D.R.

Excellent Short Story

Revisado: 03-13-24

I have nothing bad to say about this story by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It has everything that I want in a sci-fi novella: good pacing, good balance of details and mystery, and a twisted yet not-quite-unexpected ending. Rather than being pure hard science fiction, there was a hint of whimsy/humor/madness that I enjoyed. The narration (by the author) was professional.

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It's okay

Revisado: 03-13-24

This book is a modern take in the vein of Alice in Wonderland. It seems like a poor man's "Un Lun Dun" by China Miéville, where "The Secret History of Moscow" is missing something that I can't quite put into words. I didn't hate the story, but I didn't love it either. The initial setup was interesting and the ending was satisfying, but I didn't find the middle story quite as engaging as other works in the genre.

This book is inferior to Sedia's "The Alchemy of Stone" (average rating of 4/5 stars), which I've read twice. It's more-or-less just as interesting as Sedia's "The House of Discarded Dreams" (average rating of 3.5/5 stars).

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Tainted By Identity Politics

Revisado: 02-05-24

The story—published in 2023—is obsessed with pronouns and "blankslatism" identity politics. For example, it promotes the idea that a child isn't a boy or a girl until they decide what they are. It also promotes the normalization of promiscuous sexuality.

I'm not surprised this story was free to listen, as I would have returned it if I had spent a credit on it. I stopped listening about half way through.

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Wokeism

Revisado: 02-04-24

It is very much influenced by the "current year" woke narrative and communist politics, which wrecks and otherwise decent story.

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Thoroughly Enjoyable

Revisado: 03-30-23

Based on the title and the cover, I was hoping for an enchanting story in the spirit of a traditional fairy tale, and I was not let down. I was remained engaged with the plot and characters the entire time. I can think of nothing to fault this story.

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One-sided and one-note

Revisado: 03-30-23

When I purchased this title, I was very excited. A fresh perspective on Jesus' parables from the viewpoint of the original audience? What's not to love about that. Unfortunately, the book did not deliver on this core promise. While there was some discussion about what the early audience might have thought about individual parts of each parable, there was little about what they thought the entire parable meant. Moreover, the book spent the majority of its time discussing what the parables did *not* mean.

Amy-Jill Levine is a Jew and she writes the book as a primary work of anti-anti-Semitism and anti-Supercessionism (i.e. most of Christianity). She spends a significant fraction of the work saying that Jesus couldn't have meant such-and-such because it is anti-Jewish sentiment.

I didn't buy the book to be told everything you know about Jesus is wrong, but good luck figuring out what he actually meant. She thinks more-or-less any interpretation is fine, as they are open-ended these parables. But the alleged anti-Jewish interpretations cross a line that just cannot be crossed. Any interpretation... but those.

If I wanted to be told that Judaism is correct, that Jews are God's Chosen People, and that Christianity is wrong, I don't need this book to propagandize me.

The difference between Amy-Jill Levine and Bart Ehrman is not that neither believe Jesus was the Messiah. It is that the latter is a respected scholar, despite his views, while the former appears not to be scholarly at all.

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Terrible narrator, okay novel

Revisado: 03-23-22

The new narrator is a poor imitation of Ralph Lister. He is tolerable, but that's all you can say about it.

The story itself is the weakest book in the series so far. It lacks the emotion and pathos of the previous novels. The action isn't as exciting. Nonetheless, it is a worthy read.

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Almost returned it without finishing

Revisado: 03-10-22

This is my second Kim Stanley Robinson book. The first was 2140, which I rated 1 star. I decided to give one more of his novels a chance. This will be my last audiobook by this author. I'll also be purging my physical library of all Kim Stanley Robinson books.

The plot is tedious and boring. There is too much weird sex/relationship. The narration is abysmal, with poor voice distinction between different characters. Somehow he managed to make me not even like the science.

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It's a middle book

Revisado: 03-10-22

This book is good, but not great. It suffers from "Middle Book Syndrome". While the story is engaging from start to finish without any real deficits (good for 4 stars!), it just doesn't 'wow' at any point. It isn't *special*. It really needs to be read immediately preceding book 3. Treating books 2 and 3 as one book solves the problem.

The story is typical Robin Hobb. The characterization is top-notch. The nods to the Liveship Traders trilogy is a nice touch as well, though you don't have to understand the references.

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Superb Series

Revisado: 03-08-22

This is the second time I've read the trilogy, and it grips as much the second time.

Normally I find that multiple points of view distract from the story flow. Not so here.

Friedman excels at creating worlds with unique magic systems. Few authors can create realistic God-like powers and immortality while avoiding Dues ex Machina. She nails it.

Narration isn't top tier, but it does the job. No complaints.

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