Ashbychick

Reads like a word salad government grant application

Revisado: 02-07-25

At best, it skins the surface in a stereotypical “has many words, but says little” way

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I’m hooked!

Revisado: 12-05-24

I would’ve never thought I’d enjoy a litrpg book, much less a series of them, but this series is superbly entertaining. It easily blends action, humor, and heavier concepts of ethical uses of power, etc. I can’t wait for the next book!

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Sorry, the narrator on this was rough

Revisado: 11-07-24

I love the series, but I did not like the narrator on this one, and having three different narrators in the first three books hasn’t helped bring out how good the story is.

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Confused, self-contradictory, one-dimensional

Revisado: 11-04-23

I was initially excited - both because I love time travel plots, and this book appeared to be highly rated. However, it does not live up to the hype.

SPOILER ALERT (don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled)

First - the fact that Alex didn't wait to go through the window, but actually abandons his commitment to his daughter (and then frets over the fact that she'll think he abandoned her)....this did nothing to win the reader over to his character (quite the opposite).

Second - the names...oh my gosh. A good, memorable name - one that clearly differentiates a character from others - is essential for us to connect with the character. This simply doesn't happen. The characters feel like faceless avatars that are all alike. Not having practically every name end in "-ah" would've gone a long way here.

My main issue with this book, though, is with the weird utopian-ist 'noble savage' projection of humanity in the future. It's like the author couldn't make up his mind. They're fierce hunters and warriors, yet they appear to not want war, other than to stomp out "stama" (technology). And what, exactly, is the dividing line on stama? Shields are OK, but crossbows are not? Why? Why would blades be any different? Even the "approved" bows require a level of technological understanding to make and use. Thatched roofs are a technological advancement from prior forms of construction - why are they OK?

The reality of what tribal human cultures living at subsistence level - close enough both for trade but also to be sharing overlapping hunting grounds - is completely ignored as if millennia of recorded history doesn't say otherwise. Future humanity looks like the neutered end result of a de-growth-cult dream - and that's not to mention the longevity factors that would weight in against the tribes at populations of only a few hundred.

Having recently read other books where fictional characters take their military experience and apply it to difficult/unexpected situations - this book paled in comparison on that front. The shield wall thing feels a bit like deus ex machina. Alex does not come across like an experienced operator in how he behaves....it's not believable that he could train these tribes effectively in short order to fight in a style of warfare that died out hundreds of years before he was born (and in which he would have never fought).

Overall - I do not recommend this book, and I have no intention on continuing the series. If you want some alternatives that are time travel related, check out Nathan Van Coops series "In Times Like These", the "The Joseph Bridgeman Series" by Nick Jones, or for some hilariously over-the-top fantasy time travel, check out the Forgotten Ruin series by Jason Anspach and Nick Cole.

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Fantastic story, phenomenal narrator!

Revisado: 08-28-23

Packed with action, humor, wit, deadpan, gallows humor, this book is a wildly, entertaining beginning to an amazing series.

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One of my favorite series…so good

Revisado: 06-29-23

Come for the amazing story, stay for the narrator and laugh your head off at the bloopers after the book :)

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Islington does it again!

Revisado: 06-19-23

Wow. This was an amazing read. I finished it seconds ago and I’m blown away… and somehow I have to find the patience to wait for the next one….

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Informative, Thought-provoking

Revisado: 05-06-23

Anyone interested in getting a real view of where we are in the development of artificial intelligence needs to read this book!

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Continual Great World Building

Revisado: 12-31-20

I've loved this series! Shepherd does a great job with building the universe - and by the time we hit book 7, the world-building is deep and widely varied with a fascinating array of alien species & history. Yet he does it again in book 7 - building the mythos of Qalea and how it relates not only to humanity's history, but to the rest of the galaxy. Shepherd doesn't just build a fascinating universe - he advances character development as well. The Major, for example, was due for some internal reckoning (and wrestling). Eric is no longer the talented-but-uncertain LC, he's a captain with experience, and he's not afraid of that authority....and he's willing to use it for the right reasons. Anyway - I highly recommend this series, it's by far one of the best sci-fi series around (and I've read many of them)!

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I Guess I'm the One Guy Who Doesn't Get It

Revisado: 04-07-20

Having read some of Pollan's work before, I'm starting to feel like it's all the same book, with only slightly different details/topics. It feels like a Malcolm Gladwell book, without as much research (and that's saying a lot already). I won't deny that Pollan is an entertaining and engaging writer - my complaint isn't as much about his obvious skill as much as it's about the whole package of how he approaches these topics: very heavily anecdotal, mentioning things together while saying "but I'm not saying A caused B", but clearly wanting the reader to continue on with that impression....(for ex: caffeine appearing in Europe and minute hands also appearing on clocks around the same time). While short, this whole book feels like he crafted it as the foundation of the intended-to-be-witty quote of "caffeine equips us to cope with the world caffeine helped us to create". Orwell rang out in the background of my mind ("There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them") during the section where caffeine is described as having made us better servants to the capitalist machine. I'd roll my eyes, but I need to take a sip of tea first.

If you enjoy Pollan's other works, you'd probably like this, too. He does a good job narrating his own books, I just don't get why the style and content is so popular.

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