Snoracks

An Extraordinarily Well Paced Adventure

Revisado: 07-22-24

What really blew my mind about this one is the editing. Almost every bit of fat is trimmed. I'm not kidding, so many authors would have taken twice the runtime to tell this story and it is so refreshing to hear a book that only keeps the interesting and essential.

My main criticism of this one is that while it is fun, it did not really challenge anything important or necessary about our modern life. That said, your mileage may vary on that one. Perhaps I missed the important stuff while being captivated by the forward momentum of the story. The characters themselves are not necessarily the strongest, but I did like and understand them.

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Well Narrated and Captivating

Revisado: 07-22-24

The real test of an audiobook, at least for me, is whether I am tempted to keep listening once I leave a space I ordinarily keep set for audiobooks like car rides and airplanes. This one, I listened to outside of the car, which means it's pretty great.

Ray Porter was a perfect choice for this audiobook. He adds a folksy nature to the main character that fits perfectly with them. It also allows the kind of difficult and sometimes insufferable "I'm smarter than you" stuff Andy Weir often produces. I also thought Porter's voices were amazing and consistent.

This one is much harder into the science fiction than some of Weir's other works. I, for one, do not really know or much care how realistic the bigger concepts are to science fact. There is enough simple science in here for me to enjoy and the more fantastical portions are just fun.

The central humanity of our main character is what makes this thing really tick. I feel for him. I understand him. I care about him. It also reflects on several concepts important to our every day life, like science fiction should. It made me think, cry and feel.

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A Good and Steamy Romance

Revisado: 07-22-24

I wanted to try to get more into Romance as a genre. The only one I had tried in the past is One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, which I quite liked. That one was great, but quite a different idea to this one which even in the opening chapters uses rather explicit names for body parts that start with C with regularity.

Is the story predictable? Absolutely. Do I have reservations about some of the content? Absolutely. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely.

There were a couple of times that I teared up while listening, but I'm a pretty easy cry.

The narration is excellent. They capture the necessity of emotional distance while adding just enough emotionality to keep you attached.

If steamy without explicit kink is your thing, I would highly recommend this one.

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Doesn't do what it says on the box

Revisado: 12-06-23

One of my favorite criteria for art criticism is whether it "does what it says on the box." IE, if I go to see a genre action movie, does it deliver on at least being that?

My essential problem with this collection of podcast episodes is that it does not really do what it says on the box. The stories are all interesting and about education but not specifically about how Gladwell hates the Ivy League. While this does offer a "grand unified theory" within the runtime, it's only within one of the episodes and does not feel like the summing up I really wanted.

If you like Gladwell's Revisionist History podcast, you probably know you don't need to buy this to get the experience. You can listen to all the podcasts within for free. As such, I think it is not a lot to ask for a bit more connective tissue than the foreword and afterword provided by the author. I think if this were just Riffs and Rants about Education by Malcolm Gladwell, I would have enjoyed this a lot more.

I still feel What the Dog Saw is the best Gladwell audiobook thing, other than maybe Talking to Strangers just because it is so well produced.

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Fabulous narration on a tough-to-execute story

Revisado: 12-06-23

So, first, no hate to Michael Kramer because he's a great narrator, but Kate Reading to me has always been the star of Stormlight's audiobooks and it is great that they are front and center here. I am split between four and five stars on this one. I greatly enjoyed it. Rysn is a fabulous and refreshing characters and one Sanderson clearly worked at to try to not represent poorly. I cannot speak to the experience and so I won't, but it is clear Sanderson gave a great effort here. The Lopen is interesting in this one, especially when he is at his most philosophical but is clearly the less interesting character, despite having such interesting speech patterns and mannerisms. I cannot say I would have ever said I wanted a full book on either of these characters, but it does go to a central mystery established but not deeply delved into in the Stormlight archive. Instead of just a better and more vivid picture of these two characters this instead opens up a whole new interesting layer of the story likely to be explored much later in the Stormlight Archive.

I think this is a good deal better than Edgedancer, but I did enjoy both and if you are looking for more Stormlight Archive before the next one comes out i would recommend trying these.

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Kate Reading crushes an ambitious character

Revisado: 12-06-23

I was mixed on whether I would try the 2.5 or 3.5 iterations of Stormlight Archive. I think both are good and tricky exercises for Sanderson because they are clearly out of his comfort zone. Lift is the prime example as I feel this character might be too interesting for Sanderson to capture properly, which is honestly a great credit to him for creating such an interesting character. Her unique worldview and unique relationship with her spren make this an interesting read. But, like with much of Stormlight Archive, the length and position of the overarching story limits just how much this tale can do. Lift can self-actualize a bit, but cannot emerge from this story having totally conquered her demons. Additionally, one fun twist is spoiled a bit if you have read all the books, but I still found this enjoyable and would recommend it if you want the Stormlight itched scratched before the next one comes out.

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Great Once It Gets Going

Revisado: 08-18-22

I started listening to this one after I finished the Mistborn trilogy. I tried this one once and bounced off because I couldn't find any characters to latch onto. That is just because I don't know how well the prologue works in audiobook form. Eventually, the story of this got tense and super interesting. But, it did take a bit

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A Fascinating World

Revisado: 04-07-22

This one hits the ground running quickly with compelling characters and an interesting world full of mysteries. There were a few times where I felt the pacing was a bit clumsy, but overall this is one of the best starts to a trilogy I have read.

After reading all three, I think this one has the least to SAY but is the most entertaining of the three. I also do not think reading the other two is strictly necessary, but that I enjoyed them all quite a bit.

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Starts Slow but Gets Good

Revisado: 04-07-22

One of the disadvantages to making a very satisfying first book of a series is that it can be difficult to resume interest after an already good resolution. I did not care so much about what was going to happen next until about a third of a way through this one, but once the mysteries got piled on top of one another, I was hooked.

My favorite part about this one is the ruminations on the role of leadership and when one must lead by committee and when bold action is needed.

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A Great Ending to the Trilogy

Revisado: 04-07-22

Was there some cheese? Absolutely. Yet, I think this is a fantastic mix of pure entertainment and musings on the roles of faith and leadership in our lives.

I also like that while saccharine it is not usually overly so. I may raise my review to 5 at some point later, but there were some fairly boring parts and lots of plot cul-de-sacs that could have been truncated.

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