Van A. Plexico

Beautiful and brilliant

Revisado: 03-24-24

Moves instantly into my top 5 all time SF novels.
Big, bold, beautiful and brilliant.

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One of the greatest stories ever told.

Revisado: 01-02-23

The book (and its prequel) are among the greatest stories ever told.
The job the narrator does here, though, is absolutely stupendous.
I’ve listened to only a handful of audiobooks where the narrator’s performance almost outshines the book they’re reading. This is one.

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As much an economics lesson as a D&D / TSR story

Revisado: 08-24-22

This book is an odd duck. It’s much more comprehensive than others I’ve read on similar subjects, and that’s good. However, the actual subject of D&D (the stuff inside the game) rarely comes up. Instead it’s more like an economics book, filled with “high finance” stuff involving investors and takeovers and banks and loans and debt at the like. If the subject it was all referring to hadn’t been D&D (or some other company I have fond memories of, like, say, Marvel or Mego) I honestly wouldn’t have cared or been interested enough to plow through all the financial stuff. It’s like buying a 300-page book allegedly about cupcakes and discovering that 280 of the pages are about how to finance the purchase of a KitchenAid Mixer.
That said, there are some *extremely* fascinating revelations and reveals. How the company (TSR) went from Gary Gygax’s pet project to Lorraine Williams running it like a heartless corporation (and into the ground); how Wizards of the Coast acquired it; and what they discovered about it when they gained access to the company’s books.
It’s a good read and worth your time—IF you’re super-interested in those financial-type topics. There’s a lot here about clandestine meetings to discuss stock options and the way artists and game designers were hired or fired or rehired. But there’s nothing much about any of the actual games. If what you’re interested in is the actual game D&D and its spin-offs, and a deep dive into how they were created and how they work and so on, this isn’t really for you at all.

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Don’t expect an actual conclusion.

Revisado: 06-30-22

It would be one thing if Bova still lived and was producing more stories set in this story arc. Alas, he is no more, and to my understanding, NEPTUNE covers mostly separate material. Therefore we are left with only the first act of a story here, which is unfortunate.
Much of this book feels like the opening chapters of a larger story, with many portions duplicated two or three times in order to pad it out to an acceptable length. But, honestly, not a lot happens here. People talk, and the hints of a larger story emerge, and more people talk—and then it just ends.
If not for Bova’s skills at telling this kind of story, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it. And if I’d known what I know now, I wouldn’t have started it.

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Comics knowledge saves the day!

Revisado: 03-09-21

I picked this audiobook up originally because I’d heard it was similar in some ways to Ready Player One—near future, young protagonist & his love interest, puzzle to solve to win the contest and maybe save the world. The added bonus was that the puzzle wasn’t scattershot like in RP1—it was based entirely on superhero comics. After listening to Patton Oswalt’s fantastic performance on Audible, however, I can report that there’s a lot more going on in this story than just a copy of an earlier book. This story takes several very unexpected turns that together make it very much its own thing, and a very successful thing at that. There’s a sizable audience out there that will eat this up, and I very much hope that it reaches them. Fun characters, fun puzzle, fun story!

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Classic Nash thriller

Revisado: 07-18-20

This book is standard Bobby Nash, which is to say, standard excellence. There’s some Michael Connelly, there’s some Lee Child, there’s some justified, but there’s mostly a lot of Bobby Nash. And the man knows his way around a crime thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It doesn’t hurt to have a professional, nuanced performance of the material by Stuart Gauffi.

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Another excellent Mickey Haller novel

Revisado: 12-17-18

Connelly always delivers.
I deducted one star from the Performance grade because the reader makes Mickey Haller sound like Batman.

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First exposure to Scalzi is a positive one

Revisado: 12-10-18

I’ve certainly heard of John Scalzi over the years but never got around to reading or listening to one of his works before. I enjoyed this audiobook very much. Wil Wheaton’s performance is a highlight and only makes the material even more enjoyable than I imagine it would be on the printed page. He brings a whole other level of energy and interpretation to the work.
The criticism I see most often in the other reviews here is that the book ends abruptly. That is true. The problem to me is, the author provides several points of closure for this particular installment. He simply spaces them out earlier in the story, which doesn’t leave one for the end of this entire book. He might have been better served to keep one for a sort of big finish here, rather than making it so blatantly obvious that this is not a single story but just the first few chapters of a larger work. In other words, it could have been done in a more satisfying way. But it is still a great story and I look forward to the second part.

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As good as a movie

Revisado: 03-16-18

The book is spectacular, yes. We’ve known that for years—for decades.
But Gildart Jackson’s incredible reading—no, his performance—is absolutely astonishing. Every character is perfectly nuanced, with appropriate accent and voice. Line readings carry the passion and drama of a major motion picture.
The actual movie based on this book is only so-so, but this audiobook is like a new and much better film production. I recommend it unequivocally and with the greatest enthusiasm. Five stars all around.

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A great Parker caper with fantastic narration

Revisado: 01-28-18

Stephen R Thorne is by far the best of the narrators of the Parker novels. For whatever reason, at least one of the others makes Parker sound like Batman, with a low throaty growl, which is terribly distracting.
As for the book, this is Parker in his prime. An ambitious heist, complications, vivid characters, and a satisfying conclusion.

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