Miachi

I don't understand all the positive reviews

Revisado: 02-25-21

This was solidly meh. I'm not familiar with the author's podcasts or youtube, so the story had to stand on its own. And it didn't. I listened at 2x hoping to get to a good part (any good part) where I would see what all the 5 star reviews were talking about, but it never happened. I had to skip past a lot of Rex and Leif dialogue because it was really tiresome. Perhaps the authors did too good of a job describing 12 year old kids because it should have been tagged as young adult. I had no interest in hearing about their crushes.

The ending was unfinished and unsatisfactory. No twist. Nothing clever. Just meh.

Even Vikas Adams, who I normally love listening to, was meh. The accents sounded off and were inconsistent. I just cannot wrap my head around so many 5 star reviews. Maybe they're all from fans or bots or fan bots, but they have destroyed the last inking of faith I had left in Audible reviews and ratings.

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This is YA! Set expectations appropriately

Revisado: 05-10-19

I agree with both the reviews singing high praise and the reviews grumbling about whiny teenagers. But most of the negative reviews can be countered with "But this was a book written for young adults." Yes, I thought Spensa was one dimensional and whiny at first. Just like a real teenager. And she showed some growth as life kept throwing her new experiences. Just like a real teenager. Sanderson also did amazing things with supporting characters considering he didn't have 1000 pages to develop them like he usually does. This is a fast and fun and indulgent book. Of course those expecting Stormlight or Mistborn are disappointed. I think I read somewhere that Sanderson himself said "sometimes you want a steak and sometimes you want a hamburger" (extremely paraphrased).

Also, Jackson was the perfect narrator for this book. Most negative opinions of this narration can again be countered with "she is reading the part of a teenager to an audience of teenagers."

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Wonderful world building but a little indulgent

Revisado: 02-02-19

As others have said, the world building is wonderful and has a ton of potential. Some of the plot elements have been done to death (demigods, zombies and monsters, etc), but the Navajo lore and mythology give it all a refreshing overhaul.

The characters are a little indulgent. The main character is a total bad *ss (although with plenty of emotional baggage so as not to make her perfect), and the love interest is straight out of a romance novel. It honestly reminded me of some fanfiction I read when I was younger. Similarly, the writing level starts off a little choppy and amateurish, but it smooths out by the end. I waffled between 3 and 4 stars for the story. The plot never gets very suspenseful despite the mysteries, and the characters have lots of history but not lots of depth. In the end I went for 4 because the book was still enjoyable and exactly the length it needed to be.

Overall this was a very easy listen made easier by the narrator, who fit the main character perfectly. I am looking forward to the sequels and will definitely be picking them up. I think now that the author has some experience and some attention (cough::editors::cough) I think this series will only get better.

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esto le resultó útil a 41 personas

Satisfying ending to a great series

Revisado: 03-06-18

If you've come this far, you're going to finish no matter what, so this review is directed more towards people considering picking up this series and making sure the final books still get good reviews.

To those people, I say DO IT.

Great world building, great characters, great magic system, amazing narrator, the whole package. If you buy the Kindle version first, you can get a discount on the audiobook, and all told, it's a STEAL. This has been one of my favorite series, and I read a LOT of fantasy.

That said it's not perfect. I've had many of the same complaints throughout this series. Most notably, the characters tend to argue back and forth too much. The first section of this book had waaay too much of this. While it was integral to the story and interesting with regards to the big picture, it was a LOT of wasted dialogue.

"You broke the rules."
"I did what was best."
"But you broke the rules."
"It was the only way."
"You broke the rules."

Another reason I liked having the Kindle version was that I could skim these sections and dive back in when the story picked up again.

All told, this was a really enjoyable series, and I would recommend it to anyone with the caveat that the dialogue was not the best, but the story more than makes up for it.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Storyboard for an action movie

Revisado: 03-06-18

If I didn't know better, I would have said this book was based off a movie. Great dystopian world, interesting dynamics within the Hive, tons and tons and tons of action. I kept envisioning a younger Bruce Willis as X and some Hollywood starlet like Scarlett Johansson as the captain. This will definitely get snapped up by some big studio. Actually, it would probably do best as a 2 season HBO show.

That said, I felt like the characters had the same depth as you would get in a movie. That's not to say they were bad - everything from the young XO to the black market merchants to the lower deckers to the engineers had great flavor. But I never really got attached to any of them. If this was the storyboard for a movie, then the characters were quick pencil sketches. The outline of a woman sneaking quietly through a building. A tough and determined captain at the helm. A grizzled vet with guns blazing. Good, but paper thin. Seeing it acted out by people would give it the emotional connection needed to bring it up to 5 stars.

All told, this is an entertaining audiobook (RC Bray is a perfect fit), but not quite the raving 5 stars plastered all over the reviews. I'll be picking up the next book, although it sounds more political and less action-packed than this one. Maybe I'll just wait for the movie trilogy!

