en-US Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:35:04 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7195771089 Thu, 09 Jan 2025 14:35:04 -0800 /review/show/7195771089 Kevin gave 4 stars to Children of Ruin (Children of Time, #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky
bookshelves: audiobooks
Just as good as the first in the series although the danger posed in this book did seem to get wrapped up and solved pretty quickly and easily in the very last chapters. But everything before that was a blast. Lots of interesting characters - some good alien thought processes, and much less obvious anthropomorphism than I would have expected. I especially liked how the Octopus society and communication was completely non-human and unique. That was very well done. ]]> Review6979665255 Thu, 09 Jan 2025 13:01:39 -0800 /review/show/6979665255 Kevin gave 3 stars to To Be Taught, If Fortunate (Paperback) by Becky Chambers
bookshelves: audiobooks
The was just okay for me. I like how ms Chambers keeps her stories generally positive but this one really didn't seem to have much going on. I didn't feel the connection to these characters like I have in her other books and there was not much plot to speak of.
The idea of these astronauts changing their bodies to allow them to survive on different worlds was cool and well portrayed but then they didn't really do much with it.
Overall I liked this for a change of pace but would have probably enjoyed it more if the plot had a little bit more tension in it. ]]> Review4019450300 Sat, 20 Jul 2024 18:19:52 -0700 /review/show/4019450300 Kevin gave 2 stars to Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1) by Ann Leckie
bookshelves: audiobooks, abandoned
Gave up on this one about 1/3 through it. I am bummed about that because the synopsis and other reviews make this sound like something I would really enjoy. The writing was good and the concept seemed fascinating, but I just kept getting bored and had a hard time following along.
I was listening to the audiobook version while driving back and forth to work so that probably had a bit to do with me not enjoying this, but I do this for most audiobooks and don't often have the same problem. It just seemed like a well written info dump most of the time. I never felt like there was really much plot moving the story forward, just a ton of information on the history of this society and characters. Unfortunately it all became a bit of a jumble that didn't seem to going anywhere soon. This one just didn't work for me.

Update: I was still interested so gave this a try on my kindle thinking maybe it is better in written form. I still gave up although I did get farther this time. difficult to follow and ultimately just plain boring to me. oh well. ]]> Review6461645472 Mon, 29 Apr 2024 12:32:59 -0700 /review/show/6461645472 Kevin gave 5 stars to Elantris (Elantris, #1) by Brandon Sanderson
bookshelves: audiobooks
As usual with Mr. Sanderson's books, I totally loved the world building and magic systems.

And I was disappointed by the amount of religion that was integral to the story. Don't get me wrong - there was no soap box proselytizing going on but I would love to read one if his books where religion does not play a part at all. A large amount of the story revolved around it and, in my opinion, could have been cut or replaced with something else to motivate the characters.

But, even so, the idea of the Elantrians being dead but not dead and yet not quite zombies was fascinating and well written. I had lots of questions about how that would physically work and my own thoughts on simple solutions but it would have been a much more boring story.

