Henry

Nearly a perfect rating

Revisado: 12-11-23

Nearly a perfect rating from me. Interesting story with interesting powers/magic system. The characters decisions make sense for who they are. The verisimilitude of the story and characters is strong and sound. The only knock is the absolutely unnecessary gender dysphoric character that has no impact on the story and is only mentioned once in the entire book. This guy, and he is a guy says, "I am nonbinary and don't want to be gendered." It is not the worst incident of shoehorning in "THE MESSAGE". It seems like the author was forced to put this exchange in the book to meet the publisher's checklist in order to get published. I was able to ignore it and enjoy the book. I will be getting the next book in this series.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

moroniclly illogical MC

Revisado: 12-09-23

Another book with stupid and illogical decision making that forced me to stop listening 2 hours in. According to the books own blurb the MC is "A 24-year-old man with a dead-end job and no prospects (my insert here, we also learn that the MC didn't go to college or learn any trade skills)—and, to top it off, a heart condition that forever keeps him on his toes—he spends his life trapped between apathy, self-doubt, and mortal fear.
He soon discovers he has superhuman abilities—herculean strength, a marathon runner's stamina, and an extreme healing factor—as well as an ever-present assistant: a super-intelligent AI named Vega, telling him that his gift is the result of a network of nanomachines that he inherited like a virus from the dead body. And the dead man himself? A traveler from parts unknown, time unknown…
Empowered by his newfound abilities, Kris embarks on a mission to track down the Quiet One, a domestic terrorist wreaking havoc on his city."

So, you have an MC in his mid 20's suffering from depression and bad health with no skills in fighting, criminal investigation, or tracking that decides to go after a terrorist that has actual skills in blowing shit up and clowning professional law enforcement. Naturally the MC is going to quit his job and dedicate himself to the cause of catching this terrorist. Does he take the advice of his new SUPER INTELLIGNET AI to find a better less violent and dangerous way to help the world? NO. Does he start training in the skills he would need to apprehend the terrorist? NO, we're doing quasi on the job training.

What really started off the check out for me was an interaction between the MC and his father. The MC tells his father he is quitting his job. Fathers asks What are going to do for money? MC says I know exactly what I am going to do and walks out of the room doesn't tell his father what he is going to do. This is when the MC decided to go after the terrorist which he is not being paid to do and still doesn't know what he is going to do to make money.

I have read and listened to so many books that my bullshit meter for stupid and illogic behavior is very limited. Maybe this book turns around, back to somewhat smart and logical decision making, however that has not been my experience. I don't want to power through stupid, to get to more stupid.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Heavy sigh

Revisado: 11-07-23

I remember liking book 1 at first. Then I started to think about why a society with the technology level that allows for travel between stars, fights enemy soldiers in melee combat? Through in the CW level of teen drama, action spaced out with mile markers, and shoehorning in a tranny: I am no longer willing to put forth the effort to listen.

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esto le resultó útil a 8 personas

Disjointed to the point of immersion breaking.

Revisado: 07-24-23

First, Travis Baldree is always a win. Second, the story is so disjointed if feels like a prequel story was smashed and interspersed into the main story. I know I rated the story 2, but that is not because the story is bad. I gave it a 2 because when you start to get immersed into one story, your immersion is broken by jumping to the other story. Now I say 2 stories but it is all the say characters, just different types of stories. One story is, the orphaned magician teaming up with an adventuring group to track down the bad guys and take them out. The other story is, the orphaned magician is the only one aware of being caught in a time loop. There will be people praising the 'clever plot device' that makes the mashing of these two stories possible. Using the recounting of the MC's journal entries to bounce the story around only serves to pull me out of the story. If you separated the stories and paced the book with less immersion breaking, you would have a good story. Add in an interesting magic system where you learn as the MC learns and you would have a 4 or 5 star rated book.

