Pat

Nothing much happens

Revisado: 06-03-23

I was willing to go easy on the first book of this series, it's trying to set up the universe and I thought the characters were interesting and there was potential. But in this book, seriously, NOTHING HAPPENS. Except - spoiler alert - the dragon that escaped into our world at the end of book 1 is endlessly searched for and eventually found and returned to the Never at the end of this book. Also, characters bicker, but with nowhere near the comedy of Joe and Skippy.

The best part of this book is, without question, Alanson's announcement that he, too, misses Joe and Skippy and will be writing another 3 ExForce novels along with a 4th about Captain Octavio Scarandum of the Jeraptha Ethics and Compliance Office.

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Surprisingly poor

Revisado: 10-08-21

Honestly, the most interesting part is the prologue about General Milley, which has been covered extensively in the press. The rest of the book has little tension and is poorly written, especially considering that Woodward and Costa are both fine journalists. They have a very bad habit of referring to people by their last name without ever introducing them by their complete name. For example, the first time Kamala Harris is mentioned, she's just "Harris". That should be in Journalism 101, and it really bugs me. There is also a very long backstory on Joe Biden and his family, which I did not expect. It was interesting only in the fact that I have not seen it covered in such detail anywhere else, but was a distraction in a book that I thought would primarily cover Trump during the pandemic, the 2020 campaign, and the Jan 6th insurrection. I'm about 2/3rds through the book and I just stopped it was so boring. I hope I can return it and get the credit back.

If you want to listen to a much, much better book covering this period, I highly recommend I Alone Can Fix It by Carol Leonnig and Phillip Rucker.

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Unacceptable

Revisado: 05-09-21

It is unacceptable to me that this is called a book. This so-called "book" just STOPS in the middle of the story. It's not a novella, it doesn't end on a cliff-hanger, it just stops. There's a lot of build-up, some of it interesting, some not, but when things finally start to happen, Kloos just stops. Just. Stops.

This "book" is being returned, and I am done with this series.

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Joe Bishop finally gets laid !

Revisado: 12-20-20

Another reviewer said this book was made of two halves that don't quite line up, and I think that's a very good description. There are two distinct story episodes here that could have been turned into 2 books rather than one 19 hour monster. And then to have it end in a cliff-hanger? Again? Ugh. Are we ever going to get to the threat that scared the shit out of the Elders? While I appreciate that Craig Alanson is cranking out these books every 6 months rather than one a year, I have to wonder if, in this digital publish-it-yourself age, there is still something known as an editor. Because I think a good editor might help Mr. Alanson structure these books better. (As well as telling him "don't use the phrase 'we've seen a lot of crazy shit out here' at this point because you used the exact same phrase 2 pages ago". Just sayin'. )

Although it's only a minor part of the book, Joe and Margaret, after years and years (in real time and in story time) of will they/won't they, she loves me/she loves me not foreplay finally, finally, FINALLY do "it". Maybe they can both relax now, because they've been a little tense. (It feels strange to say "Joe and Margaret", but writing "Joe and Gunnery Sgt. Adams" sounded all kinds of wrong.)

I hate any time the series spends on Earth because pretty much everything that happens on Earth is either 1) bad, or 2) boring. (Although I freaking love Dr. Friedlander. He'd better not get eaten by a space monster.) And the whole "We've got to go back to Earth to get new orders" or "Joe Bishop, you'd better listen to UNEF Command" is just ridiculous, especially when there are literally are no humans in the galaxy with more experience dealing with aliens than Joe, Emily Perkins, and a handful of Joe's regular crew. True, their experience is more situational than policy-oriented but it will be years, decades, maybe millenia until they get to a Star Trek-type "Prime Directive". Humans are a young species and very low on the food chain here.

R.C. Bray makes this series come alive. And there's one last thing I want to mention in this review: For the last 3 or 4 books, they have been including a minute or so of Mr. Bray's "bloopers". They are hysterical. Laugh out loud, laugh-so-hard-you're-going-to-hurt-yourself funny. Can we get more, please? Note to Audible: I would pay cash money for an hour or two of nothing but these. Maybe give the money to charity, except nothing involving nuns because there is some bad language involved.

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Re-listenable

Revisado: 06-15-20

Re-listenable. It's my highest accolade. A book that you can listen to again and again. A combination of a good book with the right narrator. Network Effect ticks all the boxes for me. I'm happy that Martha Wells expanded to a full length book for Murderbot, the snarkiest human/robot construct you'll ever meet. And she brings back ART, my second favorite character in the series, and sets the stage for more stories about Murderbot and ART, the unlikeliest crime-fighting duo ever.

