Daniel

An aural delight

Revisado: 04-29-20

Having been a fan of James Taylor's music for many, many years, I knew a small but fair bit about him. I was delighted to see this autobiography available from Audible so that I could learn more, and to hear it from him directly.

Taylor's narrative jumps back and forth in time and you really need to pay attention. He will occasionally talk about his wife ... meaning his current wife - while then talking about some the things that happened to him in the past.

Taylor had a lot of ups and downs throughout his life, including an unhealthy family. Taylor admits that they grew up privileged (and you really get a sense of that through some of the things the family does), but like any family, they had their share of troubles. He says at the very beginning that of he and his four siblings, three of them "ended up in psychiatric hospitals and a fourth should have. Drug and alcohol addiction tore us up."

Through the narration we hear names of familiar artists - Carly Simon, Danny Kortchmar, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Peter Asher, Joni Mitchell - some of them he got to know well before they became famous, some of them already well established.

Hearing about his escapade with the shiester producer who had Taylor and his band (The Flying Machine) record an album but then did nothing with it until Taylor began to make a name for himself and then released the album, with no profits going to the band.

I knew that James Taylor was one of the first artists signed to the Beatles' new label, Apple Records, but hearing his telling of the meeting was really interesting. And I had to laugh when he mentioned that he had to call his father and beg him to sign the contract because, as Taylor puts it, the British were a bit more concerned about things like contracts than the Americans were at that time, and James was still a minor at the time.

And that's what really struck home. As we listen to the 90 minute autobiography and all the things that this man did, good and bad, the people he met, and the work that he'd begun, we are then reminded at the end, that this is just James Taylor's <em>first</em> twenty-one years.

I enjoyed this and, especially given its length, I can see me listening to it again.

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Hugely disappointing

Revisado: 04-06-20

I'm often on the look-out for a good horror novel to read, and when I saw this, with a couple of author names I recognized, I thought this would be a good read and satisfy my hunger for something dark.

But I was wrong.

The horror genre can come in different forms and my least favorite is one that relies on a lot of blood and sinew and human body parts being torn or ripped off and described in explicit detail.  It's horrific but the effect is numbing after a little bit.  How many times can you describe blood or the sound of a limb being torn off, or the appearance of everything under a person's skin, now exposed, and still make it interesting?  This is nothing more than splatterpunk at its extreme and I would agree with Robert Bloch who said of the genre, "there is a distinction to be made between that which inspires terror and that which inspires nausea".

To make matters even worse, from a story-telling perspective, the entire book takes place in one setting (a hospital) over the course of a few hours.  How do you build tension and terror when it's essentially the same moment, repeated over and over?  You don't.

Briefly, a collector of odd antiquities is in a rural hospital, losing his battle with cancer.  A package arrives ... a skull he's been looking forward to owning.  The skull has an unusual appearance ... it is a human skull but has sharp fangs. When it slips and the fangs sink into his skin, a transformation begins.  He has become infected with something that now changes him. His cancer seems to abate, but he now has a powerful hunger for blood.  His teeth fall out and new teeth, fangs like those on the skull quickly grow in.  He uses them to bite into the nearest person. They lose their teeth and new ones grow in, and the hospital becomes a warzone of those who hunger for human blood, and those who are trying to keep theirs inside their bodies.

I don't mind changing up the 'rules' that have been previously established for certain supernatural creatures - and the authors here warn us that these vampires aren't going to be like any we've read about before - but if you're going to change the rules, <em>change</em> them!  Don't just swap them!  These 'draculas' (the term given them by other characters in the book) are nothing more than common 'zombies' except instead of hungering for brains, they hunger for blood.  They have the same 'keep on coming' traits that most zombies in modern literature posses. Slash them, disembowel them, rend them limb from limb and the part with their fangs will keep coming.  I was really disappointed that this wasn't really something new and instead the authors just changed one creature for another.

This was a huge disappointment all around.

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The second volume of ghost stories from a master

Revisado: 01-04-19

Seanan McGuire, that talented and productive author, treats us to another installment in Ghost Roads series with <em>The Girl in the Green Silk Gown</em>.

Rose Marshall is dead. She's a ghost - a hitch-hiking ghost to be more precise - and she wanders the highways, catching rides with the living in order to help them as they pass from one realm to the next. She's been a ghost for sixty-some years and over time she's developed a reputation. She's sometimes known as the Ghost in the Green Silk Gown and sometimes as the Phantom Prom Date, but she's just Rose.

