Karissa Eckert

Well done, feels a bit dated at points.

Revisado: 12-29-21

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Ender Quintet. I got this on audiobook through Audible.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): The audiobook is well done and easy to listen to. I wasn’t a huge fan of the main narrator, he felt a bit stiff to me, but it was well enough done. I liked the narrator that did Valentine’s parts better.

Thoughts: I have always wanted to read this book and when my son got assigned to read it for English class we decided to read it at the same time. My son (who is almost 15 years old) loved it and thought it was amazing. He immediately wanted to start on the rest of the books in the series. I think if I had read it at his age I may have felt the same way, although the main female characters don’t get a great role in this novel (which was true of soooo many books written in the 80’s).

I did like the book, it is a good story that touches on a lot of important issues. I thought the twists at the end were well done and entertaining. Unfortunately, having my first read of this happen as an adult parent there was a lot I didn’t like about the story. I couldn’t help but continually wince at how disconnected the parents were from their children. I also thought the treatment of the kids was just awful throughout the book and kept thinking about how I would feel if my kids were going through all of this.

I also couldn’t help but consider the role of the female characters in the story. Valentine (the only main female character) is dubbed too passive to be of any use to anyone and she supports this view by following Peter’s lead for a good portion of the book. The only other female character of any note is Petra, who is a leader in battle school and the only other female trainee you run across…of course she is harshly singled out for her sex. I feel like this really dates the book quite a bit but it also makes for an interesting discussion of how things have changed in our society since this book was written.

Aside from the above thoughts, this is a fast-paced read with a lot of points of discussion. There are a lot of deep topics here around family, society, etc, etc. I did think the “twist” was very predictable however, I am a lot older than my son and have read many more sci-fi books and run across a few with a similar twist to them. Ender’s Game may have been the first to put forth this kind of idea but I am not sure.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this but not enough to continue with this series. I found the idea of parents being so disjointed from their kids unrealistic and also found the twists here predictable. I missed the inclusion of any strong female characters but do understand it represents the time the book was written in. I do think this was an interesting choice for my son’s teacher to have them read. There are a ton of interesting things for discussion here; from the society Ender lives in and the idea of alien life, to our society in the 80’s and how that influenced the story.

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Nice but a bit boring.

Revisado: 09-21-21

Series Info/Source: This is the fifth book in The Magnificent Devices series. Right now there are 22 books in this series. I borrowed a copy of this audiobook through Audible Plus.

Audiobook Quality (4/5)3: This audiobook series continues to be pleasant to listen to and I enjoy the narration.

Thoughts: This book jumps us forward in time quite a bit. Maggie and Lizzie are now 16 and trying to decide if they want to go to college or finishing school. Claire is finishing up her studies and ready to embark on a career as a scientist. That is until Lizzie’s past comes back to haunt them all.

This was another decent story in this series. I like these books but I never really love them. I think that the situation never really gets all that dire. Everyone is so nice to each other all the time and even the bad guys aren't horribly bad. There just isn't much to propel the story forward for me and the story is never all that exciting.

It was nice to read a story that is mostly from Lizzie's POV, although we hear from Claire as well. Lizzie was a bit more fun as a character because she is not as absolutely perfect as Claire is.

I am not sure I will continue on with this series since I just don't find these books all that exciting or entertaining. They are nice and have some good steampunk elements but aren't great.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this is another decent addition to this solid YA steampunk series. This series is perfectly nice and I have trouble pinpointing why I don’t like it more than I do. There are adventures, steampunk devices, and solid characters but it all feels a bit shallow to me and everyone is so nice to each other that there isn’t much to drive the story forward. It’s just a nice story but not all that exciting or mysterious. I keep saying nice but that word always pops into my mind when I listen to these...I always think “Well that was nice, not very memorable, but nice.”. I don’t plan on continuing the series at this point because I would really rather read something that grabs my attention that I love.

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Nice creepy small town setting.

