Derrick

Another win for Smitherd

Revisado: 10-18-24

Smitherd has quickly become one of my favorite authors! Can recommend his work unreservedly. I've read all "The Stone Man" series to date (and eagerly waiting for the 4th book!) and "Now You See the Monster". Wanting to catch up on his other work.

This one is very original story with great characters and some great twists!

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Destroyed by the Worst Narrator Ever

Revisado: 05-25-22

There may have been good information in here, but i could not take more than about 20 min of the narrator. Why would someone writing an audiobook on podcasting select such a horrid narrator ... kinda destroys their credibility! Skip this one ...

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The Stone Giant Is Stone Cold Greatness!

Revisado: 04-12-22

This is an excellent book and Luke Smitherd is a great author! The first Smitherd book I listened to was 'You See the Monster'. It left me wanting more from this guy. So I listened to The Stone Man, The Empty Men and The Stone Giant in fairly quick succession. The Stone Man was great, and each book in the series was better than the last, with The Stone Giant keeping me glued to the excellent narration. Great characterization, real people, a wonderfully original premise and a truly terrifying scenario that keeps getting worse and worse (though not entirely hopeless ...).

Not going to drop any spoilers, but to those reviewers who (unfairly in my opinion) complained that Maria was not a strong enough female character in The Empty Men ... the phrase 'rush to judgement' will have new meaning for you. Lol!

One caution ... read all the Stone Man series books in publication order; otherwise, you'll be lost.

Cannot recommend strongly enough for anyone interested in sci-fi and horror! Keep an eye on this Smitherd dude!:)

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Some Good Information and Perspectives, but Largely a Missed Opportunity

Revisado: 06-05-21

This almost seemed like two books, with the longer first book a somewhat tedious narrative of the author’s attempts to peddle a ridiculous start-up idea in Silicon Valley and, unsurprisingly, being rejected at every turn. Some interesting anecdotes and insights, but really consumes too much of the book.

The last two hours are where the major points are made, including an exploration of the disturbing utopian fantasies of much of the Silicon Valley elite and the darker implications for the rest of us. There was a lot of good information and insight in this second half, and I think the book would have been better off exploring these in more detail.

The second half is somewhat marred by the author’s emphasis on right-wing and alt-right actors in the tech space. It’s not that these groups don’t present legitimate concerns and should be subjected to scrutiny and criticism, but the author is not even-handed in exploring the dangers of tech dominance from both the left and right. This clear bias, as well as frequent and unnecessary Trump-bashing will likely turn off some conservative readers. This is unfortunate, because the underlying issues discussed should be of concern to both left- and right-leaning readers. Overall, The book is worth a listen by all, though the first 2/3 are a bit tedious.

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Really Wanted to Like It, But ....

Revisado: 09-13-19

It just didn't work for me. The idea has promise, but the book just plods along, and none of the characters are ever really developed. The 'Ancient Enemy' shows up a few times, and there are some grisly descriptions of the victims, but overall, the titular character doesn't do all that much and not much interesting is revealed about it.

The biggest problem with the book is that so much of it consists of tedious details that neither advance the story nor develop the characters. The author never passes up an opportunity to describe a driveway and all the cars parked in it, and there is a lot of parking going on this book. We're told in exacting detail what the characters buy when they go to the store. We get the banal back stories and internal thoughts of minor supporting characters, whose only real purpose is to die soon. And so on, ad infinitum ...

Worst of all, the main characters are dull. The Navajo sheriff is just the good, wise Indian who knows what's going on ... kind of. That's pretty much it for him. The FBI agent does absolutely nothing other than refuse to believe in Navajo myth (in spite of overwhelming evidence that something just ain't right ...), be a jackass to the Navajo, and pad the narrative with dull police procedures and bore us with his mundane theorizing (which we already know are sooo wrong). The other three main characters (introduced in the previous novel) don't really do anything either, except run from the Ancient Enemy, stay in hotels, drive various vehicles, buy snacks and toothbrushes at stores and fret a lot.

The 'final showdown' with the Ancient Enemy is the high point of the book, but it's pretty short. By the time it *finally* happens I was almost hoping the critter would just kill them all.

Overall, potentially good short, but way, way too much dull filler to pad it out to a novel. Don't think I will be getting the last two books in this series.

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Some Interesting Ideas, But overall ... meh ...

Revisado: 08-20-19

I really wanted to like this book, but in the end just found myself waiting for it to finish. The general premise of the book, apparently the first in a series, has potential. The older antagonist would be kind of refreshing, but like every other possibly intetesting concept or character, not much gets done there. Dialouge is awkward and often outright cringe-worthy. The narrator's women and children voices are annoying. The ghosts are just bad ... not interesting, just there to menace the hero (when he's not busy spouting really lame dialogue). The 'climax' is pretty short and dull; absolutely nothing important gets resolved; whole novel is a dull, improbable and drawn out setup for the rest of the series. Also, for reason, all the characters go by their first names ... don't know that bugged me, but it really did. So, no ... i didn't like it. Doubt i will listen to any more in this series ...

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Short and Academic

Revisado: 07-30-15

Not a particularly long work, and somewhat dry. Apparently little is known for certain about the Sea People, and this work reflects that. A good summary of current knowledge and opinion regarding origins and fate of the Sea People for those interested in the history of the region and period, but don't expect any revelations or really intriguing information. Wider impact of the invasions is not explored much at all. Narrator is competent, but dull. Just the facts, m'aam, scanty as they may be:))

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