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Great narrator saves a mediocre book

Revisado: 12-25-17

As others have said, this is a... good... story. There aren't many new ideas here, but the usual old tropes are... good. I liked the world and the factions and look forward to finding out more in the next book. I liked having the siblings with their own story lines and perspectives. The plot was clunky and not very nimble - you kind of know what the deal with the bad guy is way before the reveal - but still enjoyable. But I also agree with others who say that the book was way too long and could have been greatly improved with some heavier editing. We are familiar with the super mental monk trope, and we are familiar with the super ninja killing trope. No need to spend half the book describing it.

My biggest complaint was that there were a bunch of contrivances to create the current situation. Dad the emperor didn't do a very good job raising his kids to inherit the empire. In fact, teaching the younger son super-assassin powers is a downright terrible idea if the goal is to avoid sibling rivalry and challenges for the throne.

But if you can get past these flaws, the book really is... good. I like the characters, and I'm interested in what happens next. I thought this one ended well. Simon Vance does a great job as always and makes this an easy listen.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Inexplicably entertaining

Revisado: 10-16-17

I honestly don't know why I enjoyed this audiobook so much. I should be calling it vapid. I should be saying there was so much exposition it read like a game manual. I should be complaining about lack of character depth and likeability. But for some bizarre reason, none of this bothered me. I frolicked through this audiobook quickly and happily and with little complaint.

Ok, ok, maybe I do know the reason: Vikas Adam. His lighthearted narration and playful characters set the listener's expectations for the book - romping fun without much substance. He smoothed over any rough patches in the writing with his tone and inflection and really made it a performance. He did wonders with thin material.

I really liked the unique perspective of the dungeon itself, and it made the exposition bearable. I mean really, what else can you do with a dungeon but talk? Dani truly was the little wisp companion that you have in video games that explains the mechanics to the player. I liked the details of the world (another reason I probably didn't mind the monologues of explanation), but I can see now non-RPG people might be turned off by it. The human/adventurer character Dale was not very likeable or interesting (kind of an arse if you ask me), so if you're not into lit-RPG, there's not much else to carry the story.

If you like the genre, definitely give this a try! I will definitely be getting the next installment.

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Does not live up to the high ratings

Revisado: 10-15-17

1) I should not have been impressed by the high star ratings. It was not even close to other books in the same range (4.7 at the time of this review).

2) I should have read the reviews more thoroughly. I'm not a huge fan of Mary Sues, and this was the godzilla of them all.

3) So why did I buy it? High rating + Nick Podehl. Sadly, Nick was not enough to pull this out of mediocrity.

4) This book is so over the top that it toes the line of satire. With a little effort, it could have been a hilarious book about a perfect Mary Sue who is dumb as bricks when it comes to human relationships, but dear god, I think the author was serious the whole time. That made it all the more painful.

5) Nearly all of my opinions have already been stated in other (non-fawning) reviews, so I'll just end with this - This book is good for people who like indulgent Mary Sues and just want to see some undramatic ass kicking (and apparently there are many out there), but if you are familiar with the genre, if you like good characters, if you loathe dimwitted female characters, if you want twisty plots or subtlety, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU.

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3.5 stars at the beginning, 4.5 stars by the end

Revisado: 07-02-17

I'm writing this review to temper the rave reviews on the front page although I largely agree with them. When you finish this book, you will think it has amazing potential with wonderful characters, and you will be eager to read the next installment.

Before that happens, you will be rolling your eyes at a lot of amateur writing. For the first half of the book, the characters bounce between developing deep, original traits and acting like cookie cutter fantasy tropes. When you reach the royal academy, you might as well put the book on 2x and get a cup of coffee. It's like every other coming of age story that involves a school of harsh training that turns snot nosed kids into awesome killing machines. Very very very similar to Anthony Ryan's Blood Song.

There are a couple deus ex machina moments that are blatant contrivances, although future books may provide deeper explanations. You can really see Renshaw mature as an author in just this once book, and it gave me hope that some of the plot shambling may turn out to be meaningful in the end.

Speaking of the end, in the last few hours, the book FINALLY turns its attention to the "ancient power" and stretches its wings. Halfway through, I wasn't sure I would continue the series. Now, I can definitively say that I will.

Also, I highly suspect that Reynolds is the reason this audiobook is so good. I think on its own, the weak writing might have killed the whole story, but Reynolds is able to hide poor writing behind amazing narration.

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85% journey, 15% destination

Revisado: 04-02-17

I totally understand why reviewers are calling this book slow and tedious. Under normal circumstances, I would have stopped reading half way through, and yet these aren't normal circumstances. Novik has crafted a story that (at least for me) abstains from some of fantasy's most over-used tropes. And so even though we spend over half the book just traveling to China and dealing with the slow integration of new characters, I still enjoyed it.

That said, I do hope the pace picks up in the sequels since I don't think the novelty of the dragons and the Corps will be enough to hook me through several more installments.

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