EKW

It's Scalzi. Trust me, just read it.

Revisado: 02-11-25

I sometimes wonder if Scalzi has a random topic generator, because it just doesn't matter. You will be engaged and entertained for the entirety of your listening experience. Seriously, stop wasting time reading reviews and start downloading everything with his name on it.

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Mindless woke dribble

Revisado: 03-30-24

Can't stand books that pander to 50% of the population, even when they pander to my half of the population.

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Thank goodness it's finally over.

Revisado: 02-29-24

There is nothing at all appealing about a cast of whiney, insubordinate, childish characters and their flaccid leader. I can buy into an entertaining story about aliens. I can believe in an underdog overcoming impossible odds. What I can't believe in, is the idea that's this crew made it more than fifty feet before imploding.

The constant, and I do mean constant, "you're not the boss of me" outbursts made me feel like I was back on the elementary school playground. And it seems the author is aware, as he writes the main character to be continuously frustrated by the flippancy. But then, for reasons only Bobby could possibly know, the main character falls to pieces, generally accepting criticism for doing what literally every commander must do in ensuring his people are all on the same page. "I know!", the petulant crew screams whenever instructions are given. Why, Bobby? Why?

My warning is this: If you, like me, are engaged by the storyline, the admirable writing, and the excellent narration, and if you also assume the obnoxious attitudes of basically everyone will eventually settle down, please know that it never gets better. It gets much, much worse.

Granted, I voluntarily endured this torture through the bitter and senseless end. "I will burn with hate for you till my dying day.....just kidding homie we're good." It felt like even the author was desperate to stick a fork in this one.

Bobby Adair is an excellent author. He really is, and it's easy to see his talent. But you won't care, because you want to murder all of his characters. They're all idiot children. Every whiney one.

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Tediously Coarse

Revisado: 12-29-23

I spent twenty years working with contractors. Colorful language doesn't even register with me most of the time. But Adair insists on inserting curses so thick it ends up sounding childish and silly. Like a group of third graders who watched Die Hard last night and can't wait to sound tough. A few books in, it stretched past eye-rolling silliness and really started grating on me. But of course, by then I was mildly invested. Certainly, I was past the point of getting my credit back. So I kept listening. It was torture. Not sure why I endured to the end. Then again, I used to run those tough obstacle course races, so there's clearly something sadistically wrong with me.

The story was fine, if uninspired. A somewhat new take on the whole virus-ends-humanity thing. But through nine grueling books, almost nothing happens. They go here, kill infected people. Go back there, kill more infected. Lose people in the group. Lose entire groups. Move on, repeat. There's never a real antagonist. Never a real goal. It's just a lot of "dude life sucks" followed by the protagonist's depressing self-doubt followed by his friends confirming his inadequacies. Because...yeah, he really sucks.

Dude. Do you even storyboard?

Cut the F-bombs down to something a bit more credible, insert an actual goal or quest or ANY FREAKING PLAN AT ALL, and maybe pump up an antagonist or two beyond this ridiculous "bad zombie kill girl, I find bad zombie...and keeeeel heeeem" crap.

Do all that, then republish. And maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to sell one or two books per credit instead of (giggles) nine.

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Even R. C. Bray can't save this writing disaster

Revisado: 07-25-23

I swear, if he misapplies "proverbial" one more time...yep, there it is. I'm out.

Bray is a legend. I just listened to 15 books about a northeastern numbskull's adventures with a shiny beer can, and never felt weird about it because the voice acting was spectacular. But to be fair, that series was written by...uh...a "writer". Like, a professional author. With an editor.

There's nothing wrong with the story, but the writing is absolutely abysmal. I tried, I really did. This is why good editors are critical, even to the best writers. Heck, I could have made this proverbial book palatable with a day or two of proverbial editing. Proverbially.

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A divided society, fighting for survival

Revisado: 01-03-23

Ah, I see. Suddenly everyone has a problem with art imitating life. Interesting. Could it be, perhaps, that some object only to material that fails to reinforce their preexisting beliefs?

Here's the thing...Scott actually tried to shine light on both sides of the political divide we face today. Those who are quick to take offense over the bleeding heart leftists in the story somehow miss the evil conservative corporations and politicians on the other side.

Our main protagonist has to fight an impossible military battle while navigating extreme elements on the left AND the right. We even have an inept conservative president threatening to destroy all of humanity with selfish greed. But sure, let's get mad about the leftist university wackos in the story, like Bartlett has an agenda.

Of all the things we don't need right now, I'd say crucifying a voice of reason attempting to bridge the divide is pretty high on the list of bad ideas.

Read (listen to) this series. And while you're enjoying the entertaining charters and storyline, think about where you might stand in the world he's created here. Or, ignore the parallels to real life and lose yourself in the fantasy. We need more Scott Bartletts in the world. Or at least more from the one we have.