Rose was killed by Bobby Cross, a once-famous actor who made a bargain and now drives through eternity, killing innocents in order to keep his demon car fueled. He killed Rose, but she accidentally escaped being consumed by him and now Bobby has a grudge against Rose and he's bent on finishing her off.

There are rules in the Ghost Realms by which to live (or un-live) by and even those who are governed by the rules don't always seem to understand them. Rose's escape from Bobby was one such rule and now, when Bobby manages to make Rose mortal again, so is another. The dead aren't supposed to be alive. Rose can die again, but to do so might completely change what type of ghost she is to become, if a ghost at all. Rose needs help to return to the dead and it's possible that only the living can make this happen. But who do you turn to when all your relatives have died?

I greatly enjoyed this journey into the ghost realms. McGuire does such a fine job of creating a world with unique rules that feel so right and appropriate. She also manages to deliver these rules smoothly and in the course of story-telling rather than just giving us a big info-dump session.

Additionally, McGuire gives us compelling characters. Rose Marshall comes across as so real and alive, which is why we get caught up in her story and care about what happens to her. Never mind that she's a ghost ... that she's<em> fictional.</em> We care about her.

One sentence surprised me, coming from Seanan McGuire. At one point our narrator (Rose Marshall) says to the reader "That speaks well of her intelligence, since I'm literally talking out of my ass."

Really? "Literally" talking out of her ass? I read this and imagine a high, squeaking voice, like the air being let out of a balloon between the fingers. Had our narrator character said this out loud, I might have forgiven her, since people do say this, even though it is so incorrect. But to have written this as part of the narrator-to-reader it just really bugged me. Sorry Ms. McGuire - you're better than this!

I loved the ending of this book. Too often I get to the end of a book I've enjoyed only to be let down, but McGuire gives us just the perfect conclusion.

Narrator Amy Landon is mostly quite good ... except she can't do male or deep voices. Everytime she tries they come off sounding slow-witted and stupid. At first I thought that was a choice for one of the male characters, but then a female character, trying to sound dark and ominous also has a deep voice and the same slow, stupid sound was the result and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intention.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Girl in the Green Silk Gown</em> continues the ghost adventures of Rose Marshal, by Seanan McGuire, and is a recommended read.

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Great series of ghost stories compiled as a novel.

Revisado: 12-11-18

Is there anything that Seanan McGuire can't write, and write well? <em>Sparrow Hill Road</em> begins McGuire's take on ghosts.

There are legends of ghosts all over the country: The Girl in the Diner; The Phantom Prom Date; The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Though the stories have deviated and changed from the original tellings, they are all based on one story, one legend, one myth ... except that she isn't a myth. She's Rose Marshall and she died in 1952 in Michigan, at the sweet age of sixteen. She was killed by Bobby Cross - a former movie star who sold his soul to stay young forever. The catch is that he has to take life from the living in order to do it.

Rose escaped Bobby's clutches and now Bobby is trying to finish the job. It's been sixty years since Rose died and became a Road Ghost and she's determined not to let Bobby terminate her completely.

As with just about everything I've read from McGuire, she's a master at creating worlds with their own rules and sharing that world with the reader. Here we're in a shadow of our own world, traveling through time. This spirit world ... <em>these</em> spirit worlds ... have an incredible set of rules and McGuire helps us navigate those rules the way Bobby Cross navigates the roads.

In addition to her world-building, McGuire is just a great story-teller. Her characters (even her dead ones) seem so real; they feel like people you know (or want to know). Her stories build naturally and her way with words keeps you reading.

In her Special Edition Introduction, McGuire relates the story of how these Rose Marshall tales came to be. In essence this book is a collection of short stories that have been tied together to make it a novel. However, it still reads like a series of short stories despite the 'fix-up.' Still, I'd rather read a Seanan McGuire fix-up novel than most anyone else's work.

Narrator Amy Landon does a mostly fine job. Unfortunately her male characters all come across as Lenny-from-Of-Mice-and-Men stupid. At first I thought this was intentional character analysis but I later realized that when she tries to drop her voice to sound more masculine she tends to drag the dialog along, making her sound slow and dumb.

