Marie J.

No, just no.

Revisado: 11-03-17

Ms Parsneau did her best with the material. Unfortunately, the material is awful.

I purchased this book because of the high rating and because the premise was unique and intriguing. I thought the book would be a sociopolitical fantasy adventure novel. Instead the author went in the direction of D&D porn. Apparently his goal was not to tell a story about the interactions of humans and fantasy creatures, but to see how many fantasy creatures the main character could have sex with.

I don't have a problem with well-written sex scenes that add to the story. Sadly, the sex in this story, which was roughly half of the book, was not well-written and honestly didn't add anything. If it had stopped at the first fantasy creature and the two characters had continued on adventuring together, the story probably would have been more enjoyable. The author could have concentrated on actually developing the plot rather than the harem.

The main character's harem was another problem. The reasons for having more than one "wife" were flimsy at best and seemed to hinge on the women becoming slavishly devoted to him simply because he didn't make them slaves. He did nothing to endear himself to them other than not be a jerk. And that led all the women to happily "share" him?

The whole story came across as an adolescent boy's fantasy written with the help of too many bodice ripper romance novels and not enough real-life experience. I started out cringing at the descriptions and ended up finishing the whole book because I couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous and nonsensical it all was.

The most disappointing part of the book was that it really could have been a decent story.

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Wonderful and unpredictable follow-up.

Revisado: 03-15-16

Seanan McGuire delivered again. This second installment of the Indexing series is just as funny and heart-felt as the first. We get to meet a few new characters, delve deeper into old ones and see what's on the other side of the magic mirror. This novel splits the main character focus between Henry and Sloane allowing the reader a glimpse into the past of everyone's favorite unwilling, wicked step-sister. McGuire managed to maintain the delicate balance between humor, suspense and emotion that she set up in the first book. As with Indexing, reflections provides a satisfying ending but also opens enough doors to leave the reader hoping for more.

Mary Robinette Kowal remains the perfect narrator for this series, bringing extra life and interest to the words. She continues to demonstrate versatility in her style and portrayals.

Overall, I enjoyed this from beginning to end and might even say it was stronger than the first book. An excellent read that kept me interested and left me guessing what might happen next.

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Snow White has had enough of your nonsense.

Revisado: 03-14-16

A book about fairy tales coming to life? The potential for being silly or cliched or taking itself too seriously was a bit too high for me and I only purchased this novel when it went on sale. I thought that, at less than 5 dollars, even if it's crap, at least I didn't waste a credit on it. Now, I would happily go back and spend a credit or even buy this at full price.

Seanan McGuire is a gifted story teller. She has an amazing grasp of how to blend humor, emotion, and tension to give life to her plot. All of the characters are three-dimensional and realistic, despite most of them also being fairy tale characters. She made it easy to imagine a world in which storybook characters are not only real, but numerous and controlled a sentient narrative.

Mary Robinette Kowal did an outstanding job of narration on this piece. She gave each character depth and personality through her use of inflection, pace and accent. Her voice is pleasant to listen to and her timing is splendid.

This was a well written, excellently read story. I would recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys fantasy, mystery or comedy. If you like all of those, this should be at the top of your must listen list.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Disappointing

Revisado: 01-25-16

Like a lot of other reviewers, I was excited about this book because I loved Ready Player One and was hoping Cline would deliver again. Unfortunately, many of the things that worked in RPO just fell flat here, while the plot managed to be too little and too much.

RPO gave readers an immersive, nostalgic world inside a video game. It was easy to accept many of the over the top moments because of the world in which they occurred and the 80's references not only made sense, they were necessary to the story. In Armada, it seems that Cline unsuccessfully tried to recreate all of those elements that were so enjoyable in his debut novel. This time around the video game comes to life and the whole world plays it together. Very flimsy excuses are made to include nostalgia and references that every character inexplicably gets. If someone who grew up during the time period finds a reference obscure, it's hard to believe that teenagers today would be familiar with it.

Even more challenging to the imagination is believing all of the remarkable coincidences and timing. Death doesn't seem to be a real fear until the last handful of chapters when all but the most important, and likable, characters drop like flies. People suddenly show up exactly when they are needed. New friends have just the skill set necessary to accomplish the (frankly impossible) things that the rest of the plot hinges on. It's also rather obviously derivative of The Last Starfighter and Ender's Game. Both of which are often mentioned.

The main character in this novel is difficult to support because his often excessive reactions don't follow any kind of logic. He finds something unbelievable, but believes immediately and without question when someone else says it's true. He thinks something doesn't make sense, but gets angry and defensive when someone else says it doesn't make sense. Offers instant forgiveness and affection for someone he claims to be insanely angry with. It became more and more obvious throughout the book that it was the story line driving his motivations and not the other way around.

Overall Armada came across more like the author's ego-based, wish-fullfilment fantasy from a time in his life to which he desperately wants the whole world to return, than a well-edited, professionally-written piece of science-fiction. Perhaps Cline was pushed by the publishing company to churn out a novel that included all the elements that readers of RPO loved. Maybe he was given too much free reign and not enough editing due to his previous success. Either way, I can only describe Armada as disappointing. I'm very glad I didn't read this first, or I might not have give RPO a chance.

As for narration, Will Wheaton's performance was on par with all of his other narration. He excels at reading from a first person POV and delivering irreverent commentary. While his voices and accents for other characters are not the best in the industry and his pronunciation sometimes makes me cringe a bit, I always enjoy the comedy and enthusiasm he injects into his readings. He certainly did the best with what he was given and made the experience somewhat more bearable.

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