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Borderline Youth Fiction & All Accents Are French

Revisado: 04-16-25

This belongs on a Youth Fiction list.

The plot is both predictable (an international team with a cranky Frenchman) and a never-ending series of deus ex machinas.

Despite the multiple nationalities of the team and the books characters, they all sound like Peter Sellers version of a French accent.

I almost didn't finish it.

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A bit disappointed in this Baldacci outing

Revisado: 08-21-24

The male narrator just doesn’t “fit” Decker. Way too much convoluted exposition and repetition as well.

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Reads like young adult fiction

Revisado: 01-04-23

I've read many Templar-specific and Templar-adjacent books over the years. This is an interesting premise which isn't delivered well. The blurb's description of "historical reconstruction" is a stretch. The pacing of the action is erratic, too much time spent on side quests and peripheral characters. Much of the dialog is at a young adult fiction level. And if you're going to have a treasure hunt for a McGuffin, do something with it. The narrator's style made it hard to finish.

This premise from the keyboard of Follett, Brown or Steve Berry would be a blockbuster.

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Like William Shatner voicing Braveheart

Revisado: 01-13-22

This is a mediocre "war buddy" obligation story. The characters are pretty flat. The plot is slow to start and not that original. Be prepared for extensive and repetitive profanity.

The narrator is HUGELY frustrating. His attempts to switch between accents from across the British Isles is poor. The protagonist is Scottish. Imagine William Shatner impersonating William Wallace in Braveheart to voice over Nick Nolte in 48 Hours set in London.

Apparently, the author intends to set up a series based on the protagonist. Won't be listening to the next one.

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D-D-D-Deus Ex M-M-Machina around EVERY corner!

Revisado: 09-13-21

Military procedural set in space with Earth's wars following the colony ships. Lots of promise and missed opportunity to explore the new world.

Never fear, there's always a new technology to save the day and plug the plot holes. C+. Beach read.

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Deus ex Machina cubed - on steroids

Revisado: 07-04-20

Interesting characters and a narrator I love couldn’t save this farfetched farce.

It started as an interesting take on what’s behind lights in the sky, livestock mutilation and disappearing people. Then it got weird, then it got stupid. Any more details would give huge spoilers. Wish I hadn’t wasted a credit, or the hours.

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Far more politics than fraternity.

Revisado: 11-25-19

The Professor starts with a definition of secret society broad enough to include Lenin's Bolshevik movement.

So this is one part fraternal history, one part "here's how power hungry people work using secrecy," and one big part speculation - which he readily admits as such.

Far more politics than fraternity. Strikes me as more late night TV than university course material. Least impressive of the Great Courses item I've ever downloaded.

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Canterbury Tales 2750 by Stephen King&Larry Niven

Revisado: 05-28-19

That's 20 hours of my life I'll never get back. Be warned: For all the build up, the full resolution is pawned off into the sequel - which I won't be reading.

Two bouquets for the author: (1) a very creative take on human civilization, economics and religion 700 years from now, and (2) there are some very well written descriptive passages. The rest is a train wreck.

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Listen at 1.25x speed

Revisado: 02-22-19

I recently set out to listen to the entire Robots-Empire-Foundation series from start to finish. Fortunately, Audible has added to the list of available titles.

Asimov did a great job - decades later - of inserting this title as a jumping off point into the classic Foundation Trilogy.

The narrator is decidedly the low point. He reads it as if he were reading to third graders. Also reminds me of the old joke about the letter home: "I am writing slowly, as I know you read slowly... ." I used the iOS Audible app to move the speed up to 1.25x normal. This made the pace tolerable.

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Jesuits on Gilligan's Island - In Space

Revisado: 05-21-18

This was a very frustrating story. It's hard to go into much more without risking spoilers. The premise is an intriguing take on first contact stories; but it gets detoured into a crisis of faith.

And veeerrryy sllloooowww to get going. Be prepared to persevere.

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