Looking for a good book? <em>Sparrow Hill Road</em> is a ghost novel by Seanan McGuire. By Seanan McGuire I said. That means it will surprise you and entertain you and you will be glad to have read it.

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A good way to keep the series going.

Revisado: 09-21-18

I've been quite a fan of the Paper Magician series by Charlie N. Holmberg. I've recommended the series to many people and every one has come back to tell me how much they've enjoyed it. Now Holmberg is keeping the series alive with what is part sequel and part spin-off. There's still plenty of magic afoot and we're still following an apprentice, but instead of the erstwhile Ceony, we are now following American, Alvie, as she arrives in England to apprentice with a master plastics magician.

It's quite a new adventure of Alvie, learning new customs as well as trying to grow in her chosen magic art. Fortunately she is apprenticed to a magician who is as dedicated as she is to improving and finding ways to accomplish her goals. This magician, Marion Praff, couldn't be more charming and welcoming to Alvie (and fortunately he's married!), but not everyone is enthralled by Praff and his continued showings of new magic at the annual conference, which is not too far away.

Alvie is an inventor at heart and when she presents an idea to Praff, and he encourages her and takes it on in order to help develop it for the next conference, Alvie is thrilled. But a number of magicians in the area are reporting burglaries and Alvie worries that her and Praff's remarkable invention - which should revolutionize Polymaking - is at risk. She has no idea just how much at risk her invention - and her life - really is!

I'm thrilled to be back in this world of Holmberg's. It's a great, rather unique, world that she's created, and while both her leading characters (Ceony and Alvie) are similar in many regards, it's not surprising since they should be about the same age, being apprentices. The mentors are different enough (if you've read The Paper Magician series, you'll understand - if not ... you should correct that right now!) but both appealing as mentors. (Though it will be delicious when she sometime chooses to write of an apprentice with one of the villainous magicians!)

I did feel that things went a little too smoothly for lucky Alvie. She doesn't seem to have to work too hard for her glory. Even when things go terribly wrong, she manages to get away and run into good people who trust and believe her immediately. Though the climax scenes during her trouble is well written and quite exciting.

It will be interesting to see what Holmberg comes up with next for the series, and I will continue to count myself as a fan, though this book didn't quite live up to the excitement and thrill of the first series.

Looking for a good book? The Plastic Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, is a follow-up/spin-off to the Paper Magician series and while it doesn't have quite the excitement, it is still an enjoyable story.

This review also published on my website, Amazon, and other book review sites.

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Shares the spirit of adventure with Shackleton.

Revisado: 02-20-18

If you could sum up Endurance in three words, what would they be?

Exciting future planning.

What other book might you compare Endurance to and why?

Endurance - The Shackleton Voyage. Because it shares the spirit of adventure and exploration.

Which character – as performed by Scott Kelly – was your favorite?

Himself.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

His hearing about a good thing his daughter did at school.

Any additional comments?