Mr. Sanderson writes incredibly believable and easily relatable characters, even in such bizarre situations. I couldn't tell this was an early book. I would have preferred more insight into life (?) in Elantris and less church politics but that did not stop me from enjoying the whole thing and wishing there was a direct sequel. ]]> Review4600583839 Thu, 18 Jan 2024 13:55:31 -0800 /review/show/4600583839 Kevin gave 4 stars to The Kaiju Preservation Society (Hardcover) by John Scalzi
bookshelves: audiobooks
Really fun fluff story about Kaiju and their interactions with people. Actually it was mostly about people interactions set in a world with Kaiju. but I am not complaining about that because the dialog and action were easy and breezy and it was fun to just sit back and go along for the ride. This did actually involve Kaiju many times but those elements were not always up close and personal. The scenes that were up close and personal were pretty intense.
I think I really enjoyed this one because it spoke to my inner geek, set up a fascinating premise and world quickly and simply, and it was narrated by Will Wheaton. He really was the perfect narrator for this.
Overall I had a good time listening to this one and will look for more like this from Mr Scalzi.
]]> Review4169455379 Wed, 03 Jan 2024 11:39:54 -0800 /review/show/4169455379 Kevin gave 3 stars to Cold Storage (Hardcover) by David Koepp
bookshelves: paperback
SO this was fairly fun but not groundbreaking or wonderful. I did like the author's ability to create characters and dialog that felt pretty real. The plot seemed like a fairly standard movie script that could use some polishing to make it more cinematic though.
I couldn't really get past the anthropomorphization of the fungus that was responsible for all of this. Some of the passages just made it feel like this stuff had an actual intelligence. I would have preferred it more if the description of the spreading process felt a bit more natural (albeit much faster than normal).
There were also many loose threads left hanging at the end that I don't think were intentional. I can't say more about that because I don't want to give away the ending. This was decent and worth a quick read - just not quite as well done as I would have liked.
]]> Review6027146779 Wed, 03 Jan 2024 11:05:33 -0800 /review/show/6027146779 Kevin gave 3 stars to The Talisman (The Talisman, #1) by Stephen King
bookshelves: audiobooks
I liked this one and will probably take a look at the new sequel to it but I did have some issues. This was typical Stephen King (I couldn't tell Straub's writing at all - if it wasn't on the front cover I would have never known he was involved) and sucked me in pretty early. Something about how well he can create characters and dialog that rings true always impresses me.
One of my issues with this story is similar to my critique of Fairy Tale - the other world these characters travel too seems very sparse and hardly populated at all. There is not a great sense that any of it really matters. You would expect bustling cities and large rural communities but that is all glossed over or simply doesn't exist.
My other issue is that the main character is a 12 year old boy. This is definitely not a YA book but there are times when this character does things that are way beyond what a 12 yr old would normally do and I constantly thought of him as a 20 something. I mean he picks up automatic weapons and starts destroying his enemies and yet never has an issue with kick-back or figuring out how to aim.
If King had made him a little bit older (15-17 maybe) from the start it would have been more believable.
Overall I liked it as a decent Stephen King book and enjoyed most of the journey. ]]> Review218456072 Tue, 05 Dec 2023 12:15:37 -0800 /review/show/218456072 Kevin gave 3 stars to The Last Dark (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, #4 ) by Stephen R. Donaldson
For this book by itself I would say it is my second favorite of the series (behind #1). This had plenty of action and felt like a Thomas Convenant story instead of Linden's. Unfortunately the whole thing felt kind of rushed, which is amazing for such a big book. The story was full of heroics and losses and amazing characters (again with the Giants) and yet the conclusion to this literally world ending tale ended up being a rather simple battle and then everything was ok again. Getting to that battle was the driving arc of this book and it was mostly a great trip. But was let down by the oversimplification of the finale which felt out of character for this entire tale.
I am glad these characters got the resolution they deserved but I still feel a little disappointed. ]]> Review5869514483 Tue, 05 Dec 2023 10:48:59 -0800 /review/show/5869514483 Kevin gave 3 stars to The Source (Necroscope, #3) by Brian Lumley
bookshelves: audiobooks
Well this was certainly a deviation from the first books. Liked it quite a bit although it was unusual to go from a mostly earth bound setting to a kind of sci-fi/fantasy world. Overall I thought it worked and kept me interested enough that I am going to continue the series even with this wild twist to the overall story ]]> Review5736384525 Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:25:01 -0700 /review/show/5736384525 Kevin gave 3 stars to Travel by Bullet (The Dispatcher, #3) by John Scalzi
bookshelves: audiobooks
Overall a fun and interesting series although very short. I liked the basic premise and the twisty ways in which unsavory people find to use this situation to their advantage. This particular entry was probably the weakest of the three though. It was good, just a little boring compared to the first two ]]>