Tadhg
Found the journey through Prussia exceedingly tedious, this would have been only one star were it not for Iskierka who had me in stitches
I don't usually mark books that I do not finish as read, however I have given up so many hours to this book and indeed the series, that I'm going to count it. Harry Dresden is one of the most miserable, self-pitying bores I've come across. If it was possible for him to take responsibility for the dinosaur extinction he would, because he thinks he is to blame for everything else. I do not recommend this book
I suspect this is a book that is going to stay with me for a long time. I laughed more than I expected, but then the next page would hit me with some horrible/painful revelation. Interspersing pictures with the doctor's diagnoses was extremely effective and her descriptions were vivid, particularly of the bath in her hotel room.
The parallels with anxiety and depression really got to me; I hadn't realised (suppose I'd never really thought about it) how integral they are to an eating disorder. There were too many things in this that I recognised and that's probably what is going to stick with me most.
This made moving stuff to my new flat all day much more bearable :)
For classic sci-fi this was quite an easy read (listen) for me. It also suffers for this though as the characters are fairly one-dimensional as is the plot. But this is from the era of pulp sci-fi and should be judged accordingly.
Enjoyed the first half of the book but then got fed up of the apologising - it got in the way of ‘story' as it were. Actually stopped reading the book for ~6 weeks because of the apologising and only finished it because I made myself
Classic sci-fi is not a great genre for me. Always need to preface my reviews with that :)
I think I must have listened to an abridged audiobook of this because it didn't really take very long. This might explain why it felt rushed or undeveloped. Rick seemed to develop feelings for Rachel Rosen during only his second meeting with her; this annoyed me. I don't like it when people develop relationships ridiculously quickly particularly when it's not plot-driven (ie quickly developing trust when you're forced to depend on one another).
I liked the premise; I would have liked more of the history of the world and why the androids need to be retired (I'm assuming it's because they are property).
It's safe to say that Lovecraft owes a significant debt to Machen. The same story telling style but without the overwhelming archaic wording that makes Lovecraft tedious so often.
I am somewhat bored of this style as I've been making my way through a Lovecraftian Mythos anthology for two years now, but as this novella predates that I can't judge it fairly based on what followed it.
Very readable though I think I missed a great deal of the symbolism.
one of the more readable sci-fi classics I've tried, but I found it difficult to read it slowly enough to fully understand it. Found the psychology somewhat implausible but that only threw me out of the plot a few times. The twist did not surprise me; I've probably read too many books with that particular kind of twist, though that is hardly the fault of a book which is 60 years old.
Overall, an enjoyable enough read
Overall I liked this; found it hard-going whilst it was split between several viewpoints simply because I wasn't interested in some of the ‘voices'. Don't think I'll be carrying on with the series; the ‘mystery' is not enough for me to come back because it's fairly obvious what it is. I'd probably read more of it if there weren't so many books on my to-read list, maybe one day...
would have given this 4.5 stars, but auto/biographies just are the kind of book I love enough to give a fifth star from me. This was so easy to read, I actually laughed out loud several times (embarrassing on the train, thanks Will!). Really enjoyed the insight into his life before the happiness he seems to enjoy now, and long may it continue.
Love this! So easy to read and an unfamiliar world. Trying to resist the urge to dive straight into The Broken Kingdom
This didn't really have the dip that a middle book of a trilogy often has. I suppose the pace of the story is so quick that there isn't really time for it.
Again, Katniss' slowness on the uptake was frustrating, though I suppose it adds to the complexity of the plot (and let's face it, there isn't much) and there is something realistic about seeing things from the viewpoint of a character who is blundering along without knowing everything that is going on.
I liked this and highlighted several passages of it.
As I found newspeak a very interesting concept in 1984 (the only Orwell book I've previously read) I was interested to see how he viewed the use of language. I especially agreed that partially-formed ideas cannot be well explained in clear language.
Fun read, nice to read something that's not SFF and doesn't require any world building
The character of Cazaril grabbed me immediately, something that has been missing in several books I've read recently. The plot was well paced and kept the momentum going. This feels like a solid stand-alone to me not sure I want to see more of this universe in case it doesn't live up to its beginning
Much better than Storm Front, though that's not saying much. I can see why people say the series gets good a few books in; there's already a deeper world building in this one and hints of an overarching plotline. Hopefully Grave Peril will be the book where the series hits its stride
Invaluable. I've always been terrified of this subject, and it took me two attempts to go through this book, but it is so well told and knowing it has a “happy ending” that it was well worth paying through my personal discomfort to gain the information and most importantly lived experience this book offers
Finished this simply because the Sword & Laser forum led me to believe it would get better (it did, but only marginally) and then because I'd read over half of it, it seemed a waste to give up. Will not be reading any more in the series and it's very unlikely I'll try another C.J. Cherryh book; I think I disliked the writing style as the plot was interesting but I just couldn't get into it
Simple, entertaining read. I was never sure where the story was going and in a sense it didn't go anywhere as there was no ‘quest' element to it.
I don't know if it was written as an introduction to a universe but if it was it does it well.
I feel like this is not a particularly positive review, but it is: this was the sitcom rather than a hard-hitting drama. The drama's good to get your teeth into, but sometimes you want to relax and laugh
I don't read a lot of old books/classics; I usually find the writing style too laborious. I had no problem with this one at all however, it was very readable.
I would have given it 2.5 stars if that were an option.
meh...this was ok. Which I was expecting because everything I've heard about the Dresden Files is that the series doesn't get going until book 3/4/5 - I probably would have lemmed this otherwise. I'm planning to continue the series, but will be sticking to audiobook
Definitely a book which shows its age; I've not read a lot of classic science fiction, but what I have read seems to be quite shallow in terms of character development and this book is the same. I actually thought during the last plot arc that this could have made quite an entertaining film, because films can get away with less characterisation. Overall, a decent plot, decent world building, and a mildly enjoyable read.