I am of the age that I can clearly remember watching the first landing on the moon and the first time mankind walked on the moon. And I remember the Apollo-Soyuz Project and seeing the artist's conception of the two spacecraft docking, miles above the Earth (and what a strange-looking bug that Soyuz craft was to me). And because of this, I've grown up with a fascination and interest in the U.S. space program (which may explain why two of my children are pursuing dreams of working professionally in the space program). Memoirs such as astronaut Scott Kelly's Endurance hold a special fascination for me.For those who don't already know, Scott Kelly has been to space a few times - as part of the space shuttle program and to the International Space Station (ISS). Most recently he was one of two astronauts (the other, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko) who spent nearly one entire year aboard the ISS - the longest anyone has been outside the constant pull of Earth's gravity to date.There are many reasons to subject a human to this, just one of those being that we want to study the effects of long-term weightlessness on the human being because if we ever want to put someone on Mars, or even further away than that, we're clearly looking at some long-term weightlessness for those adventurers. That Scott Kelly has a twin brother, who is also an astronaut employed by NASA, helps with the study as a control subject.What is particularly fascinating about this book is the first-hand account of the day-to-day work about the ISS. The reader gets the impression that Scott Kelly doesn't hold back on much and simply tells it the way he sees it - which isn't always flattering to NASA. But he also describes what might otherwise be considered a mundane work day (fixing toilets, dissecting mice, taking out the trash) except for the fact that it's done in space. The challenges he faces for some of the most routine tasks are often very interesting to read about.And of course there are the fun facts that we really could only get from an astronaut, such as the smell of the exterior metal of the ISS when the capsule first docks. And the smell of the interior of the ISS. And the appearance of the dinged and pitted exterior walls from the plethora of micrometeors that strike the station.The book is more than just a diary of Kelly's year in space. It is a memoir and we have alternating chapters so that we get a sense of who Scott Kelly is and how he came to be the astronaut who spent a year in space. From his early school days, his parents' relationship and goals, his attempts to get in to college once he knew what he wanted to do, and his drive to become an astronaut. Knowing these things about him helps us to understand why he would leave family on Earth for so long to put himself through what he did.What we don't get is the effects.Kelly teases us at the start of the book with his just having returned to Earth and eating dinner with his extended family and suddenly having some health issues - to the degree that his partner wants to get him to a doctor immediately (to which he points out that very few doctors in the world would understand the symptoms and conditions of a man who'd just spent nearly a year in weightlessness).But we never come back to this. We don't get the expected summary of what likely caused this health crises. We understand it's related to his living in space, but does it get better? What specifically caused it? How much of this has to do with the amount of time spent in space?As much as I liked this book all the way through, I really miss the lack of follow through on this attention-getting opening.Still, as we hope for expeditions further into our solar system, and beyond, this is an important step and it's good for all of us to understand the sacrifices.Looking for a good book? Scott Kelly's Endurance, shares the spirit of adventure and exploration that Shackleton's Endurance had, but with a nod toward the future.

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Definitely worth listening to!

Revisado: 06-28-17

Would you consider the audio edition of The Collapsing Empire to be better than the print version?

That's hard to say. I only have the audible version. I can't compare unless I also have the print version.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Collapsing Empire?

The room of historical knowledge.

What does Wil Wheaton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Wheaton definitely brings some passion to the story but his reading is starting to all sound alike. Can we get a director to actually give him something to go on?

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not have an extreme reaction other than to be angry that it was left with such a cliff-hanger.

Any additional comments?

We’re many years in the future, but the laws of physics still hold true and it is not possible for anything to travel faster than the speed of light. Still, mankind has managed to cobble together an empire spread throughout the galaxy. Some are on planets, some inside planets, some in space stations. Earth is no longer in the picture. At the heart of the empire is “Hub” and furthest away from Hub is “End.” Aside from an Emperox, what keeps the empire together is a natural(?) phenomenon known as “the flow.” The Flow is a slipstream of sorts, carrying ships from one location to another in faster than normal (though not FTL fast) speeds. The Flow has natural entry and exit ports and the locations for the empire were based on where these ports were.

But something is happening … the Flow is changing – something that only happens every few thousand years – and the collapse has been predicted by a ‘flow physicist’ on End. That physicist needs to get the information to the Emperox quickly because the entry to the Flow from End will be one of the next things to change. Unfortunately, there’s a coup going on at End, with another family looking to replace the Emperox. What they don’t know on End, because it still takes a long time to travel through the Flow, is that the Emperox has died and because his son, the heir, had died before him, the new Emperox is the daughter, Cardenia Wu-Patrick, who has not been prepared for the role.

Cardenia takes command of the empire just as the Flow is collapsing and a rival family is looking to take over and her best friend and confidante is killed in an attack on her.

Author John Scalzi knows how to tell a tale and this first book in a new series really zips along with lots of action, enough intrigue to tantalize, and characters that are pulled from a catalog of stock characters but made interesting with Scalzi’s style.

Scalzi has a legion of fans and more than a few detractors. He falls into that category where he is either a writer you really like, or one whose work you won’t touch. Me…I like his style. It’s direct and fun. He offers plenty of humor, more than a little cursing, and characters to love and characters to hate and you never wonder which is which.

Scalzi also does a really tremendous job of bringing something new into the sci-fi world with each of his books and this is no different. In fact it may be his world-building at which he most excels.

I listened to the Audible version of this book, as read by Wil Wheaton, and enjoyed Wheaton’s narrative. Wheaton knows how to read the book with some energy and excitement, offering the listener the full thrill of the story.

But there is a down-side… this first book has no ending. Just as every other author seems to be doing, Scalzi has written an adventure that leaves the reader with more questions than answers and finishes right at the moment of rising action. I definitely prefer a book that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Still – it’s a Scalzi adventure, and that’s worth more than the price of admission.