Revisado: 09-16-21

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I listened to this on an audiobook which I bought from Audible.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): The audiobook quality was fine. The narrator sounds very typical of other YA narrators; a little overly dramatic for my taste but still does a good job with character voices and emotions.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the dark, mysterious, small town atmosphere of this book and the history of the town of Sparrow. There are some good twists and turns in the story that have you gasping "Oh, no!" and I like how things were resolved. This was a wonderful fall read, despite being set in summertime.

This is written in a very beautiful style but also had a bit too much of that over-the-top YA description for me...you know, writing about storms in people's eyes and other cloyingly dramatic descriptors. I would have preferred a bit of humor at points, this story takes itself vveerrryy seriously.

Still, it kept me intrigued until the end and I enjoyed the atmosphere. I could have done without a lot of the teen drama and overly descriptive tender moments between our main characters, but between all of that there was a decent story here.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this. I loved the setting of the town of Sparrow and the look into the history of witch hunts. A lot of this was a bit too much of an over-the-top teen romance drama but between all of that there’s a creepy story here that I really enjoyed. There are some excellent twists in the story and it is beautifully written.

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Well done but slow at some points.

Revisado: 09-07-21

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I listened to this on audiobook, which I got from Audible.

Audiobook Quality (5/5): The narration was very well done; definitely one I would recommend listening to if you enjoy audiobooks. The chords/musical parts of the aliens are really well done and very creative.

Thoughts: This was well done and intriguing. The story is about a future Earth where we find out an alien lifeform is eating the energy from our sun, threatening to put the Earth into a new ice age. Ryland Grace is a middle school science teacher who gets haphazardly pulled into research on this alien life form because of previous research he did in college.

The book bounces back and forth between the present (where Grace is on a spaceship with memory loss) and the past (where we learn how Grace got to where he is today). I loved a lot about this book. I loved Grace’s sense of humor and the way he was able to extrapolate from his experience to figure a lot of things out. I do think at times the technical jumps he made were a bit contrived but they were fun all the same.

As with “The Martian” sometimes the story gets a bit bogged down by all the details. Don’t get me wrong, I am a scientist by trade and enjoy a lot of the scientific discussions. However, there are portions of the book where the story starts to suffer because of all of the scientific details that are included. These portions definitely dragged (especially mid book) and made the book longer than it needed to be.

My other small quibble is that, although I appreciated the irony of the ending, it left me feeling a bit unsatisfied as well. I do understand why it ended the way it did but that doesn’t mean I loved it.

My Summary (4.5/5): Overall I enjoyed this and am glad I read this. This is definitely a book that is made to be read on audiobook, you will gain a lot more from the story by listening to it. I do think there were parts of the story that were kind of slow and I felt the ending was a bit lacking. I would recommend this to those who are interested in humorous sci-fi dealing with space travel and alien encounters.

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Fun and creative sci-fi read!

Revisado: 09-07-21

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Bobiverse series. Right now there are four books in this series (it sounds like the first three are the main bulk of the story). I got this as an audiobook from Audible.com.

Audiobook Quality (5/5): The narration was very well done; definitely one I would recommend listening to if you enjoy audiobooks.

Thoughts: I really loved the beginning of this book; the premise and situation Bob finds himself in is hilarious, ingenious, and a bit creepy too. The pacing of the story slows a little bit towards the middle, but then picks back up as the Bobs gain footholds in different areas of space. At that point I ended up very engaged with the various struggles of the entities the Bobs interacted with.

As you get towards the end of the story it does get a bit hard to keep track of all of the Bobs; but Taylor does a pretty good job of focusing on a manageable number. The transitions on the audiobook were pretty fast and sometimes I had to quickly look at my phone to remind myself which Bob I was hearing from (the chapter name starts with which Bob you are listening to).

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this and plan on listening/reading the second book as well. This is a fun and clever book with a really interesting premise. I would recommend it if you like humorous sci-fi reads and are interested in things like artificial intelligence and space travel.

