Gregg Nicholas

This is an entertaining story of survival in a future that is heavily impacted by climate change. There are a couple of minor story aspects that are nearly impossible to conceive as happening in the real world. They aren't important to the story, however. The most unbelievable sentence in the story:

"On the other hand, I was a democratic socialist who could check any tool, table, appliance, or vehicle out of the public library, a citizen of the twenty-first century who could access every book ever published and every song ever recorded with a few taps on a screen, . . ."

While technology could enable libraries to share every book, song, movie, and other 'intellectual property' - the lawyers will never let it happen.

Explore how society might change if there was no scarcity of food, power, or anything else. How would we live differently if we could simply restore our memories and personality into a clone?

This book brought action back to the story.

With this seventh book in the series, it seems obvious that the author is milking the series for profit. Instead of telling a story, he's filling pages with words.

It's hard to recommend this fantasy series. At times the story paints men and women almost as if they are natural enemies. At other times, the story dips uncomfortably far into the romance category. On top of that confusion, we have a huge cast of characters to remember.

Challenge your beliefs.

It was a mistake to watch the Amazon Prime Video series based on these books. There are significant differences. The books are better.

The author seems to have several recurring themes in this series. Predestination is powerful. Free will is an illusion. Women may let men believe that they are in charge, but behind the scenes they work together toward their own goals and belittle the men.

The author brings up the subject of women vs. men so often that I wonder what tragic events in his life gave rise to such a twisted viewpoint.

The Wheel of Time series on Amazon Prime Video is based on this book, but differs significantly. Unsurprisingly, the book is far better at story development.

This story has elements reminiscent of Tolkien's Hobbit, but I wouldn't call it derivative.

In my opinion, the vulgar language was used in the title and in some chapters primarily as an attention getting device. Author doesn't want you to care about nothing, just be mindful and selective about what you do care about.

I picked up the book from my library on a whim. Wish I hadn't. Like all self-help books that I've encountered, they take a lot of time to expound on philosophies that are obvious.

The Science Fiction part of this story is completely unbelievable. However, suspend your disbelief because it's a well written story.

The story is set in what many Americans refer to as the Reagan Era. I wonder if modern readers can understand some of the politics and technological limitations. In my opinion, the author could have reduced the page count by about a quarter if he'd just eliminated some of the repetition.

Despite the unbelievably impossible ‘science' in this fiction, this mystery set in a dystopian near future is worth reading.

First person account of survival after an influenza pandemic takes out 99.9% of humanity (or something like that). Told in a rambling, disjointed, and almost poetic style.

Perhaps this adventure was written to appeal to those of us who couldn't wait for the next manual of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition) to arrive at our local bookstore. Like the heroes in this tale, we are past our prime - but we're not dead yet.

Almost makes me want to call my old gaming buddies and say, “We're getting the band back together!”

Great mix for a book:
Science that seems possible. Problem solving. Drama. Humor. Characters with character. Even aliens.

Action, excitement, mystery, artificial intelligence, and space travel. What more could you want?

At about 80% of the way through this book, it finally seemed a bit interesting.

It was a pleasure to hear Wil Wheaton read this story.

This is the second (and probably final) book in this near future, science fiction series. The writer explores the possibility that immersive virtual reality technology will continue to improve. While I look forward to those advances, I can't help being disappointed in how humanity uses this technology in this story. To my thinking, it is unlikely that many thousands of people would spend every waking minute researching and memorizing trivia of fantasy, science fiction, and pop culture from the past. To give a real world example, would you study every detail of the private lives of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs for the possibility of winning a prize? I wouldn't.

Frightening mass surveillance capabilities are presented in a ‘fictional' story. The scary part is that the technology isn't fictional.

The blow-by-blow battle descriptions get a bit repetitive.

A fine adventure for any fan of D&D. Many of the plot ‘twists' are telegraphed far in advance to the reader.

All of the characters have questionable morals. There is no one to call a hero or even a good example. There are a couple of minor plot points that bug me:

1. If Lucy worked there for years, why would anyone be surprised at her disability when she entered the building?

2. I find it hard to believe that Dillon could launch the 500 pound gun to land on the hood of the following car. Our seems to me that would take more power than one man could exert.

This book almost screams for a sequel, but then again, the next part of the story might be difficult to write.

In my opinion, the story didn't live up to my expectations. In many ways, the key technology of turning human consciousness into an algorithm, and the changes that might evoke in society, was lost in a bog of words that could have apeared in any fantasy novel.

The science seems unlikely, particularly with the ending, but it was still a good read.