Looking for a good book? The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi is the first book in a new series by one of the most entertaining of voices in the sci-fi community. It’s worth reading.

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A believable and thrilling fantasy.

Revisado: 01-18-17

Would you listen to The Paper Magician again? Why?

Yes. I've already listened to it twice.

What did you like best about this story?

Characters are believable. Narration is very solid.

Which character – as performed by Amy McFadden – was your favorite?

Ceony

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was thrilling and fast-paced.

Any additional comments?

I've listened to the Audible version of this book twice - once on my own, and again after recommending it to members of my family as we drove across country. Both times I found it to be really a wonderful, magical book that entertains and encourages curiosity.

Ceony Twill has finished her studies at magician's school and must now work an internship. Normally students would be given the opportunity to choose what sort of magic they would like to focus on, but Ceony is assigned to study paper - which would certainly never have made her list of magic to study. She arrives at Paper Magician Emery Thane's home and through a long series of adventures and events, comes to have a new appreciation for the art of magic paper manipulation. She also develops a school-girl crush on Thane - a young magician.

But Thane is - or was - married and his wife now associates with an Excisioner - a dark art that manipulates human flesh. She attacks Thane, ripping out his heart, and Ceony devotes her limited skills to saving and protecting him. What looked like a boring time, folding paper, turns out to be a wild, dangerous adventure.

Author Charlie N. Holmberg (whom I have called "one of the freshest voices in fantasy") is clearly writing in a world post-Harry Potter and does a nice job of picking up the torch and carrying on with tales of student magicians. Though Holmberg takes a track and her book is definitely targeted toward a female YA audience, my sci-fi-and-horror-reading teenage son enjoyed the audible book as well. This speaks highly to the development of the characters - making them appealing no matter gender or age the listener - and to the excitement of the story.

The magic feels real and Holmberg puts just the right amount of emphasis on what it takes to complete the sort of magic she is describing. It is easy to see why this book is so appealing.

The Audible book, narrated by Amy McFadden, is well done. McFadden helps to bring the story to life and it is easy to imagine her voice as Ceony Twill's.

Looking for a good book? In The Paper Magician, author Charlie N. Holmberg has created a believable and thrilling fantasy that is fun and fantastic to read.

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Gripping!

Revisado: 05-03-16

Would you consider the audio edition of In the Kingdom of Ice to be better than the print version?

Hard to say...I didn't read the print book, I only listened to the audio book. But the audio book was wonderful to listen to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of In the Kingdom of Ice?

There are many memorable moments. The separating of the rafts. The decision of what to do with the dogs. Etc/

What does Arthur Morey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This was very easy to listen to. I never got a sense of a being separated from the story because of the narrator. Instead, I was right in the middle of the story and it felt like Morey's story.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt a real sense of loss.

Any additional comments?

I recently worked on a documentary film in which some people were attempting to sail the Northwest Passage. Because of this, I developed an interest in learning more about some of the expeditions to the Arctic. When I saw this book available on Audible, I was quite eager to give it a listen. It does not disappoint.

In the late 1800's, the Arctic was one of the few, vast, unexplored regions on the planet and many people were fascinated by what might be there. One common belief was that there were warm currents that actually kept a land mass lush with plant life.

After his success sending Stanley to Africa to find Dr. Livingstone, James Gordon Bennett, the wealthy owner of the New York Herald, decided to so something similar with the Arctic and funded an official U.S. Navy expedition to head to the Pole.

Captained by George Washington De Long, a young officer, the voyage would have 32 men who would be sailing uncharted territory in a ship re-christened the USS Jeannette, on the way to be the first to plant a flag at the North Pole. Not long after embarking, the Jeannette is stuck in ice, and after two years on the dangerous journey, the ship's hull is breached by ice and the crew continue the journey on foot and sleds. All along, Captain De Long maintains a detailed journal that despite its cumbersome nature he carries with him.

I found the research here to be incredibly thorough and, unlike many non-fiction books of late that write about the thoughts and concerns of the major characters based primarily on presumption, author Hampton Sides does a good job of detailing facts and draws from personal journals and letters to give us a glimpse of what the people involved were going through. At the same time, Hampton builds a sense of mystery and tells the story as though it were a thriller.