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Wonderfully fun steampunk adventure

Revisado: 08-24-21

Series Info/Source: This is the fourth book in the Magnificent Devices series. Right now there are 21 books in this series. I borrowed this as an audiobook through Audible Plus.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): This continues to be a very well done audiobook series. The narrator is pleasant to listen to and does an amazing job with narration. I would definitely recommend listening to this series on audiobook if you listen to audiobooks.

Thoughts: This was another fun installment in this steampunk adventure series. This book takes us up into Canada, into a mining community. Alice is continuing to search for her father, while Clare and crew get embroiled in trying to unravel a plot that aims to assasinate a famous inventor.

These remain fun books with a lot of neat steampunk devices, a great adventure, and wonderful characters. I love that the characters are generally kind to each other. Watching both Claire and her wards mature and grow is also very fun. These are just such nice, fun, feel-good reads.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a wonderful addition to this steampunk adventure series. I continue to enjoy the world, the fun characters, and the mysteries. This is one of the best and most consistently decent YA steampunk series I have ever read and I am eager to continue it!

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Well done supernatural historical fiction

Revisado: 08-13-21

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this book for free through Kindle Unlimited.

Audiobook Quality (5/5): I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was fantastic. I would highly recommend listening to this one on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks; West did an absolutely amazing job reading this.

Thoughts: I definitely enjoyed this. This is set mostly in WWI and involves HG Wells and a young female reporter (Rebecca West) unraveling a dastardly plot of bacterial warfare.

I really enjoyed the historical setting, the historical cast, and the slight supernatural elements (ghosts, potential cults, etc). The descriptions were fantastic and really made the settings come alive. I especially enjoyed the time spent in the trenches and underground with the ghouls; it was just very fascinating (and horrifying) to read about.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a great mystery, war story, and political thriller with some fascinating historical characters and an amazing setting. I enjoyed it and plan on checking out Masello's future books.

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Great world-building, lackluster characters.

Revisado: 08-05-21

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in what I believe is supposed to be a trilogy (the third book has been delayed indefinitely at this point). I got a copy of this on audiobook from Audible.com

Audiobook Quality (4/5): The audiobook was well done and is fine to listen to. The narrator does a good job with character voices and with conveying emotion.

Thoughts: This book focuses on Aurora/Roar, a Stormling princess without the powers to work with storm magic. Her mother’s hope is to marry Roar off to a Stormling prince so that Roar’s lack of powers aren’t noticed. Roar, however, has other plans.

I am kind of conflicted about this book. I really, really loved the world-building and the idea of storms being sentient magical beings. I loved the Storm Hunters as well.

I thought Roar was an okay character but also thought that her competence in so many areas didn't really mesh with the naïve nature that she constantly showed. I also think she was fairly selfish in the actions she took throughout the book.

The relationship the Roar and Locke form felt fake to me. Roar is all preaching about wanting to be independent, yet Locke is constantly saving her. There are way too many scenes where they sit around talking about their feelings because they "need to talk" but then they never really say anything important. If I had been reading this in paper form (rather than listening to an audiobook) I probably would have skimmed these parts.

Another big complaint is that vast portions of the plot are dependent on characters not communicating well. I mean really if Roar had just talked to Prince Cassius about his motives openly there wouldn't have been a book here at all. Those kinds of things really bother me because they end up making such a big deal out of such small things.

This also had that typical romance/YA issue where every character who enters the book is either super hot or really beautiful and all of the super hot men are interested in Roar...ugh. You can tell that Carmack is primarily a romance writer.

My Summary (3/5): Overall, I thought this was going to be an awesome book but it ended up falling somewhat flat for me. I did really enjoy the world-building and magic. However, as I got deeper into the story there just wasn't enough meat here for me. It was just too much of beautiful, naïve Roar being saved by Locke. I didn’t enjoy either of them as characters and didn’t enjoy how much time was spent with long, meaningless scenes between the two of them. I don’t plan on continuing the series.

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Wonderful steampunk adventure story!