The orphaned magician is the MC and is written as you would expect a teenager with some intelligence to be written. Smart but makes mistakes from inexperience. The MC learns, grows, and gains wisdom leading to investment in the character. The other members of the adventuring group are interesting and have good development. It seems there is very little 'Because Plot' moments, but they do happen.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

This is how you assassinate a series.

Revisado: 07-06-23

I started off liking the series. The author seemed to be trying to tap into a 'Harry Potter' kind of energy, and that was somewhat successful. As you progressed in the books you start to notice the insertion of the authors morals, ideology, and politics. It is decidedly progressive. This doesn't necessarily put me off reading a good series. It's when the author commits cardinal sins in writing, assassinating the story, that puts me off. I will not finish this series! 1, the author utterly betrayed the readers and B, ends the book with complete despondency and no hope. The ending of this book pissed me off so much that I forced myself to not immediately right a 1 star review. I was worried I would write something vulgar. Even after waiting long enough to have forgotten some of the names of the characters, thinking about it now to write a review is pissing me off.

Spoilers follow

This is what I mean by betrayal and despondency. Through the book Alister is becoming more agitated the longer he is denied his revenge. He sees the dragon (forgot the name) as the cause for his denied revenge. It is revenge and not justice because Alister doesn't care who he hurts to get his satisfaction. Alister either by his own hand or by paths he opens for the enemy, is responsible for the deaths of students, teachers, and the council. Alister hurts the dragon to the point where it has to go into hibernation to heal before it dies. Alister breaks into the vault the dragon was protecting, that is full of weapons that if they are used will cause massive wars to start. By doing this he utterly abandons his students.

Arthur, the father of one of the main characters (forgot the name), is killed for no reason. By that I mean his death accomplishes nothing. The big bad he is fighting, gets away. So, the author wants to make the stakes real and decides to kill off the only real father figure in the series (STUPID IDEA). You could at least make his death meaningful and have the big bad he is fighting die as well.

I forget her name but she is the teacher that uses chalk dust in the air to make ruins to accomplish different effects. The most variable, flexible magical skill in the series. So much could be done with this, and the author just kills her off for no reason, like Arthur.

Basically everyone except for the main characters, which are kids that are not fully trained, have been killed off or incapacitated. Now everything is up to these untrained kids.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

The Farce is Strong with this one

Revisado: 02-24-23

First, I couldn't finish this book. I got part way through the first mission (about 3 hours in) and had to stop before I injured my brain by listening to the stupid. I can see where the author was trying to go with the MC. The MC was supposed to be an underdog, everyman with previous tragedy in his life. Someone, that readers and listeners could relate to, and cheer for. While the previous tragedy does draw out some sympathy, it is not enough to overcome the illogical stupidity of the story. At 3 hours in (a 1/3 of the way through), there should be interest and investment into the MC from the listener, and truly there may have been, but I kept getting yanked out of the story by the illogical plot. I don't want to give spoilers in this part of the review, so I will say this, if you are going into a military action where your life is on the line, you would want a full kit. Armour, rifle, and medical, right? If you didn't get this basic equipment, then wouldn't you expect an explanation as to why. Well, as the Dred Pirate Roberts says, "Get used to disappointment." The level of writing in this story is YA at best, it just has an adult MC.

SPOILERS
If a high-tech military group is going to abduct someone to then give them the choice to join the group or not, some significant reasoning needs to be given. We get none. Why would you target some joe schmoe and not a soldier or marine that already has training without an explanation? Why would you send your new recruit into a life and death battle with only 10 days of training? Why would you send your new recruit into battle with only a stick as a weapon when your opponents have "blasters"? Why would you not wear your helmet from the beginning of your drop ships run?

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

A good story for the naïve?

Revisado: 10-05-22

There is a good premise in this audiobook. A non super saves a world filled with supers. There is an over abundance of great story in something like that. However . . .

I stopped listening because I couldn't plow through the stupid and the naivety. I have read and listened to hundreds of books. So, I may be more jaded and unable to suspend disbelief than others. Couple that with some actual knowledge in emergency response and tactical engagement and I can think of ways the protagonists could win the day with the assets they have available in the story, as I am listening to it in real time.

* * * * * SPOILER BELOW * * * * *



When writing fiction about sieging the white house/president you have to understand that the secret service and those doing the protecting have already war gamed and figured out counters and exit strategies to whatever you cold think to do. Notice I wrote 'counters' not 'ways to neutralize'. So when you are depicting scenes assaulting the white house/president you have to write so events unfold in a some what logical order to make it sound plausible. Scenes such as the one on the lawn in front of the white house is where the author finally loses me. 1st, if this event is being held inside the fence on white house property, Van Owen would not have been allowed on the property with a gun. 2nd, Van Owen would not have been allowed on stage without a response from the secret service. To either/both stop Van Owen form mounting the stage/remove the president form the scene no matter how much money or supposed political power that Van Owen had. By this point in the story teleporters have been established, so it would stand to reason the secret service would use teleporters to get the president to safety. 3rd, after Van Owen took over the white house and bunkered in, there would be a systematic response to isolate Van Owen and his troops by removing accesses to power, water, and communication. Even if Van Owen subverted and gained accesses to the white house systems, the hard lines would be cut and the signals would be jammed.

This is the curse of understanding a little bit of real world emergency response and applying it to a fictional world of supers. When writing fictional stories, the logic in unfolding events must be impeccable, and sadly this story fails at such.

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Strength Hiding MC, not necessarily a typical one

Revisado: 08-10-21

This book starts out pretty good, turning some tropes on there head. However, the hesitancy and inability of the MC to overcome long held specific fear is annoying and frustrating. The unsatisfying final battle and some inconsistent ex machina magic, make this 'story' and 'overall' a 2. Nick Podehl does a fine performance, a 5.

Spoilers: Type - General story arch, nothing specific

The ending is disappointing. The MC is a really good guy, not wanting to hurt his friends and the people around him with his incredible power. Flash back scenes establish this fear when he is very young, which causes it to take deep root. However, in not using the power, he makes his friends suffer consequences for his fear. Also, he is afraid of the power, in that, he is worried it will make him into a monster. I am not sure if this fear is physical change or mental change. The only explanation is "long term consequences". That's it, no other explanation. There are hints to both, but I am pretty sure the mental aspect is the greatest fear. A better explanation to "long term consequences" wouldn't be too hard to fit in. There were multiple opportunities for the MC to start making progress in overcoming these fears by using at least some of his incredible powers more towards the end. That doesn't happen though.


Spoilers: Type - Specifics of the ending battle


This was a good story up until the last battle. In this last battle the MC and his group face an enemy that outright said they were going to murder them. Knowing this the, MC initially refuses to use his annihilation powers and uses lesser powers that are utterly ineffective. He uses his other useless powers to the point of near exhaustion. When he finally decides to use his annihilation powers he is so low on energy he can't use it effectively. At this point the main monster baddie has the MC in its mouth which is the perfect time to flex his annihilation aura and vaporize part of the monster. That doesn't happen. The MC pulls out the win by lodging a magical item of poisoning into the neck of the main monster baddie, where its regenerative ability seals it into its own body, weakening it enough for the MC's friends to take it down. This is odd because up to this point the main monster baddie has shown a regenerative ability that could easily counter the constant poisoning maybe even expellee the item from its body. A little inconsistent here. I think the author realizes this and has the MC, after the fact, layout some possibilities for the regeneration failure. I think the MC and the main monster baddie are equal in power, but the MCs debilitating fear make this a loss for the MC. But can't have the MC lose in the first book of the series, so shaky plausibility on rules of inconsistent regenerative ability to the rescue.

This book isn't supposed to show any MC character progression only establish the MC''s problem to overcome for the series.

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