Kindle Customer

Great book turned good by one flaw

Revisado: 04-26-25

Speicific to the Audible version. Michael Axtell (the reader\voice actor) is good, so I don't want what I'm about to say to be mistaken as applying to the reader.

The character of the Narrator, however, drops this book from a solid 4.5 "would recommend" to a 3.5 "good enough". The author appears to think we need to be reminded of the vastness of God's Creation constantly. We get it, in fact we got it the first dozen or so times it was brought up. This character is also too fond of meta commentary and the notion that we're viewing other universes when we dream. It's not that these are bad or unwelcome concepts, but this was brought up entirely too often. Worse, it gets brought up in the middle of scenes that emphasized how much of an interruption they were. If you dislike the way Marvel movies feel the need to deflate dramatic moments with throwaway jokes, you will find this insufferable.

The fables (or "similtudes" for those that have read Pilgrim's Progress itself) however are mostly excellent and timely. Chances are good at least one of these will hit each reader as being more true than it needs to be. I am left wondering if the authors have had extremely negative experiences with pastoral leadership figures. I would say much more here, but it would fall under a "no spoiler" rule. They really are quite excellent; if a second edition were printed either from a strictly first-person perspective or with the Narrator on a leash (even decaf coffee would be an improvement), I'd buy it.

There is one final issue worth mentioning. There is a particular theological point where the authors seem to imply healing miracles come from Satan instead of God. I don't think that's what they intended, but it's suggested twice so I can't write it off as a simple case of bad wording either.

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Good material, production problems

Revisado: 06-02-22

Review is specific to the audible version.
The material in this section of Volume 2 continues to be excellent. However, I have to report that the production issues I've seen in parts 1 and 2 persist. This includes cases of word substitution (where the text says one word and the reader says another that makes no sense with the words around it. I've run into at least two and probably other days where the lesson for that day is repeated - read twice on the same day.

The material, however, is excellent. Rick Renner has a genuine gift for presenting what would otherwise be very scholarly details in everyday language and an engaging lesson. Unlike many expository teachers, Rick is careful to keep the lessons practical and where the reader is living day-to-day. This is not a rah-rah feel-good affirmation - this will have you facing the fact that you have to change, and that you need God to be able to truly do so.

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Material is great, problems with performance

Revisado: 03-05-22

I've read and been spiritually fed by the first book. Rick Renner has a studious and thorough style of teaching, and he does an excellent job of making the lessons personal and direct. These are not "what the world needs to do", this is what YOU need to change in YOUR life. My one overall criticism of him is that he can be a bit quick to accept that certain ideas ARE what happened, but he is also critical of such traditions as well.

However, there are problems with the performance and presentation of this Audible version and it needs an editing pass. At least twice, the lesson stopped halfway through and started repeating previous material (and I replayed the lesson to make sure it wasn't just a hiccup on my end). There are also times when the reader says a different-but-similar word to what would have been there.

That said, the lessons are high quality enough I've bought well over a dozen of the printed books to give to family and friends. These are not tiny devotionals you put in a handbag, but they are also ground-level and easily understood despite their textbook-sized heft. I sincerely hope the issues with the Audible version get corrected.

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Good story with quibbles, 1 flaw in narration

Revisado: 07-30-21

Review is specific to the Audible version. I was directed to this product by the author's YouTube channel, which I have watched for a while but will try to keep that bias out of this.

The story is a "Part One", and that means it has to ride a balance between establishing enough of the world to interest the reader without reading like the RPG sourcebook for the campaign instead of a complete story. The writer found a good balance here. The story is complete enough that it would be no tragedy if Part Two was never written, but good enough I'll pick it up without delay when it comes on Audible.

My only real complaint is specific to the narration. One of the female characters is supposed to be a brassy, 'take-nothing from nobody' type who holds her own on sheer guts and charisma. The voice the narrator used struck me as closer to that of a mousy secretary. It was distractingly off-putting for me. Otherwise the narration was capable, distinct, and did not fall into the trap of overplaying the fantastical elements (an easy trap in this sort of story).

The world falls into the "Weird World" genre. While this outing deals mostly in the kaiju elements, the author makes it clear there is much more going on in the world. There are three super-powered individuals in the story as well as future tech, but the author makes it clear that they are lower on the power-chain than the daikaiju.

It's here I have to register my first quibble: the story dips its toes in the Masquerade trope - the World Doesn't Know. That is, the public at large doesn't yet know these elements are happening. The author appears to have deliberately set the story in the 1960's so that's a little more... let's say 'acceptable' rather than 'believable'. To the author's credit, the story ends on a note that the world is going to find out eventually anyway (it's "doesn't" know, not "can't" know) and they need to start the progress. So I'll register this as a quibble rather than a complaint.

The next quibble is more of a mixed bag. The story engages in religious terminology and elements, and does so in a positive light. That is, they aren't described as fundamentalists afraid of everything nor as ignorant fools. The story even used one of the places in the Holy Bible where a kaiju could be described (the behemoth from Job). Anymore, this simple courtesy is almost refreshing enough to be a plus.

However, the story also invokes the tropes of throwing the word "god" around for the daikaiju (I don't know whether or not he capitalizes it in the text or not) and (more of a problem for me) the use of the Hidden \ Lost Parts of Scripture trope. This was done as a throwaway and that's a common element of the Weird World genre, so I won't kick too hard.

There are three major female characters in the cast - two of which get development - and I was worried they would fall into the Central Casting slots of Possible Wife, Loving Wife, and Dead Wife. I'm happy to say the first two had enough other elements to keep them out of this territory.

Having been wordy about the quibbles, let the emphasize the good as well. The author genuinely does a good job of balancing explanations without getting into heavy exposition, an easy and common trap in this genre. None of the characters were reduced to comic relief, although one will appear to be early on. Both the former US and Japanese soldiers read like men of the era: still bearing the scars and prejudices of the war they just fought, but knowing they have a job to do and knowing the job is more important. There's a particular point which would have been REALLY easy for the author to have a ham-fisted resolution to this and it's to his credit he didn't

The author does a great job with the kaiju elements. Two of the 'good' daikaiju are given clear personalities and make decisions based on them. The other two seemed a bit too Central Casting for me but at least they weren't depicted as raw beasts just destroying things. We were only given a brief insight into the villainous daikaijus' point of view, but that's to be expected. The author leans into the anti-humanism elements of the kaiju drama, a welcome reminder of why these creatures are a threat.

Bottom line? I enjoyed it, and I'll be picking up Part Two when it comes on Audible. There are two other books by the author that apparently share the same world but their genres don't interest me as much so I'm unlikely to pursue them.

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