Revisado: 07-23-21

Series Info/Source: This is the third book in the Magnificent Devices series. I borrowed this audiobook through Audible Plus.

Audiobook Quality (5/5): This whole series has been beautifully narrated so far and this book continues in that trend. Hardingham’s voice is beautiful and she does an amazing job with narration. She conveys character emotion well and does a great job with character voices.

Thoughts: This time Claire and crew are in the Americas on the way to Canada when their airship crashes. Claire has been trying to avoid Lord James until she is 18 and cannot be forced to marry him. This was a fun steampunk adventure with a lot of delightful devices, some heartstopping action and an entertaining adventure across an alternate historical American landscape.

I continue to absolutely adore Claire and her orphaned charges. The group of them make such a quirky, lovable, and fun family together. This is one of those heartwarming books where no one is too evil (although there are some decently evil characters in here) and nothing is too surprising. It is just an all in all pleasant steampunk adventure.

The story is fairly predictable and this book is just another leg in Claire’s journey to escape her arranged marriage and find a place for her charges and herself to call home. I enjoy the alternate historical America we see here and enjoy a lot of the adventures that Claire ends up on...she does get put through quite a bit in this book. There is also a fun plotline around inventorship and patents that has woven between books of this series.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a very entertaining and pleasant steampunk read. The story is a good blend of action, adventure, devices, invention, and also has a bit of romance in it. I would recommend to those who enjoy lighter, more heartwarming, steampunk reads about finding family and staying true to one's own path in life. I enjoyed this and plan on continuing the series. This is aimed at a young adult reading audience.

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Intriguing because of how long ago it was written.

Revisado: 07-19-21

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Dream Park series (there are four books in this series). I got this as an audiobook through Audible.

Audiobook Quality (4/5): The narration on this audiobook was fine. The narrator does a fine job with character voices and was decent to listen to. While I didn’t love this on audiobook, I thought it was fine.

Story (4/5): I enjoyed this quite a bit. I was surprised at how well this book has aged over the years. I enjoyed the fact that these characters are basically doing a complex LARP but there is a mystery from real life that wraps into their fantasy adventure. The story is well woven and kept me interested. The build up is a bit slow and the hopping back and forth between characters at the beginning is slightly hard to follow and feels a bit fractured, but does come together better as the story continues. Lastly, despite all the unique and fun trappings this is at its heart a straight-forward and fairly predictable who-dun-it type of mystery; which honestly is not my favorite type of story.

Characters (3/5): There are a lot of characters here and at times they are hard to keep track of. The sheer number of characters also makes them hard to relate to. I was a bit worried going in about a lack of strong female characters (given that this is an early 80's book) but was pleasantly surprised to find the characters (female/male) were fairly well balanced. I was also surprised by the rather modern acceptance around different sexualities as well. You still do get some things that feel dated but it's not too bad (women are called baby or sweetie and at points, women need to be saved and protected).

Setting (4/5): The Dream Park setting is an intriguing one. This is basically a futuristic theme park where people can join in on very realistic LARP adventures. These adventures involve a combination of LARP and holograms and other high tech manipulations. It’s a creative idea that is slowly coming to reality for gamers today. It was fun to see how close this is getting to current VR gaming, especially since it was written so long ago.

Writing Style (3/5): The writing here is okay. As I mentioned it starts out pretty rough and feels very fractured. A lot of language feels a bit dated and it has a more stark mid 80’s sci-fi writing style to it. The plot is fairly predictable and the fact that we have to follow so many characters throughout the story (and that a lot of them end up as fodder) was kind of a bummer. I am glad I finally read this and thought it was enjoyable but also have no desire to come back for more.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was decent and I am glad I finally read it. Will I continue to read this series? Probably not. It was a fun listen but the world and characters didn't draw me in enough for me to want to read more. I am also not a huge fan of straight-up who-dun-it murder mysteries. Also parts of this (language, societal thinking) feel a bit dated to me and I just didn’t really enjoy the writing style all that much.

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