Not knowing this story prior to this (other than that I know the North Pole was 'found' in 1908 or 1909 [depending on who you believe found it first]), I was completely captivated by this story and by the characters involved. Hampton really draws us in to the story and helps us get to know many of the crew members as individuals, which means we're much more invested in their story and we hope for their survival.

I don't want to give too much away because this is a book worth reading, but suffice it to say that they do not make it to the North Pole and not everyone will survive this journey. But where they do travel to, and who does live is well worth discovering.

I listened to the Audible version, and narrator Arthur Morey is the perfect reader for this book. He was easy to listen to and helped to keep me interested.

Looking for a good book? In the Kingdom of Ice, by Hampton Sides, is a gripping account of an early expedition to the North Pole and well worth reading.

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Full of action but not quite the allure of the 1st

Revisado: 03-13-16

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Yes. The reliance on pop culture makes this topical and fun.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The idea of using magic (mancy) to be a popular actor was one of the more interesting aspects of the story. Taking us out of the typical geek setting was the least interesting aspect.

Which character – as performed by Mary Robinette Kowal – was your favorite?

Ree Reyes,

Was Celebromancy worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

In the first book of the Ree Reyes series, Geekomancy we learn what 'geekomancy' is (the ability to manifest, for a short time, the power or attribute of anything or anyone in a movie, comic book on a trading card, etc), and are introduced to the geekomancy poster-child, Ree Reyes. In this second installment in the series, author Michael R. Underwood takes us on the next part of Ree Reyes' journey and offers up a new style of magic ... the power to win friends and influence people unnaturally (why isn't this Carnegiemancy?). And who would you most likely find wielding this power? Hollywood actors, of course.Budding screen writer Ree Reyes has sold a television pilot and is in L.A. to see her new show move from the page to the screen. Ree wrote her script using as much of her geekomancy powers as she could. But now in Hollywood, she can't help being a bit of a geek fan, despite her new street cred as the creator of a new show. High on Ree's 'geeking out crush' is Jane Konrad, an actress that Ree has long admired and who is set to star Ree's show. It is Jane who introduces Ree to the power of Celebromancy, but admits that her power is waning. Perhaps it isn't waning too much, though, as Jane and Ree begin a an intimate relationship.Life in Hollywood isn't easy, even when you have special powers, and when Jane is attacked, Ree gets directly involved to save her show and her new crush/lover.Author Michael R. Underwood has done a nice job on building on the Geekomancy foundation without simply making a repeat of the initial story. Bringing Ree into a new world and experiencing a whole new set of powers is nice. At the same time, however, I really missed some of the characters from the first book. Grognard? Eastwood? These characters were nearly as important as Ree in book one and while Grognard makes a token appearance, Eastwood is nowhere to be found. While the relationship between Ree and Eastwood was tenuous at best, they still had a common goal that was left unfinished in the last book, and I hope we'll see them working together again soon.This book is packed full of action and self-acclaimed geeks should enjoy all the pop culture references. And what geek hasn't imagined what it would be like to fire a Star Trek phaser and have it actually work, or wield a Star Wars lightsaber and really be able to cut through something (or someone)? We enjoy Ree's actions because she still thinks it's cool to do these things, to have this power. She is still a geek and we can identify with her because of this. Pushing her to this new role of screenwriter does separate her from the vast majority of geeks, though,and might endanger her credibility as someone constantly in awe of her powers and success.This volume didn't have quite the same impact as the first book had. We're no longer virgins to this territory and we want something that pushes this special ability a bit more.As with the previous book, I both read and listened to this story. I would listen to the Audible version during my commute or while walking the treadmill, and would read from my ARC at other times (usually going back to skim through what I had listened to). The narration by Mary Robinette Kowal is fantastic. Ms. Kowal clearly understands the pop culture references and she adds the appropriate energy and emphasis in her reading. In some cases, I enjoyed her reading of the book more than my own.Pop culture books seem to be getting some notice by the general reading public, as evidenced by the success of Ready Player One and even Geekomancy. Perhaps we need a new sub category designation for these sorts of books. Urban fantasy seems too generic and not quite right. "Pop fantasy" anyone?Looking for a good book? Celebromancy, by Michael R. Underwood, continues the story of Ree Reyes, geekomancer, and is full of action but doesn't quite have the allure of its predecessor.I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for and honest review.

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