Martha

I was expecting a pleasant, no-regrets 3-star read. Happily got a notch above, with realistic characters who actually talk to each other and start a romance because they're friends (AND attracted).

I remembered the perpetual-student thing for decades, and now I know where it belongs.

Content not suitable for all audiences.

2 1/2 stars.

A much better series-ending than book 3!

Interesting, but not really what I was hoping it would be.

Alas, I didn't finish it. I felt like I was wasting my time.

4

1 1/2 stars.

It has a narrow focus, but what it does, it does well.

This book talks about how to choose where we spend our time and why (which meshes wonderfully with Overcoming Overwhelm), thinking about what we want long in the future, how to say no to good in favor of best, setting the right goals, leaving time for experimentation and serendipity, working in cycles, being patient, defining success, and learning from failure.

3.5 stars.

3.5 stars.

Good writing, depressing story.

Ending was lame.

Not quite as good as the first one.

After reading The Phoenix Guards, I laughed a lot harder at Iron Mask than I otherwise would have.

Okay, I knew that this wasn't a happy story, but I hadn't realized it was quite so depressing. I also hadn't realized just how much of the story falls under “what happened AFTER the climax.”

I do like a nice First Encounter story. :) I'll admit I skipped some of the science pages, but eh, that's okay.

Absolutely ridiculous, both in credibility and amusement.

It is so nice having a good mystery that doesn't involve dead bodies, and a bit of romance without any sex.

Not everything that should have been explained was, and much of the rest was too predictable.

I'm sorry, but 1.5 stars. Not enough narrative between the dialogue to avoid feeling stark, way too many typos, and too many important scenes happened off-page. And that's not even counting the too-handy coincidences.

Creepy & depressing. The “happy ending” is too late & too brief.

I would have given 3.5-4 stars, except I found the ending too deus ex machina. I found the explanation of the ending even more deus ex machina... What were the chances of that book being written, much less found??

Still, good writing, good characters, and an excellent reason for the “why can't you just talk about it to solve the problem” conundrum.

Not bad, but a few instances of head-hopping bugged me, and several important points were never explained, like the psycho-ness of the murderer.

3.5 stars