I do have a few minor nits. First, as other reviewers have mentioned, while most of his voices are great, Kevin R. Free's teenage girl doesn't sound remotely like a teenager. It needs work. Second, and more importantly, it's the word "foyer". I've listened to a lot of sci-fi, and I don't think I've ever heard it in that genre before. Martha Wells makes up for that lack in this book. Suddenly every place, whether it's on board a space transport, in a lab facility, in a space dock, suddenly everywhere has a foyer. If you think I'm exaggerating, listen again and start counting. It's used dozens of times. Ms Wells, there's hallway, corridor, vestibule, atrium, lobby, to name a few. Find another word, please.

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Needs a new narrator

Revisado: 01-18-20

This was a good entry in the series, although it was far too short. For a book that spends the first 3rd of it's length dealing with the setup and the long, involved trip to Kenya, after the mystery is solved the couple just go home, and the return trip is dealt with in a few sentences. I would have welcomed Georgie and Darcy just enjoying Kenya, either before or after the mystery.

I enjoy this series so much that I occasionally go back and re-listen to them in order. Doing that, I think I've figured out why Rhys Bowen picked Jasmine Blackborough as Kathryn Kellgren's replacement: Jasmine Blackborough does a fairly decent Kathryn Kellgren. She does all the characters as Ms. Kellgren did them, and..... she's not terrible. People sound mostly as we've come to expect, with the exception of Georgie and Darcy. Georgie has become nasally and whiny, unpleasant to listen to. Darcy isn't bad, but I miss his upper-crust Irish lilt that popped up from time to time.

Like all of you, I mourn Ms Kellgren's untimely death, but I think it might have turned out better if Ms Bowen had picked a narrator who brought a fresh take on everything.

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Give this one a pass - I couldn't finish

Revisado: 01-18-20

I've listened to all of Donis Casey's Alifair Tucker mysteries and loved them. Still, I was hesitant to buy this book. I never doubted her knowledge of early 20th century Oklahoma, but was not so sure of her background in 1920's Hollywood. But based on her previous works I gave it a try.

Try, as it turns out, is all I could do. The book is a mess. At least it is for the first hour, after which I gave up listening to that godawful narrator and decided this book was going back. There are several time jumps - first back a week, and then back several years - which make it difficult to follow. There was also a lot of dialog that had me thinking "I don't think they'd really say that then." In one instance a character says she's been making pictures for 20 years. In the 1920's? Technically possible, I suppose, but highly unlikely.

As for the narrator, she's terrible. Is this her first book? The characters sound like what I would do if I was trying to make people sound vaguely different from one another. After listening to her say "Bianca LaBelle" and "Bianca Dangereuse" several dozen times in the first few minutes (which is admittedly not her fault), I was ready to give up then, but slogged on for another hour. I advise you to save that hour of your life for something more enjoyable and give this book a pass.

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Rushed plot

Revisado: 09-18-19

I enjoyed the first book with its wonderful world building but in this book the plot comes to a boil too fast. I could have easily taken another year of Cassandra at Miss Castwell's, but in the blink of an eye she reveals her secret to practically everyone, leaves the school and starts on her "mission". I don't need this series to go 7 books like Harry Potter, but Harry didn't leave Hogwarts until book 6.

I think this was a misstep by Molly Harper, who should certainly know better. Although going by some of her Southern Eclectic series she's starting to put out half-books instead of complete beginning-middle-end novels.

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Half a book

Revisado: 08-04-19

This is not a science fiction novel so much as a novel that takes place in space, and the situation is very obviously based on Germany between WWI and WWII. As other reviewers have said, it's only part of a book. I don't mind if a series has an over-arching story, but dammit, each book should also have a complete story of it's own. The focus shifts between 4 people, which I always find disconcerting, but at least each chapter clearly distinguishes who it's about, and 3 of the 4 storylines are converging when the book just - stops.

I bought this because I have enjoyed the Frontlines series, but I am seriously thinking about returning it.

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Slow start but a great finish

Revisado: 08-07-18

The book takes a while to get started as it hops between various characters (some old, some new) to put all the pieces in place. But once it gets going it's like a roller coaster that has climbed the first hill and roars along until you're back at the station and wishing the ride was a lot longer.

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