Dr. Curmudgeon

This is Stephenson's Dhalgren

Revisado: 07-24-19

Some people think that might be a compliment. I'm not one of those people.

In short, the story runs too long, is wildly predictable, and the allegories are paper thin.

"Gee, this sub-plot sure sounds familiar. I [don't] wonder what happens next!"

There are lots of really cool ideas sprinkled around the novel. Unfortunately, nothing ever comes of them. What does happen is that somewhere around a third of the way in, we are introduced to "another place." Around half-way, it's split evenly between the two places, but by the end of the book, it's almost entirely the other place. The other place has tons of potential, which like the first place, isn't really realized. Mostly it's a place where Stephenson tells age old stories

What I liked was him taking a SciFi trope and turning it on its head, resulting in almost literally hellish results. What I didn't like is that the restrictions placed on interaction between the two worlds was explained away too easily, and I really didn't buy it at all,

It was nice to revisit some familiar characters from Reamde, but it would have been nicer if the visit was much shorter.

I would be really hard to recommend this book. Stephenson does stick to his strengths in the content, but it basically doesn't do much. Of course, if you really liked Dhalgren, or at least really like taking the long way to everything, then go for it.

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So glad they're back!

Revisado: 05-14-19

When I purchased this, I really didn't care whether or not it was a good story. I just love the Alex Benedict series, especially when Jennifer Van Dyck is the lector. I love the world that McDevitt has created for this series, and frankly, would have been transfixed even if it was just 11 hours of Chase Colepath flossing her teeth.

Fortunately, it was more than that. A nicely crafted story that continued and advanced the "universe" from the previous books.

And, it was nice to catch up on "old friends" like this.

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A side of Clemens I never knew

Revisado: 11-17-18

There's a lot of mythology built around Mark Twain, the author/performer, but so much of it seems to be almost as inflated as the stories he'd tell. This gave me a better look at the man behind Twain, his life, and the context in which he wrote so much.

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So much Chinese influence in Modern SciFi: Good

Revisado: 11-09-18

I am really enjoying the greater participation of Chinese culture in SciFi. It both more accurately reflects the direction the 21st century seems to be taking and gives us insight into an entirely different (from western norms) culture. Or maybe I was just spoiled by The Three Body Problem trilogy.

Robinson always seems to manage to write a ripping great yarn when it comes to space colonization, which is a genre I very much prefer to space ship battles, space monarchies and space kitties. It is so much more grounded than the sort of space opera that somehow manages to completely miss the sense of scale involved in interplanetary travel. Rather than patching over plot holes with Treknobabble and magic FTL, Robinson leaves us with something that sounds like a plausible near future.

I loved Ta Shu, but was kind of annoyed by Fred and Qi. (Guessing at the spellings as I did not visually read the book). Still, most characters in the book served a useful function and both explained and enabled the story, and were therefore necessary.

I very much enjoyed the story, although I couldn't quite figure out the inconsistent narrators (seems to me, any one of them would be fine, but for a single character to have multiple voices was a bit jarring). My one major complaint is that the ending isn't really. There's obviously a "Green Moon" (if Robinson's naming convention can be predicted) coming, and since this book is so new, I'm probably going to have to wait a year or more before getting the rest of the story

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Love Scalzi. Love Wheaton. Near Ideal combinatio

Revisado: 10-24-18

A new John Scalzi book usually finds its way onto my "Insta-buy" list. A new John Scalzi book performed by Wil Wheaton is the sort of thing that would cause me to stop listening to just about anything else so I could listen to it. I know that some people prefer to read books by themselves, but the Wheaton performance definitely makes the audio book superior in this case. I just loved it.

I also very much liked the first book in this series, so I was happy to see the second book. But, while this book did a nice job of advancing the series plotline, and advancing the development of some characters, I feel as if it suffers a bit from the "OMFG, everything's about to go to shit; then a miracle happens" disease.

The ending of the book was thus a bit of a disappointment to me, partly because "then a miracle happened" and partly because I just wasn't ready for it to be over. In terms of straight up quality, Peter F. Hamilton, performed by John Lee, might be slightly better fiction, but it's a total slog compared to this in terms of sheer storytelling enjoyment.

The biggest problem that the ending of this book poses for me is that after enjoying it so much, everything else in my queue just seems like a letdown.

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The Boss is Back!

Revisado: 10-05-17

I love Boss! I love Jennifer Van Dyck!

I have one major gripe with this installment: It's way too short. Not that there'd be any way of making it longer without adding significantly to the plot.

Having said that, I really enjoy how this book, along with the previous non-Boss book expand the questions of the Diving Universe, what the heck the Anacopa drive is and in fact, where the whole series is headed.

This was, for me, another one of those "drive around the block a few more times" books.

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YA Book

Revisado: 04-01-17

Finished this book. Slightly rewarding read, but mostly YA fighting/justice/hunger games. Started the next one. After about a chapter, it seemed like it was going to be just like this one, but IN SPACE!, so I dumped it. I hope I'm wrong about that, but after this first one, it started feeling tedious.

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Nice enough story, but

Revisado: 03-09-15

Obviously a setup for a sequel or probably a whole series.

Enjoyed the story in almost every respect, except:

If I want to read bodice rippers, I'll buy bodice rippers. Fortunately, limited to only a few scenes, but they did almost nothing whatsoever to advance the story or plot.

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Required reading if you're already into the series

Revisado: 03-09-15

But to tell the truth, I'd like the original gang of characters back.

Good branch for the story, but it just seemed a bit long for what's essentially back story.

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Stick a fork in it

Revisado: 03-09-15

The best I can say is that the trilogy is done.

Not that there's anything wrong with the book. It's just that there's nothing particularly right. All the same characters are back doing the same things, and to tell the truth, it has the ring of doneness to it.

I've enjoyed this series, but I'm ready to be done.

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