daughter for her school's book challenge. It seemed very familiar to me, even though I don't remember reading it before. It's possI read this with my daughter for her school's book challenge. It seemed very familiar to me, even though I don't remember reading it before. It's possible I read it in grade school and just forgot about it.
I found the main character of Meg somewhat interesting and very similar to real life experiences of gifted children unable to fully conform to society's expectations. Charles Wallace was also well done. Calvin seemed like a throw away character. The three witches seemed redundant, like they could have all been rolled into one character easily without changing any of the story.
You can easily tell this was written in a different time, as the sentence structure and vocabulary are not what one would find in a children's book today. My daughter had issues with the vocabulary as a mid-range (on testing) 4th grader. While the story touches on some scientific principles, it's much more of a fantasy story (rather like Star Wars in that respect). The conclusion of the big battle seemed rather hurried, almost like ST:TNG putting the Borg to sleep. It was a let down, even if it was obvious what the saving throw would be.
The paperback was formatted well with no obvious spelling or grammar mistakes. ...more
My mother really likes this series. I remembered this one on her night stand from when I was a kid. I picked it up when it was on sale awhile back. IfMy mother really likes this series. I remembered this one on her night stand from when I was a kid. I picked it up when it was on sale awhile back. If I find others on sale I'll think about it, but I won't be seeking them out.
It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a big standout in greatness either. I enjoyed the main characters, Emerson, Peabody and Ramses. The minor characters were fun and easily distinguishable from one another. And I do enjoy stories revolving around various aspects of anthropology. I was hoping for more Egypt and less England, but that was a minor thing.
I think my biggest complaint was the pacing. It just wasn't a page turner for me. I would start and stop several times. Most of the scenes never really grabbed me and made me hold on for the ride. I found the resolutions to the various mysteries were well foreshadowed and unsurprising.
The eBook was well formatted with no obvious errors in spelling or grammar.
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