Richard Jansen

Good story, good narration.

Revisado: 07-06-21

Love listening to the Australian narration by Heath Miller. Shirtaloon writes a good story. I find myself grinning at a lot of his jokes.

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Excellent book

Revisado: 04-09-21

Good story, fun, well edited. All in all a dark horse that delights. You will not be bored for the 20 plus hours this book runs. Highly recommend. And I do not rate books lightly. That goes double for litRPG.

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Crap

Revisado: 02-11-21

Either this series was never as good as I remember it, or more likely, the batteries are going dead as the author has nothing interesting to write about.

The writing was flat, not punchy like a thriller needs. The whole time, was wondering why the author felt the need to write this book. And, why I felt the needs to finish it?

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Don't Know Who I'm Mad at More: The Author or Me

Revisado: 10-24-20

Reading this turned me into Gandalf the White. And yes, I listened to this book, beginning to end. Or I fought a Balrog and fell into a deep pit for eternity. Can't remember which.

What gets me is this book has a lot going for it. The writing mechanics are perfect. Layout, dialog, exposition, narration by Travis Baldree: all strengths. But then why was my soul screaming for it to end?

1) Who the $#&! is this supposed to be for?
Trying to come up with an answer that sounds less judgmental and failing. Furries.
I read across genres. Good writing is what I like. And this author is a good writer! A storyteller? In time. She needs to read "Story" by Robert McKee, and then with her writing talent, would become one hell of a writer.

2) Story needs conflict. There is zero.
Girl meets boy. In a good story, girl expects boy to say A, he says B. They want to come together, or don't. Then conflict, rising action, resolution, and voila: they are together.
In this book, someone says "Do you trust me?" "Yes." "Okay." And the character was right to. Because everything works out. No one is at cross purposes.

3) Tending. The magic mechanic in this fantasy setting is a euphemism for First Base.
There were... so many tending scenes. I feel like a victim of a war crime painfully but dutifully reliving my experience, so the next generation of reader can live a better life.
These scenes just wouldn't end. Then, the next scene had tending! Which is describing a transfer of soul energy through touching. Surely, the book is going to end in the next five minutes? *Checks Audible player* "Two more hours..." More tending. I know. At this point it's more my fault than the author's. Audible lets us return books. I didn't. I will carry this burden with me for a long time.
Guantanamo Bay guards read these scenes to prisoners ever since waterboarding was outlawed.

Overall, just... What was the author hoping to get across? When writing this book, was there an idea, or -- I guess I want to know what made the writer get up in the morning and type out a word count? NaNoWriMo? Because nothing happened! Nothing, I'm not exaggerating!

Whyyyyyy

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CRISPR-Cas9 From the Creator Herself

Revisado: 10-24-20

Jennifer Doudna is the most impactful scientist of our time. This book gives a primer on what is CRISPR -- a gene editing technique borrowed from bacteria's own immune system to bacteriophages, which are bacteria-targeting viruses. Then it goes into the many implications of what it means when people can accurately edit DNA for less than a hundred dollars at their kitchen sink.

The book is a many-sided discussion on gene editing with CRISPR. My favorite part besides the science is how Doudna is opening a discussion on gene editing, rather than trying to be the "final word."

I'm in software, not a genetic researcher. But this breakthrough in gene editing is so huge, it is already changing the world and will impact every single one of us who will be alive in ten years. It's worth reading, just to know it is real, and it is happening (whether you know about it or not; whether you agree or not).

Who better to hear it from than the progenitor of CRISPR herself: Jennifer Doudna. Highly recommended. Especially as an audiobook with Kindle read-along. It helps drive through to the finish for us laymen.

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Another Knockout

Revisado: 09-03-20

The ridiculously talented author Sarah Lin writes another winner with this sequel. A riff on the LitRPG / Wuxia genre, SC2 weaves familiar tropes throughout, while swerving around the cliche potholes lesser authors drive right into.

Writing is good (very good). Characters are believable. Plot balances daily routine, life planning, relationships, lucrima portfolio management... all life's essentials. Bottom line, Lin is too much fun to not read.

Travis Baldree is the Morgan Freeman of LitRPG. I would listen to him recite the ABCs. Combined with this book: Mmmmmm.

Personally, I hope Sarah Lin gets JK Rowling level successful. Flying around in a lucrim limo, gargling 250K elixir and spitting it out like mouthwash. That stinking rich from these amazing books. She's earning it.

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Way too good, keep them coming Tao!

Revisado: 03-28-20

Finished the first book in The Thousand Li series. Immediately used another credit to continue the binge. This book is at least as good as the first.

Right now I am torn between buying the Kindle edition of the third book, or waiting until Travis Baldree narrates it.

Besides being a cornerstone piece of modern wuxia novels, this book and the last are just plain well written. The pacing, the narration, the details that make you feel there and visualize what is going on, without overdoing it, and the believable human interaction and natural dialogue. The author has proven himself to be one of my favorite modern writers. Now I am going to look at his other books.

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Way too good, keep them coming Tao!

Revisado: 03-28-20

Finished the first book in The Thousand Li series. Immediately used another credit to continue the binge. This book is at least as good as the first.

Right now I am torn between buying the Kindle edition of the third book, or waiting until Travis Baldree narrates it.

Besides being a cornerstone piece of modern wuxia novels, this book and the last are just plain well written. The pacing, the narration, the details that make you feel there and visualize what is going on, without overdoing it, and the believable human interaction and natural dialogue. The author has proven himself to be one of my favorite modern writers. Now I am going to look at his other books.

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So good I'm downloading her other books

Revisado: 01-14-20

Super, super good. Fun. Strong writing. LitRPG for the masses. Dear Author, write more faster, thanks.

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Great ideas...

Revisado: 08-08-16

...but a punishing twenty-plus hours ahead of you. I imagine William James a powerful orator (this is from his lecture series in Scotland), but the narrator's Brooklyn-sounding delivery makes for a monotonous listen.

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