Lyle
As usual with collections such as this, somewhat of a mixed bag - some stories better than others. But, overall, a favorable impression was the result and the variety was appreciated.
Excellent combination of high-energy physics, time theory, political extremism, and Norse mythology with well-developed characters and exciting action sequences.
Started out decently enough, but then things devolved into the same old foul-mouthed mode. When that happens, I'm done.
Decent introductory book, although (being an absolute beginner in watercolor painting) not all of my questions were addressed. I did appreciate the variety of projects and the style in which the book was written - it was very easy to understand and follow.
A quick and fun read; apparently the first of the Stainless Steel Rat's (non-criminal) career tales.
Very light on the science but what little there was I think was fairly well developed. Others have characterized this tale as “character-driven” and I can see why, but for me the characters were not as well-developed as they could (should?) have been with some (much) of the dialogue and behaviors seeming just a bit “off”. If not for the tertiary science thread and brief environmental descriptions, this could have taken place anywhere, even on Earth. Even the science thread could have been handled from an Earth-based locale for that matter, without much tweaking.
Especially fun was the “profile” of Spenser written by Parker himself, though all essays were interesting. It was also nice to read about the TV series & movies, as well as Jesse Stone and other Parker creations.
A fun little book, filled with nuggets of info about a great many subjects, and including experiments to be attempted to help with understanding those nuggets. All served up with a dash of humor and engaging narrative.
Very well written with non-cardboard character development, excellent plot, great scientific extrapolation, atmospheric yet believable descriptions and a great twist at the end!
Superbly drawn characters, a tightly woven plot and a well-developed universe/framework make for a very enjoyable read.
Another excellent story that reads just like a Monk episode but even more so if that makes sense. Kudos to the author!
The premise was intriguing, but the execution was...lacking. I did not appreciate the constant references to one character's, um, “very large attributes”. It seemed like the whole story was written by a hormonal teen-aged male, solely for the purpose of mentioning the above-mentioned female physical properties in one joke or snide comment after another. Also, there were a number of story-telling gaffes which dumped me out of the story, and the descriptions of the in-game mechanics and rationale were quite poor for someone (like me) not intimately familiar with D&D. 36% read but DNF. And I won't be reading the remaining books in the series.
An informative and yet entertaining volume covering a wide variety of areas where visual imagery helps to understand.
This all-too-short series was a lot of fun and kept me laughing and scratching my head and thoroughly enjoying things all the way through. Has anyone deciphered the secret message contained in the page glyphs? Is there going to be a Beyonders Vol. 2? (I hope so).
Another excellent re-creation of what I like to call “the adventures of Monk and Natalie”. The author has captured the nuances of characters and their idiosyncrasies in a thoroughly entertaining manner.
A fun and fact-filled little book which explores the history of Popeye and fellow characters from the original Segar comic strips to the various animated offerings from the 90s. Well-illustrated.
I found this collection to be of higher quality than other such collections; Brin's “Shoresteading”, Phyllis and Jake Eisenstein's “Von Neumann's Bug” and Nye's “Virtually, A Cat” are among the best, with Vinge's “A Preliminary Assessment of the Drake Equation Being an Excerpt from the Memoirs of Star Captain Y.-T. Lee”, and Resnick's “On Safari” quite enjoyable as well. Nearly all of the tales I would rate as better-than-most.
As is usual with collections-on-a-theme books such as these, the stories were a mixed bag, but all were generally interesting and enjoyable. The tales by Alan Dean Foster and Alastair Mayer stood a bit above the rest.
A good yarn, with a nice balance of hard science fiction, aliens, and philosophy (both human and alien).
