Sam Ryan

Kinda terrible

Revisado: 02-13-25

There's very little in this book that's good, other than the premise, but it will threaten to get good right up until the end. The characters are transparent and unlikable. The "hard" science is paper thin and ruined by the author's failure to do even basic research into the fields that underlie the story. And finally, there's no urgency or connection that really connects events.

it reminds me why Stephenson should stick to satire.

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Hard Steampunk?

Revisado: 01-28-24

As a genre Steampunk has never interested me, largely because it's fantasy maskerading as science fiction. R.A. Fisher has done an amazing job making me rethink those assumptions. it's a solid read, especially considering that it's the author's first novel.

Great ideas in a compelling world!

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Not a full version. . .

Revisado: 07-22-23

If Rob Reiner only had 4hrs to give the project, there are any number of good readers that would have accepted good payment to read the full story. The book and the movie are both amazing, but very different stories. I expected the dark humor that originally made the book so great, but instead got some abbreviated trash that is neither the movie nor the book

Recommend a hard pass.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

"Derivative" might seem too strong a word. . .

Revisado: 04-08-23

. . . but derivative it is. First, the author borrows from himself for the general narrative. Everyday person finds magic pet, sought out by baddies, and only by their pluck and friendship with a rag-tag group of golden hearted miscreants can they overcome evil and usher the world into a new golden age.

Okay, okay, so while I'm aware of the Campbellian notion that all stories are derived from some other story and that the use of the term derivative is classic critic language to cut a work down. . . that's the word that best fits here. The characters are so archetypal that they're caricatures. Their interactions are so superficial even in regards to love and sex, that nothing stands out. Their outlooks, language, and thoughts so uninteresting. . . even/especially as it relates to alien intellects . . . that is like watching random pool balls knocking around a table without any attempt to line up an actual shot.

Worse, what's behind the characters is a world that's obviously been mashed together from 4 or 5 other works, with no real attempt to hide the seams. It's Firefly, meets The Expanse, meets Babylon 5, meets Warhammer 40k, meets marvel. To the degree that I'm left wondering if the author just combined his favorite visual media in the hopes of proving "this sci fi thing can't be that hard?"

Be prepared to be dissatisfied, ask repeatedly "who'd do that," scream at your device "that's just dumb," and wonder "when the hell is this book over"?

On the upside though, the voice acting is great, but could have benefitted from better direction.

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Just, not good. . .

Revisado: 04-01-23

Struggled to finish this one, which made the meandering end even more disappointing. No characters human enough to identify with and no characters interesting enough to study. More annoyingly everyone is so mind numbingly stupid, that they can't read the clues used to foreshadow outcomes that should be obvious to their station.

There are some interesting ideas buried in the story. There are again some themes ripe for exploration. However, instead the author seemed to decide to tell a body-snatchers tale instead of world build.

The narration was okay, but uninspired and failed to impart real emotion. When combined with the most cliche and strange use of accents, it did nothing to bring the story to life.

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The only thing I hate. . .

Revisado: 11-20-22

Is that there's nothing more to come. Guess it's time to start it from the beginning, again.

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Le Guin is simply one of the greatest!

Revisado: 07-30-19

Great reading of a great book. The reader does great justice to the text, and clearly imparts the depth of the story.

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Great for what it is...

Revisado: 05-04-19

one of the fundamental primers of American law, I'm not sure if it would be possible to find a better book. however, keep in mind that the material is very dry and written in the late 1800s. there are times that I wished the reader would change inflection and/or his voice while reading certain passages, but that just seems nitpicky. The fact that somebody set down and red this treat use on the common law it's simply amazing and I can't wait to sit down at a later date and listen to it all again.

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Amazing, with some caveats.

Revisado: 04-11-19

This may be one of the essential audio books every lawyer should listen to. Even in the stories you think yo know, you'll learn something new. My only gripe, is that there's not a single case from British common law, which is an odd oversight, all things considered.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Meh

Revisado: 05-10-17

Generally I love Gene Wolfe, but maybe I've grown out of him. Normally I feel her had an uncanny sense of how technology reveals the monsters hiding in our humanity - or visa versa, but this felt more like a short story packed or to fill a novel. The motives of the characters flail wildly between obvious and completely disjointed from the story.

When all was said and done I was left thinking that there were some nifty ideas presented, but they were never played with to any degree to that made the predictable storyline seem worth it.

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