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A decent story almost ruined by narration

Revisado: 12-30-22

James. Patrick. Cronin. There should be a law against employing three names when your most memorable trait is to read with an obnoxious hanging inflection that turns average conversations into an inexplicable combination of condescension, confusion, and intoxication. Imagine military jargon, if the military kept everyone on a THC drip. Good Lord. If I wasn't in the purgatory between Audible credits I would have spat ye from my presence. As it is, I feel like my ears need a shower. How, in a world where Ray Porter exists, does this guy have a job that doesn't require puppets on both hands?

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My favorite from Sanderson so far!

Revisado: 09-06-22

I can't say anything here that hasn't already been said. This book (and I hope this extends to the rest of this series) is excellent.

I've always enjoyed Sanderson's writing, but at times his innovative magic systems are a bit more "fantasy" than I prefer. In Skyward, I was treated to his excellence without feeling like a fantasy nerd (no offense to fantasy nerds, I love you all).

Perhaps most impressive is Sanderson's ability to write from the first-person perspective of a teenage girl in a very credible way. Having just read another similar perspective novel by another male author, the contrast is astounding. Absent here are all the annoying tropes and tendencies a male writer would typically use to channel a teen girl. As the father of four daughters, Sanderson's heroine felt entirely authentic to me.

All of this is brought to life by the brilliant artistry of narrator Suzy Jackson. I'm overly critical of narrators. Missed inflections and poorly pronounced names grate on me and can ruin a good book. It seems to me that many narrators can't be bothered to recut mistakes. Or rather, some bean-counting producer won't allow corrections for fear of diminished profits. I'm inclined to believe that the credit for this excellent narration should go to Suzy, for overcoming production budgets with pure talent. Thank you, Suzy, for the effort and passion you have to this project. You have been added to my short list of narrators to watch for. In fact, I intend to find other books narrated by Suzy, regardless of the author or genre, because I know I won't be disappointed.

Go forth with confidence, Audible fans. This one is for all of us.


Side note...

Do not confuse books written ABOUT young adults with books written FOR young adults. In this world Sanderson created, the only option for Spensa's character was for her to be a young adult teenager. All of human history backs up this concept; that in a time of oppression, war, and struggle, young people are pressed into military service. Anything else would lack credibility. So to those who say that a teen heroine automatically makes this a book aimed at teens, I say...how sad for you. I related to Spensa as a father of daughters her age. Perhaps you have a niece, or granddaughter, or friend from high school, or you were once a young woman yourself. Most of us should be able to relate in a meaningful way without actually BEING a young adult or teen. So again I say, this one really is for all of us.

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Expected more

Revisado: 09-02-22

I don't bother reading reviews when continuing a series I already like. So imagine my surprise when this book turned out to be The Last Colony all over again. I endured, hoping against hope that we would eventually be rewarded with a continuation rather than a teen-perspective recap. But no. Sprinkled throughout Zoe's Tale are rather inconsequential short stories which answer questions no one had from the last book.

A brief and somewhat recurring comment on narration...

Please, narrators, when reading a sequel, take five minutes to learn the previously-employed pronunciation of character names. We don't care if yours is better than theirs. They were first, and if we're here listening to you, we've probably just finished listening to them. These are audiobooks. Audio. We aren't following along in the text. So when you change names, it's annoying. And we might almost hate you a little for it. So stop it. Charles Bootin' is embarrassed for you.

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Is that smell what I think it is?

Revisado: 07-06-21

"Hold my beer and watch this," said Tim, as he belly'd up to his laptop, a mischievous grin plastered across his alcohol-reddened face. "Imma take this perfectly good Firefly story and drag it through the 'ole dog run. Get it good and covered in goushi, but not so much you can't still recognize it."

With that, Tim began a writing journey reminiscent of his first date, at 27, when his awkward immaturity compelled him to make fart jokes through dinner. His prose similarly gushed with immaturity and inexperience, as he incessantly changed perspective and tense, leaving the reader feeling cheap and dirty. Boxed wine is a less conspicuous imitation of sophistication. His own eyes burned to see it, but he was sure to write in such a way that later he might call it artistic. Insightful, even. Dare he say, brilliant? No, not that. Never that.

Unsatisfied and still in a drunken stupor, Tim went on to repeat the phrase "we've come all this way" 372 times. In retrospect, it wasn't as funny as he hoped. It did, however, add another layer of poo.

Eventually Tim managed to get his editor drunk, and the fecal-encased draft skipped straight to the desk of the talented Mr. Foster, who, in a brilliant flourish of professionalism, managed to read the entire script without laughing, crying or puking.

If there was redeeming value to this listening experience, it's that I realized just how much I love the crew of Firefly. Even Tim's dog-run trashing didn't deter me from drinking in every drop. Every painful, smelly, embarrassing drop.

The story, the universe Joss created, and the crew get 5 stars. The writing gets a negative 7. I average this to 2 stars, because...well, it's my review and I can do whatever the gorram ruttin goushi I want.

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