hcpookie

Slow buildup to... not much (spoilers here!)

Revisado: 10-19-24

As others have said, I felt "part 1" to be incredibly slow and hard to follow. After that, the "adventure" part of the book was not bad. I am not sure how much "AI" usage was here to craft this story vs. the first one. I don't regret listening to the entire story, just the ending. Here are the spoilers and what I dislike...











If the Wizard of Oz ending was a Buddhist fantasy then you get the story. The entire story built up to "where do we go from here and what can we learn", only to find that The Great Wizard is "just another sentient being" who learned to rise above "consumption". Yep, that's pretty much it. Conveniently, the Great One found balance by feasting on the death found at the center of the galaxy. Oh, and he/she/it informed that there is no point to anything... only to learn that all life is suffering, and at the Great Ending of All Things, suffering will end. So, that was quite a disappointment for me and a message I have heard told better in other formats. This info was literally "info dumped" in the last chapter. Kind of felt like a video game ending. I honestly had more curiosity about the "Stranger's" civilization and wanted to know more about that vs. what the last chapter brought to us!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Lovecraftian horror in the modern everyday world

Revisado: 07-01-23

I feel like, in some ways, this can be compared to "Roadside Picnic". I enjoyed the movie and was instantly hooked by similarities of Area-X to "The Zone" in the Stalker movie (and game!). The story captures the "Lovecraftian" feelings of dread, the unknown, and man's inability to react to and even properly assess these conditions. The difference of course being that while Lovecraft's format was much shorter, the story of Area-X is explored in extreme, sometimes painful detail. It is a "slow burn". I did feel there were parts and some character developments that were "bloated" but they do not detract from the overall story. I did not feel the story was "too slow" however. There is a definite sense of "exploration and discovery" in the books.

The narration is very descriptive, and this can be distracting at times. I found myself getting lost in this world and realizing I had lost the thread and had to rewind several times. I count this as a positive thing because it underscores those "Lovecraftian" aspects.

No spoilers, but yes, you DO get a very direct explanation toward the end - I point this out because other reviews have said otherwise! There are many ideas and concepts that are put forth but left to the reader to explore and possibly interpret. I like this in that it makes you ponder the concepts in a "what if" fashion... not everything is spoon-fed to you. This bears the marks of "good sci-fi" in that it makes you explore the Human Condition with these concepts. I suspect this may be what caused some negative reviews... one needs to look elsewhere for a big purple bad guy with a big blue laser in the sky. Area-X simply awaits to be explored!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Too preachy

Revisado: 04-07-23

Agree with other reviews about too much philosophical overtones. Hard to empathize with a main character that is by definition unable to be relatable. (SPOILER: He is lobotomized with implants to correct epilepsy, leaving him unable to empathize with other humans).

So there really isn't a story in that there's not really a conclusion per se, only that it ends. Nor does the story begin, you just kind of appear to an in-progress narrative. I am OK with that part since you can avoid the "setup part" of the story, however it assumes you'll be riding along with any of the assumptions made... and when those validations for the concepts you lay out in the world building are far-fetched and disjointed, it stretches the limits of suspension of disbelief. I felt myself drifting during the flashback portions which I think were intended to build sympathy for this lobotomized human (aka a Zombie). Just couldn't care about how his life was a shambles.

The concepts around the first contact portion were very thought provoking. I could listen to more of that! However the "human condition" portions left me fast-forwarding through those sections. "Humans are bad and a threat to themselves and the world they live in blah blah blah" has been something our noses continually get rubbed into, and literally coming out and saying it isn't the best way to communicate those thoughts and feelings in your narrative. And chapter 9 can be skipped completely. Some of the concepts are only touched upon, and you the reader are forced to make certain assumptions about them. Vampires... Really? Zombies? Meh.

Disagree completely with the "redefining" of multiple personality disorder actually being a good thing in the future where we are no longer "in the dark ages" - think Star Trek 4 making fun of current medicine but not being tongue-in-cheek about it. This would be comparable to saying cancer is fun but we just don't know it yet.

I got this on a recommendation but I think I will skip this author in the future.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

That's It?!? Disappointed...

Revisado: 09-06-20

I was hooked with "Space Pirates". I mean come on... SPACE PIRATES...!!! The world building has been great. Many tantalizing mysteries were there with a dawning realization that their purposes and/or origins would be revealed. Overall the story gets bogged down in its own "politics" as others have mentioned, which for me are the parts where I skip ahead because "how do you behave with ultimate power" is a tired concept. The "politic" description (and disappointment) mentioned by other reviewers is justified... more time spent on that than the narrative warranted. In the far-distance future world of this story, we are expected to accept that all this interesting stuff simply exists. Period. There was much more potential here and I am disappointed we won't have "the mysteries" played out or revealed... the ending seems like a definite "end" to the series so who knows.

I have purchased more of the authors books for reading but I'm concerned if this is any gauge as to how he treats his series' content.




Some possible spoilers ahead...!!!





Unfortunately, the interesting alien tech is all brushed aside with a dismissive "lost to time" mindset that seems like the author lost interest or couldn't muster the creative juices to deliver that satisfying ending. The "politic" description (and disappointment) mentioned by other reviewers is justified... more time spent on that than the narrative warranted. In the far-distance future world of this story, we are expected to accept that all this interesting stuff simply exists. Period.

And the greatest disappointment was the "humans caused all this and deserve the squalor they now exist within" message that was delivered at the very end. Heck, humans are even responsible for the bad condition of the sentient robots. This is perhaps the worst part of it since it was presented in such a way as to imply there was much more to that story arc.

No development of the characters beyond what we already know. The sisters are essentially "all forgiven" at the end regardless of the "piratey" behavior they embraced. I guess they only killed bad people so it is OK they are simply roaming free now. No consequences results in "no investment" mentally or emotionally which itself results in "doesn't matter any more". The characters are essentially static fabrications at this point and that is disappointing.

Further lack of character development is the "bad guy" in the story that we only know is a "match" for the sisters' bone skills. The title implies that bones would play a larger part but nope... at the end the "bad guy" is just a sniveling "mustache twirling" twit that we really don't care about either. All his motivations are externally attributed to him and are dismissed with the wave of a hand. He ultimately proves to only be necessary to drive the chase scenes. AND... we still don't really understand "the bones" other than some vague references that they have "powers" that we cannot understand (so why explain them).

Also agree with other reviewers regarding the ghostly resolution to the chase... felt like an "easy out" since the author appears to have changed his mind on the direction he wanted to go, and appears to have adopted the "screw it let's just wrap it up here" mindset... I wondered why we even bothered with the long chase if that ended up being the end of it... why bother? It really did seem like the author changed his mind halfway through and yet didn't want to discard the content he'd already written.

Who built the baubles? We will never know.

What/who orchestrates the Occupations? Who knows... "aliens"... that's all we are given.

So much wasted opportunity.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Love this series!

Revisado: 08-24-20

What a great turn to the story! So much potential in this world (universe?) that the author has created. Looking forward to seeing what our intrepid band of pirates runs into next, both in this galaxy and beyond!

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Great Short Story for Halloween!

Revisado: 11-03-18

It is a short story. People reviewing badly because it isn't Shakespeare should remember this! :)

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña