Andrew Kennedy

Amusing, almost parody of Sci fi TV shows

Revisado: 10-04-21

Quite amusing, especially when the author uses the tropes and themes he's parodying for real in his own story. Quite meta, as is getting Will Wheaton, an actor on Star Trek, to read the story.

Biggest annoyance was the author felt the need to "label" EVERY line of dialog by adding "<character> said" at the end of the line. So frick'n repetitive it nearly made my ears bleed. I'm not sure I could survive another book like that, which is a shame since the story was fairly entertaining.

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Amazing storytelling

Revisado: 09-21-21

A fantastic story of other worlds and yet well grounded with Earth and Humanity. A story of isolation and yet connection. A story masterfully crafted with just enough world building to be credible, but not so much as to be overwhelmed. Extremely satisfying in its simplicity. The author's essential optimism in humanity shines through and makes me wish I was as optimistic as he.

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Couldn't finish it

Revisado: 09-20-21

I couldn't finish this book. It's just so uninteresting. The characters are flat as a pancake (sloppy bachelor is sloppy, nerdy kid is nerdy), the plot is full of convenience (they just found an alien artifact, guess who they were forced to bring along? The nerdy kid who studies artifacts), and there's a large dose of Deus ex Machina. Just don't bother, find something better written.

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pretty good, but a couple of annoyances

Revisado: 08-25-21

This was a pretty good summary of the history of space travel period both from the United States perspective and the Russian perspective.
The dramatization was a pretty good addition, but it got a bit heavy handed at times. It was helpful having the dramatization play over some of the old garbled radio recordings.

That said, there were a couple of annoyances. First, while I know the ending of Apollo 13, it was annoying that they just dropped the ending and jumped straight to the next Apollo mission. Second, I loved hearing "Captain Janeway" narrate, but her pronunciation of NASA was annoying (and, naturally, quite often). She pronounced it "Na-saw" rather than the more common "Na-suh".

Enjoyable listen, and well produced.

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Fun performance, but unfinished?

Revisado: 05-30-21

Love the Vaudeville style story and fun performance! But what's with the ending? The plot has more loose threads than a flag left in the wind too long. Which turns this story into a horror story (because it's a-frayed!)
Seriously, the story is about 3 chapters too short.

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Good survey of current energy tech

Revisado: 08-13-20

This is a good survey of near current energy tech. It was produced and recorded in 2015 so it lacks info about recent advances in areas such as electric cars and battery tech. But the focus of the course is broad enough that little details like that don't impact the main points.

I wish the author would have touched on current end of life strategies for the different power plants. Decommissioned wind turbines have a very different disposal compared to solar panels or a coal plant. Life span and disposal are costs that need to be included in the analysis of an energy source.

One listening annoyance involved the frequent use of precise numbers. I wish that the reader and/or author would have used round numbers sometimes. It's much easier to hear "480 thousand" rather than "four hundred seventy eight thousand, nine hundred and twenty three". Especially when there's a bunch of numbers in a row.

Overall, I found this quite enjoyable to listen to and informative for making voting and advocacy choices as well as changes to personal habits. Definitely worth a credit (or a half, as I got it in a 2 for 1 sale).

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Sanderson awesome as usual.

Revisado: 02-16-20

Characters were compelling and believable with good development and depth. The world is fantastic and inviting. The plot is interesting and gripping. As usual, there's a great twist at the end (masterful as usual). We are greatly anticipating the next book (tentatively scheduled for Spring 2021).

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Unique story unfolds in bursts

Revisado: 03-14-19

A fascinating story with lots of fun ideas that isn't just a retread of one of the Golden Age authors. Each section in the plot jumped forward to another time, sometimes with many years between them, it was a little disconcerting, but did a great job of shortening the story and leaving out unnecessary pieces, leaving only the elements needed for a good story. But, not so much that it felt rushed or that the world was thin. In fact, it was quite rich and well built, just chopped up a bit. Definitely a good story, with a good ending that leaves you wanting dessert, but satisfied with the meal.
The performance was good, with characters distinct and good pacing. Exactly what I expect from Audible.

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A fun Space Adventure

Revisado: 03-15-18

Pretty good. I've heard it described as a Space Opera, but I'd describe it more as a space adventure.
I enjoyed the interplay between the characters, and the character development. The plot moved fast enough that it kept my attention through the whole book. The description of future social groups, Earth, Mars, the belt, was very interesting to watch. The rift between people born and raised in space, versus those raised on a planet is a logical and reasonable conclusion.
I very much enjoyed this book, and I will likely be getting the rest of the series.

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Another fantastic book as usual.

Revisado: 02-12-18

As usual, this is another fantastic book by Brandon Sanderson. This book managed to pack the intensity and character development of one of his series into a single, short (for him) book. This book is grittier, with a complex morality and deep struggles by the characters. I noticed I had a much higher feeling of tension while reading this book compared to many of his others. Other books have a comfortable feeling of who's on which side and what their motivations are. In this book the protagonists are tossed in the deep end and we get to watch them learn to swim in an unforgiving and cruel world.
As usual Brandon Sanderson is the king of plot twists, and notably in this book there are a couple in the middle as well as at the climax. They do not disappoint.
This book is all about character development. The two main protagonists grow from sheltered princesses, to full adults. The secondary protagonist grows from being a "Useless God" to being a strong, honorable god who is self sacrificing and kind.
also as usual, the magic system in this book was unique and clever. Awakeners can use "biochromatic breath" to manipulate the world around them. Everyone is born with a single breath, but someone who collects many breaths gets "perks" like being able to sense other people with breath, or perfect pitch, or perfect Color pitch. The fact that the only way to get breath is from a person makes it very valuable and precious.
Brandon Sanderson is definitely my favorite author, every book only reinforces this fact. I have not found a bad book by Brandon Sanderson.
The narrator wasn't the usual team that narrates Brandon Sanderson works, but she was still excellent.

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